Microsoft 365 Personal and Family Plans Get New Copilot Features and a Price Increase

Microsoft is upgrading its Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions with the integration of AI-powered Copilot features and Microsoft Designer, the company’s image generator tool. Unfortunately, these plans are also getting a price increase worldwide, though existing subscribers will be able to switch to cheaper “Classic” plans without AI features at the end of their subscription period.

Microsoft has been testing these AI-augmented and more expensive Microsoft 355 Personal and Family plans in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand since November. The rollout is now happening worldwide, and the company believes that the change will benefit everyone subscribing to its Microsoft 365 consumer plans.

“Most of our 84 million consumer subscribers will now have access to Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and the newly renamed Microsoft 365 Copilot app,” wrote Bryan Rognier, Vice President, Microsoft 365 Consumer. “We’re delighted to empower millions of our customers with an AI assistant that supercharges the productivity apps they already know and love.”

With a Microsoft 365 consumer subscription, users will now get access to Copilot across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. Microsoft Designer, which will continue to exist as a free standalone app, will also be accessible within Word and PowerPoint and offer unique image creation and editing features.

There will be monthly usage limits for these new AI features, and consumers who need more AI credits to use across Microsoft 365 apps and Windows apps such as Paint, Photos, and Notepad will need to pay for a $20/month Copilot Pro subscription. That standalone subscription isn’t going away and will continue to offer preferred access to the most advanced AI models, experimental features, and extended use of Copilot Voice.

Existing Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers who don’t want to use these AI features in apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint will be able to disable them in the apps. And again, existing subscribers with recurring billing enabled will be able to switch to new Personal Classic or Family Classic plans without AI features and keep paying the same. “These plans will continue to be maintained as they exist today, but for certain new innovations and features you’ll need a Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscription,” Rognier explained.

In the US, Microsoft 365 Personal and Family now cost $3 more per month, so that’s at $9.99 and $12.99 per month, respectively. You can still save some money with a yearly plan, with the Personal plan now costing $99.99 per year and the Family plan priced at $129.99.