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  • 4 min read

Advancing Microsoft 365: New capabilities and pricing update


At Microsoft, we empower every organization to innovate—while helping people stay productive, protected, and prepared for what’s next. With over 430 million people1 using Microsoft 365 apps and more than 90% of Fortune 500 companies2 trusting Microsoft 365 Copilot, we’re committed to delivering secure, innovative solutions for an AI-powered future. Today we are announcing expanded availability of AI, security, and management capabilities coming to Microsoft 365 offerings in 2026. With these innovations, we will also update our commercial pricing for Microsoft 365 suite subscriptions effective July 1, 2026. We’re sharing these updates now to give customers ample time to plan.

Extending value to more customers

Organizations face an increasingly complex threat landscape, rising IT demands, and the urgent need for AI-powered transformation. To help our customers meet these challenges head-on, we’re enhancing our Microsoft 365 offerings with additional security and management capabilities empowered by AI.

Bringing the power of AI to everyone in your organization

With the release of Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, we delivered secure AI chat for work to all Microsoft 365 users. In September, we started rolling out Copilot Chat in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote, bringing a unified chat experience right into the flow of work. At Microsoft Ignite 2025, we announced Copilot Chat will understand your inbox and calendar and include access to Agent Mode in chat and the Office apps, enabling you to work iteratively with Copilot to create high-quality documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.3 And IT administrators now have integrated, enterprise-grade controls to secure, manage, and measure Copilot Chat.

Protecting more users against advanced threats in email and Microsoft Teams

We’re adding the enhanced email security features of Microsoft Defender for Office Plan 1 to Office 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E3 to help more organizations detect and protect against phishing, malware, and malicious links across their email and collaboration platforms. In addition, we are including URL checks in Office 365 E1, Business Basic, and Business Standard, which help protect against known, malicious websites when users click on links in email and Office apps.  

Empowering IT teams with integrated endpoint management

We’re bringing additional endpoint management features to Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5 by adding capabilities that empower IT to solve issues faster, preemptively detect exposures, and keep devices productive. These features include Microsoft Intune Remote Help, Intune Advanced Analytics, and Intune Plan 2.4 In addition, for Microsoft 365 E5 customers, Intune Endpoint Privilege Management, Enterprise Application Management, and Microsoft Cloud PKI will enable IT teams to safeguard AI use and strengthen security by mitigating risk, maintaining compliance, and delivering more secure user experiences.  

Building security agents into your workflows

At Microsoft Ignite 2025, Microsoft announced that Security Copilot agents are built into the flow of work for security teams using Microsoft Defender, Entra, Intune, and Microsoft Purview. To help teams get started quickly and easily with more than 70 Microsoft and partner-built agents, Microsoft Security Copilot will be coming to all Microsoft 365 E5 customers. Available today for existing Security Copilot customers with Microsoft 365 E5, Security Copilot will continue rolling out for all Microsoft 365 E5 customers in the upcoming months with customers receiving a 30-day advanced notice before activation.  

The latest AI and security capabilities in Microsoft 365 demonstrate Microsoft’s sustained commitment to helping organizations stay ahead of the latest innovations and evolving threats.

—Dion Hinchcliffe, VP and Practice Lead, CIO, Futurum 

These changes reflect our commitment to helping organizations of every size protect their people and data, streamline IT operations, and confidently embrace the future of work.

New capabilities coming to Microsoft 365 suites in 2026

To understand the full value of our Business, Office, and Enterprise suites, view the webpages for details. The table below summarizes the new capabilities that we’re adding to the Microsoft 365 offerings.

Updated pricing 

The following list price changes will go into effect on July 1, 2026.5  

The changes will apply globally with local market adjustments for our commercial products and nonprofit pricing will be adjusted in line with commercial pricing.6 In addition to commercial products, today we also announced changes to the Microsoft 365 Government Suites. Learn more in the Government blog

Our commitment to innovation

We are continuously investing and innovating our platform for the future. In the last year, we released more than 1,100 features across Microsoft 365, Security, Copilot, and SharePoint.7 We’ve enabled organizations to mitigate the risks of shadow AI through Cloud App Discovery, unlock more ways to collaborate in Microsoft Loop and Microsoft Clipchamp, reimagine hybrid work by coordinating where work happens with Microsoft Places, and improve business continuity with Windows Resiliency Initiative enhancements, including quick machine recovery and post-quantum security APIs.    

Collectively these features have increased the value of our suites across security, productivity, and management. We’re excited about what’s next—and will continue investing in ways to build a more secure, productive, and AI-powered future. 


1 Microsoft FY25 Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call, Microsoft, April, 2025. 

2 Microsoft FY26 First Quarter Earnings Conference Call, Microsoft, October, 2025. 

3 Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat includes standard access to these new agents and Agent Mode and only uses web data and files referenced as part of the prompt when creating or refining content.

4 These features are also currently available as add-ons or part of the Intune Suite. 

5 These list prices are for the SKUs that include Microsoft Teams. You can also purchase suites without Teams which will also have an equivalent dollar value increase. List prices apply globally with local market adjustments for certain regions. Existing customers can reach out to their account executive or partner for more information. New customers can request a sales call to discuss plans with a product specialist. 

6 Nonprofit pricing will be adjusted in line with commercial pricing, as it is tied to commercial rates through a fixed percentage discount. 

7 Microsoft product release notes.