Best Microsoft Copilot Courses and Certifications (2026-27): Top 10

For most people, the best Copilot course is Microsoft’s free AB-730T00 material on Microsoft Learn: two self-paced learning paths of about 7 hours that take you from Copilot Chat and prompting to Copilot in your apps and agents. If you then want a credential, sit Exam AB-730. Teams that need Copilot used in daily work usually add live, hands-on training on their own files.

Microsoft Learn courses are free and award Learn badges, but Microsoft certifications such as AB-730 require a paid, proctored exam. The closest free credential we found is the Microsoft Applied Skills credential “Build an agent in Microsoft Copilot Studio”, earned in a lab assessment; its page lists no fee. LinkedIn Learning and Udemy give certificates of completion with a subscription or purchase.

For business users it is Microsoft Certified: AI Business Professional, earned by passing Exam AB-730. Related credentials are AI Transformation Leader (AB-731) for decision-makers, Microsoft 365 Certified: Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals (AB-900) for IT admins, and AI Agent Builder Associate (AB-620) for Copilot Studio builders.

Microsoft Learn showed US$99 for AB-730 in October 2026, and the same for AB-731 and AB-900. Microsoft prices exams by the country or region where you take them, so check the price on the exam page after selecting your country. The practice assessment is free.

AB-730 tests how well you use Microsoft 365 Copilot and agents in your own work: prompts, content, collaboration and business outcomes. AB-731 tests whether you can lead AI adoption: business value, choosing Microsoft’s AI services and planning a rollout. Individual contributors usually take AB-730; managers and L&D leaders take AB-731, and some take both.

Not to read or watch most courses, but you need one to practise everything. Microsoft’s MS-4004 requires each learner to have a licensed subscription, and Coursera notes that Microsoft offers no free trial of business Copilot licences. If your account shows Copilot Chat (Basic), choose material built for that tier, such as Microsoft’s MS-4023 course on Copilot Chat.

Copilot Chat is included at no extra cost with eligible Microsoft 365 plans and is labelled Copilot Chat (Basic); it does not include Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Microsoft 365 Copilot is the paid add-on, labelled M365 Copilot (Premium), with the full in-app experience and answers grounded in your work data. Microsoft lists the enterprise add-on at US$30 per user a month, paid yearly.

The core Microsoft Learn paths for AB-730 take about 7 hours, and the Coursera programme about 40 hours. Comfort comes from daily use: most people need two to four weeks of using Copilot on real tasks before it becomes a habit. A hands-on team workshop of one or two days speeds that up because people practise on their own work.

It is worth it if you need proof of skill: job seekers, consultants, trainers and employees whose company tracks credentials. For most teams, the bigger return is people actually using Copilot every day, which a certificate does not guarantee. Pair the exam with practice on real work.

Start with the Finance module of Microsoft’s free learning path “Empower your workforce with Microsoft Copilot”, then practise Copilot in Excel on your own reports. Our Copilot in Excel guide covers the current modes and prompts. For a whole finance team, a hands-on session on your own reconciliations, variance notes and board packs moves faster.

Microsoft’s free learning path “Create agents in Microsoft Copilot Studio” (3 hr 42 min), followed by the Applied Skills lab “Build an agent in Microsoft Copilot Studio”. Developers and advanced builders can go on to the AI Agent Builder Associate certification, Exam AB-620.

No. GitHub Copilot is a coding assistant for developers and has its own GitHub Copilot certification and courses. Microsoft 365 Copilot is for everyday work in Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams. Make sure a course says which Copilot it teaches.

Yes. Microsoft’s training partners run instructor-led versions of courses such as AB-730T00 and MS-4004, and corporate trainers run sessions online or onsite. Hitesh Motwani runs live Copilot training for teams across India and the UAE, and online elsewhere. Note that the AB exams are not offered in Hindi.