Tuesday, January 6, 2026

Do Teams Premium and Microsoft 365 Copilot do the same thing in Teams meetings, and do you need both? They’re different, and many people only need one. The easiest way to separate them is to focus on what each one is designed to do with meeting information.

The one-sentence difference

  • Teams Premium adds AI recap features that help you review what happened in a meeting (intelligent recap).
  • Microsoft 365 Copilot is a broader license that uses your Microsoft 365 context across apps. In Teams, it can help you work with meeting information and then carry that work into Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint.

This article focuses on the AI recap features of Teams Premium. Teams Premium also includes additional features outside of AI recap. If you’re looking for those, see the Microsoft Teams service page for the full feature list.

What Teams Premium can do for meetings

Teams Premium is designed for the “I missed it” or “I need the key points fast” workflow. After a meeting, recap features can include items like:

  • Meeting recording and transcript (when available).
  • AI-generated notes or summary (sometimes labeled as a custom summary).
  • Follow-up tasks or suggested action items to help you track next steps.
  • Chapters, timeline, and speaker markers so you can jump to the right moment.

Recap features depend on meeting setup. In general, you will see a richer recap experience when a meeting has recording and transcription available. If a meeting isn’t recorded or transcribed, recap options may be limited.

What Teams Premium does not include

A Teams Premium license does not add Microsoft 365 Copilot across Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint. If you want Copilot to help you draft, rewrite, summarize, and work inside those apps, Teams Premium alone will not do that.

When Microsoft 365 Copilot is the better fit

Microsoft 365 Copilot is a better match when your meeting is just the starting point and your real work happens afterward across Microsoft 365. The most practical difference is that Microsoft 365 Copilot can help you use meeting information as part of your work in other apps.

Common examples:

  • Drafting a follow-up email in Outlook that captures decisions and due dates (you review, edit, then send).
  • Creating a one-page project update in Word based on your notes or transcript (you verify details in the source).
  • Summarizing decisions for a stakeholder brief and then moving to slides or a document for revision.

Cost and where to confirm details

ITS lists current licensing in the AI Tool Comparison Chart: Teams Premium is $22 per user per year, and Microsoft 365 Copilot is $420 per user per year. Because tool details can change, treat the chart as the source of truth for the latest comparison.

If you want next steps, start with the Teams Premium service page and the Microsoft 365 Copilot service page to see what’s included, then use the AI Tool Comparison Chart to compare options. Subscribe to the AI at Iowa newsletter to get updates about AI at Iowa.