There are two new special Microsoft 365 plans for consumers called “Microsoft 365 Classic” that Microsoft only mentions in passing. We explain what it ‘Classic’ is, what it costs and how to get it.
Microsoft 365 Classic is a hidden part of the changes to Microsoft 365 in early 2025, including the addition of Copilot AI to the Office apps. See HUGE changes to Microsoft 365 happening now
The revised Microsoft 365 Family and Personal plans come with hefty price rises from 22% to 30%, which will apply at the next renewal or for new subscribers.
Microsoft knows some people won’t like paying more. There are also folks who hate the intrusion of Copilot into their Office apps, a factor that Microsoft is underestimating.
Microsoft 365 Classic is a ‘last resort’ plan which might be offered to people who are cancelling their Microsoft 365 Family or Personal plan.
Microsoft would prefer to keep a customer at a lower price than lose the money completely. (Yes, they could offer an option to hide Copilot elements in the Office apps but that goes against Microsoft’s relentless belief that Copilot AI is an absolute good).
Microsoft hopes that people will accept the Microsoft 365 price increases when they come up for renewal, whether they want the limited Copilot extra or not.
If not, Microsoft 365 Classic (Personal or Family) might be offered to keep someone from leaving.
Microsoft’s policy in offering a Classic option isn’t known. It’s possible that the Classic option is only offered on cancellation IF the customer hasn’t already renewed their Personal or Family plan at the higher price.
All you can do is try to cancel your Microsoft 365 consumer plan and see what’s offered, if anything, before committing to a plan cancellation.
What’s in Microsoft 365 Classic?
Enter “Microsoft 365 Classic” which only appears to customers trying to cancel their Microsoft 365 Personal/Family plan.
EXCEPT in Australia where Microsoft has been forced to offer the Classic plan option again (until 31 December 2025) with a part refund.
It’s Microsoft 365 “without AI”.
The “Classic’ plan is merely the Microsoft 365 plans with:
- all the existing features of the 365 versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
- BUT not the new Copilot extra and the big price rise that comes with it.
- Some future features in Microsoft 365 might be blocked from Classic plan customers.
- Microsoft isn’t specific about what might be blocked or when.
There are two plans “Microsoft 365 Classic Personal ” and “Microsoft 365 Classic Family”.
The ‘Classic’ option is NOT available to new customers or sold at retail stores.
If someone tries to sell you a Microsoft 365 Classic plan — ignore them because there’s no such retail product.
‘Classic’ costs less
Microsoft 365 ‘Classic’ is offered at the ‘old’ prices that applied until the middle of January 2025.
In the USA that means $99.99 for Microsoft 365 Classic Family or $69.99 for the Classic Personal, plus any taxes.
See Microsoft 365 global price rises for a cost comparision.
Beware renewals
Microsoft 365 Classic plans must have automatic renewal (aka “recurring billing”) turned on. Unlike the regular Personal or Family plans, there’s no option to stop auto-renewal.
There are also reports that Classic plan customer are being automatically renewed at the more expensive plan rather than continuing with the lower price.
See Microsoft 365 Classic: Watch Out for Hidden Full-Price Auto-Renewals
Make an Outlook reminder or diary note of the expiry date then carefully check each renewal before it’s automatically done. Make sure the renewal is for the Classic plan or use that end date to consider other options.
‘Classic’ plans from other retailers.
It’s NOT possible to extend a M365 Classic plan by buying extra years at lower prices from other retailers.
That’s because the Classic plans are only sold by Microsoft direct as part of a normal renewal.
New customers can’t buy Microsoft 365 Classic Family or Personal plans. Only the more expensive, Copilot included, Microsoft 365 plans.
The SAME software
‘Classic’ Microsoft 365 installation and software is the same as other Microsoft 365 plans.
It’s the same software, just with slightly different features appearing.
The features that appear in Microsoft 365 software is mostly controlled by the licence you’ve bought. When an Office app starts, it looks at your Microsoft 365 licence and that shows or hides the appropriate parts of Office.
If you’re asking for help/tech support, always mention which Microsoft 365 (or Office) plan you have because it might make a difference.
Switching to or from Microsoft 365 Classic
Is someone chooses to move from Microsoft 365 Personal/Family to a Classic plan, the changeover should be quite painless. No manual uninstall should be necessary because it’s the same software, just changed visible features according to a different licence.
If you switch to or from ‘Classic’ Microsoft 365 plans you do NOT need to reinstall Microsoft 365. Just close all Office apps and restart, the software should detect the licence change automatically. At least that’s the theory.
If not, go to File | Account in any Office app (Office Account in Outlook) and choose ‘Update License’.
That will force the software to check your licence with Microsoft’s servers.
A change of Microsoft 365 licence isn’t a new thing. A similar thing already happens when people switch between a consumer <> business M365 licence on the same machine. There’s just a pause while the software resets itself to the new licence.
For the moment …
For now, the ‘Classic’ plan has all the Microsoft 365 consumer features. In other words, it’s the same as Microsoft 365.
In future years, it’s possible that more features will be added to the regular Microsoft 365 plans and not the “Classic” options. That will widen the feature gap between the two types of plan to make the cheaper “Classic” plan less appealing.
HUGE changes to Microsoft 365 happening now
