
Disclosure: NOXI publishes this page. It is a presentation maker, not an assistant, so it sits outside the Copilot vs Gemini head-to-head and appears once, as a reference row in the presentation section, scored on the same seven rules. That is why the rules, the weights and the source of every cell are printed, including the rule where both Microsoft and Google finish ahead of the reference row.
Copilot vs Gemini: on seven printed assistant rules checked on 1 November 2026, Google Gemini scores 94 and Microsoft Copilot 77. On seven presentation rules the order flips: Copilot in PowerPoint 83 against the Gemini app 66, because Copilot edits the PowerPoint file itself while the Gemini app exports to Google Slides or PDF.
Two rubrics, two winners. That is why a single ranking of these two products is always wrong for half the people reading it. Most pages comparing Copilot and Gemini also skip the harder job: saying which Copilot they mean. Microsoft sells four things under that name, and only one of them is free. Everything below comes from Microsoft's and Google's own pages, opened logged out on 1 November 2026, scored on the same seven rules as our ChatGPT vs Gemini and ChatGPT vs Claude pages.
Copilot vs Gemini at a glance (1 November 2026)
Gemini leads Microsoft Copilot by 17 points as an assistant, 94 to 77, and loses by exactly 17 points as a slide maker, 66 to 83: the same two products, two opposite answers.
| Product | Assistant rules (A) | Presentation rules (P) | Why, in one line | Free · cheapest paid (USD, as shown) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Gemini | 94 | 66 (the Gemini app) | Five free capabilities ticked without a Google AI plan, a published 1 million token window, custom MCP on a personal plan | Free $0 "with a Google Account" · Google AI Plus $4.99 a month [1] |
| Microsoft Copilot | 77 | 83 (Copilot in PowerPoint) | Prompts, responses and file contents "aren't used to train foundation models"; Copilot edits the real .pptx in place | Free, "Limited usage with a free Microsoft account" · Microsoft 365 Personal $9.99 a month [12][16] |
The presentation section prints a third row for context: NOXI, a dedicated deck maker you can use inside ChatGPT as a listed plugin and inside Claude as a custom connector, scored 98 on the same seven presentation rules. It is a reference row outside the head-to-head, never a contestant in the Copilot vs Gemini verdict. All prices are US dollar list prices before tax, from the pages named in Sources, opened on 1 November 2026.
Who should pick what
The 17-point assistant gap matters less than where your files already live. Each line rests on one documented fact from the vendor's own page, read on 1 November 2026.
- If you want the most capable free tier, pick Gemini, because Google's feature table ticks all five capabilities the rule counts without a Google AI plan, slide generation and Deep Research among them, while Microsoft describes its free level only as "Limited usage with a free Microsoft account" [2][12].
- If your work is a .pptx that has to stay a .pptx, pick Copilot in PowerPoint, because Microsoft says Copilot "generates or edits content directly within PowerPoint" on Windows, Mac and the web [19].
- If you want your chats kept out of model training without touching a setting, pick Microsoft Copilot, because Microsoft states that prompts, responses and file contents in the Copilot app "aren't used to train foundation models" [16].
- If you feed the assistant very long documents, pick Gemini, because Google publishes a 1 million token context window for AI Pro and AI Ultra, while no Microsoft page we opened publishes a consumer context figure [2].
- If you want to plug your own tools in yourself, pick Gemini, because Google documents adding "a custom app with its Model Context Protocol (MCP) server URL in the Gemini web app" for anyone "18 or over and in the US", where Copilot's personal connectors are a fixed list of OneDrive, Outlook.com, Gmail and Google Drive [7][15].
- If the job is a designed deck with sources on the slides, use a dedicated deck maker, because both assistants score 3 of 5 on the research rule: each documents research, neither documents putting the citation on the slide [5][20].
Key numbers
These four scores are this page's own arithmetic on the printed rules, not a measure of popularity.
Which Copilot are we talking about?
Microsoft uses the word Copilot for four different products, and the scored Copilot row on this page is the consumer Microsoft Copilot app. GitHub Copilot is a fifth, separate coding product, counted here only as one of Microsoft's six surfaces.

| Name | What it is | Who gets it | Price (USD, 1 November 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Microsoft Copilot app | The chat app for personal and work accounts, on web, desktop and mobile | Anyone with a Microsoft account | Free, "Limited usage with a free Microsoft account" [12][16] |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot | A paid work licence that adds Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams | Work accounts on a qualifying Microsoft 365 business plan | "$18.00 user/month, paid yearly", "$25.20 user/month" monthly [17] |
| Copilot Chat | Web-grounded chat Microsoft includes with eligible work plans | Work and school accounts on an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription | "included at no additional cost with eligible Microsoft 365 plans" [17] |
| Microsoft 365 Premium | A consumer subscription sold beside Personal and Family, with agentic AI features | Individuals, no work tenant needed | $19.99 a month, $199.99 a year [12] |
Google's naming is simpler but not tidy either. The Gemini app is the assistant, the Google AI plans (Free, AI Plus, AI Pro, AI Ultra) are the subscription tiers, and Gemini Enterprise is the business product, from "$21 USD per seat per month" for the Business edition [1]. What used to be NotebookLM is now Gemini Notebook: notebooklm.google.com redirects to notebook.google.com, which advertises "Turn your files into Slide decks" [11]. Google prints no date for the rename, so this page does not date it.
