Microsoft AI Workforce

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Copilot Cowork Estimator

Estimate monthly Copilot Cowork credit consumption, budget range, and cost per user from workforce profile and light, medium, and heavy monthly prompting assumptions.

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Model guidance

Choose the right model for the task weight

Use this as a simple starting point when discussing how customers can balance capability, quality, and cost.

Task type Recommended model Partner positioning
Light tasks Sonnet 4.6 Use Sonnet 4.6 for fast, lower-complexity tasks with narrower context and limited tool use.
Medium tasks Sonnet 4.6 Medium tasks are the sweet spot for Sonnet 4.6: richer context, structured reasoning, and strong cost efficiency.
Heavy tasks Opus 4.8 Use the full power of Opus 4.8 for broad context aggregation, deeper reasoning, many tool calls, and sustained runtime.

Step 1: Who will use Cowork?

Enter the estimated number of users in each customer segment.

Corporate Knowledge Workers

Document comparison, research synthesis, meeting follow-up, policy review, and repeatable analysis.

Customer-Facing Knowledge Workers

Account planning, stalled pipeline review, follow-up drafting, proposal support, and customer research.

Technical Workers

Dependency mapping, code or file review, operational runbooks, architecture notes, and change analysis.

Managers & Senior Leaders

Portfolio summaries, decision briefs, risk reviews, initiative tracking, and executive-ready synthesis.

Step 2: Monthly light, medium, and heavy prompts per user

Start from a scenario pattern, tune the light / medium / heavy prompt mix, and optionally add budget and value assumptions.

Scenario builder

Selected scenarios stay highlighted until you change the Step 2 prompt numbers.

Segment Light Narrow context, 0-1 tool calls, minimal runtime Medium Richer context, several tool calls, moderate runtime Heavy Broad context, many tool calls, sustained runtime Monthly Copilot credit spend per user
Corporate Knowledge Workers 0
Customer-Facing Knowledge Workers 0
Technical Workers 0
Managers & Senior Leaders 0

Budget and value calculator

Step 3: Copilot credits consumed per prompt1

Use these defaults as a starting point, then adjust them to suit the customer scenario and selected model mix.

1. The default credit-per-prompt numbers in Step 3 are based on Microsoft Frontier customer usage as of 27/5/2026.

Step 4: Summary

Illustrative estimates only. Validate final pricing and credit rules before sharing externally.

Usage and cost

Core commercial estimate for the scenario.

Total Users 0
Monthly Copilot Credits 0
Monthly Cowork Budget 0
Annual Cost 0

Per-user view

Helpful for customer and persona-level discussion.

Average Price / User / Month 0
Avg Credits / User / Month 0

Budget and value

Optional guardrails for value-led planning.

Budget Status Not set
Monthly Value Estimate 0
Net Monthly Value 0
Enter a target monthly budget to see whether the scenario is under, near, or over budget.

Segment breakdown

Segment Users Light / Medium / Heavy prompts Credits / user Monthly credits Monthly cost
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Customer conversation guide

Questions to ask before sharing an estimate

Use these prompts to make the estimate more grounded and actionable.

Which personas will use Cowork first, and what work will they delegate?
Which expected tasks are light, medium, or heavy based on context, tools, and runtime?
What budget owner or cost centre should own usage-based spend?
What monthly budget guardrail should the first scenario stay within?
How should the customer measure value: hours saved, cycle time, quality, or revenue impact?
Which governance controls, usage alerts, and reporting views need to be in place before scale?

Disclaimer

This tool provides illustrative estimates only and should not be treated as contractual pricing. Customer-specific licensing, service terms, credit entitlements, and commercial guidance should be validated separately. These estimates assume Anthropic Opus 4.8.