Microsoft Copilot in Excel vs Google Gemini in Google Sheets: A Comprehensive Comparison

Artificial intelligence is integrated into modern spreadsheets as an interactive layer for analysis, automation, and planning.

Microsoft and Google have embedded their AI models—Copilot in Excel and Gemini in Google Sheets—directly within their platforms, enabling users to perform advanced tasks using natural language.

These tools aim to simplify work for analysts, managers, and non-technical users alike, but follow distinct design logics and integration paths.

This report compares the two systems by examining their technical capabilities, user experience, supported business actions, and pricing structure. Each section is grounded in real 2024–2025 developments, avoiding speculation and focusing on observed performance, scope, and updates.

While both tools support tasks such as formula generation, data cleanup, pivot tables, and automated summaries, their foundations diverge. Copilot builds on Microsoft’s integration with Excel’s core engine, the Python runtime, and Office 365’s document graph. Gemini operates through Workspace and is optimized for cloud-native collaboration, text/image generation, and BigQuery access.

We'll see the practical utility across use cases—finance, marketing, operations, and reporting—while also evaluating which AI performs better in responsiveness, depth of output, and adaptability to changing spreadsheet data. A final section reviews pricing models, availability, and organizational impact, with emphasis on recent decisions by both companies to scale access.

Technical Capabilities

AI-Powered Formula Assistance: Both Microsoft Copilot in Excel and Google’s Gemini for Sheets excel at generating formulas from natural language prompts. Copilot can suggest and even explain complex Excel formulas in plain language, helping users add calculated columns or perform lookups without manual formula writing. Google’s Gemini similarly allows users to describe a need (e.g. “divide goals by games”) and it will produce the corresponding Google Sheets formula. This greatly lowers the barrier for non-experts to perform calculations. However, Copilot also emphasizes formula understanding – it can explain how a formula works to help users learn or debug formulas, whereas Gemini’s focus is more on generation than explanation (though users could ask Gemini to clarify a formula via the chat interface).

Natural Language Queries and Insights: Both assistants enable users to query data in everyday language and get analytical insights. Copilot in Excel can analyze a dataset to answer questions and will present results as charts, pivot tables, summaries, trends or even outlier detections. For example, a user can ask, “Which product sold the most in California?” and Copilot will scan the data and provide the answer with supporting analysis. Google’s Gemini offers comparable capabilities – in Sheets’ “Ask Gemini” side panel, users can request insights or trend analysis (e.g. “Identify trends in this table”) and Gemini will explain patterns or even perform regression and prediction on the data. Both tools essentially act as AI data analysts, but Copilot (leveraging Microsoft’s AI and OpenAI GPT-4 models) has been tuned for fast business analytics inside Excel, boasting improved reasoning in late-2024 updates. Google’s Gemini, especially in its Advanced mode, is built on Google’s latest large model (internally codenamed “Gemini”), which is also optimized for analytical queries and even multi-step reasoning across spreadsheet data.

Data Visualization and Charts: Turning analysis into visuals is another strength of both assistants. Copilot in Excel will suggest suitable charts or graphs based on the data and question – for example, if asked for a sales trend, it might create a line chart or bar graph. It can generate different chart types on request (bar, line, pie, etc.) and even iterate with the user to refine the visualization. Google Gemini likewise can create charts and insert them into Google Sheets. Users can prompt, “Create a chart with date on the x-axis and total on the y-axis,” and Gemini will generate that chart in a new sheet tab. Gemini provides a preview and allows the user to insert the chart, which comes with its underlying data so it’s fully editable. Both AI assistants handle basic charting well; Copilot’s late-2024 update even lets it adjust or iterate on charts and PivotTables to fit user needs. One unique offering of Gemini is the ability to generate images (through Google’s image generation AI) directly within Sheets – a capability beyond typical spreadsheet work but useful for embellishing reports. Copilot does not generate images in Excel, though Microsoft 365 Copilot offers an Image Creator in other contexts (via Designer) for enterprise users.

Predictive Analysis and Advanced Analytics: Microsoft has integrated Python into Excel, and Copilot can leverage this for advanced analytics. Announced in 2024, Copilot in Excel with Python allows users to perform sophisticated tasks like forecasting, risk analysis, and even machine learning on their data using natural language. In practice, Copilot will translate a user’s request (e.g. “forecast next quarter’s sales”) into Python code behind the scenes, execute it in Excel’s Python environment, and return the results – all without the user needing to write code. This effectively gives Excel users access to powerful libraries and analytics workflows in a conversational way. Google’s approach to advanced analysis in Sheets relies on its own AI capabilities and integration with Google Cloud’s tools. Gemini can certainly perform trend analysis or basic predictions within Sheets (for example, users have asked “What analysis can you help me perform with this sheet?” and gotten suggestions), but as of 2025 it doesn’t embed a full programming environment in Sheets. Instead, Google offers integration with BigQuery for heavy analytics, and Gemini is integrated into BigQuery and Looker on the Google Cloud side for advanced data science work. In summary, Copilot in Excel brings code to the user (via Python), whereas Google brings the user’s data to code (via connecting Sheets to BigQuery/Looker with Gemini’s help) – two different strategies to tackle advanced analytics.