How we scored Copilot and Gemini
Both products are scored on documented capability from their own vendors' pages, opened logged out on 1 November 2026, on the same seven rules we apply on every assistant comparison, so a cell can only be filled by a sentence on an official page.
Changed recently: Google updated its Gemini Apps activity and training help page on 26 October 2026, which is the page the training rule rests on; Microsoft moved its Copilot supported-languages page to a new address, with the content unchanged and still dated September 2026; and Microsoft's Copilot add-on discount is still printed with its own window, 1 July to 31 December 2026. Separately, NotebookLM now answers to Gemini Notebook, and Google prints no date for that change.
Two house rules did real work here. A plan-specific statement overrides a general one, so the plan page decides. And silence is not credit: where Microsoft publishes no consumer context window, the cell takes the lower anchor and the alternative is printed as a sensitivity line.
| Code | Criterion | Weight | The rule, identical for both |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Free plan | 20 | Count five capabilities documented for the free plan: web search, file uploads, image generation, file creation (a .docx, .pptx, .xlsx or PDF, or an export to Docs or Slides), connections to other apps. 5 = all five; 4 = four; 3 = three; 2 = two; 1 = none or one. |
| A2 | Entry price | 10 | The cheapest paid tier per month; where the vendor publishes annual billing, the annual price divided by 12. 5 = $10 or less, or no paid tier is needed; 4 = $10.01 to $15; 3 = $15.01 to $20; 2 = $20.01 to $30; 1 = over $30. |
| A3 | Long documents | 10 | The largest context window the vendor publishes for its consumer plan nearest $20 a month. 5 = 1 million tokens or more; 3 = 128K to under 1 million; 2 = not published on an official page that opens logged out; 1 = under 128K. API model pages do not count. |
| A4 | Tools on the plan nearest $20 | 20 | Count six tools documented for that plan: web search, deep research, image generation, voice conversation, file creation, video generation. 5 = five or six; 4 = four; 3 = three; 2 = two; 1 = none or one. Dictation into the message box is not voice conversation. |
| A5 | Add-ons for individuals | 15 | 5 = custom MCP connectors on free and paid personal plans; 4 = custom MCP on paid personal plans only, or on personal plans with age or region limits; 3 = an app or plugin directory for individuals, with custom MCP only in business workspaces; 2 = built-in links to a few named services; 1 = none documented. |
| A6 | Training control | 15 | 5 = the vendor states that consumer chats are not used to train its models; 4 = an opt-out setting plus a chat mode excluded from training; 3 = an opt-out setting only; 2 = opt-out only by request or form; 1 = no opt-out stated. |
| A7 | Where it works | 10 | Count six surfaces: web, desktop app, mobile app, a browser extension or the vendor's own browser, an office-suite add-in or integration, the vendor's own coding agent. 5 = six; 4 = five; 3 = four; 2 = three; 1 = two or fewer. |
The assistant table: Gemini 94, Microsoft Copilot 77
Gemini scores 94 and Microsoft Copilot 77: Gemini gains 20 points across three rules, the free plan (+8), long documents (+6) and add-ons (+6), and Copilot takes 3 back on training control, which is the one rule where it finishes ahead.

