Choosing the cheaper and Copilot/AI-free Microsoft 365 Classic plan might seem like a good idea but beware the hidden traps in that choice.
Plenty of online ‘experts’ are urging Microsoft 365 Personal or Family customers to switch to the Microsoft Classic plans (Personal or Family) option because its:
- Cheaper, charging the old prices before the recent 30-40% increase.
- Doesn’t have Copilot which is either a legitimate privacy concern or just an annoying disruption to work in Word or Excel.
Before changing to Classic, consider the downsides and hidden traps. You don’t have to switch to a ‘Classic’ option now and probably should not until its necessary.
Fewer AI Credits
Using Microsoft 365 ‘Classic’ will unexpectedly limit your use of Microsoft Designer and other Microsoft features.
Use of Microsoft’s AI features is now limited by a monthly quota of “AI Credits“. Each time Copilot or AI is used, an AI credit is used up.
Not just Copilot in the Office apps, AI credits are counted across all Microsoft AI services. That includes the AI features of Designer, Bing Image Creation even the AI features in Windows 11 Paint and Notepad!
Classic plan users get just 15 AI Credits each month which is what anyone with a free Microsoft account is given.
Fully paid Microsoft 365 Personal users and the owner of a Family plan get 60 AI Credits each month.
For a Limited time
Microsoft says the Classic plans will only be available “for a limited time” but doesn’t explain what that means and there’s plenty of possibilities.
- Classic plans might not be made available after the next renewal date. That would force customers to pay/use the standard Personal/Family plans
- Switching to Classic might only be possible until each customer renews. If the customer renews using the new full prices, the Classic option might not be available after that.
- Microsoft could stop offering the Classic plans completely at any time.
- The ‘Classic’ plans might become permanent, effectively two lower-price plans for Microsoft 365 consumers.
- But with a widening feature gap between ‘Classic’ and full Microsoft 365 apps, not just excluding Copilot.
No-one knows what will happen, quite possibly not even Microsoft! A lot depends on how many people choose the Classic option and their reason for that choice. Is it price or resistance to Copilot (which Microsoft appears to be either ignoring or underestimating).
More features might be blocked from Classic plans
At the moment, the only feature difference between full-price Microsoft 365 and their Classic counterparts is the exclusion of Copilot/AI (plus the other AI limits mentioned above).
But that could change at any time and we’d offer good odds on Microsoft doing more to widen the gap between the two types of Microsoft 365 consumer plans.
That’s NOT a guess or rumor, a Microsoft spokesperson has confirmed to us that “for certain new innovations and features you’ll need a Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscription” as opposed to a Classic plan.
Don’t be surprised if there’s a new or changed feature or option added to Microsoft 365 while buried in the fine print is an exclusion of Classic plan users. It’ll be ‘classic’ Microsoft passive-aggressive tactics.
After all, it’s in the company’s interest to get people paying for full-price Microsoft 365 Personal or Family. The marginal cost of any extra features is trivial compared to the extra revenue.
Copilot can be disabled
Switching to ‘Classic’ isn’t the only way to stop Copilot in the Office apps. It took them too long but finally Microsoft is adding switches to disable Copilot.
Go to File | Options | Copilot to see an ‘Enable Copilot’ option (Mac: Preferences | Copilot)
It should be available in Word 365 now and appearing in Excel 365 and PowerPoint 365 in February 2025.
That means you can use Microsoft 365 Personal or Family while choosing Copilot on a per-app basis.
Our recommendation
Our best advice is to keep the existing Microsoft 365 plan for the moment. In the weeks before the next renewal, look at the differences between the full Microsoft 365 and the lesser ‘Classic’ option — then decide which is best for you.
In the meantime, until the next renewal, you can:
- Disable Copilot from any or all of your Office apps.
- or just try to hide/ignore the many Copilot prompts.
Full Copilot coverage at Office Watch
Stop Copilot appearing in Microsoft 365
How to Disable Copilot in Microsoft 365
All about AI Credits in Microsoft 365
Full CoPilot coverage from Office Watch
