The free version of Microsoft Copilot already offers many features typically reserved for premium subscriptions, such as access to the internet and OpenAI's most advanced large language model. If the free tier's robustness has kept you from trying the premium plan, Copilot Pro, the following might change your mind.

On Thursday, Microsoft announced several updates to its chatbot that make the Copilot Pro subscription more attractive. First and foremost, Microsoft finally added a way for users to try Copilot Pro without paying for the$20-per-month subscription.

Also: You can now make your own custom Copilot GPT. Here's how

After downloading the free Copilot mobile app on iOS or Android, users now get a one-month free trial to Copilot Pro. With the Copilot app, users can quickly access the AI assistant on the go from the convenience of their phones, without having to repeatedly open it in a browser and sign in.

Google also offers a one-month free trial to its premium tier, the Google One AI Premium Plan, which is also$20 per month.ChatGPT does not offer free trials for ChatGPT Plus; however, the premium tier is also$20 per month.

Microsoft also unveiled that Copilot Pro subscribers can now use Copilot in free Microsoft 365 web apps, such as Word and Outlook, at no additional cost as part of their subscription.

This is a major perk. Copilot Pro users can experience Copilot in some of the most popular Microsoft apps without having to shell out the extra money for a Microsoft 365 subscription--which starts at$70 per year--like they had to prior to this update. 

Also: The best AI chatbots of 2024: ChatGPT and alternatives

Copilot Pro subscribers also now have the ability to create custom, task-specific Copilot GPT chatbots. I tested the feature, and found it easy to use and helpful for repetitive tasks, with no coding skills necessary. ChatGPT Plus users have been able to create custom GPTs for months, so adding this feature to Copilot finally closes that gap.

These new features build on the perks that Copilot Pro already offers its users, including priority access during peak times, the ability to toggle between GPT-4 Turbo and GPT-4, and 100 daily boosts that users can use to enhance generated images in Designer. The free trial means you really have nothing to lose by checking out Copilot Pro to see what all the hype is about.

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• I asked Gemini and GPT-4 to explain deep learning AI, and Gemini won hands down
• How to use ChatGPT's file analysis capability (and what it can do for you)
• I tried Copilot Notebook: Microsoft's new AI tool offers two handy prompt features
• What to know about Mistral AI: The company behind the latest GPT-4 rival