| Criterion | Google Gemini: rating and reason | Microsoft Copilot: rating and reason | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Free plan (20) | 5 Google's feature table ticks Canvas, Connected apps, slide generation, Deep Research and image generation in the "Without a Google AI plan" column; uploads carry no plan limit [2][4] | 3 Three of the five count: web search, file uploads, which "applies to: All Microsoft Copilot experiences", and AI image generation at "Limited usage with a free Microsoft account". File creation and connectors are scoped to paid plans [12][13][14] | Gemini +8 |
| A2 Entry price (10) | 5 Google AI Plus at "$4.99 / month" on the page whose region label reads "United States" [1] | 5 Microsoft 365 Personal at "$9.99/month", "$99.99/year" [12] | Level |
| A3 Long documents (10) | 5 "AI Pro & AI Ultra, 1 million tokens" in Google's own context-window table; the plan nearest $20 is AI Pro at $19.99 [1][2] | 2 No consumer context window is published on any Microsoft page we opened, so the "not published" anchor applies | Gemini +6 |
| A4 Tools at about $20 (20) | 5 AI Pro lists Deep Research, video credits, Gemini Notebook and Gemini in Gmail, Docs and Vids; slide and image generation are ticked from the free tier up [1][2] | 5 The Premium column lists advanced chat, visual AI from screen or camera, AI-generated audio, agentic research and analytics, and AI image creation [12] | Level |
| A5 Add-ons (15) | 4 "add a custom app with its Model Context Protocol (MCP) server URL in the Gemini web app", conditions "Be 18 or over and in the US.", "Have Keep Activity on." and a personal Google Account, since work and school accounts are not supported. No plan required, so the age and region band applies [7] | 2 "Copilot connectors allow you to link Microsoft Copilot to other services, such as OneDrive, Outlook.com, Gmail, and Google Drive", on paid personal plans. Named services, no MCP [15] | Gemini +6 |
| A6 Training control (15) | 4 "Temporary chats are not used to train Google's AI models." plus an opt-out: with Keep Activity off and no feedback, Google "does not use your future chats to improve its AI models" [8] | 5 "Prompts, responses, and your file contents when using the Microsoft Copilot app aren't used to train foundation models." [16] | Copilot +3 |
| A7 Where it works (10) | 5 Gemini on Mac and Windows, mobile, Gemini in Chrome, Gemini in Gmail, Docs and Vids, and Google Antigravity. Six surfaces [1][9] | 5 The Copilot app "on web, desktop, or mobile", Copilot in Edge, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and GitHub Copilot. Six surfaces [16] | Level |
| Total | 94 (100+50+50+100+60+60+50 = 470, divided by 5) | 77 (60+50+20+100+30+75+50 = 385, divided by 5) | Gemini +17 |
Where the 17 points come from
Four cells move, three are level: A1 +8, A3 +6 and A5 +6 to Gemini, A6 minus 3 to Copilot, with A2, A4 and A7 tied. Each Gemini lead is a different kind of thing: a free plan that does more, a number Microsoft does not publish, and a door for your own tools.
What would change the result
Each line below exists because an official page is silent somewhere.
- Copilot 81 if Microsoft's own app page sentence about creating PowerPoint files is counted on the free tier (A1 4). The gap would fall to 13.
- Copilot 73 if web search is not counted on the free tier (A1 2), because no Microsoft page we opened enumerates the free baseline beyond "Limited usage with a free Microsoft account".
- Copilot 75 if GitHub Copilot is not read as Microsoft's own coding agent (A7 4).
If you want ChatGPT in the comparison as well, our Copilot vs Gemini vs ChatGPT for presentations page runs the three-way version for slide work, and ChatGPT vs Copilot covers the other two-way pairing on the same rubric.
Is Copilot free, and what does free cover?
Yes, the Microsoft Copilot app is free with a Microsoft account, and that free tier takes 3 of 5 on the free-plan rule against Gemini's 5, because Microsoft describes the free level in one phrase only, "Limited usage with a free Microsoft account", and never enumerates what the baseline includes [12].
Three of the rule's five capabilities are documented without a paid plan: web search, from the privacy FAQ [14]; file uploads, because the upload article says it "applies to: All Microsoft Copilot experiences, personal accounts (Personal, Family, Premium, Pro), work or school accounts, and free Copilot Chat" [13]; and AI image generation, at "Limited usage with a free Microsoft account" [12]. File creation and connectors are scoped to paid personal plans, so neither counts [12][15].
The four questions people actually type have four different answers, in Microsoft's own terms.
| The question | The documented answer on 1 November 2026 |
|---|---|
| Is Copilot free? | The Microsoft Copilot app is, with "Limited usage with a free Microsoft account" [12] |
| Is Copilot free with Microsoft 365? | Copilot in the desktop Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps comes with the consumer plans from Personal at $9.99 a month; it is included in the plan price, not an extra fee [12] |
| Is Copilot free for personal use? | Yes, at the limited free level of the app. The deeper features sit in Personal, Family or Premium [12] |
| Is Copilot free at work? | Copilot Chat is "included at no additional cost with eligible Microsoft 365 plans"; the full work licence is the paid Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on at $18.00 per user a month paid yearly [17] |
Is Gemini free?
Gemini's free tier is the more generous of the two on documented capability, which is why Gemini takes the full 20 points on A1. Google's feature table marks Canvas, Connected apps, slide generation, Deep Research and image generation with a checkmark in the "Without a Google AI plan" column, and the subscriptions page sells the free tier as "$0 / month" "with a Google Account" [1][2]. The free column does not carry the daily brief, tasks, video generation or scheduled actions.
Two free plans, two shapes: Google documents what its free tier can do, feature by feature, while Microsoft documents that its free tier exists and is limited. A rule that reads only official pages rewards the first.
If your goal is a presentation: the order flips
On the presentation rules the result reverses: Copilot in PowerPoint scores 83 and the Gemini app 66, a 17-point gap in Microsoft's favour, driven almost entirely by editing depth.
