Microsoft increases the cost of its consumer edition of Microsoft 365 after a decade of no changes.

• Microsoft announced on its blog that it is raising the monthly price of its Microsoft 365 consumer bundle by $3.
• Microsoft 365 is introducing Copilot assistant into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote applications, and the company announced that it will be raising the price.

Microsoft 365 is introducing artificial intelligence tools to its consumer bundle and increasing its price for the first time since the introduction of subscriptions 12 years ago.

Microsoft announced that its Copilot assistant will be integrated into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote applications for consumers who use the Microsoft 365 suite.

Microsoft 365 Consumer vice president Bryan Rognier stated in a post that the $3 monthly increase is intended to reflect the numerous benefits added over the past 12 years and allow for the delivery of future innovations.

The cost of Microsoft 365 Personal has increased to $9.99 per month and $99.99 per year, while the Microsoft 365 Family plan now costs $12.99 per month and $129.99 per year, an increase from $9.99 a month and $99.99 per year.

In the September quarter, Microsoft 365 had 84.4 million consumer subscribers, which is a 10% increase from the previous quarter. The blog post states that existing customers will be charged the new prices when they renew their subscriptions.

Microsoft 365, previously known as Office 365, is crucial to the company's efforts to compete in the consumer market for productivity tools. However, sales to businesses generate significantly more revenue for Microsoft.

In the third quarter of the fiscal year, Microsoft 365 commercial products and cloud services accounted for 31% of the company's revenue, while Microsoft 365 consumer products and cloud services contributed less than 3%. In 2022, Microsoft raised the prices of its commercial Microsoft 365 subscriptions for the first time.

Consumer subscribers will receive access to the Microsoft Designer image editing tool in addition to integrating Copilot into Microsoft 365 applications.

Microsoft announced that, temporarily, current subscribers can switch to plans without Copilot or AI credits.

The company stated that while these plans will remain in place, new innovations and features may require a Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscription.

Microsoft has announced that 2025 is the target year for its business customers to become "quantum-ready."