Microsoft just raised Microsoft 365 prices across the board to help pay for the Copilot it's baking in
From 1st July, Microsoft raised list prices on nearly every commercial Microsoft 365 suite- up to 33% on some plans — while folding Copilot Chat features into the base subscription rather than selling them separately.
What it actually means
This isn't a review of whether Copilot is any good. It's a look at how AI features get paid for once a vendor decides they're mature enough to stop being optional: folded into the subscription everyone already has, whether they open it or not. If you run a small team on Microsoft 365, your software bill just rose specifically to subsidise a product some of your team will never touch. Two practical moves: check your renewal date, since existing customers keep current pricing until then, per Microsoft; and actually turn on the Copilot Chat features you're now paying for regardless — even light use, drafting in Word or summarising a thread in Outlook, claws back some of the increase. Ignoring it just means paying for a tool twice: once in the price rise, once in the time you didn't save.
You're paying for Copilot now whether you open it or not so you might as well use it.
33%the largest of Microsoft's 1 July price rises (Frontline F1 plans)
Source: Microsoft · Thursday 2 July 2026