We re-applied the rules of our AI presentation tools ranking on 1 November 2026. The ranking page does not show these rows: the rules are the ranking's, the scoring is this page's. Points = rating divided by 5, times the weight. P1 editable PPTX export (20), P2 editing depth (20), P3 research with sources on the slide (15), P4 import of PDF, Word, Excel or CSV, PowerPoint and images with a stated limit (15), P5 languages including a documented right-to-left layout (10), P6 free plan reality (10), P7 where it runs (10).
| Row | P1 | P2 | P3 | P4 | P5 | P6 | P7 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copilot in PowerPoint | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 83 |
| Gemini app (Canvas) | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 66 |
| ref · NOXI, a dedicated deck maker you can use inside ChatGPT as a listed plugin and inside Claude as a custom connector | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 98 |
The gap, cell by cell. Copilot in PowerPoint minus the Gemini app = 17, made of P2 +12, P1 +4, P4 +3, P7 +2 and P6 minus 4, with a tie on P3 and P5. The biggest component is editing depth: Microsoft documents four levels of AI editing inside the deck, Google's Canvas one level plus manual editing. The Gemini app leads on the free-plan rule by 4, because slide generation is ticked without a Google AI plan while Copilot in PowerPoint offers a one-month trial [2][18].
- Copilot in PowerPoint, 83. P1 and P2 take full marks because Copilot "generates or edits content directly within PowerPoint" and the same page shows whole-deck, slide-range, element and brand-style prompts, on Windows, Mac and the web [19]. P3 is 3: "Copilot's response cites the sources it uses", in the response rather than on the slide [20]. P4 is 4: "we support creating a presentation based off a single Word file", a PDF on work accounts and an attached image, "with support for one file at a time" [21]. P5 is 4, Arabic in the language list with no right-to-left layout statement [22]. P6 is 2, because the route is a paid Microsoft 365 licence after a one-month trial [18].
- The Gemini app, 66. P1 is 4 on Google's own export sentence, which names Google Slides and PDF and no .pptx [3]. P2 is 2 because Canvas documents creating or editing "a doc, app, slides, or code", with selection editing shown under apps and docs rather than slides [3]. P3 is 3: "By default, Gemini includes Google Search as a source for your research", with no on-slide placement [5]. P4 is 3, because "Gemini Apps support most file types" and files "can be up to 100 MB" without itemising the five types [4]. P5 is 4 on the language list [6]. P6 is 4, free slide generation ticked with no allowance number stated, and P7 is 4, because the "Connected apps" row is ticked without a plan [2].
- The reference row, 98. NOXI builds a designed deck from a topic, brief or outline. Decks started from a prompt research the web first and put a source line on slides that carry figures. You can change the whole deck, one slide or one selected element by chat, or upload a PowerPoint, PDF or image as the style to match. It imports PDF, Word, Excel or CSV, PowerPoint and images up to 200 MB per file, builds right-to-left Arabic slides with four Arabic fonts, and exports an editable PowerPoint (.pptx) with real text boxes and embedded fonts, or a PDF, with no watermark. Each free account gets 1,000 credits a month and a full deck uses about 25.
Sensitivity lines. The Gemini app falls to 58 if only a .pptx is read as a deck file export (P1 2), and sits at 64 on the earlier reading that does not count Connected apps as connectors (P7 3), which is still what the live ranking page shows. Copilot in PowerPoint falls to 80 on the strict import reading, where a Word file, a PDF on a work account and an attached image count as three types rather than four (P4 3), which narrows the gap to 14. The reference row is 89 when a deck starts from an attached file, because research is prompt-started and off by default from a file (P3 2), and 94 without the connector and the plugin (P7 2).
Both Microsoft and Google finish ahead of the reference row on P7, where it runs: each sits inside an office suite, while the reference row runs in the browser, as a listed plugin in ChatGPT's plugin directory and as a custom connector in Claude. Anthropic's help page states that free users are limited to one custom connector, so that route costs one slot. Our NOXI ChatGPT plugin page walks through the directory route, and Best AI for PPT (November 2026) scores ten tools on these same seven rules.
Two prompts worth copying
"Outline a [12]-slide decision deck for [audience] on [topic]. Every slide title must be a full-sentence finding, not a label. Put the recommendation on slide [2], the evidence on slides [3 to 8], the cost table on slide [9], and the risks and owners on slide [11]. Show me the outline before you design anything."
"Keep the structure but cut slides [5] and [7], merge [8] into [6], and add a slide comparing the two options on cost, time and risk. Keep body text under 30 words a slide. Now build it."
Inside your suite: PowerPoint against Google Slides
The slide question is a routing question before it is a quality one: Copilot edits the .pptx you already opened, while the Gemini app documents exactly two export routes, Google Slides and PDF, which is why its export cell is 4 rather than 5.

