Microsoft 365 prices are going up in July, here's what you can do about it

Microsoft is changing the cost of doing business in July. What you do next matters.

It's a sensible time to pause: Review current licences and understand what options are genuinely available before higher pricing becomes the default.

Your Microsoft costs could rise from July. Whether that becomes a problem or a manageable change depends on your licence mix, how well you use what is already included, and whether you treat this as a review point rather than an automatic upgrade.

Confirmed Microsoft 365 price changes from 1 July 2026

The following licences are subject to list price changes:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic: +17.62%
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard: +12.53%
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium: No change
• Microsoft 365 E3: +8.06%
• Microsoft 365 E5: +5.30%
• Microsoft 365 F1: +33.10%
• Microsoft 365 F3: +24.18%
• Office 365 E1: No change
• Office 365 E3: +13.12%

Actual impact will depend on contract terms, renewal dates and your current licensing mix.

What is driving these increases?

Microsoft continues to bundle more capability into core licences, particularly around:

• Security across email and collaboration
• Device and endpoint management
• IT administration and analytics

The pricing model is shifting away from productivity alone and towards a broader platform. That does not automatically make this good news. The value only materialises if organisations actively use what is included.

How to minimise cost impact

There are practical steps that can soften the impact of the July increases:

• Review licence fit by role
  Check whether users are on the most appropriate licence for what they actually do.
• Reassess Business Premium where it aligns
  For some organisations, Business Premium covers security and device management needs without a price increase.
• Identify overlapping third‑party tools
  Retire tools that duplicate Microsoft 365 capabilities, where Microsoft’s features are genuinely sufficient.
• Plan renewals early
  Early planning creates options and avoids rushed, default decisions.
• Bring forward new subscriptions where possible
  In some cases, purchasing ahead of July can defer price increases, subject to contract terms.

These steps are useful, but they only work if organisations are willing to make deliberate choices.

Treat this as a review point, not an automatic upgrade

The biggest difference between good and bad outcomes here is mindset.

This becomes manageable if organisations:

• Use the price change as a trigger to reassess tools and architecture
• Make conscious decisions about consolidation
• Accept that some features are valuable only in certain environments

When this is most likely to work out well

These changes tend to land more positively for organisations that:

• Already rely heavily on Microsoft 365
• Prefer fewer vendors over best‑of‑breed everywhere
• Have moderate security and endpoint complexity
• Are not locked into long third‑party contracts

In these environments, the additional capability is more likely to be used, and overlapping tools are easier to retire.

Where organisations get caught out

The most common issue is assuming that included capability equals realised value.

If security features are not configured, Intune is only used at a basic level, or third‑party tools are kept “just in case”, then the organisation simply absorbs higher licence costs with no offset.

Microsoft has made more capability available, without proper configuration it doesn't automatically make organisations safer, simpler or cheaper.

A sensible next step

This is not about buying more licences.
It is about paying with intent.

A short, focused review of:

• Current licence allocation
• Actual feature usage
• Overlapping tools
• Renewal timelines