Microsoft confirmed on 4th December 2025 a broad commercial price increase for Microsoft 365 and Office 365 subscriptions, effective 1st July 2026. This update will impact virtually all business plans, from small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to large enterprises. The full article can be seen here.  (link Advancing Microsoft 365: New capabilities and pricing update | Microsoft 365 Blog)

What’s Changing?

• Price Increase Across the Board: Most Microsoft 365 and Office 365 plans will see list price increases of around 4–10%.
• Significant Hikes for Lower-Cost Plans: Some entry-level plans will rise by 25–33%, making them substantially more expensive.
• Global Impact: These changes apply to commercial customers worldwide, aligning with Microsoft’s strategy to reflect the growing value of its cloud services.

Pricing Impact Table:

Feature Comparison Table:

There is a useful feature comparison table in the Microsoft announcement which shows the new capabilities coming in 2026. The key ones for M365 E3 and M365 E5 are:

M365 E3, there will be:

• Copilot Chat enhancements
• Security, Management, and analytics for Copilot Chat
• Defender for Office P1
• Intune Remote Help
• Intune Advanced Analytics
• Intune P2

M365 E5, there will be:

• All the items in M365 E3 plus
• Intune Endpoint Privilege Management
• Intune Enterprise Application Management
• Microsoft Cloud PKI
• Microsoft Security Copilot

Watch Out for Currency Adjustments

While the July 2026 price changes are based on global list prices, regional pricing may also be affected by exchange rate realignments. Microsoft periodically reviews currency fluctuations and adjusts local pricing to maintain global consistency.

Implication: Businesses in the UK and other regions could see additional increases beyond the announced 4–33% if exchange rates shift significantly. 

M365 E5 Promo

While there’s no official confirmation yet, we understand that the CSP promotion for stepping up to Microsoft 365 E5 may be available until 30th June 2026 if your business meets the criteria. This offer provides a 10% discount on the current pricing for a three-year term. If you’re considering upgrading to M365 E5, now could be the perfect time to lock in savings.

What Does This Mean for Your Business?

• Budget Planning: You should factor these increases into your IT budgets for FY2026 and beyond, unless you have pricing locked.
• Licensing Strategy: Review your current subscriptions and usage. Where possible, consider moving to the 3-year CSP SKUs with annual billing to lock in pricing and reduce long-term costs

How The SAM Club Can Help

Our team can:

• Assess your current Microsoft licensing position. The Scout (Surveil) tool provides valuable insights into license usage with a minimum three-month commitment.
• Identify optimisation opportunities before price changes take effect. For example, does a generic account really need a full M365 E3 or E5 license?

If we haven’t already got you locked into a three year SKU, contact us to arrange a meeting to discuss your options. Let’s work together to ensure we can save your organisation costs where possible.