Copilot inside PowerPoint. Microsoft's page is dated "Last Updated: Oct 2026" and describes a sidebar that works on the real deck, on Windows, Mac and the web, with Brand Kit prompts for enterprise users and the line "you must have a Microsoft Copilot license to access Brand Kit" [19]. Two limits on Microsoft's own FAQ are easy to miss: "Copilot in PowerPoint can only be used with PowerPoint files (.ppt, .pptx)", and "some features only work if the user also has a Designer license" [21].
Gemini inside Google Slides is narrower than it first looks. Google's help page says slide generation there "requires an eligible Google Workspace or Google AI plan" and is "currently available on desktop and in English only" [10]. Google names no specific tier, so this page names none either.
Gemini Notebook, the product formerly called NotebookLM, advertises "Turn your files into Slide decks" and names no export format at all, so nothing here claims it produces a .pptx [11].
The practical rule is short. A deck that starts and ends as a .pptx on a Microsoft 365 plan belongs to Copilot in PowerPoint. One that starts and ends in Google Slides belongs to the Gemini app. One that has to leave your suite as a designed, editable .pptx belongs to neither, which is what the reference row is doing here.
Training and data control, where Copilot leads
Microsoft Copilot takes the only rule it wins outright, training control, with 5 of 5 against Gemini's 4, worth 3 points of the assistant table.
Microsoft's sentence is unconditional and needs no setting changed: "Prompts, responses, and your file contents when using the Microsoft Copilot app aren't used to train foundation models." The page describes the app as "available as of August 18, 2026" [16]. That is the top anchor of the rule as written.
Google's position sits a notch below, and the notch is real rather than rhetorical. Google documents a mode and a switch: "Temporary chats are not used to train Google's AI models.", and "If Keep Activity is off and you don't submit feedback, Google also does not use your future chats to improve its AI models." That is an opt-out plus a training-free mode, which is anchor 4, not anchor 5. The page is dated "Last updated: October 26, 2026" [8].
Read the pair before you let a score decide it. Gemini's arrangement is a setting you control, which some teams prefer to a vendor statement; Microsoft's applies by default, which other teams prefer. The rule rewards the default and says so in its anchors. Neither reaches where the data physically sits.
Copilot vs Gemini price, with currency and date
On personal plans the two ladders run close: Google AI Plus at $4.99 undercuts Microsoft 365 Personal at $9.99, and at the $20 step Google AI Pro at $19.99 and Microsoft 365 Premium at $19.99 are identical.
Every figure below was served in US dollars on 1 November 2026 to a logged-out request. The same day, Google's one.google.com plans page served UAE dirhams to a server-side fetch, so no price here comes from it. Gemini prices come from the subscriptions page whose own region label reads "United States" [1], Microsoft's from the US compare page and the Copilot pricing page [12][17].
| Step | Google (USD, 1 Nov 2026) | Microsoft (USD, 1 Nov 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Gemini "$0 / month" "with a Google Account" [1] | Microsoft Copilot app, "Limited usage with a free Microsoft account" [12] |
| Entry | Google AI Plus "$4.99 / month" [1] | Microsoft 365 Personal "$9.99/month", "$99.99/year" [12] |
| Family | No separate family tier is listed on the subscriptions page [1] | Microsoft 365 Family "$12.99/month", "$129.99/year" [12] |
| About $20 | Google AI Pro "$19.99 / month" [1] | Microsoft 365 Premium "$19.99/month", "$199.99/year" [12] |
| Top personal | Google AI Ultra "Starting at: $99.99 / month", with a $199.99 a month step for 20 times AI Pro's usage limits [1] | Not listed as a consumer step on the compare page [12] |
| Work | Gemini Enterprise Business "Starting at: $21 USD per seat per month"; Standard and Plus "Starting at: $30 USD per seat per month" [1] | Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on "$18.00 user/month, paid yearly" or "$25.20 user/month"; Copilot Chat at no additional cost [17] |
Where the yearly maths bites. Microsoft prints the saving beside each plan: "Save $19.89 with a yearly plan" on Personal, "Save $25.89 with a yearly plan" on Family and "Save $39.89 with a yearly plan" on Premium. Premium checks out by hand: 12 times $19.99 = $239.88 on monthly billing against $199.99 once a year, a difference of $39.89, which is $39.89 divided by $239.88 = 16.6% of the monthly-billed cost [12].
And the work discount. Microsoft's Copilot pricing page still shows "Originally starting from $21.00 now starting from $18.00" with its window beside it, "This discount offer is available between July 1, 2026, and December 31, 2026." Over a year that is 12 times $18.00 = $216.00 per seat against 12 times $21.00 = $252.00 at list, a difference of $36.00 a seat [17]. If you are budgeting a 2027 renewal, the window ends inside this calendar year.
Outside the United States, open the vendor's own page in your country before you commit: the same URLs served us a different currency the same day.
