Microsoft has announced a significant change to its Microsoft 365 subscription service, implementing a mandatory $3 monthly price increase while integrating Copilot AI features across its Office applications.
The price adjustment marks Microsoft's first increase in 12 years, raising Microsoft 365 Personal subscriptions from $7 to $10 monthly and Family plans from $10 to $13 monthly. Annual subscriptions will also see similar increases.
The new pricing structure includes Copilot AI integration across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and the new Designer app. Users will receive 60 AI credits monthly for these features, though these credits cannot be carried over to subsequent months.
While Microsoft is providing temporary opt-out options for existing subscribers, these alternatives come with notable restrictions. Current subscribers can switch to "Classic" plans to maintain their current pricing, but these plans will be available only for a limited time and may not receive future feature updates.
The mandatory AI integration follows a similar move by Google, which recently incorporated its Gemini AI features into Workspace subscriptions with a corresponding price increase.
Microsoft emphasizes its commitment to privacy, stating that user data from Office apps will not be used to train their AI models. However, the company's decision to bundle AI features with basic subscriptions has sparked debate about consumer choice in productivity software.
The changes will affect most of Microsoft's 84 million consumer subscribers, with new subscribers seeing immediate price adjustments while existing users will notice changes in their next billing cycle.
This pricing strategy represents a shift in how major tech companies are approaching AI integration, moving from optional add-ons to mandatory features in their core products.