Microsoft 365 Copilot Pricing 2026
Business plan: $18/user/month (promo until June 2026, then $21). Enterprise: $30/user/month. Plus the hidden cost: you need a qualifying M365 base licence on top.
Business vs Enterprise: Plan Comparison
| Feature | Business (promo until June 2026) | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|
| Current price / user / mo | $18 (promo, ends June 30) | $30 |
| Post-June 2026 price | $21 from July 1, 2026 | $30 (no change) |
| Required base licence | M365 Business Basic, Standard, or Premium | M365 E3 or E5 |
| Minimum base licence cost | $6/user/mo (Business Basic) | $36/user/mo (E3) |
| Max users | 300 | Unlimited |
| Copilot in Word | ✓ | ✓ |
| Copilot in Excel | ✓ | ✓ |
| Copilot in PowerPoint | ✓ | ✓ |
| Copilot in Outlook | ✓ | ✓ |
| Copilot in Teams | ✓ | ✓ |
| Copilot Studio access | Limited | Included capacity |
| Advanced data protection | — | ✓ |
| Priority support | — | ✓ |
| Extended audit log retention | — | ✓ |
The Hidden Cost: Base Licence Required
Microsoft 365 Copilot cannot be purchased standalone. You need a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan first — this is the most commonly overlooked cost when evaluating Copilot.
| Base Licence | Base Cost / User / Mo | + Copilot (promo) | Total (promo) | Total (post-June 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Basic ($6/user) | $6 | +$18 | $24/user | $27/user |
| Business Standard ($12.50/user) | $12.5 | +$18 | $30.5/user | $33.5/user |
| Business Premium ($22/user) | $22 | +$18 | $40/user | $43/user |
What most buyers miss: A company quoting "Copilot at $18/user" without the base licence is quoting only the add-on. The true minimum cost for Microsoft 365 Copilot Business is $24/user/month (Copilot $18 + Business Basic $6). With Business Standard (the most common M365 plan), the real cost is $30.50/user/month.
Copilot Cost by Team Size (Business Plan — Copilot Add-on Only)
| Seats | Monthly (promo $18) | Annual (promo) | Monthly (post-June $21) | Annual (post-June) | Annual increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 users | $90 | $1,080 | $105 | $1,260 | +$180/yr |
| 10 users | $180 | $2,160 | $210 | $2,520 | +$360/yr |
| 25 users | $450 | $5,400 | $525 | $6,300 | +$900/yr |
| 50 users | $900 | $10,800 | $1,050 | $12,600 | +$1,800/yr |
| 100 users | $1,800 | $21,600 | $2,100 | $25,200 | +$3,600/yr |
| 250 users | $4,500 | $54,000 | $5,250 | $63,000 | +$9,000/yr |
Copilot Chat (Free) vs Full M365 Copilot (Paid)
Copilot Chat
- Answers general questions
- Drafts basic content from prompts
- Web-grounded answers
- Available at copilot.microsoft.com
- No access to your emails or documents
- No calendar or Teams history access
Full Microsoft 365 Copilot
- Everything in Copilot Chat, plus:
- Reads and drafts your emails in Outlook
- Summarises Teams meetings you attended
- Analyses your specific Excel data
- Creates PowerPoint from your documents
- Searches across your SharePoint, OneDrive
- Generates meeting notes and action items
Is Microsoft 365 Copilot Worth It? Honest ROI Assessment
Microsoft's own research claims 30+ minutes saved per user per day. Independent studies from McKinsey and others suggest 10–20% productivity improvements for knowledge workers. The real question is whether those gains apply to your specific workflows.
High ROI use cases
- Back-to-back meeting attendees — automated Teams summaries and action items
- Heavy email users — Outlook draft and reply assist saves 5–10 min per email chain
- Report and presentation creators — Copilot in Word and PowerPoint from outlines
- Data analysts using Excel — formula generation, chart creation from prompts
Low ROI use cases
- Casual email users (< 30 emails/day) — Copilot Chat free is sufficient
- Teams used primarily for chat, not meetings
- Workers who primarily use non-M365 tools (Google Workspace, Slack, etc.)
- Very small teams (< 5 users) — absolute cost is high relative to productivity gain