October 15, 2026. Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, the Copilot add-on for companies with up to 300 users, lists at $21 per user per month on an annual subscription, and Microsoft is selling it for $18 for the first year on orders placed by 31 December 2026. Bundled with Microsoft 365, it costs $23.50 per user a month with Business Standard and $32 with Business Premium, paid yearly. Larger organizations pay $30 per user a month for Microsoft 365 Copilot, and agents, Copilot Cowork and Copilot Studio are billed separately, mostly by usage. Copilot Chat, Microsoft's AI chat for work, is included at no extra cost for users with an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription. We help companies get recommended inside AI assistants through AI search optimization, so this guide sets out what each option costs and what is metered on top.
Prices come from Microsoft's business Copilot pricing page, its enterprise pricing page and its Copilot Studio pricing page, all in US dollars and read 15 October 2026. Prices vary by country, and promotions change, so check your own checkout before you buy.
Key numbers
| Item | Number |
|---|---|
| Copilot Business, paid yearly ($18 in year one, orders 1 Jul to 31 Dec 2026) | $21 a user a month |
| Copilot Business, monthly subscription | $25.20 a user a month |
| Business Standard with Copilot | $23.50 yearly, $28.20 monthly |
| Business Premium with Copilot | $32.00 yearly, $38.40 monthly |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (enterprise) | $30 a user a month, paid yearly |
| Copilot Business user limit | up to 300 users |
| Copilot Chat (with an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription) | no additional cost |
| Copilot Studio (pre-purchase saves up to 20%) | $200 license, pre-purchase or pay-as-you-go |
Microsoft Copilot pricing pages for business, enterprise and Copilot Studio, read 15 October 2026.
Microsoft 365 Copilot plans and prices
| Plan | Paid yearly | Monthly subscription | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Copilot Business | $21 a user a month ($18 first-year promotion) | $25.20 | Add-on for an existing Microsoft 365 Business plan, up to 300 users |
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot | $23.50 | $28.20 | Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Teams, 1 TB storage and Copilot |
| Microsoft 365 Business Premium with Copilot | $32.00 | $38.40 | Adds advanced identity, cyberthreat protection and sensitive data protection |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (enterprise) | $30.00 | Not listed | Add-on for a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan |
| Copilot Chat | No additional cost | No additional cost | For Microsoft Entra users with an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription |
Across all three business options, the monthly subscription costs exactly 20 percent more than the price paid yearly: $25.20 against $21, $28.20 against $23.50 and $38.40 against $32. A one-month free trial is offered on the business plans and converts to a paid subscription when it ends.
The $18 promotion and its fine print
Microsoft's footnote to the $18 price sets out the terms:
- It runs from 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2026.
- It applies to the first year only, on an annual commitment, after which the subscription renews automatically.
- The Copilot Business add-on is only for existing Microsoft 365 customers with an eligible Business plan.
- It is not available on trial subscriptions.
- Customers have a 7-day window to cancel for a prorated refund, and Microsoft can change or end the offer at any time.
So budget the second year at the $21 list price, not $18. For 25 users, that is $5,400 in the first year and $6,300 a year after it, against $7,560 a year on the monthly subscription.
What a Copilot seat includes
According to Microsoft's plan highlights, a Copilot Business seat brings:
- Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, with priority access in the Office apps.
- Chat grounded in your work data through what Microsoft calls Work IQ, plus reasoning models for research and data analysis.
- Prebuilt Microsoft agents, including Researcher, Analyst and Facilitator.
- Analytics on adoption and impact, and a choice of language models, with priority access to the latest OpenAI GPT-5.X models.
The Business Standard and Premium bundles include the Microsoft 365 plan itself, so you do not buy it separately. Microsoft lists 1 TB of cloud storage per user and identity and access management for up to 300 users on both, with spam and malware filtering on Standard. Premium adds advanced identity and access management, enhanced cyberthreat protection and sensitive data protection.
Copilot Chat: included with eligible Microsoft 365 plans
Before buying seats, check what you already get. Microsoft says Copilot Chat is available at no additional cost for all Microsoft Entra account users with an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription. Compare what Copilot Chat covers in your tenant with the Copilot Business features listed above. For a team that mostly needs a secure chat assistant, Copilot Chat may be enough.
