The Windows developer software giant, in recent years, has been betting heavily on its subscription model for its own office suite. Here we refer to Microsoft 365, which continues to grow in functions and users.
Unlike the Office suite that we have been accustomed to for a long time, in this case the license will never be ours, but we only pay for the time of use. For example, we can subscribe to Microsoft 365 for a month and use Word, Excel or PowerPoint during that time for a minimal price.
There are also those who pay annually if they plan to use the productivity suite for a long time. Well, for the latter we have bad news that will directly affect the cost they will have to pay for the subscription. And within a short time, Microsoft 365 subscribers will be forced to pay more for the incorporation of the firm’s AI, Copilot.
It is worth mentioning that Microsoft 365 currently offers two subscription options for consumers: Family and Personal. The first modality extends the benefits of the Personal subscription to a maximum of six people, while the second is limited to a single user.
Say that in the past Microsoft introduced Premium AI features for consumers through the Copilot Pro plan. This was also carried out for enterprise users through the Microsoft 365 Copilot plan. But things are changing in this sense. It appears that Microsoft is now testing a new Microsoft 365 consumer plan.
New Microsoft 365 payment plan with AI
It is worth mentioning that this includes artificial intelligence functions at a higher subscription cost. This plan is currently being tested in some countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.
Say that, for example, in Australia, the annual cost of the new subscription to Microsoft 365 Family with AI will be 179 Australian dollars. Previously, it was priced at AU$139 without AI features.
Here the biggest problem that we are going to encounter is that paying more and having intelligent functions will not be a choice. And Microsoft is migrating all existing users of the Microsoft 365 plan to this new, more expensive plan with AI features. At this point we must keep in mind that the most expensive updated price will take effect at the next subscription renewal. Obviously, and as you can imagine, this change can be quite annoying to all those who do not need or do not want to use AI functions.
Say this updated office suite plan provides Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers with a total of 60 credits per month to spend on smart features. These credits can be used in various applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Notepad, Photos or Paint. This will allow us to generate content depending on the application we choose, such as texts, a table or an image.
At the same time, it is important to know that the benefits of AI are exclusive to the subscription owner. This means they cannot be shared with other members of the Microsoft 365 Family. Additionally, unused AI credits do not carry over to the next month.
