At a glance
Microsoft Copilot vs askFinz
Row by row — what each one does, and what it does not.
| Compared on | Microsoft Copilot | askFinz |
|---|---|---|
| Where it is strongest | Inside Microsoft 365 — Word, Excel, Teams, Outlook | Alongside whatever tools you use, in any ecosystem |
| Your own company data | Yes, via the Microsoft Graph — emails, meetings, SharePoint | No — it does not index your document store |
| Models | OpenAI models powering Microsoft's products | Many leading models in one place, chosen per task |
| Research | Grounded in your Microsoft 365 content | Research on an index askFinz reads and holds, read ahead of the question |
| What comes back | An answer with links into your tenancy | The matched passage and the address it was read from |
| Content structure | Your files, as your tenancy stores them | Filed as what it is — a judgment, a standard, a filing, with its identifier |
| Automation | Power Automate — a separate product and licence | Workflow — in the same login |
| Where it runs | Microsoft 365 web, desktop apps, Teams, Windows | Workspaces, a browser extension, a desktop app and an OS, on one sign-in |
Swipe the table sideways to see both columns.
No subscription prices are compared here. Both sides change plans, and a figure that was true last quarter is worse than none. Check pricing and Microsoft's own page.
What Microsoft Copilot is
Copilot is AI assistance integrated across Microsoft 365. Its strength is depth: it surfaces relevant emails, meeting notes, documents and SharePoint content directly inside the apps people already use. Asking "what did we agree in last week's Teams meeting?" and returns a sourced answer from your own organisation's data, and requires no change to how people already work in Word, Outlook and Excel. For a large enterprise already committed to the ecosystem, access to the Microsoft Graph is an advantage platform-agnostic tools cannot easily replicate — and askFinz does not try to.
What askFinz is
askFinz is a multi-model workspace that does not assume where your files live. Research, Code, Chat, News and Workflow are purpose-built for each step of a task rather than added onto a productivity suite, and a browser extension and a desktop app reach the same material on the same sign-in. Because several model families are available, different parts of a task can use different ones.
Search runs on an index askFinz reads and holds itself, read ahead of the question rather than fetched while you wait. A question returns the matched passage and the address it was read from, out of an index kept as separate collections filed by what each document actually is: a judgment, a standard, a filing or a clinical study arrives as that kind of record with its identifier attached. PDFs, Office files, ebooks and data files are converted to readable text and read, not just linked to.
Augmenting a suite, or starting from a question
Copilot is designed to augment a specific suite, and does it well. The constraint appears when the question goes beyond what is in your tenancy, or when the output needs to be something other than a document or a spreadsheet. askFinz is designed to be the primary workspace for work that starts with a question rather than a file — which is a different job, not a better one.
Two different days
One answers the question and closes. The other keeps what you found.
Choose Microsoft Copilot if
- Your organisation runs on Microsoft 365 and the answers you need are inside your own tenancy.
- You need AI that can read your emails, meetings and SharePoint content. askFinz cannot do this.
- You want AI with no new tool to adopt, inside apps people already open daily.
- Enterprise procurement, compliance and identity all need to stay inside one Microsoft perimeter.
- You need a generally available enterprise product today. askFinz is in beta.
Choose askFinz if
- Your work starts outside Microsoft 365, or your tools span more than one ecosystem.
- You want several leading models available and to route different steps to whichever fits.
- You want automation in the same login rather than as a separately licensed product.
- You want search grounded in an index askFinz reads and holds itself, returning the passage and the address it came from.
- You want outside material filed by what it is — the regulation, the standard, the filing itself, with its identifier.
- Work needs to run outside a browser tab — as a desktop app, a browser extension, or an OS, all on one sign-in.
FAQ
Questions people ask
The things people actually ask before choosing between Microsoft Copilot and askFinz.
5 questions · open one to read the answer
No. It answers from its own index of the open web — read ahead of the question and filed by document type, so the regulation, the standard or the filing comes back as that kind of record with its identifier, alongside the passage and the address it was read from. If searching your own tenancy is the requirement, Copilot is the right tool and askFinz is not a substitute for it.
Several leading families in one place, chosen per task; see which models are available.
Not as a Microsoft-ecosystem automation tool. Workflow is a pipeline builder in the same login, but it does not carry Power Automate's connectors into Microsoft services.
Not compared here. Plan pricing on both sides moves, and a stale figure on a comparison page is worse than no figure.
Explore the askFinz platform to see how the workspaces connect, or browse all apps. Request access to the beta and bring a question that matters.