Integration with Other Services: Microsoft Copilot benefits from the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.

In Excel, Copilot can pull data not only from the current workbook but also from external sources like web pages, corporate databases, and other Microsoft files. For instance, a user can ask Copilot to import data from a quarterly report Word document or pull a table from a website; Copilot will fetch the data and insert it into Excel. It can even link to another Excel file’s table so that the data stays refreshable in the new workbook. This tight integration means Copilot can act as a bridge between Excel and Power BI or other data sources – while not directly controlling Power BI, it can certainly pull Power BI-exported data or prompt the user to connect via Power Query. Google’s Gemini similarly shines when used within Google’s ecosystem. It can summarize content from Google Drive files or Gmail threads and bring that into Sheets on command. Moreover, Google Sheets has long offered Connected Sheets for BigQuery, and now with Gemini, users can conversationally analyze large datasets from BigQuery or create Looker Studio reports. In fact, Gemini in Looker (announced at Google Next ‘24) enables users to automatically create Looker Studio dashboards directly from data in Google Sheets – effectively the AI can build a BI report from a sheet. This highlights Google’s strength in integrating with Looker (Google’s BI platform): a marketing analyst could ask Gemini to generate a Looker Studio report from their sheet data, accelerating the BI process. In summary, Copilot integrates with Microsoft services (OneDrive, SharePoint, web search via Bing, etc.), even allowing queries like “List yesterday’s emails in a table with sender and subject”. Google’s Gemini ties into Google Workspace and Google Cloud, leveraging Gmail, Drive, BigQuery, and Looker. Both aim to make the spreadsheet a hub that the AI can populate with data from elsewhere: Copilot will fetch enterprise or web data into Excel, and Gemini will pull insights from Google’s cloud and your content into Sheets.

Automation and Workflow Assistance: Both Copilot and Gemini can perform multi-step tasks at the user’s request, effectively automating workflows that normally require manual steps. In Excel, Copilot can handle tasks like sorting, filtering, highlighting, and creating PivotTables on demand. For example, “Highlight all rows where sales > 500” or “Sort this table by date descending” can be done just by asking Copilot. It also helps with data cleaning – Copilot will suggest ways to clean up data, remove duplicates, or standardize formatting if asked, saving users from laborious manual clean-up. Google’s Gemini has a parallel set of skills: through the side panel, you can issue commands like “Highlight values below 100”, “Apply a filter for sales greater than $1,000”, or “Create a pivot table of sum of sales by region”, and Gemini will perform those actions in Sheets. It presents an “action card” preview and lets you confirm applying it. This includes creating dropdown lists, adding conditional formatting rules, inserting pivot tables, and more. Both systems essentially turn natural language instructions into spreadsheet operations, automating workflows that span multiple menu steps. An additional form of automation in Google’s case is the =AI() function introduced in 2025, which lets users fill many cells at once with AI-generated content or categorizations. For example, a support team could use =AI("Categorize the customer inquiry as a compliment, exchange, or return.", C2) down a column to automatically classify inquiries – effectively an AI-driven workflow embedded in formulas. Microsoft’s equivalent might be to use Copilot to generate a new column with those classifications, but it doesn’t have an explicit AI formula function; instead it relies on the chat or prompts to create the column with a formula or values.

In summary, both Copilot in Excel and Gemini in Google Sheets are feature-rich AI copilots that can generate formulas, answer data questions, create visualizations, and automate tedious tasks. Copilot’s unique strengths include deep integration with Python for advanced analytics and Microsoft’s enterprise data, as well as formula explanation features. Gemini’s unique strengths include its seamless tie-ins with Google’s AI (image generation, text generation via =AI) and the Google ecosystem (Looker/BigQuery integration). Both represent significant leaps in technical capabilities for their respective spreadsheet platforms, turning them into much more powerful, AI-driven analytical tools.

User Experience

Interface and Ease of Use: Both Microsoft and Google have integrated their AI assistants into the spreadsheet interface in a user-friendly way. In Excel, Copilot is accessible via a Copilot icon in the ribbon or as a small “sparkle” button that appears when you select a cell. Clicking it opens a chat pane on the right where you can converse with Copilot. Excel also offers some prompt suggestions (conversation starters) to help users get started. The experience is designed to feel like chatting with a helpful analyst right inside Excel. Google Sheets similarly features an “Ask Gemini” button (a sparkle icon) at the top right of the Sheets interface. This opens a side panel for Gemini, which offers suggested prompts as well as an input box for your own requests. In both cases, the side panel UI allows you to see the AI’s response alongside your spreadsheet, and you can insert results (formulas, charts, answers) directly into the sheet from there. Users have noted that the learning curve for both tools is low – if you can phrase a question or request in English, the AI handles the heavy lifting – making advanced Excel/Sheets operations accessible to novices.

