A Microsoft Copilot alternative you can run yourself

Bee Flow next to Microsoft Copilot (M365 Copilot and Copilot Studio): assistants, automations and apps on infrastructure you control, with the model you choose. Microsoft 365 integration stays deeper at Microsoft.

The comparison in one table

Based on public sources; check the vendor's own documentation.

Four differences that change the decision

You can run the whole thing yourself

Bee Flow ships as containers you start with one command, on your own hardware or in a data centre you picked. The source is available and auditable, so a claim about data handling is something you can check.

The model is your choice

Eight hosted providers, including Anthropic, OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Google and Mistral, plus local runtimes such as Ollama and vLLM. Change your mind later without rebuilding your assistants.

Personal data is caught first

With the guard service installed, 21 categories of personal data are detected on your own hardware before a prompt leaves. Detecting and blocking is in every licence, Free included; placeholders that are restored in the answer come with Pro.

Where your data went is a report

Bee Flow records the destination of every integration call and scores your organisation on it, so a data protection officer gets an answer without a hand-drawn data map. This egress report comes with Pro, the Compliance Center (GDPR, AI Act, ISO 27001, NIS2 and more) with Enterprise. Ask to see both in a demo.

Which one to choose

Choose Microsoft Copilot when

Your organisation lives in Microsoft 365, uses Teams and SharePoint every day, and your governance already accepts Microsoft as a processor. Its maturity, reach and large connector catalogue give you a head start. Check the specific apps you depend on before you switch away.

Choose Bee Flow when

Your workflows and internal apps end up holding your most specific data, and control of that data is worth more to you than the head start. It also fits when you want to pick the model yourself. You can start on the Free licence and move up a licence when your team needs more.

Questions before switching

Do we have to leave Microsoft 365?

No. Bee Flow connects to Outlook mail, calendar, contacts and OneDrive through Microsoft Graph in every licence, and Teams meetings can be imported into meeting notes from Pro. It sits beside what you have. Single sign-on with Microsoft Entra ID or Google comes with Starter.

Which licence covers what we build in Microsoft Copilot today?

Free covers the automation builder, routines, data tables, forms and all built-in integrations. Starter adds single sign-on, skills, notebooks and documents. Pro adds approvals in routines, sharing routines and data tables with your team, and meeting notes. Enterprise adds App Studio, the Compliance Center and zero-knowledge encryption. Paid licences start at €6 per user per month, billed yearly; the Plans page lists every price.

Can we import our existing flows and apps?

No. There is no importer. Rebuilding is less work than it looks: an assistant is instructions plus knowledge plus tools, set up in the assistant designer, and the automation builder is in every licence.

Is it as polished as a Microsoft product?

In places, honestly, no. Several parts of the product are still in beta. In exchange you can read the source, host it yourself and check for yourself how your data is handled.

Rebuild one flow and see

Pick something you already run in Microsoft Copilot and rebuild it here: the automation builder is in the Free licence, so you can try it on your own hardware. Or click through the live demo first.