Microsoft has a little-known cheap plans called Microsoft 365 Classic. Designed for consumers who want the familiar Office apps without Microsoft’s new Copilot AI features and steep price increases. Classic plans offer the same core features of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook at pre-2025 pricing. This hidden plan may help price-sensitive users and the AI-adverse keep their Microsoft 365 productivity tools at a lower annual rate.
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.
The company 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 backup plan that may be offered to those canceling their Microsoft 365 Family or Personal subscription.
Microsoft would prefer to keep a customer at a lower price than lose the money completely. They hope 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, they might offer Microsoft 365 Classic (Personal or Family) to encourage someone to stay.
Microsoft’s exact policy on the Classic option is unclear. It might only be available when canceling, and only if the customer hasn’t already renewed their Personal or Family plan at the higher price.
You can try canceling your Microsoft 365 consumer plan to see if any offers come up before you decide to go through with the 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 and New Zealand, where Microsoft has been required to reintroduce the Classic plan option (available until 31 December 2025) along with a partial 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 available at the old prices that were in effect until mid-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.
How to get Microsoft 365 “Classic” plan
You need to have a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family plan managed directly by Microsoft (not Apple Appstore, Google Play, or retail partners like Amazon or Best Buy). If you’re not sure, you’ll see a notice when trying these steps on the Microsoft site.
- Go to Subscriptions on the Microsoft site.
- Use the Microsoft account associated with the Microsoft 365 plan.
- Go to your current Microsoft 365 plan then Manage | Cancel subscription
- Before you cancel, you’ll see other options, including the possibility of downgrading to a plan with fewer features, like Microsoft 365 Personal Classic or Microsoft 365 Family Classic.
- Choose what you like, then follow the instructions.
According to Microsoft “Your existing subscription might not change immediately, but it will automatically switch to the new plan at renewal. You will not be charged for the new plan until it renews. “
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 reports that Classic plan customers are being automatically renewed at a higher-priced plan instead of continuing with the lower rate.
See Microsoft 365 Classic: Watch Out for Hidden Full-Price Auto-Renewals
Set an Outlook reminder or make a diary note of the expiry date, and be sure to review each renewal carefully before it happens automatically. 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 available directly from Microsoft as part of a standard 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 you get in Microsoft 365 software are mostly determined by the license you’ve purchased. 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 the coming years, it’s likely that more features will be added to the regular Microsoft 365 plans only but 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
