Microsoft's licensing announcements from August and September 2026 shift cost from fixed license prices to consumption and conditions. What you pay in 2027 depends less on your contract and more on the limits you set before year-end.
- 30 Sep 2026CSP promotions endMicrosoft 365 E5, E7 and Copilot, replaced by growth marginsup to 15% gone
- As of October 2026
- 1 Nov 2026AI Builder credits endNew and renewed Power Platform and Dynamics 365 licensesUSD 0.01 per credit
- 1 Dec 2026Copilot Business ships with pay-as-you-go onNew CSP purchases, default limit 4'000 creditsup to USD 40 per user and month
- 31 Dec 2026E3 promotions end10% on three years, 20% on one yearlast 10 to 20%
- 1 Jan 2027Power Apps Premium rises, currencies resetUSD 20 to 22, annual update of local currency prices+10%
- 1 Feb 2027Reservation exchanges endServices covered by savings plans; stricter Power Apps licensing1 final exchange
- 30 Jun 2027Current growth margin rates endQualifying transactions, mostly from 300 net-new seats300 seats minimum
1. Microsoft moves cost from the license to consumption
On 25 September 2026, Microsoft introduced the new Copilot with Home, Code and Autopilot. The Microsoft 365 Copilot license keeps covering everyday work. Microsoft bills the advanced capabilities by usage, in Copilot Credits.
- Everyday work
- Cowork
- Advanced work in SharePoint and OneDrive
- Work IQ API
- Teams Phone Agent
- AI Builderfrom 1 Nov 2026
From 1 November 2026, new and renewed Power Platform and Dynamics 365 licenses no longer include AI Builder credits. AI Builder moves to Copilot Credits as well.
2. Copilot: the pay-as-you-go preset is a test run
From 1 December 2026, Microsoft delivers new Copilot Business purchases through CSP with pay-as-you-go switched on. The default limit is 4'000 credits per user per month. Germany is on the list of countries excluded for now, Switzerland is not.
4'000 credits at USD 0.01 are USD 40 per user per month. Copilot Business lists at USD 21, so the default allows almost twice the license price again, every month.
For one user, 4'000 credits go fast. Microsoft publishes planning bands for Cowork tasks, and a single meeting preparation with a presentation already lands in the middle band.
Weekly status update with priorities and key meetings from the calendar
Customer meeting prep: briefing doc, Excel sales overview and a client-ready presentation
Six months of product usage data turned into a leadership-ready report
Two or three customer meetings a week prepared this way reach the default within the month. The limit then stops further credit use, or someone raises it.
Apply that default to an enterprise with 1'000 Microsoft 365 Copilot users at USD 30, and use Microsoft's own method: users per group, tasks per user, credits per task. The same company comes back in chapter 4.
Over a year, that is USD 177'600 in credits on top of USD 360'000 in licenses. Your 100 heavy users hit the default around the middle of the month.
3. CSP promotions ended, growth margins take their place
On 30 September 2026, Microsoft ended the CSP promotions for Microsoft 365 E5, E7 and Copilot. For E7 alone, three offers of 10% to 15% disappeared. Subscriptions bought before the cut-off keep their terms.
Since 1 October 2026, Microsoft pays growth margins instead. They cover Copilot, E5, E7, the Purview and Defender Suites and Windows 365 Enterprise, for transactions completed until 30 June 2027.
The thresholds are high. Most routes require at least 300 net-new seats and either a product new to the tenant or a footprint that at least doubles. New seats mid-term count only on a new subscription. Microsoft states explicitly that growth margins are no customer discount.
The E3 promotions run until 31 December 2026: 10% on three years for new customers, 20% on one year as a targeted offer.
4. Power Apps: the price rises, the license mix decides
Microsoft raises Power Apps Premium from USD 20 to USD 22 per user per month on 1 January 2027. The offer for 2'000 users and more rises from USD 12 to USD 14. The new price applies to new purchases and renewals from that date. From February 2027, Microsoft also enforces premium licensing more strictly, for example in managed environments and for model-driven apps.
Power Apps per app lists at USD 5 per user and app per month, and one license covers one app, so they stack. That puts the break-even at the fifth app.
The same company runs 800 Power Apps users. A setup nobody has reviewed since the rollout gives all of them Premium, although most open one or two apps.
CSP still sells per app to new and existing customers. In the Enterprise Agreement, only existing per app customers can renew it. Users who open an app only now and then fit pay-as-you-go at USD 10 per active user and app, billed only in months with actual use.
5. Reservations: purchasing governance has to change first
From 1 February 2027, reservations you buy are no longer exchangeable if a savings plan covers the service. Reservations bought before that date keep one final exchange. The post on reservation exchanges covers the mechanics.
Many purchasing rules assume that a reservation can be exchanged later. Without exchanges, a sizing error turns into a cost that runs until the end of the term. Cancellations stay capped at USD 50'000 in a rolling twelve months per billing scope, in CSP per customer, so they are no way out either.
6. Currency: one adjustment a year, no cut to plan on
Microsoft now adjusts local currency prices for its commercial cloud once a year, on 1 January. The next update takes effect on 1 January 2027, and Microsoft announces it in November.
Price cuts for currency reasons are atypical, and we don't expect another one in January 2027. Budget CHF prices flat or higher.
7. Five actions before year-end
- Before you enable CoworkSet spending policies before you switch on Cowork or Teams Phone Agent. Limit spend per user and group, switch off «Auto-apply new services» and lower the Copilot Business default right after purchase.
- After three months of dataBuy credits on real consumption, not on estimates. The Copilot Credit pre-purchase plan saves 5% at 300'000 credits and up to 20% at 300'000'000 credits. Capacity packs bring 25'000 credits a month, and unused credits don't roll over.
- Before 1 Jan 2027Review the Power Apps license mix and renew before the increase. Move users with up to four apps to per app, and run the Power Platform licensing reports before February 2027.
- Before 1 Feb 2027Rewrite reservation governance. Use the final exchanges deliberately, set approval rules, and make savings plans the default for workloads that change.
- Budget 2027Plan without a currency cut and without promotions. Keep CHF and EUR cloud prices flat or higher until Microsoft publishes the January update in November.
Limits and exceptions
- The pay-as-you-go default covers new purchases only. Existing Copilot Business subscriptions keep their billing setup.
- Growth margins exclude nonprofit, education and government SKUs. Trial subscriptions don't count, and Microsoft checks the history of your tenant across all partners.
- Pre-purchase plans are final. They can't be canceled or exchanged, renew automatically by default and don't combine with other discounts.
- Power Apps rights included in Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 keep their price. The increase applies to Power Apps Premium only, and running subscriptions keep the old price until renewal.
Questions to settle before your next purchase
- Which spending policy is set on our Copilot subscriptions, and who receives the alerts?
- Does our next Microsoft 365 purchase qualify for a growth margin, and how much of it reaches our price?
- Which of our Power Apps users need Premium, and which would per app or pay-as-you-go cover?
- Which of our reservations would we still buy today without the right to exchange them?
Bottom line
Companies that set limits and rewrite their purchasing rules before year-end keep Microsoft costs a number they decide. Companies that keep Microsoft's defaults learn their 2027 budget from the invoice.