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Glossary · Copilot Cowork pricing

What are connectors, and what can Cowork reach?

Connectors are the links that let Copilot and Cowork read data outside Microsoft 365 - a CRM, a ticketing system, a file store. Without them, Cowork works on what's inside your Microsoft 365 tenant: email, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive and the Office apps. With them, it can ground in other systems too. Whether a connector exists for your particular software is the question that decides how useful Cowork will be.

In practice

This is the boundary every one of our sector guides comes back to, because it's where expectations go wrong. Accountancy practices keep client work in practice management software; agencies keep candidates in an ATS; manufacturers keep orders in an ERP. None of that is in Microsoft 365, so none of it is in Cowork's reach by default. The board pack it can help build is the Microsoft 365 slice of the board pack.

That's not a reason to write Cowork off. In most smaller businesses a surprising share of real work still happens in email, spreadsheets and documents - the correspondence around the system of record, the reports built from its exports, the proposals and tenders. That's where Cowork earns its keep, and it's usually more hours than people expect.

Before budgeting, map the split: which of your team's document-heavy jobs live in Microsoft 365, and which live in a system without a connector. The first list is your Cowork case. The second is a conversation about integration - a bigger decision than a licence.

Common questions

Microsoft publishes a catalogue of connectors, and some vendors ship their own. Check for your specific systems before you commit - availability varies widely, and a connector existing isn't the same as it being set up.

Often, yes. An export dropped into SharePoint is reachable by Cowork. It's manual and it's a snapshot, but for monthly reporting cycles it's a perfectly serviceable bridge.

Related
GroundingYour Microsoft 365 tenantCopilot Studio vs CoworkCost guide: manufacturing
Before you commit

The definitions are the easy part. Whether Cowork is the right spend is a different question.

We help established UK businesses get a clear view of what they're already running - before they add more on top.

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Pricing and definitions last verified 12 October 2026, against Microsoft's published documentation.
Figures use Microsoft pay-as-you-go list pricing ($0.01 per Copilot Credit, billed in US dollars), converted at £1 = $1.27 - a deliberately cautious rate (2026 has run between $1.31 and $1.39), so real pound costs are likely to be a little lower. Ex-VAT. This is an independent explainer built by Segmentum, not produced or endorsed by Microsoft - confirm current pricing with Microsoft before you commit. Sources: Microsoft Copilot Credits Guide (September 2026); Microsoft Learn - usage-based billing and Copilot Credits; microsoft.com UK pricing.