Can Microsoft 365 Copilot and Paul be used at the same time?

Nothing stands in the way: both produce native PowerPoint files. Copilot lives in the PowerPoint pane and in the Copilot app, and saves the presentation to OneDrive. Paul comes in ahead of a specific presentation: the existing template is ingested, and the generation then comes out within that frame, as a native .pptx. The resulting file then opens in PowerPoint, where the Copilot pane is still available.

Does Copilot follow my template to the letter?

Microsoft describes two routes: a Brand Kit built from a .pptx or .potx uploaded to the Copilot app, and organisation templates published in a SharePoint library, which require Microsoft 365 E3 or E5. In both cases the vendor writes that Copilot “selects layouts” among the sample slides and “changes neither font size nor placeholder size”: no strict fidelity to the file is guaranteed, and a stricter brand adherence mode was announced on 14 September 2026, which we have not tested. With Paul, the .pptx is ingested once — masters, layouts, palette, fonts — and is used for every generation, with no brand kit to enter alongside it.

Who hosts what, and what happens to the content?

Microsoft applies the EU Data Boundary to EU customers, routes model calls to the nearest data centres with possible overflow, and excludes Anthropic models from that boundary, disabled by default in the EU. The vendor publishes ISO 27001, ISO 27018 and ISO 42001, with Office 365 covered by SOC 2 Type 2, and states that prompts, responses and Microsoft Graph data are not used to train the foundation models. With Paul, the application, database and storage are hosted in the EU, with language models called at third-party providers under contract; no certification is published to date. Paul states that no model is trained on customer content, with a training opt-out at the model providers.

What do the two tools cost?

Copilot is an add-on to an eligible Microsoft 365 licence: the France page shows 26,00 € excl. tax per user per month, paid yearly, for the Enterprise plan, with no trial, and 18,20 € excl. tax for Copilot Business, limited to 300 users, with a promotion at 15,60 € excl. tax until 31 December 2026 and a one-month trial. The cost of the Microsoft 365 licence comes on top, and the Brand Kit requires a “Microsoft Copilot Premium” licence. Paul offers monthly or yearly subscriptions, Paul and Paul Pro, with prices shown in euros including VAT on the pricing page and an Enterprise plan on quotation; the trial lasts 7 days with a card and no charge, and the yearly commitment gives two months free. The two amounts therefore do not compare directly: one is excluding tax and adds to a licence, the other includes tax and stands on its own.

How are these facts verified?

Every cell in the table above comes from a page published by the vendor concerned, recorded on 22 September 2026 and numbered below the table. Where a piece of information is not published, it is flagged as such rather than inferred. Prices are quoted in the currency and for the period shown by the vendor, without conversion. If a fact looks wrong or out of date to you, the “Report an error” link below the table lets you write to us.

Comparisons

Paul vs Microsoft 365 Copilot: the Brand Kit to publish or the template to ingest.

Microsoft 365 Copilot for PowerPoint (Brand Kit) is an add-on to an eligible Microsoft 365 licence, available in the Copilot pane of PowerPoint and in the Copilot app, where the Brand Kit gathers logos, palettes, typography, icons and chart styles; Microsoft Learn writes that “Microsoft 365 Copilot is now named Microsoft Copilot”, while the pricing pages and the 14 September 2026 post still use the former name. Paul takes the problem from the other end: the company’s .pptx file is ingested once, and every generation then comes out in that template.

What Microsoft 365 Copilot does well

Copilot addresses organisations already equipped with Microsoft 365. Here is what the vendor publishes about its product, recorded on 22 September 2026.

01
Native to PowerPoint, on Windows, Mac and the web
Copilot lives in a PowerPoint pane on Windows, Mac and the web, as well as in the Copilot app. A complete presentation is generated from a description or a Word document, and the output is native PowerPoint saved to OneDrive.
02
A Brand Kit that accepts a .pptx or a .potx
The Brand Kit is built from a .pptx or .potx file uploaded to the Copilot app, together with logos, palettes, typography, icons, chart styles and a “brand voice”. Microsoft rolled out the Brand Kit picker in June 2026 and announced general availability of the Brand Kit and Skills on 14 September 2026; Brand Kits existed before that.
03
EU Data Boundary for EU customers, with no training
For EU customers, Microsoft applies the EU Data Boundary, and prompts, responses and Microsoft Graph data are not used to train the foundation models. The vendor publishes ISO 27001, ISO 27018 and ISO 42001; Office 365 is covered by SOC 2 Type 2.
04
49 languages, including French
Microsoft publishes support for 49 languages, including French (France and Canada). Generation produces a single output language at a time.

