Home Microsoft 365 plans use Copilot AI features as an excuse for a price hike

Microsoft hasn’t said how long this “limited time” offer will last, but it will likely only last a year or two to ease the transition from the old pricing to the new pricing. New subscribers will not have the option to pay for Classic plans.

Subscribers to the Personal and Family plans cannot use Copilot indiscriminately; they receive 60 AI credits per month to use in all Office applications, credits that can also be used to generate images or text in Windows applications such as Designer, Paint and Notepad. It’s unclear how these will stack up with the 15 credits that Microsoft is offering for free for apps like Designer, or the 50 credits per month that Microsoft is giving out for Image Cocreator in Paint.

Those who want unlimited usage and access to the latest AI models are still welcome to pay $20 per month for a Copilot Pro subscription.

As Microsoft notes, this is the first price increase ever implemented for Microsoft 365 personal subscriptions in the United States, which have remained at the same levels since their introduction as Office 365 more ten years old. Prices of business plans and prices in other countries have already increased. The prices for Office Home 2024 ($150) and Office Home & Business 2024 ($250), which cannot access Copilot or other Microsoft 365 features, are also the same as before.