On April 15, 2026, Microsoft ended the free Copilot Chat tier inside its Office apps. According to Windows Central’s reporting on the change, users who open Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote without a paid Copilot license will find that in-app AI access is gone. No banner. No countdown. The Copilot sidebar just stopped working.

For millions of Microsoft 365 subscribers who had grown accustomed to free in-app Copilot Chat, this is a concrete disruption. The question is whether the math on upgrading to a paid tier actually holds up — and for most teams, the answer is less obvious than Microsoft would prefer.

Quick Summary: What Changed on April 15

Detail	Info
Effective date	April 15, 2026
What’s gone	Free Copilot Chat (Basic) inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote
Who’s affected	Any M365 subscriber without a paid Copilot license
Tier 1	Copilot Business — $18/user/month (promo through June 30; $21 after)
Tier 2	M365 Copilot — $30/user/month
Key addition	M365 Copilot includes Claude Sonnet alongside OpenAI models
Official pricing	microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/pricing

Bottom line: You’re being asked to pay $18–30/user/month for access you had for free. The upgrade is defensible for some teams and a hard sell for others.

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What Actually Happened

Microsoft’s free Copilot Chat tier — available inside Office apps since late 2024 — officially ended on April 15, 2026. gHacks documented the change in March when Microsoft’s admin center notification (MC1253858) went out: any Microsoft 365 user without a paid Copilot license would lose in-app access on that date. Free web access at copilot.microsoft.com continues. The part that’s gone is the Copilot sidebar living directly inside your documents and spreadsheets.

The embedded experience — where Copilot can see your document, suggest edits in context, and run queries against your open file — is fundamentally different from opening a browser tab to a chatbot. Losing that integration doesn’t just remove a feature. It removes the workflow.

The change affects users on Microsoft 365 Personal, Microsoft 365 Family, and commercial plans without a Copilot add-on. Enterprise subscribers already paying for M365 Copilot see no change. Everyone else is now being asked to upgrade.

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The Two Tiers, Explained

What Is the Difference Between Copilot Business and M365 Copilot?

Microsoft now offers two paid Copilot tiers for business users:

Copilot Business ($18/user/month): Available to organizations on Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Business Premium base plans, for up to 300 users. Includes in-app Copilot across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. Covers the core productivity use cases — drafting, summarization, formula generation, email assistance.

M365 Copilot ($30/user/month): For enterprise customers on E3 or E5 base plans. Includes everything in Copilot Business plus advanced AI agents (Researcher, Analyst), Copilot Tuning for organization-specific customization, broader organizational data integration, and — the notable addition — model choice, including access to Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet alongside OpenAI’s models.

The $18 figure carries a caveat: it’s a promotional rate for new customers through June 30, 2026. Standard pricing is $21/user/month after that date. Worth factoring into any budget conversation happening right now.

	Copilot Business	M365 Copilot
Price	$18/user/month (promo through June 30); $21 after	$30/user/month
Base plan required	M365 Business Standard/Premium	M365 E3 or E5
Max users	300	No limit
In-app Office integration	✓ Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams	✓ Same, plus expanded coverage
Advanced agents (Researcher/Analyst)	✗	✓
Copilot Tuning	✗	✓
Model choice (Claude Sonnet)	✗	✓
Org data integration	Limited	Full

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The Claude Angle

One detail getting less attention than it deserves: Microsoft 365 Copilot now includes Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet as an available model. As of January 7, 2026, Claude Sonnet was enabled by default for most commercial M365 Copilot tenants worldwide. Users on the $30 tier can select between OpenAI and Claude models within the Copilot Chat interface.

For organizations that find Claude better suited for certain tasks — long-document analysis, nuanced writing, complex reasoning — the $30 M365 Copilot tier bundles that access under Microsoft’s own data processing agreement. No separate Anthropic contract required. For IT and compliance teams managing AI procurement, that consolidation has real value.

Whether Claude’s presence in the $30 tier is sufficient reason to upgrade from $18 depends on your workflows. For teams doing basic document drafting and email assistance, Claude access isn’t the deciding factor. Teams doing substantive analytical or research work inside Office will find the model choice worth the extra $12/user/month. Our comparison of Claude vs. Copilot vs. ChatGPT in Excel covers this distinction in detail.

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The Upgrade Math

The honest version of this calculation depends on what you were actually using.

If your team was actively using free in-app Copilot Chat — drafting documents, querying spreadsheets, summarizing emails — then upgrading to Copilot Business at $18 is recovering something real, not buying something new. The question is whether the productivity value clears the bar. Knowledge workers spending 4+ hours a day in Office will get their money’s worth. Occasional users won’t.

If you were barely using the free tier, this is an easy pass. Microsoft is asking you to pay for a habit you haven’t formed. Web access at copilot.microsoft.com still exists. Use that for occasional queries.

The jump from Copilot Business to M365 Copilot is harder to justify for most organizations. Thirty dollars versus $18 is a 67% price increase (or 43% against the post-promo $21 rate) for:

• Advanced agents most teams won’t deploy immediately
• Copilot Tuning that requires upfront setup investment before it pays back
• Model choice that matters mainly for specialized workflows

For an enterprise team with structured AI use cases and E3/E5 base licensing, the $30 tier is reasonable. For a 50-person business upgrading because free Copilot stopped working, it’s a meaningful overpay. Start at Copilot Business. See if the advanced features are actually missing before spending the extra $9-12/user/month.

For a broader context on how these tiers compare to standalone AI subscriptions, see our AI pricing comparison for 2026.

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What Are Your Options Now?

If you want in-app Copilot back

Upgrade to the appropriate paid tier. Copilot Business if you’re on Business Standard/Premium. M365 Copilot if you’re on E3/E5 or need the advanced features. The Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing page has the current information.

