| Metric | 30-Day Rolling | MTD Actual | Full Month Forecast | Annual Run Rate |
|---|
| Scenario | Monthly Billed Credits | Packs Required | Monthly Cost (Packs) | Monthly Cost (PAYG) | Δ vs Today |
|---|
| Model | Price | Terms | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go | $0.01 / credit | No commitment · Azure subscription · billed in arrears | Low or unpredictable usage; testing |
| