Sprout AI vs Copilot Money: polished budgets, or answers on demand?

The core difference

Copilot Money and Sprout AI look like neighbors. Both have native apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, plus a web app, and both connect to your banks read-only. The split is in what you do once you open them. Copilot centers on a budget and a tidy view of every category. Sprout centers on a conversation.

Copilot sets category budgets, can roll leftover amounts into the next month, tags transactions automatically, and shows net worth and investments on one screen. It is a well-crafted tool for people who like every category in order. Sprout asks nothing of you up front. You type "What did I spend on Uber this year?" and get the total, the breakdown, and the accounts and dates behind it.

AI you can use today

Copilot's Money Assistant has been in beta since April 2026, with access through a waitlist. Copilot says the assistant answers questions about your data and, since August 2026, can create and edit categories, budgets, transactions, and rules after you approve. That is an ambitious direction, and it may suit you once you are in.

Sprout's chat is the main screen, and it is available now. Ask a question, follow up, and get charts or tables when they help. Every answer names the accounts and date range it read, so you can open the transactions and check them. Conversations are saved, so the question you asked in March is still there in June.

Sprout's AI is focused on answering. If you want an assistant that reorganizes your categories and budgets for you, Copilot is heading there. If you want quick answers about what actually happened, each one showing the transactions it used, Sprout is built for exactly that.

Price and trial, honestly

As of October 2026, Copilot costs US$95 a year or US$13 a month on the App Store. Sprout Plus costs US$99.99 a year or US$9.99 a week, so Copilot's annual plan is about five dollars cheaper. In Canada, Sprout costs CA$129.99 a year, while Copilot works with US-based accounts only.

Copilot also wins on trial length: new users get 1 month free. Sprout's trial is 3 days on iPhone for eligible Apple accounts. Both let you look around before connecting a bank, Copilot with a test drive and Sprout with fictional sample data. To make Sprout's three days count, connect your banks on day one and ask the questions you care about.

Canada is the dividing line

This is the clearest difference between the two apps. Copilot's FAQ says it works with US-based accounts only and is not available outside the US. If your chequing account, credit card, or savings account is at a Canadian institution, Copilot cannot connect it, however good the rest of the app is.

Sprout connects to eligible banks in both the United States and Canada through Plaid. US and Canadian dollars stay in their original currencies and are never added together, so a Canadian chequing account and a US credit card each report in their own currency. Read more on Sprout for Canada and our list of the best budget apps in Canada.

Claude, ChatGPT, and privacy

Copilot opened an MCP beta in May 2026, read-only to start and tested with Claude, ChatGPT, and Codex CLI, with access through a waitlist. Sprout's Claude connector is live: install the Sprout plugin or add the remote MCP server, sign in with OAuth, and ask Claude about your spending. Sprout's ChatGPT app is in review with OpenAI.

Both apps keep your money where it is. Copilot says it does not hold your money, issue cards, or process payments. Sprout cannot move money, pay bills, or change accounts, and Plaid runs the bank sign-in so Sprout never sees your password. Sprout does not sell personal data, and More, then Delete account, erases your banks, transactions, and conversations.

Switching from Copilot to Sprout

You can test Sprout without giving up Copilot. Both connect read-only, so they never touch your money or each other's data. Run them side by side for a week, ask Sprout the questions you usually answer by scrolling Copilot's categories, and keep whichever one you open more often.

1. Explore the sample data

   See how Sprout answers, charts, and receipts look before you connect a single account.

2. Connect your banks

   Link US accounts, and Canadian ones if you have them, through Plaid. Choose exactly which accounts Sprout can read.

3. Ask what you used to look up

   Monthly spending by category, the biggest purchases this quarter, which subscriptions went up.

4. Add your other screens

   Install Sprout on your Mac and iPad, and connect it to Claude if you use it.