Microsoft 365 Copilot Business: new purchases will be billed by usage

Microsoft is turning on usage-based billing for new Copilot Business purchases. According to partners it starts on 1 December, with a default cap of 4,000 credits per user per month.

Microsoft is changing how it bills the advanced features of Microsoft 365 Copilot Business. Advanced features such as agents will run on Copilot Credits for new purchases, meaning you pay for what is actually used. The capabilities included in the subscription stay included, as Microsoft's pricing page puts it.

According to Microsoft partners such as Sherweb and ramsac, this applies to new purchases through the CSP channel from 1 December 2026. Sources differ on dates, and some mention earlier ones, so confirm the exact timing in your admin center or with your reseller. The default cap, per those sources, is 4,000 credits per user per month, roughly 40 US dollars. It is a ceiling and not a flat fee: you pay only for credits consumed, and only an administrator can raise the limit.

Administrators have three options: keep the default policy, adjust it, or turn off usage-based features so users never see them. The setting sits in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Copilot and cost management. In the example partners give, a company with 100 users could consume up to 400,000 credits a month under the default cap.

For Czech companies this is another sign that AI cost is moving from a fixed price per seat to a price per use. An agent that processes documents all day consumes far more than an employee who occasionally summarises an email. Without limits and reporting, a budget can slip quickly.