Responsiveness and Context Awareness: Microsoft has heavily optimized Copilot’s performance as of late 2024, reporting that responses are now twice as fast on average compared to initial versions. In practice, Copilot typically produces an answer or action within a few seconds, depending on complexity. It keeps context within the current workbook: for example, if you ask a follow-up like “Now sort that by region”, Copilot remembers what “that” refers to (the previously created analysis) and will carry out the follow-up action. Google’s Gemini also maintains context within the side panel session. It can reference the active sheet range you’re working on – in fact, Google advises placing your cursor in the relevant data range so Gemini knows which data to use. Both UIs allow history to a degree, but with a caveat: Google’s Workspace Labs (early access) noted that the conversation history in the Sheets side panel will reset if you close or reload the spreadsheet. To preserve output, users are encouraged to insert generated results into the sheet. Microsoft’s Copilot chat persists as long as the workbook is open, and if you save the workbook, certain Copilot outputs you inserted (like charts or formulas) stay like normal content. However, the chat itself will reset once the session or file is closed (both systems treat each spreadsheet session as a separate context, for privacy and relevance).

Integration with the Spreadsheet Workflow: Both assistants are designed to complement rather than disrupt the normal workflow. Copilot’s suggestions (insights, charts, etc.) often appear in a draft form in the pane first, allowing you to review and then “Add to sheet” when ready. This gives the user control over what gets placed into the spreadsheet. Similarly, Gemini will show an “action preview” for operations like adding a pivot or applying a filter, and only makes changes after you click Apply. This preview-and-confirm design avoids unexpected modifications. In terms of design, Excel’s Copilot pane blends with the Office aesthetic and supports both light and dark modes; Google’s Gemini pane follows Google’s Material design, looking like an extension of the familiar Sheets sidebar (akin to the Explore feature but far more powerful). Both provide thumbs-up/down feedback buttons on responses so users can give feedback (helping improve the AI). Overall, the integration is smooth: you can still manually edit anything the AI inserts (formulas, charts) as they become normal spreadsheet elements.

Cross-Application Use: An experiential difference comes from the broader platform context. Microsoft 365 Copilot is not just in Excel; users who have it will see a consistent Copilot in Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, etc., all accessible with a similar look-and-feel. There’s also a Business Chat that can draw data from across documents. This means an Excel user can, for instance, use Business Chat to pull a chart from Excel into an email via Copilot, or ask across apps (e.g. “Summarize the data from the Q3 Sales spreadsheet for a PowerPoint slide”). Google’s Duet AI (Gemini) is likewise across Gmail, Docs, Slides, and more, creating a unified experience in Workspace. A user in Google Slides can ask Gemini to pull in a chart from a Sheets data range, for example. The consistency of the AI assistant across apps improves user experience, since one can apply the same mental model whether writing a document or analyzing spreadsheet data.

User Guidance and Learning: As these are new tools, both Microsoft and Google built in guidance. Copilot in Excel will suggest certain “conversation starters” (like “Help me analyze this data”) when you open it, and Microsoft’s support site provides many example prompts and even an interactive tutorial within the app. Google’s Gemini includes an overlay of suggested uses (e.g., “Summarize this sheet” will appear if you open Gemini on a populated spreadsheet) and offers shortcuts (like pressing Ctrl+Alt+N to summarize the sheet quickly). Both systems are evolving based on user feedback: for instance, early users pointed out if the AI made an error or a chart wasn’t as expected, and the companies have iterated designs to make it easy to retry or refine prompts. There are “Retry” buttons in both UIs – Copilot lets you refine or ask follow-ups, and Gemini has a “Retry with Google Search” option to pull live web info if needed.

In terms of overall feel, Copilot in Excel might appeal to those who frequently work on desktop Office apps – it feels like a powerful assistant built into a robust desktop application (also available in the web version of Excel). Google’s Gemini in Sheets feels like an extension of the cloud-based, collaborative Google Workspace ethos – it’s always just one click away in your browser tab, and naturally tied to other Google services. Both are highly intuitive, but user feedback suggests that familiarity plays a role: Excel power users appreciate Copilot’s seamless inclusion in their existing ribbon and cell context menus, whereas Google Sheets users enjoy Gemini’s suggestions populating in an environment they already associate with smart suggestions (like Sheets’ Explore and Smart Fill features, now supercharged). Overall, both deliver a positive user experience with minimal friction, bringing powerful AI help to users with just a click.

Business Use Cases

Both Copilot in Excel and Gemini in Google Sheets have broad applicability across business functions. Here we highlight key use cases in common business domains and how each AI assistant supports them:

• Finance and Accounting: In finance, accuracy and quick analysis are paramount. Microsoft Copilot in Excel can assist in building financial models by auto-generating complex formulas (for depreciation, ROI, etc.) and creating scenarios. For example, a financial analyst could ask Copilot, “Calculate the 5-year CAGR for revenue in this table”, and it will produce the formula or result instantly. It also helps identify trends or outliers in financial statements by generating pivot tables and charts showing, say, expense breakdowns or year-over-year growth. Copilot’s integration with external data can pull stock prices or currency rates from the web into Excel on command, useful for up-to-date financial analysis. Google’s Gemini similarly empowers finance teams by summarizing and visualizing data in Google Sheets. A user can prompt, “Summarize this budget spreadsheet and highlight any categories where spending exceeded plan”, and Gemini will generate a narrative or highlight the variances. It can create charts of budget vs actual automatically. Google Sheets’ strength in collaboration also means multiple stakeholders (e.g. budget owners) can use Gemini in the same sheet to ask questions about their portion of the data. Both tools also support predictive analysis for finance: Copilot (with Python’s help) can forecast future trends like cash flow projections, and Google’s Gemini can do basic forecasting or at least integrate with BigQuery ML for advanced forecasting if needed. In accounting closes or audits, Copilot can automate reconciliation tasks (e.g., “find mismatches between ledger A and B”), while Gemini can instantly categorize transactions (using the AI formula to label expenses by type, for instance).