What these rules don't measure
Fourteen rules across two rubrics still leave out most of what people argue about, and several gaps favour the product that scores lower.
- Answer quality, accuracy and hallucination rates. No official page documents them in a comparable form, so no rule can score them. Give both the same brief and judge for yourself.
- Copilot's data position. Microsoft states plainly that app prompts, responses and file contents are not used to train foundation models. That is a genuine advantage, and it is why Copilot wins the training rule rather than merely matching it.
- Copilot's enterprise surface. Work IQ, Copilot in Teams, prebuilt agents such as Researcher, Analyst and Facilitator, advanced analytics for licensed organisations, and admin deployment of the add-ins. None of that is a consumer rule.
- Gemini's media and research depth. Deep Research, video credits, Google's image models, Gemini Notebook and Google Antigravity. The rubric counts whether a tool exists, never how good it is.
- Working inside the suite you already pay for. Copilot edits the actual .pptx; Gemini sits in Gmail, Docs, Vids and Chrome. Neither advantage is a rubric cell beyond A7 and P7.
- Voice and image quality, regional availability, compliance, data residency, and price per seat at scale. Any of them can decide a purchase; the entry-price rule reads one number, and a 200-seat negotiation does not.
Worked example: an office manager choosing one assistant
For a fictional office manager on Google Workspace who must hand .pptx files to a client, the general answer is Gemini, the slide answer would be Copilot on a Microsoft plan, and the practical answer costs $0 extra.
Step one, the general question. On the assistant rules Gemini scores 94 and Microsoft Copilot 77, and the studio is already on Google Workspace, so Gemini also wins the part the rules do not measure: nobody has to move.
Step two, the slide question. The order flips to Copilot in PowerPoint 83 against the Gemini app 66. But that 83 is only available if the studio buys into Microsoft 365, because Copilot in PowerPoint's free-plan cell is 2, a one-month trial [18].
Step three, the file, which is where the decision is actually made. The Gemini app's documented exports are "Export to Slides" and a PDF, and Google's page names no .pptx [3]. Her client wants a .pptx. Two paths, then: pay for a second suite she does not otherwise need, or keep Gemini and use a dedicated deck maker for the monthly deck.
| Option | Calculation | 12 months, one person |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Pro, the plan nearest $20 | 12 times $19.99 | $239.88 |
| Google AI Plus, the entry plan | 12 times $4.99 | $59.88 |
| Microsoft 365 Premium, added as a second suite | Billed once a year | $199.99 |
| Microsoft 365 Personal, the cheapest route to Copilot in PowerPoint | Billed once a year | $99.99 |
| 12 monthly client decks on a free NOXI account | 1 deck times 25 credits = 25 of 1,000 monthly credits | $0 |
The arithmetic, checked twice. Adding Microsoft 365 Personal purely for Copilot in PowerPoint costs $99.99 a year on top of whatever Google plan she keeps. One deck a month uses 25 of the 1,000 monthly credits on a free account, which is 25 divided by 1,000 = 2.5% of the allowance, so twelve decks a year cost nothing. Choosing Google AI Plus over AI Pro saves $239.88 minus $59.88 = $180.00 a year, which is 75.0% of the AI Pro cost.
Decision. Google AI Plus at $59.88 a year as the studio's general assistant, and the monthly client deck built in a dedicated deck maker on a free account, downloaded as an editable .pptx. Microsoft 365 is not bought, because its one clear win here is a $99.99 a year answer to a problem a free route already solves. Review on 1 March 2027, and sooner if Google names a .pptx export on its Canvas page, which would move the P1 cell and with it this decision.
Build it: review the outline first, then let NOXI design
When the structure matters more than the speed, use Plan mode on NOXI's Home: approve or rewrite the outline before a single slide is designed, then download an editable PowerPoint. One flow, six steps.
Step 1 · Open NOXI and choose Review the outline first
On noxi.ai Home, pick the mode that reviews the outline first instead of generating straight away. Plan mode is the slower of the two on purpose: it stops before the design step and shows you the plan.
Step 2 · Type the topic the way you would brief a colleague
Say who the audience is, what decision the deck supports, and roughly how many slides you want. Paste Prompt 1 for a decision-deck shape. A deck started from a prompt researches the topic first, so name the period and the market you want covered.
Step 3 · Read the outline before anything is designed
NOXI shows the section plan: the slide titles and what each slide will carry. This is the cheapest moment to argue with the deck, because nothing has been designed yet.
Step 4 · Rewrite the outline until the argument is right
Cut a section, merge two, reorder them, or rewrite a title so it states a finding rather than a label. Paste Prompt 2 for the whole set of changes in one go, then approve the plan.
Step 5 · Let it build, then edit by chat
Watch the slides being drawn. Ask for changes to one slide or the whole deck, click an element and say what to change, or edit text, tables and chart numbers yourself. Slides with figures get a source line linking to where the number came from.
