If your business runs Microsoft 365, the price of it changed on 1 July. Microsoft has put through a global update to its commercial plans, and the new rates are now live across every way you can buy a licence.
The good news is that some plans also pick up new features, including a security tool that used to cost extra. The catch is that not every plan gets the same additions, and the increase lands at different times depending on when your subscription renews. Here is what actually changed and what to check before your next invoice.
What is changing with the price
Microsoft first announced this update in December 2025, and the new pricing took effect on 1 July 2026. The figures Microsoft publishes are in US dollars, so your New Zealand pricing will read differently on the invoice, but the percentage moves give you a clear picture.
Business Basic goes up by about 16 percent, from USD 6 to USD 7 per user each month. Business Standard rises 12 percent, from USD 12.50 to USD 14. Business Premium, the plan most security-conscious small businesses sit on, holds steady with no increase at all.
One detail worth knowing: if you are mid-term on an annual agreement, you stay on your current rate until you renew. The new pricing applies from your next renewal, not overnight. So the date that matters most is your own renewal date, not the 1st of July.
What you get for the extra cost
This is not purely a price rise. Microsoft is adding capability to the lower business plans, and some of it is genuinely useful for a small team.
Business Basic and Business Standard both gain an extra 50GB of mailbox storage and a feature called URL time-of-click protection. That last one is the standout. It checks a link at the moment someone clicks it, not just when the email first arrives. A link can look clean on Monday and be turned malicious by Tuesday, and time-of-click checking catches that later switch. Until now you needed a paid add-on or a higher plan to get it.
Both plans also receive Copilot Chat enhancements and chat analytics. Business Premium picks up the extra mailbox storage and the Copilot additions too. Microsoft has said the rollout of these features will be finished by 1 August 2026, and tenants get at least 30 days notice in the Microsoft 365 Message Centre before the changes appear.
The Business Premium question
Because Premium did not move in price while Basic and Standard did, the gap between the plans has narrowed. Premium already includes the stronger Defender for Office protection, device management through Intune, and tighter security controls that the cheaper plans do not have.
For a business that handles client data, processes payments, or has had a near miss with a dodgy email, the jump from Standard to Premium now costs less in relative terms than it did a month ago. That does not make it the right answer for everyone, but it is worth a fresh look rather than renewing on autopilot.
What this means for your business
If you pay per user each month, budget for a modest lift on Basic and Standard seats from your next renewal. For a ten-person team on Business Standard, the increase works out to roughly USD 15 a month more, so the real-world impact in New Zealand dollars is small but not nothing.
The more useful task is a quick licensing review. Most businesses we look at are paying for a mix of plans that grew by accident over a few years, with some staff over-licensed and others missing protection they should have. A price change is a natural prompt to check that everyone is on the right plan, that you’re not paying for seats nobody uses, and that your security cover matches how the business actually operates.
If you would rather not work through your tenant and licence list on your own, that sort of review is part of our Microsoft 365 and security service.
Quick questions
Will my bill go up straight away?
Only if you renew on or after 1 July 2026. If you are partway through an annual term, your current price holds until renewal.
Do I need to do anything to get the new features?
No. The added storage and security features roll out automatically to eligible plans, finishing by 1 August 2026. You will see a notice in the Message Centre beforehand.
Should we move to Business Premium?
It depends on your data, your risk, and your current plan mix. With Premium pricing unchanged, the cost difference is smaller than before, so it is a fair time to compare properly.
Sorting your Microsoft 365 setup
A price change is a good reason to make sure your Microsoft 365 plans, security and user count all still fit the business. We can review your current licensing, flag anything you are over-paying for, and make sure the right protection is switched on. Book an IT Review and we will take a look.