What Microsoft 365 Copilot was not designed for

These points are not flaws: they follow from the product’s positioning and from what the vendor publishes — or does not publish — on its public pages, consulted on 22 September 2026.

It is an add-on to an eligible Microsoft 365 licence.The Enterprise plan is shown at 26,00 € excl. tax per user per month, paid yearly (France page), on top of the Microsoft 365 licence, and with no trial. Copilot Business, limited to 300 users, is shown at 18,20 € excl. tax, with a promotion at 15,60 € excl. tax until 31 December 2026 and a one-month trial.
The Brand Kit requires a Copilot Premium licence and “brand managers”.Microsoft support reserves the Brand Kit for a “Microsoft Copilot Premium” licence and its publication for “brand managers”. The second route, organisation templates, goes through a SharePoint library and requires Microsoft 365 E3 or E5.
Copilot “selects layouts” among the sample slides.Microsoft writes that Copilot selects layouts among the Brand Kit sample slides and “changes neither font size nor placeholder size”; no strict fidelity to the file is guaranteed. A stricter brand adherence mode was announced on 14 September 2026; we have not tested it.
Anthropic models sit outside the EU Data Boundary.Microsoft documents that Anthropic models are excluded from the EU Data Boundary and disabled by default in the EU. Model calls are otherwise routed to the nearest data centres, with possible overflow.

Paul’s starting point

Paul starts from the file your organisation already uses. Three facts, taken as they stand from the table below:

01
.pptx ingestion, with no Brand Kit to administer
The company’s .pptx file is ingested once: masters, layouts, palette, fonts. Colours, fonts and logos come from that template; there is no brand kit to enter and publish alongside it.
02
A web application, independent of Microsoft 365
Paul is a web application: an instruction and attached documents — PDF, Excel, text — are enough to produce a complete deck. The generated .pptx then opens in PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides, where every element stays editable.
03
A subscription in euros, published on the pricing page
The monthly or yearly subscriptions, Paul and Paul Pro, are shown in euros including VAT on the pricing page, with the Enterprise plan on quotation. The trial lasts 7 days with a card and no charge, and the yearly commitment gives two months free.

Microsoft 365 Copilot and Paul, criterion by criterion

The twelve criteria of the comparison, narrowed to two columns. Every cell links to its source, numbered below the table.

Criterion	Microsoft 365 Copilot (Brand Kit)	Paul
Prompt-based generationDoes the tool produce a complete deck (structure and slides) from an instruction?	Yes: a complete presentation from a description or a Word document; a single output language at a time.¹	Yes: a complete deck from an instruction and attached documents (PDF, Excel, text).²
Ingestion of an existing .pptx templateDoes the tool read the company PowerPoint file (masters, layouts, theme) and generate inside it?	Brand Kit: a .pptx or .potx file uploaded to the Copilot app, or organisation templates through a SharePoint library (Microsoft 365 E3/E5); Copilot selects layouts among the sample slides and changes neither font size nor placeholder size.³	Yes: the company .pptx file is ingested once (masters, layouts, palette, fonts) and is used for every generation.^{4, 2}
Brand kit to re-enterMust colours, fonts and logos be entered in the tool, separately from the template?	Yes: logos, palettes, typography, icons, chart styles and “brand voice” entered in the Brand Kit by “brand managers”, in addition to the template file.³	Not required: colours, fonts and logos come from the ingested template.⁴
Output formatNative .pptx, .pptx export from a proprietary format, or web format.	Native PowerPoint, saved to OneDrive.¹	Native editable .pptx (every element stays editable in PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides).²
Works inside PowerPointAdd-in in the PowerPoint ribbon, or separate application.	Yes: Copilot pane in PowerPoint (Windows, Mac, web) and the Copilot app.³	No: web application; the generated .pptx opens in PowerPoint.²
Hosting and data residencyPublished regions, EU option, AI sub-processors.	EU Data Boundary for EU customers; model calls routed to the nearest data centres, with possible overflow; Anthropic models excluded from the EU Data Boundary and disabled by default in the EU.⁵	Application, database and storage hosted in the EU; language models called at third-party providers under contract.^{6, 2}
Training on your contentWhat the vendor publishes about using customer content to train models.	Prompts, responses and Microsoft Graph data are not used to train the foundation models.⁵	The vendor states that no model is trained on customer content, with a training opt-out at the model providers.^{6, 2}
Published certificationsSOC 2, ISO 27001 and similar, as displayed by the vendor.	ISO 27001, ISO 27018, ISO 42001; Office 365 covered by SOC 2 Type 2.⁵	No certification published to date.
Public pricingPrices displayed on 22 September 2026, currency and period as published.	Add-on to an eligible Microsoft 365 licence: 26,00 € excl. tax per user per month, paid yearly (France page); Copilot Business (max. 300 users): 18,20 € excl. tax, promotion at 15,60 € excl. tax until 31 December 2026.⁷	Monthly or yearly subscriptions (Paul, Paul Pro), prices shown in euros including VAT on the pricing page; Enterprise plan on quotation.⁸
Trial or free planPermanent free plan, limited trial, card required.	No trial on the Enterprise plan; one-month trial on Copilot Business.⁷	Free 7-day trial with a card and no charge; two months free on the yearly plan.⁸
LanguagesInterface and generated content, as published.	49 languages, including French (France and Canada).⁹	Interface in 23 languages; generation in the requested language.²
Declared targetWho the vendor says it serves.	Businesses with a Microsoft 365 licence (E3/E5…) and SMEs with up to 300 users.¹⁰	Teams and organisations producing presentations under imposed brand guidelines (consulting, finance, PMO, communications, agencies).²

Paul

Prompt-based generation: Yes: a complete deck from an instruction and attached documents (PDF, Excel, text).²
Ingestion of an existing .pptx template: Yes: the company .pptx file is ingested once (masters, layouts, palette, fonts) and is used for every generation.^{4, 2}
Brand kit to re-enter: Not required: colours, fonts and logos come from the ingested template.⁴
Output format: Native editable .pptx (every element stays editable in PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides).²
Works inside PowerPoint: No: web application; the generated .pptx opens in PowerPoint.²
Hosting and data residency: Application, database and storage hosted in the EU; language models called at third-party providers under contract.^{6, 2}
Training on your content: The vendor states that no model is trained on customer content, with a training opt-out at the model providers.^{6, 2}
Published certifications: No certification published to date.
Public pricing: Monthly or yearly subscriptions (Paul, Paul Pro), prices shown in euros including VAT on the pricing page; Enterprise plan on quotation.⁸
Trial or free plan: Free 7-day trial with a card and no charge; two months free on the yearly plan.⁸
Languages: Interface in 23 languages; generation in the requested language.²
Declared target: Teams and organisations producing presentations under imposed brand guidelines (consulting, finance, PMO, communications, agencies).²

Microsoft 365 Copilot (Brand Kit)

Prompt-based generation: Yes: a complete presentation from a description or a Word document; a single output language at a time.¹
Ingestion of an existing .pptx template: Brand Kit: a .pptx or .potx file uploaded to the Copilot app, or organisation templates through a SharePoint library (Microsoft 365 E3/E5); Copilot selects layouts among the sample slides and changes neither font size nor placeholder size.³
Brand kit to re-enter: Yes: logos, palettes, typography, icons, chart styles and “brand voice” entered in the Brand Kit by “brand managers”, in addition to the template file.³
Output format: Native PowerPoint, saved to OneDrive.¹
Works inside PowerPoint: Yes: Copilot pane in PowerPoint (Windows, Mac, web) and the Copilot app.³
Hosting and data residency: EU Data Boundary for EU customers; model calls routed to the nearest data centres, with possible overflow; Anthropic models excluded from the EU Data Boundary and disabled by default in the EU.⁵
Training on your content: Prompts, responses and Microsoft Graph data are not used to train the foundation models.⁵
Published certifications: ISO 27001, ISO 27018, ISO 42001; Office 365 covered by SOC 2 Type 2.⁵
Public pricing: Add-on to an eligible Microsoft 365 licence: 26,00 € excl. tax per user per month, paid yearly (France page); Copilot Business (max. 300 users): 18,20 € excl. tax, promotion at 15,60 € excl. tax until 31 December 2026.⁷
Trial or free plan: No trial on the Enterprise plan; one-month trial on Copilot Business.⁷
Languages: 49 languages, including French (France and Canada).⁹
Declared target: Businesses with a Microsoft 365 licence (E3/E5…) and SMEs with up to 300 users.¹⁰

Sources

Microsoft Support — Create a new presentation with Copilot in PowerPoint — September 22, 2026
Paul · L’IA qui compose vos présentations dans votre template — September 22, 2026
Microsoft Support — Keep your presentation on-brand with Copilot — September 22, 2026
IA qui respecte votre template d’entreprise · Paul — September 22, 2026
Microsoft Learn — Data, Privacy, and Security for Microsoft Copilot — September 22, 2026
Sécurité & conformité · Paul — September 22, 2026
Microsoft 365 Copilot — Tarifs (FR) — September 22, 2026
Tarification · Paul — September 22, 2026
Microsoft Support — Supported languages for Microsoft 365 Copilot — September 22, 2026
Microsoft Learn — Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing — September 22, 2026