Step 6 · Download the PowerPoint
Download an editable PowerPoint (.pptx) with real text boxes and embedded fonts, or a PDF, with no watermark. You can also present full-screen, share a view-only or edit link, or invite a colleague by email to edit with you in real time.
For the same seven presentation rules across ten tools, readBest AI for PPT (November 2026); for everyday office jobs, Best AI tools for work (November 2026); and for the cheap-against-complete pairing, DeepSeek vs ChatGPT.
Copilot vs Gemini: FAQ
- Copilot or Gemini, which is better?
- It depends on the job, and the numbers say so. On seven assistant rules checked on 1 November 2026, Google Gemini scores 94 and Microsoft Copilot 77. On seven presentation rules the order flips: Copilot in PowerPoint 83 against the Gemini app 66. Pick Gemini for general work, Copilot for PowerPoint files.
- Is Copilot free?
- Yes, the Microsoft Copilot app is free with a Microsoft account, described by Microsoft only as "Limited usage with a free Microsoft account". Chat, limited AI image generation and file uploads are documented without a paid plan. File creation and connectors are scoped to paid personal plans, as checked on 1 November 2026.
- Is Copilot free with Microsoft 365?
- Copilot in the desktop Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps comes with the consumer Microsoft 365 plans, starting at Personal for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, so it is included in the plan rather than charged on top. At work, Copilot Chat is "included at no additional cost with eligible Microsoft 365 plans". Checked 1 November 2026.
- Is Gemini free?
- Yes. Google lists Gemini at "$0 / month" "with a Google Account", and its feature table ticks Canvas, Connected apps, slide generation, Deep Research and image generation in the "Without a Google AI plan" column. Daily brief, tasks, video generation and scheduled actions are not ticked for free, as checked on 1 November 2026.
- Which one is better for PowerPoint?
- Copilot in PowerPoint, 83 against the Gemini app's 66 on seven presentation rules checked on 1 November 2026. Microsoft says Copilot "generates or edits content directly within PowerPoint" on Windows, Mac and the web, so the file you opened is the file you keep. It needs a paid Microsoft 365 plan after a one-month trial.
- Which one is better for Google Slides?
- Gemini, but more narrowly than it sounds. The Gemini app's Canvas offers "Click Export to Slides", and slide generation inside Google Slides itself "requires an eligible Google Workspace or Google AI plan" and is "currently available on desktop and in English only", per Google's help page on 1 November 2026. Google names no specific tier.
- Does Copilot use ChatGPT?
- In Microsoft's own words, its work versions let you choose the model. The PowerPoint model page names "Claude from Anthropic and ChatGPT from OpenAI" with the options "Auto", "ChatGPT" or "Claude", and adds that the switcher "requires a commercial Microsoft Copilot subscription". Microsoft names no model behind the free consumer app. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Which one trains on my data?
- Microsoft states that prompts, responses and file contents in the Copilot app "aren't used to train foundation models", which takes 5 of 5 on our training rule. Google documents an opt-out plus a training-free mode: "Temporary chats are not used to train Google's AI models." That scores 4 of 5. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Which is cheaper for one person?
- Google. Google AI Plus is "$4.99 / month" against Microsoft 365 Personal at "$9.99/month" or "$99.99/year". At the $20 step the two are level: Google AI Pro $19.99 a month and Microsoft 365 Premium $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year. These are US dollar list prices read logged out on 1 November 2026.
- Can either of them hand me an editable .pptx?
- Copilot can, because it works inside the .pptx you already opened on a Microsoft 365 plan. The Gemini app's documented exports are Google Slides and PDF, and no Google page we opened names .pptx. A dedicated deck maker scores 98 on the same seven rules as a reference row and exports an editable .pptx with real text boxes.
Sources & methodology
Every price, plan feature, export route and privacy sentence here comes from Microsoft's or Google's own pages, opened logged out on 1 November 2026. The scores are documented capability on printed rules, not a new hands-on test, and they do not rate answer quality. Sofia Marchetti and her Milan studio are fictional; every calculation was recomputed a second time. The reference row's cells come from NOXI's product documentation, its ChatGPT plugin listing and noxi.ai/connect.
- [1] Gemini "$0 / month" with a Google Account, Google AI Plus "$4.99 / month", AI Pro "$19.99 / month", AI Ultra "Starting at: $99.99 / month"; Gemini Enterprise "Starting at: $21 USD per seat per month" and "$30 USD per seat per month"; page region label "United States" · Google, Gemini subscriptions (US).
- [2] Feature-availability table, "Without a Google AI plan" column: Canvas, Connected apps, Slide generation, Deep Research and image generation ticked; context-window table "AI Pro & AI Ultra, 1 million tokens" · Google Help, Gemini Apps feature availability.
- [3] "To open slides in Google Slides: Click Export to Slides . You can also choose to export slides as a PDF."; "You can collaborate with Gemini in Canvas to create or edit a doc, app, slides, or code." · Google Help, Create slides with Canvas in the Gemini app.