What is metered: agents, Cowork and Copilot Studio
The seat price is not the whole bill. Microsoft's comparison table marks Copilot Cowork as metered on every plan, and its enterprise page prices agents on a metered basis, with an Azure subscription required. Our report on Copilot Cowork's usage-based pricing explains how that works in practice.
Agent usage is counted in Copilot Credits, which Microsoft says are consumed whenever Copilot or an agent performs a task or generates a response. Copilot Studio, where companies build their own agents, is sold three ways on its pricing page: a $200 license, a pre-purchase plan that saves up to 20 percent through Copilot Credit Commit Units, and pay-as-you-go. New Azure accounts receive a $200 credit.
The practical lesson: give the agents a budget before you give them to everyone. Pay-as-you-go bills agent usage to your Azure subscription as it happens, which is convenient and also how surprise bills happen.
How to roll Copilot out without paying for idle seats
Because the yearly price is an annual commitment, a staged rollout usually costs less than buying for everyone on day one. Give the whole company Copilot Chat first, buy paid seats for the people who spend their day in Outlook, Excel and Teams, and use the adoption and impact analytics that come with Copilot Business to see who actually uses it. Add seats once the numbers justify them, and keep custom agents on a separate, capped Copilot Studio budget.
Copilot vs ChatGPT Business, Claude Team and Gemini Enterprise
On seat price, Copilot Business at $21 sits close to its rivals, though it also needs an eligible Microsoft 365 Business plan underneath. ChatGPT Business costs $25 per user a month, or $20 billed annually, as our ChatGPT Business pricing guide shows; Claude Team matches those prices, per our Claude Team pricing guide; and Gemini Enterprise starts at $21 for its Business edition, covered in our Gemini Enterprise pricing guide. The difference is where each one lives: Copilot is built into Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams, so its value depends on how much of your day runs in Microsoft 365.
Which option to choose
- Already on Microsoft 365 Business: add Copilot Business, ideally before 31 December 2026 to lock in $18 for the first year.
- Buying Microsoft 365 and Copilot together: compare the Standard and Premium bundles at $23.50 and $32 with your current plan plus the add-on.
- More than 300 users: Microsoft 365 Copilot at $30 a user a month, paid yearly, on top of a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan.
- Light, chat-only use: start with Copilot Chat at no extra cost and buy seats for the people who live in Office.
- Custom agents: set a Copilot Studio budget first, and decide between the license, pre-purchase and pay-as-you-go.
Copilot and the other assistants now answer buyers' questions about suppliers as well as drafting their documents. If you want your company named in those answers, that is the job of our AI search optimization service.
Frequently Asked Questions
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business lists at $21 per user per month paid yearly, with an $18 first-year promotion on orders from 1 July to 31 December 2026, and $25.20 on a monthly subscription. Microsoft 365 Copilot for enterprises costs $30 per user per month paid yearly. Both require a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan.
It is the Copilot add-on for Microsoft 365 Business customers with up to 300 users. It puts Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, adds chat grounded in work data, prebuilt agents such as Researcher and Analyst, and adoption analytics.
Microsoft says Copilot Chat is available at no additional cost for all Microsoft Entra account users with an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription. Copilot Business is the paid add-on that brings Copilot into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams with priority access, plus Work IQ chat and prebuilt agents such as Researcher and Analyst.
Yes. Microsoft states that a separate license for a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan is required to purchase Microsoft 365 Copilot, and the Copilot Business add-on is only available to customers with an eligible Business plan. The Business Standard and Premium bundles include the Microsoft 365 plan.
Agents are priced on a metered basis and use Copilot Credits, and an Azure subscription is required. Copilot Studio is sold as a $200 license, a pre-purchase plan that saves up to 20 percent, or pay-as-you-go. Copilot Cowork is also metered.
Yes, by 20 percent on the business plans: $25.20 against $21 for Copilot Business, $28.20 against $23.50 for Business Standard with Copilot, and $38.40 against $32 for Business Premium with Copilot.