• Marketing and Sales Analytics: Marketing teams benefit greatly from these AI copilots when dealing with campaign data, customer feedback, or sales pipelines. Copilot in Excel can analyze marketing campaign metrics (click-through rates, conversion rates) and instantly highlight what’s performing best. For example, a marketer could ask, “Which campaign had the highest ROI last quarter?” and Copilot will not only calculate the ROI if needed but also generate a summary or chart ranking the campaigns. It’s adept at cleaning and joining data – e.g., merging sales data with marketing spend data by region via a few prompts instead of manual VLOOKUPs. Gemini in Google Sheets is equally valuable: it can create a social media content calendar or marketing plan table just from a prompt (Google even suggests prompts like “Create a social media tracker for marketing.”). For analyzing customer feedback or surveys, Gemini’s text analysis capability is handy – marketers can paste customer comments in Sheets and ask Gemini to “Perform sentiment analysis on these comments”, which it can do with the =AI() function or via the chat. This function can label hundreds of feedback entries as positive or negative in seconds. In sales, both tools can help with pipeline management. Copilot can summarize a sales pipeline stored in Excel, pointing out, for example, how many deals are in each stage and any stuck deals. Gemini can do the same in Sheets and even draft quick insights like “Total Q3 sales by region and the top 3 products in each region” if asked, generating a mini-report. For sales ops, connecting Sheets to a CRM export and using Gemini to query it (or connecting Excel to a database with Copilot) can save a lot of manual report building.

• Project Management and Operations: Project managers often use spreadsheets for project plans, task tracking, and resource allocation. Google Gemini can act as a quick planner – one could say, “Create a table for a full-day team event” or “Generate a project timeline with tasks and due dates for launching a new product”, and it will draft a structured table with tasks, owners, dates, etc., which the manager can then refine. The assistant can fill in missing pieces or suggest project risks and next steps if given some context. Microsoft Copilot can similarly help in Excel by creating tables for project tracking or calculating schedules. If a project plan exists, Copilot can be asked to summarize the status – for example, “Which tasks are past due and who is responsible?” – and it can cross-reference the data to answer. In operations, both tools help with data cleaning and monitoring. An operations analyst could use Copilot to rapidly clean a large log file imported into Excel (removing duplicates, splitting columns, etc. via natural language commands). Gemini in Sheets can automate the classification of operational data – e.g., categorizing inventory items, or applying conditional formatting to flag low stock levels via an “Ask Gemini” action (like “highlight any inventory count below safety stock level 50”). Additionally, for repetitive operational reports, Copilot can automate monthly report creation (one prompt could produce an updated pivot and charts for KPIs each month), and Gemini can populate a dashboard in Sheets or even help build a Looker Studio ops dashboard automatically.

• HR and Administration: HR teams using Excel or Sheets for employee data, surveys, or scheduling can leverage these AI assistants to save time. Copilot in Excel can analyze employee survey results and spit out key findings (e.g., it might generate a chart of satisfaction scores by department and a list of common feedback themes by scanning open-ended responses). Its ability to connect to organizational data means it could pull in data from SharePoint or emails – for instance, compiling a list of new hires from HR emails if requested. Gemini could assist HR by creating tables like org charts or training schedules from a prompt (e.g., “create a training schedule with topics, dates, and attendees”). It can summarize text like job descriptions or policies if they’re pasted in Sheets, making it easier to digest large HR documents. Both can help with simple automation, like “Find all employees with missing timesheets this week” (if given a table of submissions) or “Sort these applicants by test score and highlight those above 90%”. Essentially, routine administrative tasks in spreadsheets can be delegated to the AI.

• Reporting and Executive Dashboards: For any business function, preparing reports for leadership is a common task – and one where these tools truly shine. Microsoft Copilot can quickly turn raw data into a polished summary: ask it for key takeaways and it might respond with a few bullet points and an automatically generated chart or two that you can copy into a PowerPoint. It identifies notable trends or anomalies (e.g., “Q2 sales were 15% higher than Q1, driven by APAC region” might be an insight Copilot provides by analyzing the data). Copilot’s integration with PowerPoint via Copilot Business Chat means you could even ask across apps: “Using the data in this Excel, create a slide for our meeting”. Google’s Gemini similarly can produce slide-ready material: while in Sheets, a user can ask “Summarize this data for an executive overview”, and Gemini will produce a concise analysis. Google’s strength in this scenario is that Gemini works hand in hand with Slides; for instance, you can invoke Duet AI in Google Slides to import charts or even create speaker notes based on a Sheet’s data analysis. Also, Google’s ability to generate images on the fly in Sheets could help create quick infographic elements for a report. Both tools support live data updates – if the underlying data changes, a user can simply ask the AI to refresh the insights or rerun the summary, rather than manually reconstructing the report. This dynamic reporting capability means businesses can stay up-to-date with minimal effort.