- [4] "Gemini Apps support most file types."; files "can be up to 100 MB" · Google Help, Upload files to Gemini Apps.
- [5] "By default, Gemini includes Google Search as a source for your research." · Google Help, Deep Research in the Gemini app.
- [6] Supported-language list including Arabic, with no right-to-left layout statement · Google Help, Gemini Apps languages.
- [7] "add a custom app with its Model Context Protocol (MCP) server URL in the Gemini web app"; "Be 18 or over and in the US."; "Have Keep Activity on."; a personal Google Account is required, and work or school accounts are not supported ·Google Help, Connect custom apps to Gemini.
- [8] "Temporary chats are not used to train Google's AI models."; "If Keep Activity is off and you don't submit feedback, Google also does not use your future chats to improve its AI models."; "Last updated: October 26, 2026" · Google Help, Gemini Apps Activity and your data.
- [9] "Use the Gemini app on Mac"; the Windows app, Gemini in Chrome and Google Antigravity are listed on the same help family · Google Help, Use the Gemini app on Mac.
- [10] "This feature requires an eligible Google Workspace or Google AI plan."; "This feature is currently available on desktop and in English only." · Google Help, Generate slides with Gemini in Google Slides.
- [11] Product name "Gemini Notebook"; "Turn your files into Slide decks"; notebooklm.google.com redirects here; no export format and no date shown · Google, Gemini Notebook.
- [12] Microsoft 365 Personal "$9.99/month" "$99.99/year", Family "$12.99/month" "$129.99/year", Premium "$19.99/month" "$199.99/year"; "Save $19.89 with a yearly plan" on Personal, "Save $25.89" on Family, "Save $39.89" on Premium; "Limited usage with a free Microsoft account"; Premium column tools ·Microsoft, Compare all Microsoft 365 plans (US).
- [13] "This article applies to: All Microsoft Copilot experiences, personal accounts (Personal, Family, Premium, Pro), work or school accounts, and free Copilot Chat." · Microsoft Support, File upload in Microsoft Copilot.
- [14] Web search in the consumer Copilot app · Microsoft Support, Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot.
- [15] "Copilot connectors allow you to link Microsoft Copilot to other services, such as OneDrive, Outlook.com, Gmail, and Google Drive"; "This article applies to: Personal Microsoft accounts, Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, Premium, Pro." · Microsoft Support, Connecting Microsoft Copilot to other services.
- [16] "Prompts, responses, and your file contents when using the Microsoft Copilot app aren't used to train foundation models."; "available as of August 18, 2026"; "the Microsoft Copilot app on web, desktop, or mobile" · Microsoft Support, Copilot activity history.
- [17] "Originally starting from $21.00 now starting from $18.00"; "$18.00 user/month, paid yearly"; "$25.20 user/month"; "This discount offer is available between July 1, 2026, and December 31, 2026."; "Copilot Chat is a web-grounded AI assistant included at no additional cost with eligible Microsoft 365 plans." · Microsoft, Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing.
- [18] "Try free for 1 month" on Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium, the individual plans that carry Copilot in PowerPoint ·Microsoft, Copilot plans for individuals.
- [19] "generates or edits content directly within PowerPoint"; "Build a 12-slide business review for my leadership team"; "Update slides 4-6 for a UK audience."; Brand Kit; "Copilot, including Brand Kit, is available in PowerPoint for Windows, Mac, and the web."; "Last Updated: Oct 2026" · Microsoft Support, Edit with Copilot in PowerPoint.
- [20] "Copilot's response cites the sources it uses, so you know where information comes from." · Microsoft Support, Connectors with Copilot in PowerPoint.
- [21] "we support creating a presentation based off a single Word file"; "you'll also have the option to use a PDF"; "with support for one file at a time"; "some features only work if the user also has a Designer license"; "Copilot in PowerPoint can only be used with PowerPoint files (.ppt, .pptx)" · Microsoft Support, FAQ about Copilot in PowerPoint.
- [22] Supported languages including Arabic; "Microsoft Copilot supports fewer languages than what's available for the UI"; "Last updated: September 2026" · Microsoft Support, Supported languages for Microsoft 365 Copilot.
- [23] "Claude from Anthropic and ChatGPT from OpenAI"; options "Auto", "ChatGPT", or "Claude"; "Using the model switcher when editing with Copilot in PowerPoint requires a commercial Microsoft Copilot subscription." · Microsoft Support, Choose your model when editing with Copilot in PowerPoint.
- [24] One server address mcp.noxi.ai/mcp for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code and Codex · NOXI, Connect NOXI to your AI assistant.
- [25] NOXI listed in ChatGPT's plugin directory, subtitle "AI presentation maker", with Install plugin and Connect · ChatGPT plugin directory, NOXI.



