When was the last Microsoft 365 price increase?

January 2025 in the United States, when Personal rose to its current monthly rate and Family moved up alongside it, with AI credits folded into both plans as justification. The Basic plan stayed cheap because it excludes the desktop apps. Nothing has moved since — our August 29, 2026 verification shows every US plan still at its post-2025 list price.

Is another increase expected before the end of 2026?

Nothing announced. The honest read of the pattern is that roughly eighteen months separated the previous two rounds, which puts late 2026 inside the plausible window but confirms nothing. Watch your renewal email rather than rumor posts; Microsoft notifies existing subscribers before a billing cycle changes.

Does the free version cover most people now?

More than it used to. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook all run in a browser for nothing, with 5 GB of OneDrive storage. What you only get paid are the installed desktop apps, expanded storage, and the AI credits. If you edit documents a few times a month, the free tier genuinely covers it — that is the first thing to try before paying any increase.

Do students still get Microsoft 365 without paying?

Usually yes. Most degree-granting institutions license Office for their enrolled students through their own agreement, activated with a school email address at no cost to the student. We keep the eligibility details and edge cases on our dedicated student page.

Why do other countries pay much less for the same plan?

Regional pricing. On our verified tables from August 29, 2026, Personal costs about half the US figure in Egypt and Nigeria, with Turkey and India also far below American pricing. These gaps reflect local purchasing power, they change when currencies move, and relocating your billing to chase them violates Microsoft's terms — treat them as context, not a loophole.

Does the Microsoft 365 price increase affect existing subscribers?

Yes — existing Personal and Family subscribers move to the new price at their first renewal after it takes effect, not immediately. Microsoft emails the new amount ahead of the change, and annual plans keep the current rate until the term ends.

Microsoft 365 price increase 2026: did Personal go up again?

No — Microsoft 365 prices have not gone up again in 2026. As of our storefront verification on August 29, 2026, Personal still lists at $9.99/month and Family at $12.99/month in the US, exactly where the January 2025 increase left them. That makes Microsoft an outlier this year: Netflix, Spotify, Crunchyroll, and YouTube Premium all raised US prices between February and April 2026. This page covers what changed in 2025, why it happened, and how to read the next hike when it comes.

Where US prices stand (verified August 29, 2026)

Plan	Monthly	Last change
Basic	$1.99	Unchanged since launch of current lineup
Personal	$9.99	Raised January 2025 (from $6.99)
Family	$12.99	Raised January 2025
Premium	$19.99	Current top tier

Source: our App Store scrape of the US storefront, Aug 29, 2026.

The January 2025 round was the one people still ask about: Personal jumped roughly 43% overnight, and Microsoft’s stated reason was folding Copilot AI credits into Personal, Family, and Premium. Basic survived untouched precisely because it excludes the desktop apps and the AI extras — which tells you where the margin lives.

Is another increase coming?

No announcement exists as of late August 2026. But the cadence argument cuts one way: annual-to-biennial increases have been the norm since the subscription pivot, and competitors just repriced en masse this spring. A reasonable budget assumes the next notice arrives within twelve months, not that the current price is permanent. Existing subscribers always get email notice before their billing cycle changes, so the renewal email is the source of truth — not forum screenshots.

What you can do about it, whenever it lands

Try free first. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook work in the browser at zero cost with 5 GB of OneDrive. Light users lose little. That single move makes any future increase irrelevant for casual document editing.

Students usually pay nothing. Most universities include Office in their institutional licensing — sign in with your school email and the desktop apps become available. Eligibility details live in our Microsoft 365 student discount guide.

Split Family honestly. Family covers up to six people at $12.99 total — under $2.17 per seat at full occupancy versus $9.99 solo. The terms require one household, and unlike some streamers Microsoft’s family sharing is designed for exactly this.

Downgrade math. Personal ($9.99) → Basic ($1.99) saves $8.00/month, or $96/year, if you can live with browser-only apps and skip the AI credits.

The country angle

The same Personal plan varies widely by market. From our verified rows of Aug 29, 2026:

Country	Local price	USD	vs US
Egypt	EGP 239	$4.74	−53%
Nigeria	NGN 7,200	$5.32	−47%
Turkey	₺329.99	$6.88	−31%
India	₹689	$7.20	−28%
United States	$9.99	$9.99	—

Full rankings: Microsoft 365 prices by country. Note these gaps are narrower than streaming services show — Microsoft reprices weaker-currency markets more aggressively than Netflix does, so cheap-market bargains erode faster. That dynamic, not VPN tricks, is the real story of regional software pricing.

How Microsoft compares to the 2026 hiking season

Every big consumer subscription that moved in early 2026 went up while Microsoft held: Spotify in February billing, Crunchyroll on March 4, Netflix on March 26, YouTube Premium in April. Whether that restraint survives the autumn is unknowable from outside — the ranked ledger of who actually raised prices this year is in biggest subscription price increases of 2026. If your renewal email ever disagrees with the table above, trust the email: it means the next wave started.