In all these use cases, a common theme is that Copilot and Gemini free up skilled professionals from manual spreadsheet work to focus on interpreting results and making decisions. Early user feedback indicates that tasks which used to take hours (like aggregating quarterly data and writing a narrative summary) can now be done in minutes with these AI assistants. This productivity boost is being felt across finance, marketing, operations, and beyond. Each tool works best in its native ecosystem – organizations deeply invested in Microsoft 365 will find Copilot naturally enhances their workflows, while those on Google Workspace see Gemini as an intuitive extension of their collaborative culture. Companies are already experimenting with both to support everything from high-level strategic planning to day-to-day administrative tasks.

Supported Actions in Spreadsheets

Both AI copilots are capable of handling a range of common spreadsheet tasks. Below is a comparison of key actions and how each tool supports them:

Action	Microsoft Copilot in Excel	Google Gemini in Google Sheets
Writing & Explaining Formulas	Generate Formulas: Copilot suggests formulas based on plain English descriptions, creating calculations without the user memorizing syntax. It covers everything from basic math to complex lookups, and recent updates expanded its knowledge to advanced Excel functions like XLOOKUP and SUMIF. Explain Formulas: Copilot can break down an existing formula and explain its components in simple terms, a huge help for understanding legacy spreadsheets or learning Excel.	Generate Formulas: Gemini allows formula generation via prompts (or using the =AI helper). Users can ask for a formula (e.g., “Formula to find cell C1 in range D:G and return value from column G”) and Gemini produces it. It handles typical Sheets formulas and can even be invoked by typing =, then using a shortcut (Ctrl+Alt+G) to describe the formula needed. Explain Formulas: Not an explicit built-in feature, but a user can ask Gemini “Explain this formula” in the chat and get an answer. The main focus, however, is on creation rather than explanation.
Cleaning & Transforming Data	Copilot helps clean messy data sets. It can suggest steps to clean up data, like removing duplicates, splitting text (e.g., separating “Full Name” into first/last), or converting data types – all through requests instead of manual data cleansing. For example, “Clean this data” might prompt Copilot to remove blank rows or standardize date formats (Microsoft’s documentation encourages formatting data as a table first for best results). It can also create new transformed columns on the fly (e.g., “Add a column categorizing transactions as High/Low value”). These tasks save time on data prep.	Gemini can perform many data transformation actions via its “perform actions” feature. Users can say “Remove duplicates in this range” or “Split column A by the comma delimiter” and Gemini will execute it (it will preview the action first). It can create dropdown lists, apply conditional formatting rules, sort, filter, or create pivot tables from raw data with simple prompts. While Google Sheets already had tools like “Cleanup suggestions” and “Split text to columns,” Gemini supercharges this by doing it on command with AI smarts. It essentially acts as a macro recorder but in natural language – any repetitive transform can be described and done.
Creating Charts & Dashboards	Copilot excels at quick visualization. If you ask for a chart (e.g., “Chart sales by month”), Copilot will choose an appropriate chart type and create it, inserting it into the workbook. It can also build multi-chart dashboards: for instance, “Generate a dashboard of our key metrics” might yield several visuals (which the user can place as needed). It leverages Excel’s charting engine, meaning the results are native Excel charts you can format or tweak. Copilot also creates PivotTables on request to summarize data, often pairing them with PivotCharts for interactive dashboards. For example, “Create a PivotTable of total sales by region” is handled without the user dragging fields – Copilot does it in one step. This makes building dashboards much faster for analysts.	Gemini can create charts and even entire graphs sheets. A prompt like “Make a line chart of revenue over time” will produce a chart in Sheets and typically place it on a new sheet tab with the data it used. The user can then copy it to a report or leave it in the file. For dashboards, while Google Sheets doesn’t have “dashboard” objects per se, Gemini can generate multiple charts or a summary layout if asked. It also integrates with Looker Studio for more elaborate dashboards: through Gemini in Looker, a user could pipeline Sheets data into a Looker Studio dashboard automatically. For PivotTables, Gemini handles them as well – “Create a pivot table of sum of sales by region” will result in a pivot on a new sheet. The combination of pivot creation and chart generation means Gemini can essentially automate a dashboard creation, though the design polish would depend on the user’s refinement afterwards.
Building Summaries & Pivot Tables	Copilot can instantly summarize data through text or tables. If asked “Summarize this data”, it might insert a short written summary highlighting key points (e.g., “Sales grew 10% overall, with the East region leading at 15% growth.”). It also can answer specific summary questions like count of items meeting criteria, average values, etc., using the underlying data. As noted, it creates PivotTables on demand – Copilot will choose the right fields based on the prompt (it understands column names semantically). It can also chain steps: e.g., “Create a pivot of sales by category. Now add a filter for year = 2025.” Each step is executed in context to refine the summary or pivot. This ability to drill down or refine via conversation is a powerful way to explore data.	Gemini’s side panel always offers a quick Sheet summary when you open it on a data-filled sheet. It will auto-generate a bulleted list of insights or an overview of what the sheet contains, which is great for getting the gist of unfamiliar data. Users can also prompt explicitly, like “Summarize this spreadsheet like I’m a beginner”, and Gemini will output a plain-language explanation. For PivotTables, as mentioned, Gemini can create them via prompts without manual field dragging. One advantage is that Gemini provides an “Analysis steps” dropdown for certain outputs (charts, pivots) – the user can click to see how it derived the result. This transparency helps trust the summary. In short, Gemini not only builds the summary tables and pivots, but also narrates insights (often appearing as a ChatGPT-like response in the panel that you can insert as text in the sheet if desired).
Automating Workflows	Copilot can string together multiple actions as part of a workflow. While Excel has Power Automate for complex workflows, Copilot itself can handle many within Excel: e.g., “Import latest sales data, then sort it and highlight top 10 values” could be done in sequence. Microsoft is also introducing Copilot “agents” (outside Excel) that can perform multi-app processes. Within Excel, the automation is more ad-hoc: you ask, it does. Copilot can also guide users through processes (teaching mode) – for example, if you ask “How do I set up data validation for a dropdown?”, Copilot will explain steps or even execute them. One unique automation aspect is using Python: a user could say “Use Python to analyze this dataset for correlations”, and Copilot will run a Python script behind the scenes and return results. This borders on scripting automation normally outside Excel’s immediate capabilities.	Gemini focuses on in-spreadsheet automation through natural commands. It is very effective for things like: “Apply conditional formatting: color scale on column C”, “Sort the table by Priority then by Due Date”, or “Insert a new column calculating Task Duration as End Date minus Start Date”. These individual tasks are done almost instantly upon confirmation. For repetitive processes, Google doesn’t (yet) have a consumer-facing “macro recorder” with AI, but it has something called “Gems” – custom AI-powered workflows users can create and reuse. A user or organization can define a Gem (via the Gemini app or website) that maybe connects multiple steps or systems, and then call that Gem in the Sheets side panel. For example, a Gem could be set up to fetch data from a CRM and populate a sheet when invoked. This is analogous to Microsoft’s forthcoming agents. Additionally, Google Apps Script is always available in Sheets; while Gemini doesn’t write Apps Scripts by default, one could ask it to generate code for a script. In early tests, users have experimented with prompting Gemini to produce Apps Script code (or using Bard for that task) and then running it – a bit more technical, but a way to automate beyond what’s built-in.

