The Core Difference

LILA is an embeddable widget that lives in your dashboard. It executes real-time queries against your live database. Your customers ask questions in plain English and get actual data from your database. No Microsoft ecosystem required.

Microsoft Copilot for SQL is not one product. It is a collection of features across different Microsoft tools:

Copilot in SSMS: Helps developers write SQL inside SQL Server Management Studio
Copilot in Azure SQL: AI assistance inside the Azure portal for Azure SQL databases
M365 Copilot + SQL Connectors: Indexes your database periodically for enterprise search
Copilot in Fabric: Code completion inside Microsoft Fabric analytics platform

None of these are embeddable widgets for your end users. They are developer tools or enterprise search systems.

Feature Comparison

Feature	LILA	Microsoft Copilot SQL
What it is	Embeddable widget for your application	Developer tools / Enterprise search
Where it lives	In your dashboard, embedded in your app	Inside SSMS, Azure Portal, M365, Fabric
Query execution	Real-time against live database	Varies: generates SQL or indexes data
Target users	Business users, operations, your customers	Developers, DBAs, IT admins
Embeddable	Yes. Couple of line embed code.	No. Cannot embed in your app.
Microsoft ecosystem required	No. Works with any database.	Yes. Requires Azure, M365, or SSMS.
Can give to customers	Yes. That is what LILA is for.	No. Developer and admin tools.
Database support	PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server	Primarily SQL Server / Azure SQL
White-label option	Yes. Remove LILA branding.	No.

LILA is a chat widget that you embed into your own application. When your users ask a question, LILA generates SQL, executes it against your live database, and returns the results immediately. Real data, real-time, from your actual database.

Your users never see SQL. They never configure connections. They never install anything. They just ask questions in your dashboard and get answers.

LILA works with PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, and SQL Server. No Microsoft ecosystem required. No Azure subscription. No Microsoft 365 license. Just your database and your application.

Key LILA Features

Embeddable widget that lives in your dashboard
Real-time queries against live data
No Microsoft dependency - works with any database
25+ languages supported
White-label available for agencies
Read-only access with encrypted credentials

Microsoft Copilot SQL Features: Developer Tools

Microsoft has multiple Copilot products with SQL capabilities. They serve different purposes:

Copilot in SSMS (SQL Server Management Studio)

Helps developers write T-SQL queries inside the SSMS IDE. You type a natural language description, Copilot suggests SQL. But you are still working inside a database management tool. This is for developers, not end users.

Copilot in Azure SQL Database

AI assistance inside the Azure portal for managing Azure SQL databases. Helps with query optimization, troubleshooting, and schema exploration. Designed for DBAs and developers managing Azure infrastructure.

Microsoft 365 Copilot + SQL Connectors

Indexes your database periodically and makes the data searchable through M365 Copilot. This is enterprise search, not real-time queries. Your data is crawled on a schedule and indexed. When users search, they search the index, not your live database.

Copilot in Microsoft Fabric

Code completion and AI assistance inside Microsoft Fabric, an analytics platform. Designed for data engineers and analysts working in the Fabric environment.

Key Insight: Real-Time vs Indexed

M365 Copilot SQL connectors index your database. That means:

Your data is crawled periodically (not real-time)
Search results come from the index, not live data
New data is not immediately available
It is enterprise search, not database querying

LILA executes real-time queries against your live database. When your user asks “What sold today?”, LILA queries today’s data right now. Not yesterday’s index. Live data.

When to Use LILA vs Microsoft Copilot

Use LILA when:

You want to give your customers access to their data
You need real-time queries against live data
You want to embed data access into your application
You do not want Microsoft ecosystem dependency
Your users need a widget, not a developer tool

Use Microsoft Copilot SQL features when:

You are a developer using SSMS and want AI help writing SQL
You manage Azure SQL and need AI assistance in the portal
You want enterprise search across indexed data in M365
You work in Microsoft Fabric for analytics

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between LILA and Microsoft Copilot for SQL?

LILA is an embeddable widget that executes real-time queries against your live database. Microsoft Copilot for SQL is a collection of developer tools (Copilot in SSMS, Azure SQL Copilot) that help technical users write SQL faster, or indexing systems (M365 Copilot SQL connectors) that crawl your database periodically. LILA gives your customers live data access. Copilot tools are for developers or enterprise search.

Can Microsoft Copilot query my database in real-time?

It depends on which Copilot you mean. Copilot in SSMS helps developers write SQL inside SQL Server Management Studio. M365 Copilot with SQL connectors indexes your data periodically for search. Neither provides an embeddable widget for end users with real-time query execution like LILA does.

Do I need Microsoft Azure or M365 to use LILA?

No. LILA works with PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, and SQL Server without any Microsoft ecosystem dependency. You can use LILA with any database, hosted anywhere. No Azure subscription, no Microsoft 365 license required.

Can I give my customers access to Microsoft Copilot for SQL?

No. Microsoft Copilot SQL features are designed for developers (SSMS, Azure SQL) or enterprise search (M365 connectors). You cannot embed Copilot SQL tools into your own application for end users. LILA is an embeddable widget specifically designed for this use case.

LILA vs Microsoft Copilot