Microsoft 365 Introduces Copilot AI: Price Hike and User Options

How to remove Copilot from your Microsoft 365 plan

Those of you with plain old Microsoft 365 subscriptions may have noticed that Copilot now pops up in Word and other applications in the suite. How did it get there when you didn't buy or request Copilot and don't necessarily want it? Blame it on Microsoft's usual sleight of hand. Also: The Microsoft 365 Copilot launch was a total disaster In an effort to push Copilot, Microsoft has added the AI to its Microsoft 365 Family and Personal plans. Open Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote, and you'll now see a Copilot icon on the ribbon. That's not so bad, as you can easily ignore it. But launch Microsoft Word, and Copilot gets in your face with an icon in the left margin and a huge, annoying message prompting you to "Draft with Copilot." It also seems pretty sneaky, right? To be fair, I can't fault Microsoft for trying to add AI to Office. But the way the company went about it was, to use my favorite Yiddish phrase, meshugganah. Or, as my ZDNET colleague Ed Bott wrote, the Microsoft 365 Copilot launch was a total disaster. Setting aside Microsoft's messy rollout, what if you simply don't want Copilot? How do you get rid of it? You have a couple of options. For your first option, you can disable Copilot from Microsoft Word so it doesn't show up at all. You can't yet do that for the other applications in the suite, though Microsoft has promised a disable option for Excel, PowerPoint, and the rest sometime in February. For your second option, you may want to manage your Microsoft 365 plan to remove Copilot. The change won't take effect right away. Instead, Copilot waits until your next renewal period to vanish. Also: Agents have entered the Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat You can change your Microsoft 365 subscription to revert to the classic and less expensive non-Copilot plan. The change won't actually take effect until your next renewal date. But at least switching your plan now will ensure that you're not automatically renewed at the higher price. Go to the Microsoft 365 section under Subscriptions on your Microsoft account page if you're not already there. Click the dropdown box for Manage Subscription and click the link for Cancel Subscription. To try to hang onto your business, Microsoft will offer other plans, including the Classic plan sans Copilot. But here's the frustrating part: If you get a discount on your subscription or if you purchased it through a different vendor than Microsoft, you may not be able to pull this off. Also: The best AI chatbots In my case, the Microsoft 365 Family Classic plan shows a price tag of $99.99 without the discount, which would be higher than the discounted price of $90.99 for the plan with Copilot. If you're in a similar boat, your best bet is to contact Microsoft or the vendor from which you purchased Microsoft 365. Otherwise, choose the lower-cost classic plan to complete the switch. Ah, but here's one last fly in the ointment. In its recent announcement about the new Microsoft 365 Copilot plans, Microsoft said that existing subscribers could switch to Microsoft Basic or to the new Personal Classic or Family Classic plans, but only for a limited time. So you'll want to make the switch before it's too late. Plus, the company said that "for certain new innovations and features" -- whatever that means -- you'll need a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription with Copilot. Even if you're able to change to a classic plan, you may eventually have no choice but to accept a Copilot plan with the higher price tag. Is Microsoft freely bestowing Copilot on customers out of the goodness of its corporate heart? Not quite. There's a price hike waiting in the wings for you. For the privilege of using Copilot, US subscribers to Microsoft 365 Personal will end up paying $99.99 per year or $9.99 per month, up from $69.99 per year or $6.99 per month. Subscribers to Microsoft 365 Family would eventually have to cough up $129.99 per year or $12.99 per month, up from $99.99 per year or $9.99 per month. Also: Microsoft to force new Outlook app in Windows 10 with no way to block it Your cost will vary based on whether you receive a discount on your subscription. For instance, I currently pay $69.99 for an individual Microsoft Family subscription thanks to a discount from my business plan. But that price would go up to $90.99 with the Copilot option added. Before you blow a fuse, the price hike doesn't actually kick in until your next renewal date. For now, you're able to use Copilot without any increase in the cost of your plan. But if you do nothing and wait for your subscription to renew, the higher price will automatically kick in. Microsoft's hocus-pocus doesn't end here. The Copilot built into Microsoft 365 isn't available to everyone, nor is it unlimited. A Microsoft 365 Family plan normally allows up to six people to take advantage of the different features. But here, only the owner of the plan gets access to Copilot. Also: ChatGPT vs. Microsoft Copilot vs. Gemini: Which is the best AI chatbot? Plus, Microsoft doles out the use of Copilot in Microsoft 365 on a credit basis, granting the owner of the plan up to 60 credits per month. Each use of the AI chews up one credit. Try to use more than 60 in a month, and you'll be stopped and prompted to upgrade to the unlimited and more expensive Copilot Pro plan. To view your current Microsoft 365 subscription, sign into your Microsoft account website. Click the link at the top for "Manage Microsoft 365 Family" or "Manage Microsoft 365 Personal." The resulting page shows you your renewal date, the price you'd pay at that point, and the number of credits you've used so far.

