Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscription renewals automatically include Copilot with a small price increase. To avoid the raised price, you must manually downgrade to Microsoft 365 Family or Personal Classic before the renewal takes place.

At the start of the New Year, with no warning, Microsoft gives its flagship productivity app a name change and a huge price increase. Why would the company make this mess? I asked Copilot, who explained it very well.

To check how many credits you have left, you can click the little menu icon in the Copilot sidebar in an Office app and then click “AI credit balance.” This will take you to your Microsoft 365 account subscription page, where you can see a running balance of the AI credits you’ve used.

A standard subscription to Microsoft 365 includes Copilot for an additional $3 per month. Here’s how to get a cheaper Classic plan without the AI features.

Love Microsoft Copilot? Hate Microsoft Copilot? It doesn’t really matter: Chances are that if you’ve signed up for Microsoft 365, you’re now paying more for Microsoft’s integration of Copilot features,