There’s a new special Microsoft 365 plan for consumers called “Microsoft 365 Classic” that Microsoft isn’t talking about but is very, very real.
Microsoft 365 Classic is a hidden part of the Copilot trial for Microsoft 365 Family/Personal in some countries. For the moment just Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand but it’s likely to spread. See Copilot comes to Microsoft 365 with many limits and a high price
The revised Microsoft 365 Family and Personal plans come with hefty price rises from 22% to 31%, which will apply at the next renewal or new subscriber.
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 might be underestimating.
Microsoft 365 Classic is a ‘last resort’ plan that 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).
What’s in Microsoft 365 Classic?
Enter “Microsoft 365 Classic” which only appears to customers trying to cancel their Microsoft 365 Personal/Family plan.
The “Classic’ plan is merely the Microsoft 365 plans with all the existing features but without the new Copilot extra – what we’re calling “Copilot Lite” – and the big price rise that comes with it.
The ‘Classic’ option isn’t available to new customers or sold at retail stores.
It’s Microsoft 365 “without AI”.
There are two plans “Microsoft 365 Personal Classic” and “Microsoft 365 Family Classic”.
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 is now for people outside the trial countries.
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.
Microsoft 365 Classic prices
Microsoft 365 Classic prices in the trial countries aren’t public. We’re able to get clues from customers who have tried to cancel their plan, probably near the expiry date.
Here’s what appeared to a New Zealand customer.
The NZ$179 price for the Family version of Microsoft 365 Classic is the same as Microsoft 365 Family before the recent price increases (now NZ$229 a year).
If that’s copied in other trial countries, here’s the other Classic prices:
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.
What happens on a switch to Microsoft 365 Classic
If 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.
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.
Copilot comes to Microsoft 365 with many limits and a high price
