Microsoft raised prices and changed how you pay for AI agents
Licence prices went up on 1 July, Copilot Chat is now included in most plans, and agent usage is billed by consumption.
September 19, 2026
Three things moved on 1 July, and they pull in different directions.
Base suite prices went up, which lands on every seat whether or not anyone is using AI. If your renewal falls after that date, the increase is already in the number your account manager is quoting.
Copilot Chat came down into the base packaging. Capabilities that were a separate conversation are now part of what most tiers include. That is genuinely good value, and it also means a proportion of your staff now have AI in front of them without anyone deciding they should.
Agent usage is billed by consumption, in credits you buy up front or pay for as you use them. This is the part that changes budgeting. Every other line in a Microsoft bill is a seat count you can predict; this one goes up as people use it, it is easy to start without anyone approving it, and nobody is watching it in the first month.
What we would do about it
Model the all-in seat cost before the renewal conversation, not during it. Decide deliberately who gets the tier with Copilot in it rather than letting the packaging decide. And put an owner and a ceiling against agent credits on day one — the same discipline you would apply to any consumption line, applied before it is large enough to notice.
The spend review is the four-week version of that conversation, and Copilot Studio is where the agent side gets built properly.
Start with a 45-minute briefing.
No pitch. Bring the decision you are stuck on and we will tell you what we would do about it, including when that is nothing.