Microsoft 365 price increase 2026: Measures companies should take now

The new Microsoft 365 prices have been in effect since July 1, 2026. For many companies, the news of the price adjustment was not a surprise, but the question of what to do next certainly was. A price increase alone does not tell you whether your company is significantly affected, whether switching license tiers is worthwhile, or if you are simply paying for unused features. This is exactly where this article comes in: We will show you not only which plans are affected and what new features the price adjustment brings, but above all, the concrete measures and advice you need to respond correctly as a company, whether you are an SME or a larger organization. As a Microsoft-focused IT partner, we support Baggenstos companies with exactly this assessment.

The new Microsoft 365 prices 2026 at a glance

Microsoft adjusted the prices for selected Microsoft 365 and Office 365 licenses as of July 1, 2026. Not all plans are affected to the same extent; some licenses, such as Business Premium, remain unchanged in price. The following overview shows the most important changes (prices per user per month in CHF with annual billing):

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Notably, the M365 Business Premium license, which is the standard plan for many companies, is spared from the price increase. Anyone currently using Business Standard or Business Basic should take a close look at whether switching to Business Premium is now even more attractive than before. We explain why this plan is particularly worthwhile right now in this article A defensive bulwark for Microsoft 365 Business Premium.

Reasons for the Microsoft 365 price increase

Microsoft officially justifies the price adjustment with a significant expansion of the feature set. Specifically, starting in July 2026, new capabilities will be added in the areas of Copilot Chat, Securitymanagement, and data protection, which vary in scope depending on the license tier. The higher the license tier, the more new capabilities are included; from Microsoft's perspective, this justifies the price adjustment.

A second, less openly communicated factor also plays a role: Microsoft is investing heavily across the industry in expanding AI features, and these investments must be financed. Furthermore, the market shows that virtually all major software providers have raised their prices in recent months, often with similar justifications. For companies that rely on multiple cloud services simultaneously, such price adjustments quickly add up to a noticeable cost factor—another reason why it is worth taking a holistic look at your IT costs rather than just checking individual invoices.

New features by license tier

The following overview shows which new features are included in the respective licenses as of July 2026. You can also read more about the individual added values in Added value in Microsoft 365 leads to price adjustments:

This means: the higher the selected license tier, the more extensive the new security, management, and AI features you can use immediately. The additional email storage and URL checking in Outlook, in particular, affect virtually every company in their day-to-day work, while the new Intune features are primarily relevant for companies with a larger device inventory or higher compliance requirements.

A particularly valuable point for existing Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 customers: features such as Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 and Intune Plan 2, which previously had to be licensed separately, are included directly in these license tiers as of July 2026. Anyone who has already licensed these features separately should check whether the previous add-on license can now be cancelled; this offers direct potential savings for many companies that can partially or even completely offset the actual price increase.

Overview of price reductions for M365 Copilot Business

There have also been important changes to the Copilot Business price since July 1, 2026, including new bundle names in the Microsoft product portfolio:

The price advantage in the bundle is particularly exciting: M365 Copilot Business individually costs CHF 17.00 per user per month. However, in the bundle with Business Premium, the effective price for Copilot Business is only CHF 8.15 per user per month—a saving of CHF 8.85 per user per month. For 100 users, this corresponds to an advantage of around CHF 10,620 per year. If you intend to use Copilot anyway, you should not purchase the business license and the Copilot add-on separately, but rather opt specifically for the new bundles.

Significance of the price adjustment for Swiss companies

For you as a company, the price adjustment is, above all, a good opportunity to review your own license inventory and actively utilize the added value of the new features. Topics such as AI-supported collaboration, security, compliance, and modern device management via Intune are becoming increasingly important for companies of all sizes, regardless of whether it is a smaller team or a larger organization. At the same time, experience from many customer projects shows that a large proportion of companies only partially use the existing features of their Microsoft 365 license. Anyone who is paying more anyway should use this moment to gain clarity on actual usage instead of silently accepting the higher invoice.

These measures will help you now

Instead of simply accepting the price increase, a structured approach is worthwhile. The following six measures have proven effective in practice:

1. Clean up your license inventory

Check how many licenses are actually being actively used. In many companies, licenses for former employees, test accounts, or duplicate users accumulate over time. Cleaning up these "dead" accounts is usually the fastest and easiest measure to fully or partially offset the additional costs of the price adjustment, often without the need for a change of provider or a contract amendment.

2. Check license type

Compare whether your current plan still meets your actual needs. Precisely because the price of Business Premium remains unchanged, switching from Business Standard to Business Premium may now make sense, especially for companies that previously avoided security features like advanced threat protection or device management for cost reasons. Conversely, for employees who only need email, downgrading to a more affordable plan can also be a sensible move. As part of our services in the area of Modern Work we support you in finding the right plan for your company.

3. Actively use new features

Security, management, and Copilot features that you will be paying for from July onwards should actually be used in your day-to-day work; otherwise, you are paying for unused value. This applies in particular to the new Copilot chat extensions and URL scanning in Outlook—both features that can provide immediate value to your teams without extra effort, provided that employees are properly informed and trained.

4. Review contract terms and payment models

Annual prepayment instead of monthly billing can reduce costs depending on the contract model. You should also check when your current contract is up for renewal; this allows you to keep track of future price adjustments early on and react in time, rather than being surprised by the next invoice.

5. Adjust budget early

Calculate the additional costs for the current fiscal year realistically instead of being surprised by the next invoice. For management and finance departments in particular, early and transparent communication of expected IT costs is a key component of sound budget planning. As a service, this is discussed with our customers during our annual review.

6. Seek professional advice

A Microsoft partner can systematically analyze your license inventory and show you where you can even achieve savings by choosing the right license types. Because the impact of price adjustments varies significantly from company to company, an individual assessment is more valuable than a one-size-fits-all approach.

How Baggenstos supports your Microsoft 365 license strategy

As a Microsoft-focused IT partner, we support companies not only with technical implementation but also from the very beginning with the strategic question of which Microsoft 365 license strategy fits your business. Our approach is intentionally streamlined:

• Non-binding consultation: We will work together to determine where the greatest leverage lies in your current Microsoft 365 environment, whether in terms of license structure, security, or the actual use of existing features.
• Assessment of your current situation: We analyze your existing license inventory and the features being used, and identify unused savings potential as well as sensible upgrade options.
• Roadmap and implementation: The assessment results in a clear roadmap, which we implement in phases together with you and a dedicated contact person.
• Long-term support: Through our managed service, we keep an eye on your license costs, security policies, and compliance requirements even after implementation, so that future price adjustments don't catch you off guard again.

This structured approach is paying off right now: instead of reacting to a single price adjustment, you receive a licensing strategy that will hold up even when Microsoft makes its next change. You can find insights into projects we have already implemented in our case studies.

Upgrade comparison: When a higher license tier is worth it

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this, as it depends on your individual needs for security, management, and Copilot features. However, a simple calculation illustrates why it is worth comparing: A company with 20 employees on the Business Standard plan will pay around CHF 227 per month after the price adjustment. Switching to Business Premium for the same number of employees costs around CHF 356 per month—an additional cost of just under CHF 129 per month, but with significantly expanded protection against phishing and ransomware, centralized device management via Intune, and cleaner separation of company and private data on mobile devices. For companies that do not currently have centralized device management in place, the IT administration time saved often compensates for a large part of this additional cost.

For companies with higher compliance requirements, it may also be worth looking at Microsoft 365 E3 or E5, especially because of the additional Intune and Security Copilot features in the higher tiers. Whether an upgrade is financially viable for your company ultimately depends on factors such as the number of employees, device diversity, and regulatory requirements, which are best assessed in a personal consultation.

Conclusion

The 2026 Microsoft 365 price increase does not affect all licenses equally and, at the same time, brings with it new security, management, and AI features. Instead of simply accepting the higher bill, it is worth it for companies of all sizes to take a look at their own license inventory, the choice of plan, and the actual use of the new features. With structured license consulting, the price adjustment can not only be put into perspective but often turned into a real advantage, whether through savings on unused licenses or better security at barely a higher price.

Would you like to know which measures are specifically worthwhile for your company? Get in touch with us, we would be happy to advise you on your optimal Microsoft 365 licensing strategy.