Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex vs Microsoft 365 Copilot vs The Everything
People keep asking "which AI should I use?" as if they're the same thing. They're not — they're built for different jobs. Line them up by what they actually do and the right choice is usually obvious.
At a glance
| Claude Code | OpenAI Codex | M365 Copilot | The Everything | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Write & edit code | Write & edit code | Assist inside Office apps | Run business admin & operations |
| Who it's for | Developers | Developers | Office users | Business owners & teams |
| Needs a developer | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Works inside Word/Excel/Teams | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Acts across email, CRM, accounting | No | No | Limited (M365) | Yes |
| Does the task (not just drafts it) | In code | In code | You drive, it assists | Yes, with your approval |
| Proactive — chases things itself | No | No | No | Yes |
| Typical setup | Dev environment | Dev environment | M365 licence | Set up for you |
| Best for | Building software | Building software | Drafting & summarising in Office | Getting your business's work done |
These tools all improve constantly and each is excellent at its own job — this compares fit for a business, not raw quality. Follow the links and judge each on your own use case.
What each one actually is
Claude Code — a coding agent
By Anthropic · for software developers
Works in a developer's terminal and codebase: it reads, writes and edits code, runs commands and makes changes across a project. Genuinely powerful — if your job is building software. For running a business's admin, it's the wrong tool: it's not built to touch your email, CRM or accounting.
OpenAI Codex — a coding agent
By OpenAI · for software developers
OpenAI's software-engineering agent: it writes and fixes code, works through tasks and can prepare pull requests for developers to review. Same category as Claude Code — brilliant for engineering teams, not aimed at day-to-day business operations.
Microsoft 365 Copilot — an in-app assistant
By Microsoft · for people who work in Office
Lives inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. Drafts documents, summarises email threads and meetings, and helps analyse spreadsheets — with you in the driver's seat. It makes you faster inside Office. It doesn't reach out across your other systems and run a process end to end on its own.
The Everything — a business-operations AI
By SG1 · for business owners & teams
Connects to the tools a business already runs on — Microsoft 365, email, CRM, accounting — and actually does the work: builds and sends quotes, chases follow-ups, prepares reports, updates your systems, and flags the important decisions for you to approve. It's proactive — it chases the things that usually slip. Where the others help you do a task, The Everything takes the task off your plate.
So which should your business use?
- You build software → Claude Code or OpenAI Codex. That's their home turf.
- You mostly live in Office and want faster drafting/summarising → Microsoft 365 Copilot.
- You want the actual admin and operations done — not just drafted → The Everything. It's the only one of the four built to run a business's day-to-day work across all your tools.
Plenty of businesses end up using two: Copilot for in-document help, and The Everything to run the processes around it. They're complementary, not either/or.
Common questions
Are Claude Code and Codex overkill for a non-technical business?
Yes. They're built for developers writing software. If nobody on your team codes, you'll get far more from Copilot or The Everything.
What's the real difference between M365 Copilot and The Everything?
Copilot assists you inside Office apps — you drive, it drafts. The Everything acts across your business tools and does the work itself, with your approval on the important steps. One makes you faster in Office; the other takes work off your plate across the business.
Can I use more than one?
Absolutely. A common setup is Microsoft 365 Copilot for in-document help plus The Everything to run the surrounding processes end to end.
Want the AI that actually does the work?
If you're a business owner — not a developer — the one built for you is The Everything: it runs your admin and operations across the tools you already use, with you approving what matters.
See The Everything → or have SG1 set it up