Microsoft Announces Worldwide Price Hike For Microsoft 365 Subscriptions

(RTTNews) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) announced that it will raise the prices of its Office and Microsoft 365 subscriptions for business and government customers around the world starting July 1, 2026.

This comes as the company's Office apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook have been facing growing competition, especially from Google. It explained that the price increase is needed because Microsoft has added many new features in recent years, including better security and more artificial intelligence tools that help users work faster and more efficiently. The company noted that organizations today deal with higher IT demands, tougher cyber threats and increasing pressure to adopt AI, so continued investment is necessary.

The price hike will vary by subscription plan. Business Basic will rise by about 16.7 percent to $7 per user per month, while Business Standard will increase to $14, up 12 percent. Plans for frontline workers will see the biggest jumps, with F1 increasing from $2.25 to $3 and F3 increasing from $8 to $10 per user per month, a rise of up to 33 percent. Enterprise plans are also affected, with Microsoft 365 E3 going from $36 to $39 per user per month and E5 rising from $57 to $60.

The tech giant said it has added more than 1,100 new features to Microsoft 365 since the last major price increase in 2022. One of the most significant additions is Copilot Chat, an AI-powered tool built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote that helps users write and edit documents and manage email more easily.

The Redmond-based company has also expanded its security features, including better phishing and malware protection and improved link safety.

This price rise marks the first major global price increase for commercial Microsoft 365 since 2022. The previous increase in 2022 was the first since Office 365 launched in 2011, and Microsoft also raised prices for consumer Office bundles earlier this year.