Microsoft have made Cowork generally available

Following a three-month preview through the Frontier programme, Microsoft has now made Cowork generally available. Offering a consumption-based model,it is accessible alongside Microsoft 365 Copilot experiences and is designed to help users save more time by automating longer and more complex tasks. 

Why have these changes been made? 

Microsoft has introduced Copilot Cowork to help businesses reduce the amount of time spent on repetitive tasks and manual processes. While Copilot already helps users create content, find information and analyse data, people still needed to complete much of the work themselves. 

While Microsoft 365 Copilot has focused on helping users draft content, summarise information and generate insights, Cowork moves beyond assistance into action — turning intent into structured plans that run in the background across applications, data and workflows. 

In practical terms, this creates a clear distinction: 

• Copilot helps you do work faster through conversation and assistance 

• Copilot Cowork helps you get work done by autonomously executing tasks across your business systems 

What has changed? 

How Copilot Cowork works 

Copilot Cowork allows users to describe the outcome they want and then lets Copilot complete the work for them. Rather than creating a first draft, it can plan tasks, gather information, generate outputs and deliver a finished result. 

When a task is submitted, Cowork creates a plan and continues working in the background. Users can review progress, approve actions and make changes whenever needed. This helps reduce the amount of manual effort required while keeping the user in control. 

What makes Cowork different 

Cowork has been designed differently from traditional AI assistants. Rather than relying on information stored locally on your device, Cowork runs securely in Microsoft’s cloud environment, meaning tasks can continue running even when your laptop is closed. This makes it well suited to larger pieces of work that may take longer to complete. 

Another key difference is its use of Work IQ. Every task is grounded in information your business already works with, including emails, meetings, files, chats and connected business systems. This helps ensure outputs are based on real business context rather than generic information. 

Microsoft has also focused heavily on security and compliance. Cowork operates within your existing Microsoft 365 environment, following the permissions, policies and controls already in place across your business. On top of this, Cowork supports multiple AI models, allowing Microsoft to use the best model for different types of work while helping businesses balance performance and cost. 

Grounded in your work with Work IQ 

Cowork is powered by Work IQ, which helps it understand your business’s data and context. This means it can use information from your emails, meetings, files, chats and connected systems to complete tasks using the information you already work with every day. 

Because Cowork operates in the cloud, tasks can continue running even after you close your laptop. Once completed, outputs are stored securely in OneDrive, making them easier to access and share with colleagues. 

Where Cowork sits 

It’s important to understand how Cowork fits alongside the Copilot experiences many businesses already use: 

• Copilot Chat (Basic) – An entry point into AI, combining web and business data to answer questions, generate content and support everyday tasks. 

• Microsoft 365 Copilot – Integrated directly into apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, helping users work more efficiently across daily activities. 

• Copilot Cowork – Built on top of Microsoft 365 Copilot, Cowork enables users to delegate complex, multi-step work end-to-end. It uses Work IQ to apply business context and is billed on a usage basis, rather than a fixed per-user licence. 

The new billing model 

Copilot Cowork requires the Microsoft 365 Copilot User Subscription Licence (USL) as a requirement, and Cowork sits on top of this licence and introduces usage-based billing for the work it performs. 

Rather than charging solely on a per-user basis, Cowork calculates costs based on factors such as model usage, context retrieval, tool calls and runtime. This means businesses are charged based on the amount of AI work being completed rather than simply the number of licensed users. 

Copilot Credits 

Usage within Cowork is measured using Copilot Credits. Every task consumes credits and the amount used will depend on how much work the request requires. More complex tasks that use additional data, tools or reasoning will generally consume more credits than simple requests. 

One useful feature is the ability to check the estimated cost before running a task. By typing /cost into Cowork, users can view an estimate of how many credits the task is expected to consume before committing. This provides greater visibility and can help businesses understand and manage costs before usage begins. 

Microsoft has identified three common task types which can impact the number of credits consumed. 

• Light tasks use a smaller number of knowledge sources, apply limited reasoning and produce fewer outputs. 

• Medium tasks draw on multiple sources of information, use more structured reasoning and generate several outputs. 

• Heavy tasks use larger amounts of data, apply deeper reasoning and generate multiple outputs across different formats. 

Understanding these categories can help businesses estimate usage more accurately and plan budgets before rolling Cowork out to larger groups of users. 

Credits can be purchased through two different options. 

Pay as you go 

• £0.01 per Copilot Credit 

• Charged based on actual usage 

• Flexible for changing workloads 

• Only pay for what is used 

This option is ideal for businesses that want flexibility or are still exploring how they plan to use Cowork. 

Prepaid Copilot Credits  

• Lower cost per credit 

• Predictable spending 

• Purchased annually 

This option is better suited to businesses expecting regular usage and looking for greater cost predictability as adoption grows. 

Copilot Cowork supports multiple AI models rather than relying on a single provider. 

At launch, Cowork supports Anthropic models including Opus 4.8 and Sonnet 4.6, with GPT 5.5 also available through Microsoft’s Frontier programme. 

Microsoft has also announced an upcoming model called Cowork 1. This model has been designed specifically for everyday Copilot workloads and aims to provide lower-cost AI processing for routine tasks. Having multiple models available helps businesses balance capability, performance and cost depending on the work being completed. 

Managing and controlling cost 

To help businesses manage spending, Microsoft has introduced a range of cost controls and reporting tools. 

Administrators can decide who can access Cowork, apply spending limits and create alerts when usage reaches certain thresholds. Controls can be applied at tenant, group or user level, giving businesses flexibility over how AI is adopted across the business. 

Microsoft has also introduced reporting capabilities that provide greater visibility into how credits are being used. This makes it easier to understand where costs are coming from and identify opportunities to optimise usage over time. 

New security and compliance capabilities 

Cowork’s prompts, responses and generated files remain within Microsoft’s existing security and compliance framework. 

Cowork runs within Microsoft 365’s existing security and governance boundaries. Identity, permissions and compliance policies continue to apply, helping businesses maintain control over how information is accessed and used. 

Microsoft has also adopted a multi-model approach by working with providers such as Anthropic alongside its own AI technologies. This allows Copilot to select the most appropriate model for different workloads while maintaining security and governance standards.