Overall, both Copilot and Gemini perform superbly on core spreadsheet actions. They write formulas, transform data, build visuals, and summarize insights with simple prompts, covering the majority of tasks that users would otherwise do manually or with complex know-how. Copilot’s edge is in its tight integration with Excel’s advanced features (like Python and linking data across the Microsoft 365 suite), while Gemini’s edge is in its creative functions (image generation, AI text functions) and seamless tie-ins to Google’s cloud services. Everyday tasks – be it “highlight all overdue tasks in red” or “give me a chart of expenses vs budget” – have become one-line requests rather than multi-step operations, no matter which platform you use.

Recent Developments (2024–2025)

The past two years (2024–mid 2025) have seen rapid evolution for both Microsoft’s and Google’s spreadsheet AI assistants, with new features and wider availability signaling their strategic importance.

• Microsoft Copilot in Excel Developments: Microsoft 365 Copilot was first introduced in early 2023 in preview, and by September 2024 Copilot in Excel became generally available to enterprise customers. This GA release came with major improvements: originally Copilot worked best with data formatted as tables, but an update removed that requirement, allowing it to analyze unstructured data ranges as well. Microsoft also expanded Copilot’s formula knowledge around that time – adding support for more advanced Excel functions (XLOOKUP, SUMIF, etc.) that it could suggest or use in its outputs. Another late-2024 highlight was the announcement of Copilot in Excel with Python in public preview. This was a significant development: by integrating Python, Excel empowered Copilot to perform tasks like forecasting, machine learning, and complex data manipulation which were previously outside Excel’s native capability. For instance, a user could ask for a linear regression analysis or a risk simulation and Copilot would utilize Python libraries (pandas, statsmodels, etc.) to deliver the result. Throughout 2024, Microsoft also worked on performance and quality – by late 2024 they noted using a more advanced model (GPT-4 Turbo and soon OpenAI’s next-gen model “O1”) and improved orchestration, resulting in faster responses and more accurate answers. In 2025, we’ve seen Microsoft begin to unify Copilot experiences: the introduction of Copilot X (a vision of Copilot across Windows 11, Bing, and 365 apps) means Excel’s Copilot can work in concert with Windows Copilot (for example, dragging a chart from Excel to a Teams chat with AI assistance). There are also indications that Copilot will come to Excel for the web and more platforms (a roadmap note suggested Python in Excel and Copilot will be on the web version by early 2025). Microsoft continues to roll out Copilot to more customers: after an initial focus on Enterprise and Business users, in 2024 it was also made available to Education (academic) customers in preview, and a limited Copilot Pro for individuals was launched (more on that in Pricing). In summary, by mid-2025 Copilot in Excel is smarter, faster, and more broadly available than its initial preview, with Python integration being the crown jewel of recent improvements.

