Blog
05/12/2025
Microsoft announce 2026 price increases
Following Microsoft’s Ignite 2025 conference, they have announced some feature additions to Microsoft 365…and some price increases.
Copilot Chat
This free entry point to Copilot, included with various Microsoft products, will have new features to work with Outlook inboxes and calendars and standard access to Agent Mode. There will also be additional management and security capabilities around Copilot Chat.
Addition Security Features
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1, currently only available with Microsoft 365 E5, is being added to:
- Microsoft 365 E3
- Office 365 E3
It appears that all features are being added but that is to be confirmed.
Furthermore, URL checking features are being added to Office 365 E1, Business Basic, and Business Standard.
Endpoint Management
A range of Microsoft Intune products are being added to both Microsoft 365 E3 and E5, these are:
- Intune Plan 2
- Intune Advanced Analytics
- Intune Remote Help
While M365 E5 will also receive:
- Intune Endpoint Privilege Management
- Enterprise Application Management
- Microsoft Cloud PKI
2026 Pricing
Of course, these new features come at a cost. Pricing for the included suites will be increasing as of July 1, 2026 (aka Microsoft’s new financial year)…even Microsoft 365 E5.
M365 E3 increases by 8% and M365 E5 by 5%. While there is no mention of new features being added to the Frontline Worker F SKUs, they too are increasing in price with M365 F1 rising by 33% and M365 F3 by 25%.
The % increases will also apply to non-profit pricing.
See the Microsoft post here - Advancing Microsoft 365: New capabilities and pricing update | Microsoft 365 Blog
Conclusion
For some organisations, the additional products in E3 and E5 may mean that they can reshape their licensing slightly – dropping additional SKUs or possibly even dropping from E5 to E3. However, it is yet another price increase from Microsoft…particularly galling if you don’t need or want those additional features. Review your Microsoft budget projections and work to lock in the lower pricing for as long as possible.
Come and talk to Synyega about how we can help you optimise your Microsoft estate and potentially save 6 or 7 figures on your next renewal.
