Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Microsoft has not eliminated every enterprise discount or all volume licensing. It has removed the formal Price Level A–D structure for qualifying Online Services purchased through Enterprise Agreements (EA), Microsoft Products and Services Agreements (MPSA), and China’s Online Services Premium Agreement (OSPA). The change began on November 1, 2025 and generally appears when an affected customer renews or buys a new online service not already listed on its Customer Price Sheet.
For very large organizations, even a modest increase across tens of thousands of seats and multiple services can add millions of dollars annually. But there is no universal 13% Microsoft increase: the final result depends on the agreement, products, geography, renewal date, negotiated terms, and license usage.
What Microsoft actually changed
Microsoft announced on August 12, 2025, that it would standardize pricing for Online Services under EA, MPSA, and OSPA. Former commercial Price Levels A, B, C, and D no longer create separate online-service prices under those agreements. Microsoft says the resulting prices are consistent with prices published on Microsoft.com.
Recommended Free Tools
The announcement concerns cloud subscriptions such as Microsoft 365, Office 365, Dynamics 365, and other covered Online Services. It does not mean that Microsoft has ended every volume-licensing program, removed every negotiated concession, or immediately repriced every customer.
#1 Best Overall
- Classic Office Apps | Includes classic desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for creating documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with ease.
- Install on a Single Device | Install classic desktop Office Apps for use on a single Windows laptop, Windows desktop, MacBook, or iMac.
- Ideal for One Person | With a one-time purchase of Microsoft Office 2024, you can create, organize, and get things done.
- Consider Upgrading to Microsoft 365 | Get premium benefits with a Microsoft 365 subscription, including ongoing updates, advanced security, and access to premium versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more, plus 1TB cloud storage per person and multi-device support for Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android.
Microsoft’s explanation is that standardization improves pricing consistency and transparency and aligns the treatment of these services more closely with Microsoft’s public pricing approach. The official announcement is available in Microsoft’s Online Services Pricing Consistency Update.
| Changed | Not changed by this announcement |
|---|---|
| Online-service pricing under EA, MPSA, and China OSPA | All Microsoft volume-licensing programs |
| Former A–D online-service price-level differentiation | On-premises or perpetual software pricing |
| Pricing at relevant renewals and for certain new services | Automatic mid-term repricing of every existing contract |
| Commercial online services | U.S. government and worldwide education price lists |
Who may be affected?
The greatest exposure is among commercial organizations that previously benefited from Level B, C, or D pricing and buy large quantities of Microsoft cloud services. Potentially affected customers include:
- Commercial EA customers;
- Commercial customers purchasing through MPSA;
- OSPA customers in China;
- Large enterprises with substantial Microsoft 365, Office 365, Dynamics 365, identity, security, device-management, or compliance subscriptions;
- Organizations renewing after November 1, 2025; and
- Customers adding new online services that are not already listed on their Customer Price Sheet.
The timing matters. The November 1 date was not a universal “everyone’s bill goes up” date. Microsoft says the change applies at the applicable renewal or when a customer purchases a new online service not already on its Customer Price Sheet. A customer with an existing agreement may therefore remain on its current terms until renewal, subject to the contract and the treatment of new purchases.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
The rule is also not the same across every Microsoft purchasing route. EA, MPSA, CSP, Open Value, Open Value Subscription, Select, Select Plus, government arrangements, education programs, and legacy agreements have different mechanics. A customer must identify the agreement and price sheet governing each purchase rather than infer treatment from its company size alone.
Does this mean every enterprise now pays retail list price?
No. The precise change is the removal of the formal A–D price-level structure for covered Online Services. It is too broad to say that every large company automatically pays Microsoft’s public retail price.
The final commercial price can still depend on:
- the agreement and purchasing channel;
- renewal timing and any existing price protection;
- the specific SKU and country or currency;
- billing and commitment terms;
- partner or reseller arrangements;
- negotiated concessions; and
- minimum purchase or enterprise-wide licensing obligations.
Microsoft’s announcement says the standardized price aligns with Microsoft.com pricing, but that does not establish that every negotiated discount disappears. Industry commentary reported by CIO indicates that licensing partners may retain some commercial flexibility. That is an industry report, not a blanket Microsoft guarantee. Customers should rely on their written agreement, Customer Price Sheet, and renewal quote.
Rank #2
- Designed for Your Windows and Apple Devices | Install premium Office apps on your Windows laptop, desktop, MacBook or iMac. Works seamlessly across your devices for home, school, or personal productivity.
- Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint & Outlook | Get premium versions of the essential Office apps that help you work, study, create, and stay organized.
- 1 TB Secure Cloud Storage | Store and access your documents, photos, and files from your Windows, Mac or mobile devices.
- Premium Tools Across Your Devices | Your subscription lets you work across all of your Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android devices with apps that sync instantly through the cloud.
- Easy Digital Download with Microsoft Account | Product delivered electronically for quick setup. Sign in with your Microsoft account, redeem your code, and download your apps instantly to your Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.
Why the increase can reach millions
The arithmetic is straightforward:
Incremental annual cost = affected seats × annual price increase per seat × number of affected products
Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteWindows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallA large enterprise may have tens or hundreds of thousands of users, multiple subscriptions per user, separate licenses for security and compliance, and subsidiaries renewing at different times. A percentage change applied across that base can produce a large absolute increase.
The following scenarios are illustrations, not predictions of Microsoft’s actual increase:
| Annual affected spend | 5% increase | 10% increase | 13% increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1 million | $50,000 | $100,000 | $130,000 |
| $10 million | $500,000 | $1 million | $1.3 million |
| $50 million | $2.5 million | $5 million | $6.5 million |
CIO reported an external licensing-industry estimate that some large EA customers could face increases approaching 13%. That figure is not a Microsoft-wide average or a universal rule. A company spending $10 million annually on affected services would pay about $1.3 million more under a hypothetical 13% increase, but its actual exposure could be materially lower or higher.
Unused seats can make the result worse because the organization is paying the higher rate on licenses nobody uses. Conversely, rightsizing, removing duplicate subscriptions, or consolidating overlapping security and management products may offset part of the increase.
The timeline customers should use
- August 12, 2025: Microsoft announces the Online Services pricing-consistency change.
- November 1, 2025: The new treatment begins for relevant renewals and qualifying new online-service purchases.
- After November 1, 2025: Customers encounter the new pricing when their agreement renews or when they add a covered service not already on the Customer Price Sheet.
- March 24, 2026: Microsoft announces a separate Microsoft 365 packaging and pricing update.
- July 1, 2026: The separate commercial Microsoft 365 pricing update becomes effective for new and renewing customers.
- September 2026: Organizations planning renewals should treat both changes as live issues and model them separately.
How EA, MPSA, and CSP fit together
Enterprise Agreement
An EA is commonly used by large organizations seeking centralized, broad Microsoft licensing, enterprise-wide commitments, Software Assurance, and predictable purchasing structures. The pricing-consistency change is particularly significant for customers whose previous online-service price level reflected large-scale purchasing.
Rank #3
![Microsoft Office Home & Business 2024 | Classic Desktop Apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote | One-Time Purchase for 1 PC/MAC | Instant Download [PC/Mac Online Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41H8B5iqO4L._SL160_.jpg)
- [Ideal for One Person] — With a one-time purchase of Microsoft Office Home & Business 2024, you can create, organize, and get things done.
- [Classic Office Apps] — Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote.
- [Desktop Only & Customer Support] — To install and use on one PC or Mac, on desktop only. Microsoft 365 has your back with readily available technical support through chat or phone.
MPSA
MPSA allows organizations to purchase Microsoft software and cloud services through purchasing accounts without the same organization-wide commitment structure as an EA. Commercial purchasing accounts historically aggregated volume for price-level purposes. Microsoft’s MPSA documentation describes the agreement and its purchasing-account mechanics.
MPSA remains an available agreement, but its historical aggregation and A–D price-level mechanics do not preserve the former online-service discounts after this change.
CSP
CSP is a possible commercial alternative, not an automatic escape from Microsoft’s pricing. A CSP partner may offer different billing, support, management, or commitment terms, and industry commentary has suggested that some partners may have more flexibility for selected products.
However, CSP quotes can include management or support fees, and a reseller may not reproduce every EA benefit. Before moving, compare:
- net license cost after partner fees;
- contract length and cancellation rights;
- price protection;
- support escalation and tenant administration;
- security and compliance responsibilities;
- billing ownership and payment terms; and
- features or Software Assurance benefits that would be lost.
A CSP move does not remove Microsoft’s underlying list-price changes. It changes the commercial relationship and may or may not improve the total cost.
A practical renewal audit
Procurement and finance teams should build a SKU-level model rather than apply a headline percentage to the entire Microsoft bill.
