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Microsoft 365 prices changed on 1 July 2026 — and Copilot is now in the box
Copilot has stopped being an add-on and become part of the Business plans, and the base plans went up the same day. Here is what it means for a small business bill.
What changed on 1 July
Microsoft repackaged most commercial Microsoft 365 plans. Copilot stopped being a separate per-user add-on and became part of the product, as new "with Copilot" versions of Business Basic, Standard and Premium sitting alongside the existing ones.
At the same time the base plans went up. Business Standard moved from $12.50 to $14 per user per month before any AI is involved. The Copilot-inclusive tiers are priced at $23.50 for Standard with Copilot and $32 for Premium with Copilot, on annual billing for 1 to 300 seats.
The 300-seat cap tells you the target. This is aimed squarely at small and mid-sized businesses, which is a change of posture — Copilot spent its first couple of years priced for enterprises.
What it means for your bill
If you do nothing, you still pay more, because the base plans rose. That is the part that catches people out at renewal: there is no "stay exactly as you were" option at the old price.
If you were already paying for standalone Copilot licences on top, the bundled tiers are likely to work out better, and worth modelling properly rather than assuming either way.
The standalone route still exists — Copilot Business was $18 per user per month on the promotional annual rate to 30 June 2026, rising to $21 after. For a business where only a handful of people would genuinely use it, standalone on those few seats can still beat upgrading everybody.
Is Copilot actually worth it?
Honestly: for some roles, obviously yes, and for others it is shelfware you pay for monthly.
It earns its place where somebody spends real hours on documents, long email threads, meeting notes and summarising things. Anyone who lives in Teams meetings and writes things up afterwards tends to notice it within a week. Sales, operations, management, anyone drafting the same sort of document repeatedly.
It earns nothing where the work is not document-shaped. A warehouse, a workshop, a kitchen — people who touch a PC for twenty minutes a day will not get $10 a month of value out of it, and licensing them because it is simpler is how software budgets quietly double.
The honest test is to license a small group properly for a couple of months, ask them directly whether they would give it up, and roll out based on the answer rather than the pitch.
What to do before your renewal
Get a per-user list of who is on what. Most small businesses we look at have somebody paying for Business Premium who left in 2024, and two people on Basic who genuinely need Standard.
Then split your staff into the two groups above, price the mix rather than the whole company, and remember the annual commitment is where the saving is. Monthly billing costs more for the flexibility, which is worth paying for only if you actually expect headcount to move.
Sources
Where the facts in this article came from. If any of it goes out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
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