Microsoft adds a pay-per-use meter to new Copilot Business licences

What happened

On 16 September 2026 Microsoft told its resellers that new Microsoft 365 Copilot Business licences bought through its partner programme (CSP) will have usage-based billing switched on by default (universal.cloud, 17 September). The original start date was 2 November 2026. Usage is charged in “Copilot Credits” on top of the monthly per-user licence. Microsoft lists the pay-as-you-go rate as USD 0.01 per credit (Microsoft Learn).

Why it matters for your business

Copilot Business is the version of Copilot aimed at smaller firms. Until now its cost was easy to budget: a fixed price per user. With this change, some advanced features draw on a metered account, and the meter is on unless an admin changes it. Existing licences were not affected, according to resellers’ summaries of the notice.

Admins can set limits in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Copilot, then Cost management: an organisation-wide monthly cap, per-user caps and alerts (universal.cloud).

The Swiss angle

Microsoft’s Swiss site lists Copilot Business at CHF 17.00 per user per month on annual billing, excl. VAT (Microsoft CH). Credits are priced in US dollars, so USD 0.01 is roughly CHF 0.008 (approximate, at about CHF 0.83 per USD). Most Swiss SMEs buy Microsoft through an IT partner, which is exactly the CSP channel this covers.

What to do

If you plan to buy Copilot Business licences this autumn, ask your IT partner two questions before the order: is usage billing on, and what monthly cap is set? Decide your cap yourself. A per-user limit is the simplest way to avoid surprises.

Update, October 2026: on 1 October, Microsoft moved the start to 1 December 2026 and set a default limit of 4,000 Copilot Credits per user per month, which admins can change (Microsoft Partner Center). At USD 0.01 a credit, that default allows up to about USD 40 (roughly CHF 33) of extra usage per user each month. Microsoft listed eleven countries where the meter won’t start at first, including Germany, France and Italy. Switzerland is not among them, so expect it here. Microsoft’s Swiss site also showed a promotional annual price of CHF 14.57 per user per month.

Sources

universal.cloud, “Watch out: hidden costs in Copilot Business from November 2”, 17 September 2026: https://universal.cloud/en/blog/article/copilot-credits-copilot-business-november-2026/
Microsoft Learn, Copilot Credit rate: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ai-builder/administer-licensing
Microsoft Partner Center announcements, October 2026: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/announcements/2026-october
Microsoft Switzerland, Copilot Business pricing (checked 6 October 2026): https://www.microsoft.com/de-ch/microsoft-365/copilot/business
Exchange rate: Wise, USD/CHF, 6 October 2026: https://wise.com/us/currency-converter/usd-to-chf-rate/history