(Credit: Microsoft)
Microsoft may soon bundle Copilot features into Microsoft 365 subscriptions—for a price.
A Microsoft 365 Personal plan costs $69.99 per year, while a Copilot Pro subscription is $20 per month. With both, you can use Redmond's AI to help you write, edit, and analyze content in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. In the US, however, there's no option to get a discount by subscribing to both.
That may change soon as Microsoft is adding Copilot and Designer to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.
"These changes bring the transformative power of AI to the personal productivity and creativity apps that millions of people use every day," the company says.
It doesn't include the full suite of Copilot Pro features; "subscribers will receive a monthly allotment of AI credits," according to Microsoft, which says, "those who frequently use Copilot can upgrade to Copilot Pro, without worrying about usage limits." Plus, for Microsoft 365 Family subscribers, Copilot will only be available to the subscription owner and can't be shared with others.
The upgrade is not free. Copilot and Designer is available now once Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers in supported regions update to the latest version of the software. But at their next renewal, the price will increase—"to reflect the value we’ve added over the past decade and enable us to deliver new innovations for years to come," it says.
Price hikes vary by market. In Australia, the cost of the Personal plan goes up by $5 AUD, and the cost of the Family plan increases by $4 AUD per month, but that's still cheaper than the $33 AUD Microsoft charges for the standalone Copilot Pro subscription, The Verge notes.
Microsoft didn't say if this option will roll out in the US, but it seems likely if the test goes well.