Copilot Licenses and Costs: M365 Copilot, Copilot Chat, Copilot Studio

Microsoft 365 Copilot costs 26.00 euros net per user per month under the enterprise plan when billed annually, Copilot Chat is included at no extra cost in eligible Microsoft 365 subscriptions, and Copilot Studio is billed not per user but according to consumed Copilot Credits. Anyone planning the costs of Copilot licenses needs to keep these three pricing logics apart. This article adds them up. As of: September 2026, all prices net according to the linked Microsoft pages.

What does Copilot Chat cost?

Copilot Chat is included for users with an eligible Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription and costs no additional license. This is stated in the Microsoft Learn overview of licenses and costs.

Costs arise as soon as agents in the chat access shared company data, for example SharePoint or Copilot connectors. According to the same page, Microsoft bills this usage in Copilot Credits via Copilot Studio. Simple agents that work only with instructions or public websites remain free.

What does a Microsoft 365 Copilot license cost?

A Microsoft 365 Copilot license costs small and medium-sized businesses with up to 300 users regularly 18.20 euros per user per month, for larger organizations 26.00 euros. It is an add-on to a suitable Microsoft 365 plan. The prices in detail:

• Microsoft 365 Copilot Business as an add-on: regularly 18.20 euros per user per month with annual billing. From July 1 to December 31, 2026, existing customers with an eligible Business tariff get a promotional price of 15.60 euros, for the first year only. Source: Microsoft pricing page.
• Business Standard with Copilot Business: 20.36 euros per user per month, annual billing, same source.
• Business Premium with Copilot Business: 27.73 euros per user per month, annual billing, same source. Both bundles are, according to Microsoft's partner announcement from July 2026 permanently on offer since July 1, 2026, with a maximum of 300 licenses.
• Microsoft 365 Copilot for large enterprises: 26.00 euros per user per month with annual billing, 27.30 euros with monthly payment within an annual subscription. Source: Microsoft page for enterprises.

With the license, Copilot works directly in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams and accesses your own emails, files and meetings. For many teams, that is the real difference from the free chat.

What does Copilot Studio cost?

Copilot Studio is billed based on Copilot Credits, meaning based on what your agents actually do. There are two common approaches:

• Capacity pack: 25,000 Copilot Credits per month for the entire tenant, replenished at the start of each billing month. Microsoft calls this 200 US dollars per pack per month, which the German pricing page lists as 173.30 euros. The pack size is stated on Microsoft Learn.
• Usage-based (pay-as-you-go): 0.01 US dollars per Copilot Credit, billed through an Azure subscription, according to the overview of pay-as-you-go meters.

How many credits an agent consumes depends on its actions. According to the billing rates on Microsoft Learn a pre-authored response costs 1 credit, a generative response 2 credits, an agent action 5 credits, and access to company data via Microsoft Graph 10 credits. Important for planning: if employees with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license use an internal agent with their own sign-in, this usually incurs no cost. Exceptions, according to the same page, include for example computer-using agents and agent flows with other triggers.

How the credits work in detail is explained in our article on Copilot Studio and Copilot Credits.

What does Copilot cost for a business with 40 employees?

A calculation example using the list prices above, without the promotional discount: A business with 40 employees has Microsoft 365 Business Standard. Ten people who work daily in Outlook, Word and Excel get Microsoft 365 Copilot Business at 18.20 euros each. The remaining 30 use Copilot Chat.

• Licenses: 10 × 18.20 euros = 182 euros per month, so 2,184 euros per year.
• One internal agent for the remaining 30: In its own example, Microsoft calculates 48 credits per run for an agent with company data (four generative responses and four Graph accesses). If 20 people without a Copilot license ask it once each on 21 working days, that is 20,160 credits per month. That fits into a capacity pack for 173.30 euros and would be around 202 US dollars on a usage basis.

The agent thus costs almost as much as the ten licenses. Whether you should buy more licenses or more credits depends on who uses the agent and how often. This calculation is worth doing before ordering for all employees.

How do you avoid buying the wrong Copilot licenses?

The most expensive license is the one nobody uses. Three steps help:

• Start with Copilot Chat first and observe who actually uses it in daily work.
• Assign licenses specifically to heavy users and check after three months whether they are being used.
• Estimate an agent's credit consumption before launch, for example with the Microsoft estimator, and set a monthly limit for each agent.

In practice, it is less about the license and more about whether people know what to do with it. That is what the Copilot launch and Copilot training days are for. If you want to keep discussing licenses, agents and usage with someone on an ongoing basis, the AI Sparring fits. We build our own agents in the Copilot Studio Agents area.

Frequently asked questions about Copilot licenses and costs

Is Copilot Chat free?

Yes, for users with an eligible Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription, Copilot Chat is included with no additional license. Costs only arise once agents in the chat access shared company data such as SharePoint. Microsoft bills this usage in Copilot Credits.

What does Microsoft 365 Copilot cost per user?

For businesses with up to 300 users, Microsoft 365 Copilot Business regularly costs 18.20 euros net per user per month with annual billing, and 15.60 euros for existing customers in the first year until the end of 2026. The plan for large enterprises costs 26.00 euros. A suitable Microsoft 365 plan is always required in addition.

Do I need a separate license for Copilot Studio?

For agents used by customers or employees without a Copilot license, you need Copilot Credits, either as a capacity pack with 25,000 credits per month or on a usage basis via Azure. Employees with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license usually use internal agents with their own sign-in at no extra cost.

How often do Copilot prices change?

Often. In 2026 alone, Microsoft introduced new permanent Business bundles on July 1 and extended a promotional price until the end of the year. Always check prices on the current Microsoft pricing page before ordering.