Nobody likes a price hike but Microsoft is preparing to raise the cost of its 365 subscriptions to “ensure Microsoft customers are among the first to access powerful AI features in our apps."
The (somewhat) good new is it's only happening in a few countries for now and the U.S. isn't among them.
As spotted by The Register (via TechRadar Pro), Microsoft has sent out emails to 365 users in six Asia-Pacific countries, detailing that subscriptions will see a big price hike of up to 45%. The increase will come to Microsoft 365 Family and 365 Personal subscriptions.
According to emails, Australian 365 Family users will also see an increase from AU$139 to AU$179, while 365 Personal subscribers will have a rise from AU$109 to AU$159. That's a 45% price hike, and it's all for AI features and enhancements in apps that's contributing to it.
Currently, these price increases have been noted in several countries: Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. While there's no word of this steep cost raise coming to other countries, we've already heard of Microsoft announcing a 365 and Copilot price hike, which is set to arrive in April.
The price hike is set to contribute to several improvements to a suite of apps, such as "advanced security with Microsoft Defender, creative tools like Clipchamp, and countless enhancements to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook," a Microsoft spokesperson said. More importantly, it comes with Microsoft Copilot and Designer.
Fortunately, as stated in the post, these price hikes aren't mandatory if users don't want the added AI features, as a basic version of Microsoft 365 will be available, too.
Is Microsoft Copilot worth the price increase?
One of the biggest AI features that seems to be bumping up the price for Microsoft 365 subscriptions is Copilot, but it's already had a rocky start. Microsoft Recall is an interesting yet flawed feature, while other features can be fun and useful, but not worth a 45% price increase.
If Microsoft follows through with this high price hike around the world, it will need to ensure that it's AI features are updated and upgraded, offering more to users in apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more. Even our own Alex Wawro thinks Apple Intelligence is already better than Windows Copilot despite it still rolling out.
Luckily, there are other feature Microsoft is bringing to PCs, including being able to connect to a Meta Quest headset with three virtual displays, along with bringing an AirDrop-like feature for Windows to share files easily between a PC and iPhone.
More from Tom's Guide
