Gemini vs Copilot: you are not choosing an AI, you are choosing an office suite
Google AI Pro is $19.99 with 2TB of storage. Microsoft Copilot is an add-on from $18 per user that needs a Microsoft 365 plan underneath it. The right answer is whichever suite you already run.
Verdict
Google AI Pro is $19.99 including 2TB of storage. Microsoft Copilot is a per-user add-on at $18 until 30 September 2026, then $21, and it requires a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan underneath.
At a glance
| Criterion | Google GeminiSimpler to buy | Microsoft CopilotLives where the work is |
|---|---|---|
| Headline price | $19.99/mo | $18/user/mo until 30 Sep 2026 |
| Price after 30 September 2026 | Unchanged | $21/user/mo |
| Base plan required underneath | No | Yes, a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan |
| Enterprise rate | Through Workspace, priced separately | $30/user/mo add-on |
| Storage included | 2TB | Through the base plan, typically 1TB |
| Sees your own files and mail | Within Google Workspace | Yes, across Microsoft 365 |
| All-in bundled option | AI Pro is already all-in | Business Standard with Copilot $23.50 |
| Consumer route | AI Pro $19.99 | Included in Microsoft 365 Personal, base rose about $3 |
| Top tier | AI Ultra $200 | No consumer top tier |
| Full review | Coming soon | Coming soon |
What the winner gets right, and where it falls short
What works
- Copilot at $18 per user is currently below Google AI Pro, but only until 30 September 2026
- Google AI Pro is a single price with nothing required underneath it, which makes it far easier to budget
- Copilot can read your own documents and mail inside Microsoft 365, which a general assistant cannot do unaided
What does not
- Copilot's advertised price is an add-on and excludes the Microsoft 365 base plan you must also pay for
- The $18 Copilot rate is introductory and rises 17 percent to $21 from October 2026
- Neither is worth switching office suites for, so the comparison is only live if you are genuinely undecided
This is not really an AI comparison#
Your office suite
What actually decides this
Copilot reads your Microsoft files. Gemini reads your Google ones. That is the difference.
Both of these cost about twenty dollars a month. Both are competent. Neither is so far ahead of the other that a small business should migrate its documents, mail and calendar to get it.
So the real question is not "which AI is better". It is: where does your work already live?
- Documents in SharePoint and OneDrive, mail in Outlook → Copilot can see all of it
- Documents in Drive, mail in Gmail → Gemini can see all of it
A general assistant only knows what you paste into it. That is the gap both of these products exist to close, and each closes it for exactly one ecosystem.
The price comparison is not what it looks like#
| Advertised | What you also pay | |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Pro | $19.99/mo | Nothing |
| Microsoft Copilot, small business | $18/user/mo | A Microsoft 365 base plan |
This is the single most misleading thing in this comparison, and it is not Microsoft being dishonest — it is just how add-on licensing works.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is not a product you can buy on its own. It attaches to a qualifying plan: Business Standard, Business Premium, E3 or E5. If you do not have one, the $18 is a fraction of what you will spend.
Compared honestly:
| Per user, per month | |
|---|---|
| Google AI Pro | $19.99 |
| Business Standard with Copilot | $23.50 |
| Business Premium with Copilot | $32 |
Google is cheaper on that comparison — but Microsoft's number includes Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams, which Google's does not. If you were buying an office suite anyway, Microsoft's $23.50 is doing more work than Google's $19.99.
What each one bundles#
| Google AI Pro | Copilot, via Business Standard | |
|---|---|---|
| The assistant | Yes | Yes |
| Storage | 2TB | Typically 1TB, via the base plan |
| Office apps | No | Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook |
| NotebookLM Plus | Yes | No |
| Sees your own files | Within Workspace | Across Microsoft 365 |
Neither bundle is better in the abstract. They are bundles for different people.
Where Copilot genuinely wins#
Not on the model. On location.
Copilot is inside the apps your staff already have open. Nobody has to remember to switch to a browser tab. It can draft a reply in Outlook using the thread it is already looking at, or summarise a document without anyone uploading it.
Where Gemini genuinely wins#
Simplicity of purchase. One price, one subscription, nothing required underneath. For a business without a procurement function, that matters more than it sounds.
And the ladder above it is clearer: Gemini's Ultra tiers at $100 and $200 give you somewhere to go if you outgrow AI Pro. Copilot has no consumer tier above the business add-on at all.
Which to actually pick#
| Your situation | Pick |
|---|---|
| Running on Microsoft 365 | Copilot. Buy before 30 September at $18 |
| Running on Google Workspace | Gemini AI Pro $19.99 |
| Sole trader already paying for Microsoft 365 | Neither. Copilot features are in your base plan now |
| Setting up fresh, want one predictable line | Business Standard with Copilot, $23.50 |
| Neither suite, just want an assistant | Gemini AI Pro, or reconsider ChatGPT and Claude |
| Want more headroom later | Gemini. Copilot has nowhere to go |
The wrong reason to pick either of these is a benchmark result. The right reason is where your files are.
Tool by tool
Google Gemini
Simpler to buyOne subscription, one price, storage and NotebookLM included. Nothing else has to be bought underneath it for the consumer plans to work.
- Starting price
- AI Pro $19.99, Ultra $100 and $200
- Best for
- Businesses running on Google Workspace, or anyone who wants one price with storage included
Microsoft Copilot
Lives where the work isIt sits inside the Office apps and can see your own documents and mail, which no general assistant can do without pasting. The price is an add-on, not a total.
- Starting price
- Add-on $18 to $30/user, plus a base Microsoft 365 plan
- Best for
- Businesses already on Microsoft 365 whose work happens in Word, Excel and Outlook
Frequently asked questions
- Is Copilot cheaper than Gemini?
- At the advertised rate, yes for now: Copilot for small business is $18 per user a month against Google AI Pro at $19.99. But Copilot is an add-on that requires a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan underneath, and that cost is separate. Once you include the base plan, Copilot is more expensive. The $18 rate also ends on 30 September 2026 and returns to $21.
- Which is better for a small business?
- Whichever office suite you already run. If your documents and mail are in Microsoft 365, Copilot can read them and Gemini cannot. If you are on Google Workspace, the reverse. Neither model advantage is large enough to justify migrating an entire business between suites.
- What does Copilot actually cost all in?
- Base plan plus add-on. The clearest option is Business Standard with Copilot at $23.50 per user a month, which bundles both into one price and is a durable plan rather than a promotion. Business Premium with Copilot is $32. The enterprise add-on for E3 and E5 is $30 on top of those suites.
- Do I need to pay for Copilot at all as a sole trader?
- Probably not. Microsoft moved Copilot features into the base Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans and raised those plans by roughly $3 a month to cover it. If you already pay for Microsoft 365 as an individual, you have Copilot features without buying the business add-on.
Written by
Tashawar Awais
Researcher and editor
Tashawar handles verification and editing. Every figure in a review is checked a second time before it goes out, and anything that cannot be traced to a vendor page or a documented source is either qualified or cut. Where pricing is genuinely unclear, as it is with Canva team plans or Close CRM tiers, the article says so and tells the reader to confirm directly instead of quoting a number with false confidence.
- Second check on every published figure
- Removes claims the sources do not support
- Flags pricing that changes without notice