• Google Gemini (Duet AI) in Sheets Developments: Google’s journey started under the name “Duet AI for Workspace” in 2023. Early features included “Help me organize” in Sheets which could create templates, and simple formula generation as part of Google Labs. The game-changer was Google’s new foundation model Gemini, announced in late 2023, which began rolling out to Workspace Labs testers. By early 2024, Google had rebranded the assistant in Workspace apps as “Gemini” (replacing the Bard-based Duet AI), indicating the underlying model upgrade. One key development was the introduction of the “Ask Gemini” side panel in Sheets (Workspace Labs), which consolidated various AI actions – by mid-2024, testers could use it to create tables, charts, summaries, and even images right in Sheets. Moving into late 2024 and 2025, Google greatly expanded availability: In **January 2025, Google announced that the best of its AI (Gemini) would be included in standard Workspace Business and Enterprise plans. This meant that features like the Gemini side panel in Sheets, which were previously limited to Labs or to paid add-ons, would become part of the core product for paying customers. Indeed, starting Jan 15, 2025, Google eliminated the separate Gemini Business and Enterprise add-ons and rolled those capabilities into the regular subscriptions. Alongside this, Google launched features like Enhanced Smart Fill in Sheets in early 2025 – this uses AI to detect patterns and suggest auto-fill logic even for complex relationships, making manual data entry smarter. In mid-2025, a noteworthy addition was the =AI() function in Google Sheets (introduced around June 2025) which allows users to call generative AI directly in cells. This function can generate text, summaries, or classifications based on prompts and optional input ranges, effectively bringing AI into formula language and enabling new use cases (like mass-generating personalized email drafts or categorizations in bulk). Google has also been working on multimodal capabilities of Gemini – for example, the ability to generate and insert images in Sheets (available in Labs) ties into Gemini’s image generation skills. Another development is tighter integration with Google Cloud’s Looker and BigQuery: in 2024, Google previewed “Gemini in Looker”, an AI analyst that could connect Sheets data to Looker Studio dashboards automatically, and by 2025, using AI to analyze BigQuery data via natural language (in Connected Sheets) became a possibility. All these improvements reflect Google’s rapid iteration: from a basic “helper” to a full-fledged smart assistant in Sheets. By mid-to-late 2025, Gemini in Google Sheets is far more capable and more widely deployed (enabled for most business users) than the initial Duet AI preview, with continued enhancements in pipeline (Google hinted at Gemini Advanced modes for even more powerful AI and larger context windows for enterprise needs).

Both Microsoft and Google are continuously adding features, often learning from user feedback. Notably, both companies emphasize responsible AI use: improvements in 2024–2025 also include better safeguards (e.g., Google achieving relevant compliance certifications for Gemini in Workspace, and Microsoft implementing grounded answers that cite organizational data sources). We can expect further convergence of these assistants with their broader ecosystems – Microsoft likely integrating Copilot more with Power Platform and databases, and Google possibly bringing more AppSheet/AppScript automation into Gemini – as the race to augment spreadsheets with AI intelligence continues beyond 2025.

Pricing and Availability

The pricing and availability of Microsoft Copilot in Excel and Google’s Gemini in Sheets differ in approach, reflecting how each company has rolled out AI in their productivity suites.

Microsoft Copilot Pricing: Microsoft 365 Copilot is offered as a premium add-on license for commercial customers. As of 2024–2025, enterprise and business users pay $30 per user per month for the Copilot add-on on top of their existing Microsoft 365 subscription. This flat price applies across all enterprise licensing channels (no matter the size of the organization). For this fee, users get Copilot across the suite – including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, etc.. Microsoft initially had a requirement of a minimum 300-seat purchase for enterprise, but as of January 2024, that requirement was removed, allowing even small businesses to license just a few Copilot seats if needed. In addition to the enterprise offering, Microsoft introduced Copilot Pro for individuals (subscribers of Microsoft 365 Personal or Family plans) in early 2024. Copilot Pro is priced at $20 per user per month. It brings Copilot to personal accounts, albeit with some limitations – certain business-oriented features like Copilot in Teams, Loop, or Whiteboard are not included in the Pro plan. Essentially, Copilot Pro covers the core apps (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote) and the Bing Chat-based Copilot, but not the full range of enterprise integrations. Importantly, Microsoft does not offer a free tier or trial of Microsoft 365 Copilot as of 2025. Access is exclusive to paying subscribers with the requisite Microsoft 365 licenses. Regions-wise, Microsoft 365 Copilot is available in many markets where Microsoft 365 is available, though initial previews were English-only and U.S.-centric. By 2025, Microsoft has started enabling Copilot in more languages (for example, they announced expansion into Japanese, French, German in preview). However, detailed availability by country may depend on compliance checks; enterprises in regulated regions can opt in if they meet data residency requirements, etc.

For Excel specifically, Copilot availability extends to Excel on Windows, Mac, Web, and Mobile (iPad) as part of the overall license. The best experience is on the latest Office apps (users must be on certain minimum version builds, e.g., Office 365 builds from late 2023 or later). IT administrators have control to enable or disable Copilot features for their tenant and can configure content settings (like turning off web access for Copilot queries if desired for data protection). Microsoft also offers support and training for Copilot via its commercial support channels, since it’s a paid service – admins and users can get help from Microsoft on usage issues as part of their subscription.

Google Gemini Pricing: Google took a different route by integrating Gemini (Duet AI) features into existing Workspace offerings. Initially, in 2023, Google had add-on pricing: “Duet AI” was in trial and then offered as an add-on (some references show a list price around $30/user/month similar to Microsoft, for those who opted in late 2023). However, in a strategic move, Google announced in January 2025 that it would no longer charge separately for core AI features for most business tiers. Instead, it rolled Gemini into the standard Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus plans. Essentially, if an organization subscribes to one of these Google Workspace editions, they automatically get Gemini AI capabilities in Sheets (and other apps) without an extra fee. This change did come with a catch: Google also announced pricing adjustments for those plans starting in 2025 to reflect the added value of AI. New customers after Jan 16, 2025, or renewing customers, might see higher base subscription prices for Business/Enterprise editions (specific increases were not publicly detailed, but Google implied an uptick). For organizations that had already purchased the Gemini add-ons (Business or Enterprise) in 2024, Google provided a transition – they would not be charged for those add-ons after Jan 31, 2025 and could continue using them until they naturally transitioned to the new inclusive model.

For educational, nonprofit, or other special plans: Google has Gemini Education add-ons which as of early 2025 remain separate (education users can buy a Gemini add-on for features, since Google didn’t include it in base edu licenses yet). Nonprofits on paid Workspace plans get AI according to whatever base plan they have (if they use a Business tier, they get it; if they are on legacy free tiers, they do not). Consumer Accounts: Regular @gmail users do not have Gemini in Sheets as of mid-2025 unless they are part of Workspace Labs or have certain subscriptions. However, Google One (the consumer subscription) offers something called “AI features in Google One Premium”, which includes some Duet AI features like help writing in Gmail or Magic Eraser in Photos, but not full Gemini in Sheets. For now, advanced Sheets AI is mainly a business feature. It’s worth noting that Google’s strategy may bring some AI features to consumers via Google One or free Bard integration eventually, but nothing as integrated as Gemini in Sheets has been announced free.

Availability and Requirements: Gemini in Google Sheets was initially available via Workspace Labs (opt-in beta) in 2023. As of 2025, it’s broadly available to paid tiers mentioned above, but still must be enabled by admins in many cases. Workspace admins have control over turning on generative AI for their domain – they can enable the “Google Workspace Labs” settings or, post-general availability, simply ensure “Duet AI” settings are on. Some features, like web-connected Gemini queries or certain Gems, might remain in beta and require admin enablement. Language support for Gemini is expanding; English is fully supported, and other languages (Spanish, Japanese, etc.) are being added for the chat interface. Google has kept features like the AI formula (the AI() function) initially in English-only during rollout. Region-wise, Google Workspace’s AI features are available in North America, most of Europe, parts of Asia, and Latin America, but there are notable exceptions where data laws restrict usage (for example, some EU customers need to ensure compliance – Google touts its certifications and enterprise controls to address this). Google also offers Google AI Trusted Tester programs for certain industries to trial new features under NDA before broad release.

In terms of support, Google provides help center articles and has a community forum for Workspace where admins and users share experiences with Gemini. Since it’s included in many plans, users can access standard Google support if something isn’t working.

To summarize, Microsoft’s Copilot is a premium paid add-on (with a substantial cost, especially for enterprises deploying at scale, though Microsoft argues the productivity gains justify it), whereas Google’s Gemini is now baked into the cost of most business Workspace plans (effectively “free” with those subscriptions, though the subscription price itself may be slightly higher moving forward). For individual or small-scale users, Microsoft offers Copilot Pro at $20/month, while Google hasn’t offered an individual-purchase equivalent for Sheets – individual enthusiasts would need to use a Workspace account or rely on free Bard outside of Sheets. Both companies are clearly positioning their AI assistants as major value-adds for their platforms, and pricing strategies may continue to evolve as competition and adoption grow. For now, organizations must consider their existing ecosystem: those already paying for Microsoft 365 E3/E5 can budget the additional Copilot fee per user, whereas Google Workspace shops on Business Standard/Plus or Enterprise editions will get AI features included but should watch for their renewal pricing. Each assistant also requires using the respective cloud platform (Copilot requires Microsoft 365 cloud – it’s not available for offline standalone Office, and Gemini requires Google’s cloud – an internet connection and data in Google’s servers).

So, overall... both Microsoft Copilot in Excel and Google Gemini in Sheets are pioneering examples of AI in productivity software. They differ in specific capabilities and approach, but both aim to dramatically simplify complex work, increase productivity, and empower users to glean insights and automate tasks in spreadsheets. Businesses evaluating them will want to consider the technical strengths, user experience fit, and the cost/licensing model that aligns with their environment. With robust development in 2024–2025, these tools are quickly becoming indispensable aides for data-driven work.

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