I’ve been reading for a while about Microsoft rolling out Copilot to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions. It’s been hyped as the future of productivity – but it comes at a price.

In my case, the price was set to rise from £79.99 to £104.99 a year. That’s quite a jump, especially when the main new feature (Microsoft 365 Copilot) is something I already have access to at work. For personal use, I rely on ChatGPT – I think it gives me better results, at least when I don’t need to connect my AI assistant to corporate data.

Don’t get me wrong – Copilot can be useful. But I don’t need it at home and at work, and I certainly don’t want to pay extra for something I don’t use.

Over the last few months, I’ve seen various posts suggesting a workaround – downgrading to “Classic” Microsoft 365. This essentially gives you the same subscription you had before all the AI bells and whistles were added, without the price hike.

Today, after a timely nudge from Jamie Thomson, I went ahead.

How I did it

There’s a helpful Money Saving Expert article that lays out the steps. But in short:

• I went to the Microsoft Account dashboard.
• I hit “cancel” on my existing Microsoft 365 Family subscription. That sounds scary, but it doesn’t actually cancel right away.
• Microsoft then offered me the chance to switch to a different plan – one that wasn’t visible previously.
• I chose the “Classic” subscription. Same renewal date, same benefits (for me), but back to £79.99.

Worth it?

Time will tell, but for now, I’ve kept the services I use and avoided an unwanted price jump. If you don’t need Copilot at home – and already have it at work – this might be worth a look.

Featured image: author’s own screenshot from the Microsoft website.