If your business uses Microsoft 365 and you have been putting off the decision about Copilot, time is running out. On 1 July 2026, the promotional pricing period ends and Microsoft moves Copilot to its permanent position in the M365 product lineup. This is not a minor update — it changes what you pay, what is bundled, and how the product is sold.
What is actually changing on 1 July
Until now, Microsoft 365 Copilot has been available as an add-on to existing M365 subscriptions at a promotional rate of around $18 per user per month. That price was always described as temporary, and the deadline has arrived.
From 1 July, the standalone Copilot add-on price rises to $21 per user per month. But more significantly, Microsoft is also launching new bundled plans that combine the full M365 suite with Copilot built in:
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot — $23.50 per user per month
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium with Copilot — $32.00 per user per month
These bundles are designed to replace the old pattern of buying a base M365 plan and adding Copilot separately. For businesses already on Business Premium, the bundled option may actually represent better value than keeping two separate subscriptions.
There is one practical action for any business already using or trialling Copilot: if you lock in pricing before 30 June, you preserve the promotional rate for your existing licences. After that date, new licences and renewals move to the higher rate.
What Copilot Wave 3 now includes
The price change coincides with a significant feature update. Microsoft’s Wave 3 release, available through June, adds Copilot functionality inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook in a more substantial way than before. Copilot can now draft, edit, and structure documents more autonomously rather than simply answering individual prompts.
There is also a new feature called Copilot Cowork, designed for longer multi-step tasks — the kind of things that currently require you to context-switch between applications. The Work IQ APIs, which let businesses build their own tools on top of Copilot’s underlying capabilities, became generally available on 16 June.
For UK SMEs, this matters because the question has shifted from “should we try Copilot?” to “how do we get real value from it quickly?” The technology has matured considerably since the early releases.
Is it worth it for a small business?
That depends entirely on how your team works and what you currently spend time doing. Copilot performs best in environments with a lot of document creation, email drafting, meeting summarisation, and data analysis in Excel. If your team does those things daily, the productivity gains can be real.
The most honest answer is that Copilot works well when people know how to use it, and badly when it is just installed and left to chance. Training and workflow design matter more than the software itself.
If you are considering adoption but are not sure where to start, the team at ApplyAI helps UK businesses assess which AI tools genuinely fit their workflow — rather than buying licences that sit unused. Getting that assessment done before committing to additional seats is worth the time, especially before 30 June when the pricing window closes.
The practical decision for UK SMEs
Before month end, you should do three things. First, check how many M365 licences your business holds and whether any staff are already trialling Copilot. Second, look at whether the bundled plans make more sense than your current setup. Third, if you want Copilot at the promotional rate, act before 30 June — not after.
The technology is maturing and the price is rising. Waiting is now the more expensive option.
