Short answer
- Any Windows 11 PC: the free Copilot app for chat, voice and screen help.
- Copilot+ PC (16 GB RAM and a 40+ TOPS AI chip): extra on-device features like Click to Do and Recall.
- Private and free: run open models offline with LM Studio or Ollama. Check yours in our “What can my computer run?” checker.
1. Built-in: Copilot on Windows
The Copilot app comes with Windows 11. It's free with limits, can talk by voice, can look at your screen when you allow it, and can open links in a side pane. Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook needs a Microsoft 365 plan (from $9.99/month). Details and privacy settings: Microsoft Copilot explained.
2. Copilot+ PCs: what they add
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Click to Do | Select anything on screen to summarize, rewrite, make a list or send it to an app; text actions run on-device |
| Recall (opt-in) | Find something you saw earlier by describing it; snapshots stay on the PC; needs Windows Hello biometrics, encryption and 50 GB free |
| Improved Windows search | Describe a file or setting instead of typing its exact name |
| Live Captions | Real-time captions (and translation) for audio and video |
Requirements: 40+ TOPS NPU, 16 GB RAM, 8 logical processors, 256 GB storage, Windows 11 24H2+. Look for the “Copilot+ PC” label. Snapdragon X, Intel Core Ultra and AMD Ryzen AI models exist. Features vary by device, language and region.
Do you need one? Not for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot chat, which run in the cloud on any PC. A Copilot+ PC only matters for the on-device Windows features above.
3. Run local AI on Windows
- Check what fits with the checker. The key number is your graphics card's VRAM (or RAM if you have no graphics card).
- Install LM Studio (point-and-click; recommends 16 GB RAM, 4 GB+ VRAM and an AVX2 CPU; also supports Snapdragon X laptops) or Ollama (lightweight, works with many apps).
- Start with a small model such as Qwen 3.5 4B or Gemma 4 E2B (4.6 GB).
Step by step: 10-minute Windows setup · Ollama vs LM Studio · Can I run AI on 8GB RAM?
Research-based. From Microsoft's and the apps' official pages, last checked Oct 15, 2026. We haven't tested Copilot+ PC features or the Windows versions of Ollama and LM Studio ourselves. On a Mac instead? See AI on Macs.
Sources
- Microsoft: Copilot+ PCs vs Windows PCs, the differences: last checked Oct 15, 2026
- Microsoft Support: Click to Do: last checked Oct 15, 2026
- Microsoft Support: Retrace your steps with Recall: last checked Oct 15, 2026
- Microsoft Support: Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot: last checked Oct 15, 2026
- Microsoft: Copilot plans for individuals: last checked Oct 15, 2026
- Ollama: download (Mac, Windows, Linux): last checked Oct 15, 2026
- LM Studio: system requirements: last checked Oct 15, 2026
Prices and plans change often. Always confirm on the official site before you buy.