If you’re in the promotional window (through June 30, 2026), the $18 rate is worth locking in now even if you’re uncertain — you can evaluate before renewal whether it’s delivering.

If you’re skeptical about the ROI

Don’t upgrade. Web-based Copilot at copilot.microsoft.com still works. For teams doing occasional AI queries, this is sufficient — you lose the inline document experience but keep the core capability. Alternatively, a standalone tool at $20/month delivers better model quality for many tasks and requires a browser tab, not a per-seat license. You lose the Office integration. Whether that trade is worth it depends on how deeply your workflows are embedded in the Office UI.

This is exactly the bet Microsoft is making. Their thesis: the integration premium is large enough that users will pay $18-30/month rather than context-switch to a browser tab. Heavy Office users will likely agree. Everyone else has a real decision to make.

If you manage IT decisions for a team

This is the moment to audit actual usage before committing to per-seat licensing at scale. How many of your users were actively using free in-app Copilot? For which tasks? A 200-person organization paying $18/seat carries $3,600/month in new spend. That justifies a week of data gathering before committing. Our AI cost optimization guide covers how to run this kind of evaluation properly.

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The Bigger Picture

Microsoft’s free-to-paid conversion here follows the same playbook the company used with OneDrive, Teams, and Microsoft 365 itself. Provide a functional free tier. Let users develop dependency. Remove or degrade the free tier. Convert users to paid. It works. The question is how much friction the removal creates and whether it accelerates defection to competing platforms.

The Google comparison is pointed right now. Google’s Gemini AI Pro tier at $19.99/month bundles Gemini integration across Google Workspace — Docs, Sheets, Gmail — in a structure that closely mirrors what Microsoft is now charging $18-21 for. For organizations that aren’t deeply locked into Microsoft tooling, this creates a real comparison that didn’t exist when in-app Copilot was free.

Microsoft’s bet is that organizational inertia and deep Office integration outweigh the pricing friction. That bet is historically well-founded. The AI market, though, is moving faster than most software categories, and the willingness-to-pay data for AI productivity tools is still being written. Removing a free tier in this environment isn’t risk-free.

There’s also a broader pattern in how Microsoft has been positioning its AI portfolio — their MAI models effort and the OpenAI relationship both factor in here. Our analysis of Microsoft’s AI model strategy covers that context in depth.

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Our Take

The April 15 change is defensible as a business decision and annoying as a user experience. Microsoft gave away in-app Copilot access long enough for users to build habits around it, then put a paywall in front of those habits. That’s a friction-first conversion strategy, not a value-first one.

What’s actually fair: $18-30/month for genuinely integrated, in-document AI isn’t an unreasonable price in isolation. Standalone AI subscriptions at $20/month deliver less integration for comparable cost. The problem isn’t the price. It’s the removal of something users already had.

For teams deciding now: Copilot Business at $18 is the right starting point for any organization that was actively using the free tier. M365 Copilot at $30 is the right choice only if you have specific use cases for the advanced agents or Claude Sonnet access. Paying the extra money to “have the full tier” without those specific workflows is just budget you didn’t need to spend.

The clock on the $18 promo runs out June 30. If you’re upgrading, don’t wait until July.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What did Microsoft remove on April 15, 2026?

Microsoft removed free Copilot Chat (Basic) from within the Microsoft 365 desktop apps — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. Users without a paid Copilot license found that in-app Copilot functionality stopped working. Free access via the browser at copilot.microsoft.com remains unaffected.

What is the difference between Copilot Business and M365 Copilot?

Copilot Business ($18/user/month promotional through June 30, 2026; $21 after) is the entry-level paid tier for organizations on Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Premium, up to 300 users. It includes in-app Copilot across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. M365 Copilot ($30/user/month) is the enterprise tier for E3/E5 plans, adding advanced AI agents (Researcher, Analyst), Copilot Tuning, full organizational data integration, and model choice including Claude Sonnet.

Does Copilot Business include Word and Excel integration?

Yes. Both Copilot Business and M365 Copilot include native in-app integration with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. What’s limited to web-only is the free Copilot Chat Basic tier that was removed on April 15. Either paid tier restores Office app integration.

Why does M365 Copilot now include Claude Sonnet?

As of January 7, 2026, Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet became available — and enabled by default — within Microsoft 365 Copilot for commercial tenants worldwide. The integration operates under Microsoft’s data processing agreement, so no separate Anthropic contract is required. Users on the $30 tier can select Claude Sonnet in the model picker within Copilot Chat.

Is $18/month the permanent price for Copilot Business?

No. The $18/user/month rate is a promotional price for new customers through June 30, 2026. Standard pricing is $21/user/month after that date. If you’re evaluating an upgrade right now, the promotional window is a real factor in your timing.

Do I need a base Microsoft 365 subscription for the paid Copilot tiers?

Yes. Both paid tiers require an underlying Microsoft 365 license. Copilot Business requires M365 Business Standard or Premium. M365 Copilot requires M365 E3 or E5. A Copilot add-on alone doesn’t unlock Office app integration without the base plan.

Can I still use Copilot for free?

Yes, but only via the browser at copilot.microsoft.com. Web-based Copilot Chat remains free with limited capabilities. What’s no longer free is the in-app integration within Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

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Last updated: April 17, 2026. Sources: Windows Central, gHacks Tech News, Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing, Anthropic announcement.

Related reading: Copilot Pro Review 2026 | Claude vs. Copilot vs. ChatGPT in Excel | AI Pricing Comparison 2026 | Google AI Pro vs Ultra | Microsoft’s AI Model Strategy