Rank #4
- Designed for Your Windows and Apple Devices | Install premium Office apps on your Windows laptop, desktop, MacBook or iMac. Works seamlessly across your devices for home, school, or personal productivity.
- Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint & Outlook | Get premium versions of the essential Office apps that help you work, study, create, and stay organized.
- Up to 6 TB Secure Cloud Storage (1 TB per person) | Store and access your documents, photos, and files from your Windows, Mac or mobile devices.
- Premium Tools Across Your Devices | Your subscription lets you work across all of your Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android devices with apps that sync instantly through the cloud.
- Share Your Family Subscription | You can share all of your subscription benefits with up to 6 people for use across all their devices.
- Inventory agreements: List every EA, MPSA, OSPA, CSP, direct, and legacy arrangement.
- Record renewal dates: Mark which agreements renewed after November 1, 2025 and which renew later.
- Export the Customer Price Sheet: Preserve the current effective price and the historical price used for comparison.
- Separate product types: Distinguish Online Services from perpetual and on-premises licenses.
- Identify former price levels: Note where historical records show Level A, B, C, or D treatment.
- Compare like with like: Match each old SKU to the proposed renewal SKU, including country, currency, term, billing frequency, and commitment.
- Count actual usage: Separate purchased, assigned, active, inactive, shared, duplicate, and redundant licenses.
- Review overlapping subscriptions: Check subsidiaries and tenants for duplicate Microsoft 365, Entra, Defender, Intune, compliance, storage, or collaboration products.
- Separate add-ons: Model Microsoft 365 plans separately from Copilot, standalone Teams, Azure, Dynamics, marketplace purchases, and managed services.
- Request explanations: Ask the account team or partner to explain every price delta in writing.
- Obtain competing quotes: Compare the incumbent partner, another authorized partner, and—where appropriate—a CSP provider.
- Model commitment options: Compare annual, three-year, monthly, and other available terms, including the cost of reduced flexibility.
- Calculate migration economics: Include retraining, data migration, integration work, support, security redesign, and exit costs before treating switching as a saving.
Questions to ask Microsoft or a licensing partner
- Which exact SKUs are affected by the A–D price-level change?
- What was the prior effective price, and what is the new renewal price?
- Is the change caused by the 2025 pricing-consistency update, the 2026 Microsoft 365 update, a currency adjustment, a SKU change, or a combination?
- Which products are protected until renewal?
- Does adding this new service trigger the new treatment before the broader renewal?
- Can unused seats be removed, and do minimum commitments restrict that reduction?
- Can users move to a lower plan without losing required security, compliance, identity, storage, or management features?
- Do new bundle entitlements duplicate separately purchased products?
- What price protection and cancellation terms apply?
- What is the three-year net cost through EA, MPSA, the current partner, and CSP?
- Which support, administration, and escalation services are included in each quote?
Do not confuse the 2025 change with Microsoft’s 2026 price increase
Microsoft’s separate 2026 Microsoft 365 update complicates renewal analysis. It is not part of the November 2025 removal of A–D online-service price levels.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
The separate update is effective July 1, 2026 for new and renewing customers and covers numerous commercial Microsoft 365-related products, including some Office 365, Microsoft 365, EMS, Windows, Business, Frontline, Entra, government, and per-device SKUs. Existing customers generally retain current pricing until their next renewal after that date.
Microsoft’s FAQ also says that standalone Teams and Copilot are not included in the announced Microsoft 365 price update, and that Microsoft 365 E7 pricing is not changing in that update, although E5 packaging changes also apply to E7. Government treatment is specific: the 2025 announcement excludes U.S. government and worldwide education price lists, while the 2026 FAQ separately discusses GCC, GCC-High, DoD, NCOE, and US AGC treatment. These exceptions should not be combined into one blanket government exemption.
Show the two effects as separate lines in a renewal model:
| Change | What it affects | Typical trigger |
|---|---|---|
| November 2025 pricing consistency | Online Services under EA, MPSA, and China OSPA; former A–D differentiation | Relevant renewal or qualifying new service |
| July 2026 Microsoft 365 update | Specified Microsoft 365 and related commercial SKUs, packaging, and pricing | New purchase or renewal after July 1, 2026 |
Rightsizing may be more valuable than switching vendors
The first savings opportunity is often not a platform migration. It is eliminating licenses that are unused, duplicative, or unnecessarily expensive.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →That does not mean every user can move to a cheaper SKU. A lower plan may remove features such as advanced identity protection, endpoint management, threat protection, compliance controls, storage, or desktop applications. The correct comparison is the cost of an equivalent capability set, not the headline price of a cheaper subscription.
