Last verified: June 11, 2026. This page is maintained by an automated pricing desk and reviewed by a human editor. When Microsoft changes Copilot pricing, this page updates within days — the change log at the bottom records every revision.
Microsoft currently sells at least seven different products under the name “Copilot,” using four different billing models, and most of them require a separate base license that is not included in the advertised price. This page puts every Copilot in one place: what it costs today, how it bills, what you must already own to buy it, and which one you actually need.
Every Copilot at a glance (June 2026)
| Product | Price | Billing model | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Copilot (consumer) | Free | n/a | Microsoft account |
| Copilot Pro / M365 Premium | $20/mo (see note) | Per user, flat | Microsoft 365 Personal or Family |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (Business, up to 300 seats) | $18/user/mo promo until June 30, 2026; $21 after (annual) | Per user, flat | M365 Business Basic, Standard, or Premium |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (Enterprise) | $30/user/mo (annual) | Per user, flat | M365 E3, E5, Business Standard or Premium |
| Copilot Studio | $200/mo per 25,000 credits, or pay-as-you-go | Capacity credits, tenant-wide | None (standalone), free inside M365 Copilot for licensed users |
| GitHub Copilot | Free / $10 Pro / $39 Pro+ / $19 Business / $39 Enterprise per user/mo | Per user + usage-based AI Credits (tokens) since June 1, 2026 | GitHub account |
| Microsoft Security Copilot | $4/SCU/hour provisioned (~$2,920/mo for 1 SCU always-on) | Security Compute Units | Azure subscription; E5 orgs get 400 SCUs per 1,000 users included |
Two prices are about to change: the $18 Business promotional rate expires June 30, 2026, and base Microsoft 365 license prices rise July 1, 2026 (Business Basic $6 to $7, Business Standard $12.50 to $14, E3 $36 to $39). Any total-cost math you did before July needs redoing.
The consumer tier: Copilot and Copilot Pro
The free Copilot at copilot.microsoft.com is a general AI chat with image generation. It does not see your documents, email, or company data. Copilot Pro adds Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote for personal Microsoft accounts. Note: Microsoft moved to bundle Pro capabilities into Microsoft 365 Premium (around $19.99/mo) in late 2025, and sources conflict on whether standalone Copilot Pro remains purchasable — we flag this rather than guess, and will update when Microsoft clarifies. Either way, expect roughly $20/mo on top of a personal M365 subscription for AI inside the Office apps.
Microsoft 365 Copilot: the one businesses mean
This is the enterprise product that reads your email, files, meetings, and Teams chats through Microsoft Graph. The Business tier (up to 300 seats) is $18/user/month on the promotional annual rate through June 30, 2026, then $21 (or $25.20 billed monthly). Enterprise is $30/user/month annual. Since October 2025, the formerly separate $50/user add-ons — Copilot for Sales, Service, and Finance — are included in the Enterprise license, which quietly made it a much better deal than its 2024 version.
The trap to avoid: the advertised price is an add-on. A 10-person company on Business Basic pays the base license AND the Copilot license per user — and the base price rises in July.
Copilot Studio: credits, not seats
Copilot Studio (custom agents and automation) bills by Copilot Credits, tenant-wide: $200/month per 25,000-credit capacity pack, or metered pay-as-you-go with no commitment. Agents used internally by licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot users do not consume paid credits; external-facing or standalone agents do. Microsoft switched the billing unit from “messages” to “credits” on September 1, 2025 — older articles still quote message pricing.
GitHub Copilot: the June 2026 earthquake
On June 1, 2026, GitHub moved every Copilot plan to usage-based billing. Each plan now includes a monthly pool of “AI Credits” equal to its sticker price ($10 for Pro, $39 for Pro+, $19/seat for Business, $39/seat for Enterprise), consumed at per-model token rates for input, output, and cached tokens. Heavy agent users are reporting credit pools depleting in days, with cost projections that have produced loud public backlash. Business and Enterprise get doubled promotional credits through August 2026. The free tier remains: 2,000 completions and 50 premium requests per month. If you budgeted GitHub Copilot as flat-rate, that assumption ended June 1 — treat it as metered AI spend now.
Security Copilot: a different universe
Security Copilot does not bill per user at all. It runs on provisioned Security Compute Units at $4/SCU/hour ($6 overage), so a single always-on SCU is roughly $2,920/month. Since November 2025, Microsoft 365 E5 customers receive 400 SCUs per month per 1,000 user licenses at no additional cost — if you have E5 and a security team, you may already own Security Copilot capacity nobody is using.
Which Copilot do you actually need?
- You want AI chat for general questions: the free tier. Pay nothing.
- You want AI inside Office on a personal account: Copilot Pro / M365 Premium (~$20/mo).
- Your business wants AI that knows your email and files: Microsoft 365 Copilot — $18/user before June 30, $21 after, plus base licenses.
- You write code: GitHub Copilot — start free, expect metered costs if you use agents heavily.
- You want custom agents for customers: Copilot Studio credits — model the volume before committing.
- You run a security operation: check whether your E5 licensing already includes SCUs before buying any.
Change log
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2026 | GitHub Copilot usage-based AI Credits billing takes effect; developer backlash over rapid credit depletion |
| Apr 15, 2026 | Microsoft reverses free Copilot Chat in Office apps for unlicensed users at large orgs (throttled at smaller orgs) |
| Dec 4, 2025 | July 2026 base M365 price increases announced (Basic +17%, Standard +12%, E3 +8%) |
| Dec 1, 2025 | M365 Copilot Business cut from $30 to $21; $18 promo through June 30, 2026 |
| Nov 2025 | Security Copilot SCUs included for E5 customers (400 per 1,000 users) |
| Oct 2025 | Sales/Service/Finance Copilots folded into Enterprise license; Copilot Pro folded toward M365 Premium |
| Sep 1, 2025 | Copilot Studio billing switched from messages to Copilot Credits |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot?
Microsoft Copilot is the free consumer chat. Microsoft 365 Copilot is the paid business product ($18-30/user/month) that works inside Office apps with access to your organization data. They are different products with confusingly similar names.
How much does Microsoft 365 Copilot cost for a small business?
Until June 30, 2026: $18/user/month on annual billing, plus a required base license (Business Basic $6, Standard $12.50 — both rising July 1). Realistic all-in cost from July: roughly $28-35 per user per month.
Is GitHub Copilot still a flat $10 a month?
The $10 Pro plan still exists, but since June 1, 2026 it includes $10 of metered AI Credits consumed at per-token rates. Light users will not notice; heavy agent users can exhaust the pool quickly and pay for more.
What is a Copilot Credit in Copilot Studio?
The tenant-wide consumption unit for custom agents: $200/month per 25,000-credit pack, or pay-as-you-go. Different actions consume different credit amounts.
Does Microsoft 365 E5 include Security Copilot?
Since November 2025, E5 customers receive 400 Security Compute Units per month per 1,000 user licenses at no extra cost, up to 10,000 SCUs.
Sources: Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing pages, Microsoft TechCommunity licensing announcements, Microsoft Learn (Copilot Studio billing), GitHub Blog (usage-based billing announcement), GitHub Copilot plans page, Microsoft Security Copilot pricing page, and Microsoft 2026 packaging updates. Corrections: this page is maintained actively — if you find an error, it will be fixed within days.