Upcoming price change for your Microsoft 365 subscription

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askelon

857 posts

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#317766 13-Nov-2024 11:24

Thank you for being a valued Microsoft 365 subscriber. Today, we're sharing an upcoming change to your subscription. To continue evolving the benefits included with your subscription and ensure Microsoft customers are among the first to access powerful AI features in our apps, we're adjusting our subscription prices.

Starting on December 10, 2024, the price for your Microsoft 365 Personal subscription will change from NZD 12.00/month to NZD 17.00/month.

Wow thanks Microsoft! Guess I'll be upgrading my Google Workspace plan and moving everything to that. Didnt want AI, dont need AI, certainly dont want to spend $5 more a month on AI. And it looks like publisher has been removed in place of Designer which from what I can gather is all online? And yes I know I can in theory get it cheaper on a yearly plan. I was deciding if I should just switch to Microsoft 365 Standard or upgrade my Google Workspace. Google Workspace looks like it'll be winning.

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#3308468 13-Nov-2024 11:45

Just be aware that Google is trying to force Gemini (AI) down everyone's throats at the mo — every time I sign in on my Google Workspace account (including Gmail on the web) I'm bombarded with "Try Gemini" messaging/advertising.

I suspect it's only a matter of time until they "include" this with Workspace too and increase the price in doing so.

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jonathan18

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#3308469 13-Nov-2024 11:48

Ouch, that is a substantial price rise. But, yeah, it’s a fair point to look to annual subs rather than paying monthly - I’m simply too tight to fork over that much extra simply for the privilege of splitting payment over time, and it’s not like I’ll suddenly not need the sub (cf our Netflix sub, which I turn on and off as needed).

The other advantages with buying a year’s sub are that it locks in the price as of the time it’s purchased, and (IRRC) they can be stacked. I imagine this price rise will also extend to the annual plan, so probably a good time to look to buy (especially with Black Friday coming up, maybe?), even though in my case our current sub doesn’t expire until next Oct. Thus far I’ve ignored all the AI prompts 365 gives me so have no idea if it’ll add much value…

k1w1k1d

1457 posts

Uber Geek

#3308472 13-Nov-2024 11:53

Annual fee is now $179

tigercorp

667 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3308473 13-Nov-2024 11:55

It's worth checking if your workplace gives you access to a 30% discount - https://www.microsoft.com/en-nz/workplace-discount-program

If it does, you get an link sent to your work email which allows you to purchase a subscription for your personal account.

nztim

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TEAMnetwork

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#3308474 13-Nov-2024 11:55

Enterprise M365 plans have just been through this, no Suprise its now consumer too

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

lxsw20

3500 posts

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#3308482 13-Nov-2024 12:16

k1w1k1d:

Annual fee is now $179

Depends where you buy from. I just today purchased 365 Family 1 year for $125 on TM.

gehenna

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#3308502 13-Nov-2024 13:01

This will be why Copilot Pro isn't an added extra SKU now, I assume.

old3eyes

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#3308509 13-Nov-2024 13:18

Lucky I have 5 years of personal loaded on to my account. I usually buy another year when the retailers have sales. I believe this cost increase is to cover the cost of AI in the suite which I personally don't want. When my 5 year subs expire I'll move to a free office suite but I still need Outlook classic currently

Regards,

Old3eyes

jonathan18

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#3308514 13-Nov-2024 13:47

This has spurred me on to going with the stacking approach, though I’m not going as far as five years’ worth!

Just Laptops is selling 365 Personal for $99, so $198 will get me through until October 2027 - not bad value especially given the recent price rise (though, of course, I’ll be pissed if it drops lower for BF!). They have the option of the shop photographing the code rather than posting, which is what I’ve gone for. $5 credit card charge or nil for bank transfer (or POLI if that’s your thing/risk).

Here’s the link if anyone else is interested.

aaristotle

142 posts

Master Geek

#3308516 13-Nov-2024 14:00

Saw this thread and also discovered the Just Laptops pricing. Have ordered 3 years worth by photo delivery, so will see how quickly they come through.
I wonder how many physical licences they have in stock?

aaristotle

142 posts

Master Geek

#3308531 13-Nov-2024 14:54

45 minutes after placing order received a photo of codes in box, and codes also included on the emailed PDF invoice so I could copy and paste them into my Microsoft account without retyping. 365 now licenced out to July 2028.

larknz

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#3308780 13-Nov-2024 20:39

jonathan18:

This has spurred me on to going with the stacking approach, though I’m not going as far as five years’ worth!

Just Laptops is selling 365 Personal for $99, so $198 will get me through until October 2027 - not bad value especially given the recent price rise (though, of course, I’ll be pissed if it drops lower for BF!). They have the option of the shop photographing the code rather than posting, which is what I’ve gone for. $5 credit card charge or nil for bank transfer (or POLI if that’s your thing/risk).

Here’s the link if anyone else is interested.

The price is good, but the credit card charge is getting to the top end of what is acceptable.

jonathan18

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#3308792 13-Nov-2024 21:29

larknz:
The price is good, but the credit card charge is getting to the top end of what is acceptable.

I hear you; my threshold is usually anything above what I will otherwise get returned as cash back on my credit card (which is now down to just over 1%). so no way does this pass muster. That said, transferring via bank transfer took all of two minutes, so a decent enough return on my time!

ANglEAUT

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#3308800 13-Nov-2024 22:00

Anybody have a good price on the Microsoft 365 Family plan?

$229 from Microsoft directly, $199 from PB Tech, $159 from Just Laptops.

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askelon

857 posts

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#3308829 14-Nov-2024 09:05

Ive quite happily moved all my onedrive data now. Was fun moving 400+GB but wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. MS gave me another 2 months on my Office subs when going to cancel so I'll stick with that till February.

I had a friend give the new designer a bit of a play with as shes rather heavily into using Publisher. I have tried getting her to use something else over the years but have given up trying to convince her. She did give it a good shot, designed something then saved it as a word document. Opened it in word and it was absolutely broken. Ive suggested she look at something like Affinity Publisher (which she is currently on a 6 month trial of) or even maybe something like Canva. So far shes not convinced at all.

I tried using co-pilot to generate me an image. Cant remember exactly what it was. I think it was along the lines of create an image of a computer being repaired. It gave me one with a person fixing a computer. Not great but not bad. I then asked it to not show the person in it. It turned the person into a 60's robot. A bunch of credits later I gave up :p

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