Best Value
- THE ALTERNATIVE: The Office Suite Package is the perfect alternative to MS Office. It offers you word processing as well as spreadsheet analysis and the creation of presentations.
- LOTS OF EXTRAS:✓ 1,000 different fonts available to individually style your text documents and ✓ 20,000 clipart images
- EASY TO USE: The highly user-friendly interface will guarantee that you get off to a great start | Simply insert the included CD into your CD/DVD drive and install the Office program.
- ONE PROGRAM FOR EVERYTHING: Office Suite is the perfect computer accessory, offering a wide range of uses for university, work and school. ✓ Drawing program ✓ Database ✓ Formula editor ✓ Spreadsheet analysis ✓ Presentations
- FULL COMPATIBILITY: ✓ Compatible with Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint ✓ Suitable for Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP (32 and 64-bit versions) ✓ Fast and easy installation ✓ Easy to navigate
Microsoft’s 2026 packaging changes may also add security, management, storage, or AI-related entitlements to some plans. A finance team should calculate both the incremental cost and the value of features it would otherwise purchase separately. It should not assume that a bundled feature is useful merely because it is included.
Should a company switch to Google Workspace or open-source software?
Google Workspace may suit organizations that primarily need browser-based email, calendars, documents, spreadsheets, and collaboration. It can be a poor substitute for an enterprise deeply dependent on Microsoft identity, Windows Enterprise, Office desktop compatibility, Teams, SharePoint, Power Platform, Defender, Intune, or Microsoft-specific compliance workflows. Google’s current pricing should be checked on its official pricing page, and comparisons should normalize functionality.
LibreOffice and other open-source productivity tools may work for selected users or simpler document environments. They can reduce recurring desktop-subscription costs, but deployment, training, commercial support, document remediation, macros, collaboration, and administration still create costs. LibreOffice’s official site is libreoffice.org.
A hybrid strategy may be more realistic: retain Microsoft identity, security, Windows, or Teams while moving selected users or workloads elsewhere. The business case must include migration, integration, retraining, document conversion, support, compliance, and exit costs.
Important exceptions and complications
- On-premises software: The November 2025 announcement does not change its pricing.
- Government and education: U.S. government and worldwide education price lists are excluded from the 2025 announcement, but 2026 government treatment has separate rules.
- Nonprofits: Microsoft says nonprofit pricing is tied to commercial rates through fixed discounts, so affected nonprofit products may move with commercial pricing.
- Per-device licensing: Windows Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Apps per-device SKUs require separate review under the 2026 FAQ.
- Geography: Local market adjustments and currencies mean a U.S. estimate cannot automatically be applied worldwide.
- Mixed channels: One organization may simultaneously use EA, MPSA, CSP, direct purchases, and legacy perpetual licenses.
- Multi-year contracts: Contractual price protection and minimum commitments can materially change the timing and size of exposure.
- China: OSPA is specifically identified in the 2025 change for China; local terms and currency require separate confirmation.
Common mistakes
- Assuming Microsoft ended all enterprise discounts.
- Assuming every customer was repriced on November 1, 2025.
- Applying the reported 13% estimate to every Microsoft customer.
- Combining the 2025 and 2026 changes into one unexplained increase.
- Comparing a fully managed CSP quote with a bare Microsoft license price.
- Ignoring unused seats and duplicate subscriptions.
- Assuming CSP automatically costs less.
- Comparing Google’s basic subscription with Microsoft’s full identity, security, device-management, and compliance stack.
- Assuming a cheaper Microsoft SKU provides equivalent capabilities.
- Ignoring geography, currency, government, education, nonprofit, or China-specific rules.
Bottom line
Microsoft ended formal A–D volume-price differentiation for certain Online Services under EA, MPSA, and China OSPA—not volume licensing as a whole. The financial impact appears at the relevant renewal or qualifying new purchase, and it can be substantial for companies with large seat counts and complex Microsoft estates.
The right response is not to assume a universal 13% increase or immediately abandon Microsoft. Build a renewal model that separates the 2025 pricing-consistency change, the separate July 2026 Microsoft 365 update, license waste, new bundle value, partner concessions, contractual restrictions, and migration costs. Then compare a rightsized renewal, alternative partner or CSP terms, and selective migration using three-year net cost rather than headline list prices.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →
