Cowork vs Other Tools

Choose the right tool for your task

All tools serve different use cases. Cowork excels at local file automation — not everything.

Feature	This guide Cowork	Claude Code	M365 Copilot	ChatGPT
Target User	Knowledge workers	Developers	M365 users	Everyone
Local File Access	Sandbox	Full	Office files only*	Upload only
Execute Code	Isolated environment	Full shell	No	Sandboxed tools
Create Office Docs	Native	Via scripts	Native	No
Browser Automation	Built-in browser, Chrome	Via tools	No	Operator beta
Multi-step Planning	Yes	Yes	Limited	GPTs only
Platform	Desktop + web/mobile	All	Windows/Mac	All
Status	Varies by surface	Production	Production	Production

Rule of thumb: choose the surface from the files, permissions, connectors, and review controls the task needs.

*Note: "M365 Copilot" refers to Microsoft 365 Copilot (Word/Excel/PowerPoint integration), not GitHub Copilot (developer tool with full file system access).

When to choose each tool

🖥️ Use Cowork when

Organizing hundreds of local files
Creating Word/Excel/PowerPoint documents
Automating browser tasks (Chrome)
Extracting data from PDFs or photos
Building repeatable desktop workflows

💬 Use Claude Chat when

Thinking through a problem
Writing or editing documents
Generating code snippets
Research and synthesis
Quick one-off questions

>_ Use Claude Code when

Running scripts or build commands
Editing code files across a project
Automating git workflows
Working in terminal daily
API integrations and scripting

📎 Use M365 Copilot when

Deep integration with Teams/Outlook
Company already on Microsoft 365
Word/Excel/PowerPoint in the cloud
Enterprise IT policy requires it

Ready to get started with Cowork?

Read the Guide →