If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription, be warned that a price hike will be coming your way if you don’t opt out of Microsoft Copilot.
The notifications are now going out about the subscription increases, which were mooted last month.
However, users are already sharing how to avoid the price hike and grumbling that they feel Microsoft is foisting its AI offerings on them by making it tricky to opt out.
How Much Will Subs Increase By?
According to GeekWire, Microsoft 365 Personal will cost $9.99/month and $99.99/year, which is up from $6.99/month and $69.99/year. Microsoft 365 Family will cost $12.99/month and $129.99/year, increasing from $9.99/month and $99.99/year.
This is the first time that the company has increased the price of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family in the US since their release. The launch of both packages in March 2020 came about when Microsoft rebranded the consumer plans of Office 365.
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Rising Costs
The message received by Microsoft 365 subscribers says that the price hike is down to the “value” Microsoft says it has added “over the past decade,” “rising costs,” and the investment needed “to continue to deliver new innovations.”
A Bluesky user named John Bull shared the message but warned fellow subscribers that this isn’t an inflationary increase but essentially a “Copilot fee.” What you are paying for is Microsoft’s Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote, he suggested.
He also warned that opting out isn’t a simple process and users have to hit the “cancel subscription” option to be able to opt out of the Copilot package. Other Bluesky users responded, saying that they had ignored the message as though it was a price hike that they couldn’t do anything about. As The Register writes, it is therefore the decision to go with an opt-out instead of opt-in method that is causing a stink.
Price Increase Isn’t a Surprise
Users were actually told that changes were afoot in a blog post published last month. Bryan Rognier, Vice President of Microsoft 365 Consumer, shared there would be a price hike for users.
“To reflect the extensive subscription benefits that we’ve added over the past 12 years and enable us to deliver new innovations for years to come, we’re increasing the prices of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family in the US…” – Bryan Rognier, Vice President of Microsoft 365 Consumer
The blog post was primarily focused on the news that the company was now including Copilot in Microsoft 365 Personal and Family packages. Rognier shared that subscribers would receive “a monthly allotment of AI credits to use Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote.” The company had already given access to Microsoft Copilot Pro to “consumer early adopters” so this was “the next big step.”
He added that “existing subscribers with recurring billing enabled with Microsoft can switch to plans without Copilot or AI credits” like the company’s Basic plan. There is also the option “for a limited time,” to switch to the new Personal Classic or Family Classic plans.
While this all seems simple, subscribers are cross because avoiding the automatic “upgrade” is far harder than it should be; and the wording of the notification seems to be suggest that no action was required (or that there were options available).
There are, however, many subscribers who may want to keep Copilot after a month of playing about with it; and so Microsoft will be hoping this little storm blows away quickly.