How to turn off Copilot in Microsoft 365 and save a quick $30

This offer is available for "a limited time," whatever that means. Love Microsoft Copilot? Hate Microsoft Copilot? It doesn't really matter: Chances are that if you've signed up for Microsoft 365, you're now paying more for Microsoft's integration of Copilot features, which was done without your consent. But there's a way out, for now. Microsoft is making available "classic" versions of its Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family plans, that remove the Copilot surcharge. But, as Microsoft said when it announced the changes, these new Classic plans are available for a limited time. This article will show you how to switch back. Right now, here's what you'll see when you sign up for Microsoft 365, with the option to pay $12.99/mo and $9.99/mo, too. Those reflect the higher rates with the Copilot surcharge included. To obtain the Classic version, you'll need to cancel those plans. Yes, even if they're recurring. Yes, even if your new annual payment period rolls over in the fall. Go to https://account.microsoft.com/services, and sign in. You'll see a list of any Microsoft subscriptions that you've signed up for. (I can't list my own Microsoft 365 subscription, for reasons I'll explain in a minute.) Within this list of subscriptions, you'll see the option to "manage" your Microsoft 365 subscription. Select Manage > Cancel subscription, as Microsoft's support document recommends. Here's a screenshot of how one user completed the process. Why can't I show you my own subscriptions? Because I took advantage of our occasional deals and bought a Microsoft 365 Family license from Amazon. My bill says that I'm still being charged the old $99.99 subscription price, and the service will renew at that price, too -- without Copilot Pro. However, the Microsoft 365 link at Amazon now charges $129.99 annually instead, and yes, Copilot Pro is included. You can also decide to cancel Microsoft 365 entirely and opt for Office 2024 instead, which is essentially slicing off a version of Office that will be patched, but never really gain any additional features. It will also eventually exit support, too. Will I eventually want Copilot Pro? It's possible. But Copilot Pro is only available to me, as the account holder, and not others in my family -- and the version of Copilot Pro in the new Microsoft 365 plans is not the same Copilot Pro that Microsoft charges $20 per month for. The Microsoft 365 version gives you "credits" for AI use, which Chris Hoffman at Computerworld pegged at 60 per month -- that's 60 times to use Copilot to help write an email, or figure out a formula for Excel. Any more, and you'll be asked to pay for the "real" Copilot Pro. Microsoft is positioning this as similar to a Netflix price hike: Hey, you're getting more for your money! But if you don't want Copilot, never plan to use it, or can simply use Google Gemini or Anthropic's Claude or Meta's AI services instead, opting out is probably the right move.

