Microsoft Copilot pricing: the $18 small business rate expires 30 September 2026
Copilot for Business Standard and Premium is on an $18 per user introductory promo that ends on 30 September 2026, after which it returns to $21. Enterprise has held at $30 since launch.
Verdict
Microsoft 365 Copilot is $30 per user a month for enterprise. Small business plans are on an $18 introductory rate that ends 30 September 2026 and returns to $21. A qualifying base plan is required either way.
What it costs#
| Licence | Cost per user per month | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise add-on (E3, E5 and similar) | $30 | Unchanged since launch |
| Small business add-on (Business Standard, Premium) | $18 | Promo, ends 30 Sep 2026 |
| Small business add-on, standing rate | $21 | Applies from October |
| Business Standard with Copilot | $23.50 | Durable, all-in |
| Business Premium with Copilot | $32 | Durable, all-in |
| Consumer, Microsoft 365 Personal / Family | Copilot now in base plan | Base rose about $3/mo |
The add-on trap#
$30 is not the price
Microsoft 365 Copilot, enterprise
It is the price of the add-on. You also need the base plan underneath it.
This is the thing that catches people costing Copilot for the first time.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is not a product you can buy. It is a licence you attach to a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan. If you do not already have Business Standard, Business Premium, E3 or E5, the Copilot price is only part of what you will pay.
So the honest per-user maths is:
base plan + Copilot add-on = what you actually pay
The "with Copilot" plans exist precisely because that sum confuses people. Business Standard with Copilot at $23.50 and Business Premium with Copilot at $32 roll both halves into one line.
Why the small business rate matters more than the headline#
Most coverage of Copilot pricing quotes $30 per user, because that is the enterprise number and enterprise is what gets written about.
For a business on Business Standard or Business Premium, the number is $18 now, $21 from October. That is 30 to 40 percent less than the figure in most articles.
At ten users, over a year:
| Rate | Annual cost, 10 users |
|---|---|
| $18 (promo) | $2,160 |
| $21 (standing) | $2,520 |
| $30 (enterprise) | $3,600 |
The gap between the number you read and the number you pay is $1,080 a year at that headcount. Worth checking which one applies to you before you decide it is too expensive.
Copilot on the consumer side#
Microsoft moved Copilot features into the base Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans and raised those plans by roughly $3 a month to cover it.
That is a different model to everyone else in this market. There is no separate consumer Copilot subscription to weigh against ChatGPT Plus at $20 or Claude Pro at $20 — you get Copilot because you pay for Office, and the increment was three dollars.
For a sole trader already paying for Microsoft 365, that is the cheapest AI assistant access in this comparison by a wide margin. It is also the least capable of the group at the top end, which is the trade.
Where Copilot genuinely wins#
The case for Copilot is not the model. It is the location.
- It is inside Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams, where the work already is
- Nobody has to remember to open a separate tab
- It can see your organisation's own documents and mail, which a general assistant cannot unless you paste things into it
That last point is the real differentiator. A standalone assistant is smarter in isolation. Copilot knows what is in your Outlook.
Which licence to buy#
| Your situation | Licence |
|---|---|
| Sole trader already paying for Microsoft 365 | Nothing. Copilot is in your base plan now |
| Small business on Business Standard or Premium | Add-on at $18 before 30 September, $21 after |
| Setting up fresh and want one predictable line | Business Standard with Copilot, $23.50 |
| On E3 or E5 | Enterprise add-on, $30 |
| Not sure anyone will use it | Five seats, one quarter, then decide |
If you are going to buy the small business add-on at all, buying it before 30 September locks the lower entry point. That is the only genuinely time-sensitive thing on this page.
The short version
What works
- Copilot sits inside Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams, so there is no separate tool for staff to learn or remember to open
- The small business rate at $18 or $21 is meaningfully below the $30 enterprise add-on for the same core capability
- Consumer Microsoft 365 now includes Copilot features in the base plan rather than charging separately
What does not
- The $18 rate is introductory and ends on 30 September 2026, so budgets built on it are wrong from October
- Copilot is an add-on, not a product: you need a qualifying Microsoft 365 base plan underneath it, and that cost is separate
- The real per-user cost is the base plan plus the add-on, which is not how the pricing page presents it
Frequently asked questions
- How much does Microsoft 365 Copilot cost?
- The enterprise add-on for E3, E5 and similar suites is $30 per user a month and has held at that since launch. For small business plans, Business Standard and Business Premium, the add-on was cut to $21 per user a month and currently carries an $18 introductory promotional rate through 30 September 2026.
- What happens after 30 September 2026?
- The introductory $18 rate ends and the small business add-on returns to its standing price of $21 per user a month. That is a 17 percent increase on whatever you budgeted at the promotional rate, and it applies per user, so it scales with headcount.
- Do I need Microsoft 365 to use Copilot?
- For Microsoft 365 Copilot, yes. It is an add-on licence and requires a qualifying base plan such as Business Standard, Business Premium, E3 or E5. The base plan cost is separate and additional. The free consumer Copilot chat is a different product with different capability.
- What are the "with Copilot" plans?
- Business Standard with Copilot at $23.50 and Business Premium with Copilot at $32 bundle the base plan and the add-on into a single always-on plan at one price. They are durable rather than promotional, so they do not change on 30 September.
Written by
Tashawar Awais
Researcher and editor
Tashawar handles verification and editing. Every figure in a review is checked a second time before it goes out, and anything that cannot be traced to a vendor page or a documented source is either qualified or cut. Where pricing is genuinely unclear, as it is with Canva team plans or Close CRM tiers, the article says so and tells the reader to confirm directly instead of quoting a number with false confidence.
- Second check on every published figure
- Removes claims the sources do not support
- Flags pricing that changes without notice