Plus AI vs Microsoft Copilot: Which Slide Apps You Run

The short answer: where Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot is already on the invoice, at $23.50 a seat monthly on a yearly plan, Copilot is in every copy of PowerPoint and Plus AI has to justify a second line (Microsoft 365 plans, checked on 26 October 2026). Plus AI justifies it in two cases: part of the company builds decks in Google Slides, which Copilot in PowerPoint does not reach, or your deck builders sit on a Microsoft plan without Copilot, where Plus AI Basic at $10 per user a month billed annually costs less than the Copilot add-on and covers both slide apps (Plus AI pricing). Choose Microsoft Copilot if your job is decks as one part of Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams work. Choose Plus AI if your job is decks, in two slide apps.

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Copilot is an assistant for the whole Microsoft 365 suite that also writes slides. Plus AI is a slide specialist that runs as an add-in inside PowerPoint and as an add-on inside Google Slides, under one subscription.

Before you add a second AI:

1. Price the gap, not the tool. For example, ten deck builders on Business Basic at $7 pay 10 x $18 x 12 = $2,160 for the Copilot Business add-on in its first year, and 10 x $21 x 12 = $2,520 at the list price, against 10 x $10 x 12 = $1,200 for Plus AI Basic, per the Microsoft 365 plans and Plus AI pricing pages.
2. Count the slide apps in use. List who opens PowerPoint and who opens Google Slides each week. Copilot in PowerPoint works only on .ppt and .pptx files (Copilot in PowerPoint FAQ); one Plus AI subscription covers both apps.
3. Time the source-to-draft step. Take one Word brief, build the deck the way you do now, and note the minutes and the number of figures someone had to correct. Repeat with the tool on trial.

What each one adds, by setup

Sources, read on 26 October 2026: Microsoft 365 plans, the Copilot in PowerPoint FAQ, Microsoft's create a presentation guide, Plus AI pricing and its upload guide.

Three differences that decide it

One slide app, or two

Copilot belongs to Microsoft's apps. Plus AI was built for companies that have both: the sales team on Google Workspace, finance on PowerPoint, and decks moving between them. If every deck in the company is a .pptx, this difference disappears and the next two decide.

A suite, or a specialist

The Copilot that comes with the "with Copilot" plans also works in Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams, with prebuilt agents such as Researcher and Analyst (Microsoft 365 plans). Plus AI does slides, plus a smaller Google Docs tool. If decks are a small part of what your people would use AI for, the suite assistant earns more per seat.

Where the template lives

Copilot can build from your organisation's branding when you start from the corporate template or select a published Brand Kit, and Microsoft notes that template creators and IT may need to prepare the templates (Copilot FAQ). Plus AI saves logo, colours and fonts on Team and generates from your real slide masters only on Enterprise (Plus AI pricing). Either way, budget an afternoon with whoever owns the template.

The price lists side by side

Microsoft, per user per month paid yearly: Business Basic $7, Business Standard with Copilot $23.50, Business Premium with Copilot $32; existing customers add Copilot Business at $18, a first-year offer running from 1 July to 31 December 2026, against $21 before the discount (Microsoft 365 plans). Plus AI, per user per month: $10, $20, $30 and $200 for Basic, Pro, Team and Max billed annually, or $15, $25, $40 and $240 billed monthly (Plus AI pricing). Both read on 26 October 2026.

One AI step: a Word brief becomes a draft deck

In PowerPoint with Copilot, open the company template first, open Copilot, select the Brand Kit if your organisation requires one, and describe the deck, pointing it at the Word file; Copilot may ask about audience and length before it builds (create a presentation guide). Microsoft's guide says Word styles help it split the document into slides, and recommends files under 24 MB. In Plus AI, on Pro or Team, choose Upload a file, pick Preserve to keep your wording or Enhance to let it rewrite, and generate in either app (upload guide).

The person who wrote the brief does the check. Copilot's FAQ says it cannot evaluate accuracy, and Plus AI's upload guide warns that pictures, diagrams and charts in the source stay behind. So the author places every chart by hand, compares every figure on the slides with the Word file, and only then shares the deck.

The first-year price

Microsoft's add-on offer is $18 for the first year only, on an annual commitment that renews automatically, after which the seat is billed at the regular rate, and the footnote gives a seven-day window for a prorated refund (Microsoft 365 plans). The renewal is the default you accept at checkout: ten seats cost $2,160 in year one and $2,520 in year two unless someone reviews them. Diary the renewal on the day the order goes through.

Start with what you already pay for

Copilot Chat comes with eligible Microsoft 365 business plans; it cannot open your files or work inside PowerPoint, but it can turn a pasted brief into a slide-by-slide outline (Microsoft 365 plans FAQ). Paste that outline into your template for one deck before buying either add-on. If the outline was the slow part, you may need neither.

Choose Microsoft Copilot if your job is decks inside an all-Microsoft company, where the same seat also drafts emails, summarises Teams calls and works in Excel.

Choose Plus AI if your job is decks across PowerPoint and Google Slides, or slide work for people whose Microsoft plan has no Copilot.

Sometimes step 2 shows half the company on Microsoft 365 and half on Google Workspace, each about to buy its own AI. That is a stack decision before it is a slide-tool decision; a fixed-length stack review I sell, the Startup Fixer, takes it apart in a week. The Plus AI entry covers its credits and agent mode.

FAQ

Does Copilot work in Google Slides?

Copilot in PowerPoint works only with PowerPoint files, .ppt and .pptx, and needs an internet connection, per the Copilot in PowerPoint FAQ. Plus AI's subscription includes its Google Slides add-on.

Do some Copilot slide features need another licence?

Yes. The same FAQ says adding a slide, creating a presentation from a topic or a file and adding an image need a Microsoft Designer licence; summaries and chat work without one.

Is the Copilot Chat in every business plan enough for slides?

For an outline, often. Microsoft's plan FAQ says Copilot Chat uses public web data and does not integrate with Microsoft 365 apps or organisational content such as files and emails (Microsoft 365 plans), so building inside PowerPoint needs a plan with Copilot or the add-on.