Facts recorded on 22 September 2026. Report an error

Depending on your context

The two tools do not answer the same question. Here are the situations where each one fits best:

Prefer Microsoft 365 Copilot if

Your eligible Microsoft 365 licences are already deployed and you add the Copilot add-on on top
You have a team to administer the Brand Kit: publication is reserved for “brand managers”, under a “Microsoft Copilot Premium” licence
You want to do everything inside PowerPoint: the Copilot pane exists on Windows, Mac and the web, and the presentation is saved to OneDrive
You work in one of the 49 supported languages, including French (France and Canada)

Prefer Paul if

You have no Microsoft 365 Copilot tenant: Paul is a web application, and the generated .pptx then opens in PowerPoint
You want the template used as it stands: the .pptx is ingested once — masters, layouts, palette, fonts — and is used for every generation
You care about a native .pptx file, editable element by element in PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides
You are a European company: the application, database and storage are hosted in the EU, and subscriptions are shown in euros including VAT

The questions evaluation teams ask

Can Microsoft 365 Copilot and Paul be used at the same time?: Nothing stands in the way: both produce native PowerPoint files. Copilot lives in the PowerPoint pane and in the Copilot app, and saves the presentation to OneDrive. Paul comes in ahead of a specific presentation: the existing template is ingested, and the generation then comes out within that frame, as a native .pptx. The resulting file then opens in PowerPoint, where the Copilot pane is still available.
Does Copilot follow my template to the letter?: Microsoft describes two routes: a Brand Kit built from a .pptx or .potx uploaded to the Copilot app, and organisation templates published in a SharePoint library, which require Microsoft 365 E3 or E5. In both cases the vendor writes that Copilot “selects layouts” among the sample slides and “changes neither font size nor placeholder size”: no strict fidelity to the file is guaranteed, and a stricter brand adherence mode was announced on 14 September 2026, which we have not tested. With Paul, the .pptx is ingested once — masters, layouts, palette, fonts — and is used for every generation, with no brand kit to enter alongside it.
Who hosts what, and what happens to the content?: Microsoft applies the EU Data Boundary to EU customers, routes model calls to the nearest data centres with possible overflow, and excludes Anthropic models from that boundary, disabled by default in the EU. The vendor publishes ISO 27001, ISO 27018 and ISO 42001, with Office 365 covered by SOC 2 Type 2, and states that prompts, responses and Microsoft Graph data are not used to train the foundation models. With Paul, the application, database and storage are hosted in the EU, with language models called at third-party providers under contract; no certification is published to date. Paul states that no model is trained on customer content, with a training opt-out at the model providers.
What do the two tools cost?: Copilot is an add-on to an eligible Microsoft 365 licence: the France page shows 26,00 € excl. tax per user per month, paid yearly, for the Enterprise plan, with no trial, and 18,20 € excl. tax for Copilot Business, limited to 300 users, with a promotion at 15,60 € excl. tax until 31 December 2026 and a one-month trial. The cost of the Microsoft 365 licence comes on top, and the Brand Kit requires a “Microsoft Copilot Premium” licence. Paul offers monthly or yearly subscriptions, Paul and Paul Pro, with prices shown in euros including VAT on the pricing page and an Enterprise plan on quotation; the trial lasts 7 days with a card and no charge, and the yearly commitment gives two months free. The two amounts therefore do not compare directly: one is excluding tax and adds to a licence, the other includes tax and stands on its own.
How are these facts verified?: Every cell in the table above comes from a page published by the vendor concerned, recorded on 22 September 2026 and numbered below the table. Where a piece of information is not published, it is flagged as such rather than inferred. Prices are quoted in the currency and for the period shown by the vendor, without conversion. If a fact looks wrong or out of date to you, the “Report an error” link below the table lets you write to us.

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Paul vs Microsoft 365 Copilot: the Brand Kit to publish or the template to ingest.

Native to PowerPoint, on Windows, Mac and the web

A Brand Kit that accepts a .pptx or a .potx

EU Data Boundary for EU customers, with no training

49 languages, including French

.pptx ingestion, with no Brand Kit to administer

A web application, independent of Microsoft 365

A subscription in euros, published on the pricing page