Your infrastructure, your operation
Docker, Kubernetes, or Helm in your VPC, data center, or disconnected network. No vendor-operated cloud in the loop, which also means no per-seat dependency on a productivity suite.
Comparison
KnowWiz vs Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Copilot is an assistant inside the Microsoft 365 apps, delivered as a Microsoft cloud service. KnowWiz is a self-hosted answer layer across your whole stack, Microsoft and otherwise, operated by your team. Different jobs; often both in one company. This page is about which job you are hiring for.
Architecture, not features
Where it runs, and who runs it.
| KnowWiz | Microsoft 365 Copilot | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs inside your own infrastructure | Yes | No |
| Operated by your team, not the vendor | Yes | No |
| Works fully disconnected (air-gapped) | Yes | No |
| Choose and self-host the models | Yes | Microsoft-managed LLMs |
| Non-Microsoft sources as first-class citizens | Yes | Via Graph connectors |
| Sensitive values tokenized before index and model | Yes | No |
| AI assistance inside Word, Excel, Teams | No | Yes |
| Mature product at enterprise scale | Early; design partners | Yes |
The honest split
An in-app assistant, or a knowledge layer you control.
Per Microsoft's documentation, Copilot pairs with the Microsoft 365 apps, grounds its responses in Microsoft Graph content the user already has permission to access, reaches connected non-Microsoft sources through Graph connectors, and coordinates Microsoft-managed language models, with OpenAI and Anthropic named as subprocessors. It is a strong product for exactly that: AI inside the Microsoft workspace, operated by Microsoft.
2
Different questions.
Copilot answers: how do I get AI into the apps my company already licenses? KnowWiz answers: how do I get trustworthy answers from all our knowledge, on infrastructure we control?
Choose Copilot if
Your world is Microsoft 365
Your documents, mail, and chat live in Microsoft 365, you want drafting and summarizing inside Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams, and a Microsoft-operated cloud service fits your compliance posture.
Choose KnowWiz if
Your knowledge is broader, and control matters
Your answers live across Confluence, Jira, GitHub, Slack, Zendesk, and drives as much as in Microsoft 365, you need self-hosted or air-gapped deployment, you want to pick or self-host the models, and you want sensitive values tokenized before they reach an index or a model.
What KnowWiz adds
The layer Copilot is not built to be.
Every source is first-class
50+ connectors treat Confluence, Jira, GitHub, Slack, Zendesk, Salesforce, and Google Workspace with the same depth as SharePoint and Teams. One answer layer across all of it.
Models you choose
Anthropic, OpenAI, or Gemini through your own keys, or fully local models via Ollama and vLLM when nothing may leave your network. Swap without re-indexing.
Tokenization in the pipeline
Sensitive values, including regional identifiers like Aadhaar, PAN, IFSC, and Gulf national IDs, are detected and replaced with format-preserving tokens before indexing and before any prompt reaches a model.
Common questions
KnowWiz and Copilot, asked directly.
Statements about Microsoft 365 Copilot on this page are drawn from Microsoft's public documentation (learn.microsoft.com) as of July 2026. If we have anything wrong, email hello@knowwiz.ai and we will correct it the same day.
For some buyers, yes; for many, it is a complement. Copilot is an assistant inside the Microsoft 365 apps, and if that is the job, use Copilot. KnowWiz is a self-hosted search and research layer across every knowledge source you connect. Companies with a serious Microsoft footprint and a serious everything-else footprint often want both.
Yes, and credit where due: Microsoft documents that Copilot only surfaces content a user already has permission to access in Microsoft Graph. The differences lie elsewhere: where the system runs, who operates it, how non-Microsoft sources are treated, which models you can use, and whether sensitive values are tokenized before they reach an index or a model.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is delivered as part of the Microsoft 365 cloud; Microsoft's published architecture runs the service in Microsoft's environment, coordinated with Microsoft-managed language models. A self-hosted or air-gapped deployment is not one of its published options. KnowWiz deploys in your VPC, your data center, or a fully disconnected network.
Yes. Microsoft documents that Copilot Search spans Microsoft 365 and connected non-Microsoft sources through Graph connectors. The distinction is emphasis and control: KnowWiz treats external sources as first-class with dedicated connectors, runs the whole pipeline inside your boundary, and lets you choose or self-host the models doing the answering.
Microsoft licenses Copilot as an add-on to Microsoft 365; their pricing pages have the current numbers, and we will not characterize them here. KnowWiz is priced per seat through a conversation, with pilots on your own infrastructure. Self-hosting also means you control the model bill: your API keys or your own hardware.
Evaluate on your terms
Run the comparison on your own documents.
KnowWiz is self-hosted, so the evaluation is yours to run: deploy it, connect your sources, and judge the answers next to whatever you use today.
Microsoft statements sourced from learn.microsoft.com, July 2026. Microsoft, Microsoft 365, and Copilot are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation; KnowWiz is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft.