Side-by-side comparison · AI Assistants & LLMs
Claude vs Microsoft Copilot vs Google Gemini
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Claude
4.6Pick it if: Anyone who writes, researches or makes decisions for a living, plus anyone curious about Claude Code.
Microsoft Copilot
3.6Pick it if: Businesses and people who spend their day in Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams.
Google Gemini
4.2Pick it if: People whose work already runs on Gmail, Google Workspace or an Android phone.
Overview
| Attribute | Claude | Microsoft Copilot | Google Gemini |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Anthropic's chat assistant, at its best on careful writing and long documents. | Microsoft's assistant, free on Windows and built into Word, Excel and Outlook. | Google's assistant, built into Gmail, Docs, Drive and Android phones. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $20/mo | $9.99/mo | $4.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | No | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Claude | Microsoft Copilot | Google Gemini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.6Winner | 3.6 | 4.2 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow much it can do, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 5.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Claude | Microsoft Copilot | Google Gemini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | No |
| Browser extension | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes images | No | Yes | Yes |
| Makes video | No | No | Yes |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | No | Yes |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 14/ 17 | 14/ 17 | 15/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Claude | Microsoft Copilot | Google Gemini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Trying it out and light daily use. | Free Free Trying Copilot chat on Windows or your phone. | Free Free Light use and seeing how it feels. |
ProOur pick $20/mo, or $17/mo billed yearly Anyone who uses it most days. | Microsoft 365 Personal $9.99/mo, or $99.99/yr One person who wants Office plus some Copilot. | Google AI Plus $4.99/mo Casual users who want Gemini in Gmail and more storage. | |
Max From $100/mo Heavy users and people living in Claude Code. | Microsoft 365 PremiumOur pick $19.99/mo, or $199.99/yr Sole traders and households who want the full Copilot in Office. | Google AI ProOur pick $19.99/mo Anyone who works in Google Workspace every day. | |
Team From $20/seat/mo billed yearly Businesses with 2 to 150 people. | Microsoft 365 Copilot (business add-on) $30/user/mo billed yearly Businesses already on a Microsoft 365 business plan. | Google AI Ultra From $99.99/mo Heavy creative and agent users. | |
| Which plan to pick | Start on Free to see if the writing suits you. Most people who stick with it move to Pro within a month; only go to Max if you hit the Pro limits every day or you're running Claude Code for hours at a time. | If you're a sole trader or a household already paying for Microsoft 365, Premium is the easy upgrade. For a business, the $30 add-on only makes sense for the people who live in Excel, Outlook and Teams meetings; give everyone else the free Copilot Chat and a Claude or ChatGPT seat. | Skip the free plan for anything serious now that it's Flash-Lite only. AI Pro is the one to buy: it's the cheapest way to get Gemini 4 Argon plus Gemini in Docs and Gmail, and the 5 TB of storage offsets a Google One bill. Ultra is for people generating video all day. |
Key features
| Attribute | Claude | Microsoft Copilot | Google Gemini |
|---|---|---|---|
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Claude | Microsoft Copilot | Google Gemini |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Claude | Microsoft Copilot | Google Gemini |
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How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability. The "Visit" buttons may use affiliate links, which never affect a score.
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