Don't Want to Pay for Copilot AI? Switch to Microsoft 365 Classic

With its first price increase to Microsoft 365 in over a decade, the company is adding some Copilot Pro features to its office suite apps, including Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. Copilot AI can summarize text or rewrite it in a different tone, suggest Excel formulas based on your data, create presentations around a prompt, and more. Those features incur a $3 monthly increase, bringing the prices of Personal and Family plans up to $99.99 and $129.99 per year, respectively. But if you're an existing Microsoft 365 subscriber who doesn't want anything to do with AI, you can keep your current pricing...for now. These cheaper plans are called Microsoft 365 Personal Classic ($69.99 per year) and Family Classic ($99.99 per year). With these subscriptions, you still get access to all of Microsoft's top-notch desktop productivity apps, 1TB of OneDrive storage per user, the Microsoft Defender security suite (which includes VPN, identity theft protection, and dark web monitoring features), and an ad-free email account. How to Switch to a Microsoft 365 Classic Plan Microsoft doesn't make the process of switching to a Classic version as straightforward as it could be, so we detail all the steps below, followed by answers to some questions you might have: 1. Start to Cancel Your Existing Subscription This might sound ominous, especially if you store important documents on OneDrive. But stay with us; your documents aren't going anywhere (unless you completely cancel the account). Start by going to your Microsoft account's Subscriptions page. Find your Microsoft 365 subscription, choose Manage subscription, and click on Cancel subscription. (The Switch plan option lets you change only between annual and monthly payments.) 2. Choose a Classic Plan A scary warning appears at the top of the Cancel page, explaining how you'll lose everything in your OneDrive storage if you cancel. Again, you don't need to worry. Scroll down past the option to switch to monthly payments to find the Classic options -- they appear next to your current subscription. Note that since I have an existing Family plan, I can also downgrade to a Personal plan. But I can't downgrade to a Personal Classic plan; only existing Personal plan subscribers get that option. If you're not a current subscriber, you won't be able to get either Classic plan. Click the Switch Plan option in the Classic box to continue. 3. Confirm Your Purchase Choose a payment method and then hit Buy. Microsoft won't charge you until your account is due for renewal. How to Turn Off Copilot Without Switching Plans If you just don't like AI, you can turn off Copilot even when you have a plan that includes it. Microsoft intends to add a clear Enable Copilot checkbox to the Office applications, but you can go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Privacy Options > Privacy Settings and uncheck the Connected Experiences checkboxes in the meantime. It's that arcane, and a simple Enable Copilot checkbox will make this much easier. Be aware that turning off all connected experiences means you lose things like text prediction. You can find a complete list of what this setting controls here. More Questions About Copilot and Microsoft 365 Classic Can You Switch Back to a Subscription That Includes Copilot? Yes, you can at any time. Just go back to the subscription page and choose one of the non-Classic options. Do You Still Get Any Copilot Features for Free If You Switch to Classic? Yes, but not inside the Office applications. To use them, go to copilot.microsoft.com or click on the fancy Copilot icon in the Windows toolbar. Does Everyone in a Family Plan Get Copilot Features in the Office Apps? No. Only the main account holder in the plan gets the Copilot Pro features. Does a Microsoft 365 Subscription Provide the Same Copilot Features as a Copilot Pro Subscription? No. With a Microsoft 365 subscription (non-Classic), you get 60 AI credits versus "extensive" credits with Copilot Pro. Microsoft smartly avoids the fraught term unlimited here. What's a credit? It's basically any AI text or image generation you request (details here). With Pro, you also get priority access to the latest AI models (including ChatGPT-4o and more), the ability to craft custom GPTs, and early access to new capabilities like Copilot Vision. Get Lifetime Access to Microsoft Office Apps Instead If you're sick of subscriptions, Microsoft offers a standalone version of its office suite for both personal ($149.99) and business ($249.99) users. The one-time pricing gets you a single license and continual security patches, but that's it. You won't get any OneDrive cloud storage beyond the free 5GB, collaborative document editing and sharing, or other features.

Your Microsoft 365 Subscription Will Now Cost More Unless You Do This

Microsoft 365 users might have noticed a friendly-looking message this month, letting them know that Copilot, Microsoft's AI tool, is now included in their plan. You should know that this "gift" comes with a price -- that could be easy to miss. Microsoft 365's Copilot Bundle Triggers an Automatic Price Increase As of January 2025, Microsoft 365 Office apps automatically come with Copilot, Microsoft's AI tool. The bundle is a shift away from the company's former structure, which only offered Copilot Pro as a robust, optional add-on to your Microsoft 365 workflow. Now, you no longer have a choice: Copilot is busting down the door of your Office apps, including Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and so on. The update, which occurs automatically with your next Microsoft 365 renewal, prompts a price increase of $3 on your subscription. If you're not fond of Copilot or AI features in general, or at least, you're not ready to pay for them, you do have the power to downgrade -- or, go back to a non-Copilot plan. How to Go Back to a Classic Plan The process of finding your way back to a standard or "Classic" plan, as Microsoft has dubbed them, is not quite straightforward. This isn't surprising, considering that Microsoft hopes you'll stay on the AI-inclusive plan. Here are the steps to switch your plan to one without Copilot built in: To access your account settings, go to Microsoft's Subscriptions page on a browser. Locate your plan, which will either say Microsoft 365 Family or Microsoft 365 Personal. Under the plan is your next billing date and the amount of that charge. In the upper right corner of the plan description, select Manage. At the bottom of your account management options, select the button to Cancel subscription. Don't worry! Microsoft wouldn't make it that easy to cancel. The next page contains a multitude of reasons to stay, and perhaps even an offer to extend your plan for free. Scroll down to the carousel of plans titled Choose a plan that's right for you. Here, you can select the Classic plan that does not include AI, locking in your former rate -- for now. Close Per Microsoft Support, the Personal Classic or Family Classic plan "may not always be offered," so it's possible that the price increase will catch up with us somewhere down the line. Hopefully, that's not any time soon. The Price Limit Does Not Exist It's not a great feeling when a subscription service jacks up its price for a feature you didn't opt to add yourself, but it's nice that you have some control, in this case. Price increases are inevitable; we're certainly seeing it with streaming services, from Netflix inflating its ad-free subscription to $17.99 and YouTube TV bumping its monthly fee by $10 to a whopping $82.99. Productivity apps are no different. In Microsoft's announcement of the Copilot bundle, the company made sure to remind us that this is the "first time since its release" in 2013 that it has increased the price. Equally inevitable is AI, which is coming into our apps whether we like it or not. That being said, AI-related laws and regulations are still playing catch up. So, as long as AI remains prohibited in specific situations, there will always be some level of control in separating, or disabling, these features from our day-to-day tools.