Microsoft Copilot vs SEPIA

Microsoft Copilot is an AI assistant available on the web, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. It supports web search, file uploads, image generation, app integrations, team workspaces, and AI bot generation. A free plan offers limited access subject to capacity and usage limits. Paid Microsoft 365 plans bundle Copilot with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, OneDrive, Defender, and Teams. Microsoft 365 Personal costs $99.99 a year for one person, includes 1 TB of cloud storage, and allows sign-in on five devices at once. Family costs $129.99 a year for one to six people and provides up to 6 TB of storage, but AI features are available only to the subscription owner. Premium is $199.99 a year; Pro is $99.99 a month. Paid plans provide increased usage for chat and visual AI assistance, with agentic AI usage limited on Premium and highest on Pro. AI-generated audio is English only.

SEPIA is an open-source framework and cross-platform app for building a customizable digital voice assistant with a self-hosted server. The server runs core functions such as the database, account management, natural-language understanding and chat. Users can make commands in the app, build voice-controlled services with the Java SDK or replace framework modules. SEPIA accepts spoken or typed requests and can ask follow-up questions when a service needs more detail. Documented services include news, radio, timers, alarms, reminders, to-do and shopping lists, smart home, navigation, weather, Wikipedia and web search. The documentation names openHAB as a smart-home integration, and SEPIA-Home v2.7.0 release notes add Home Assistant support. Speech recognition can use native platform APIs or a custom open-source STT server; text-to-speech can use native APIs or compatible server tools. Client use is described for desktop browsers, Android and iOS; iOS instructions use Safari and adding the app as a PWA. Server guidance covers Windows, Mac, Linux and Raspberry Pi. SEPIA says users control their data in a self-hosted environment, but it does not currently host public servers, so users need access to their own server or one provided by someone else.