Copilot Studio - Copilot Studio pre-built Agent...

Questions on Copilot Chat vs Copilot Studio, Licensing, Agent Creation, API & Credit Usage

(0) Share

Report

Posted on by Jupyter99x

Hi team,

I’m preparing a presentation on Copilot Studio and want to make sure I accurately understand how it compares to Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, as well as some technical and licensing details. I would really appreciate clarification on the points below:

1. Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat

My understanding is that Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is mainly a conversational assistant that can answer queries related to documents in SharePoint, summarize meetings, emails, etc.
It cannot create custom agents, unlike Copilot Studio.
A Microsoft 365 Copilot license is required to access it — is this correct?

2. Copilot Studio

This is the platform for building custom Copilot agents.
Based on what I’ve seen, there are three ways to create an agent — could you confirm if this is accurate?
1. Pre-defined templates (I see around 9 templates — are there more available?) -- These templates auto-populate the agent name, description, and sample documents, and can be customized later
2. Prompt-based creation — Copilot generates part of the agent using instructions and suggests relevant data sources.
3. Manual creation — we define everything (name, description, knowledge sources, etc.).

3. LLM Licensing

While creating agents I see model options like GPT-4, GPT-5, etc.

Do we need to pay separately to use these models or are they included under Copilot Studio licensing?

Is it possible to use a custom Azure OpenAI API key instead of the built-in models?

4. External Integration

If I build an agent in Copilot Studio, is it possible to call external Python APIs during execution?

5. Logging & Storage

Are agent chat logs (questions & responses) stored somewhere by default?

Is it possible to store logs in a SQL Server database instead — either automatically or via configuration?

6. Credits & Consumption

With the Copilot Studio paid license (e.g., 25,000 credits ≈ $200), how is consumption calculated?

Does one agent flow execution = one credit, or is it based on other factors?

Thank you in advance!

I have the same question (0)

All responses (2)

Answers (0)

Suggested answer

TechRoadie 60 on at

Like (1)

Report
Questions on Copilot Chat vs Copilot Studio, Licensing, Agent Creation, API & Credit Usage

Hi

I will try to answer the best i can :)

1. Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat

First you can check my blog post about the difference between Copilot Chat and M365 Copilot : Difference Between Copilot Chat and the Copilot for Microsoft 365 License: Which One Boosts Your Productivity? – The Technology, The CIO Life and Me

A Microsoft 365 Copilot license is required to access it — is this correct? To create Custom Agents, you need at Least 1 M365 Copilot Licence to publish the agents.

2. Copilot Studio

Based on what I’ve seen, there are three ways to create an agent — could you confirm if this is accurate? Yes

3. LLM Licensing

Do we need to pay separately to use these models or are they included under Copilot Studio licensing?

If the user is using a M365Copilot Licence, the cost of using the model is included.

if the user don't have a M365Copilot Licence, you can do a pay as you go or buy pack a Copilot Credits.

Some infos here in my other article : Unlocking AI Potential: Setting Up Azure Billing for Copilot Studio Agents – Your Guide to Scalable Innovation – The Technology, The CIO Life and Me

4. External Integration

If I build an agent in Copilot Studio, is it possible to call external Python APIs during execution? Yes

5. Logging & Storage

Are agent chat logs (questions & responses) stored somewhere by default? You can follow by the "Activity" Tab in the agent in CopilotStudio

Is it possible to store logs in a SQL Server database instead — either automatically or via configuration? IDK

6. Credits & Consumption

For the cost calculate, it's the best to try on dev environment to calculate the cost of use of your agent, it depends on features, tools and connectors your agent will use.

Microsoft published a cost estimator, but it's just an estimation : Microsoft agent usage estimator

I hope i was able to help. If yes please set the question as answered.

1 people found this reply helpful.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Jupyter123 397 on at

Like (0)

Report

Questions on Copilot Chat vs Copilot Studio, Licensing, Agent Creation, API & Credit Usage

This really helps a lot! I really appreciate the time you taken for answering these! Huge thank you!!

Was this reply helpful? Yes No

Join the conversation

Community site session details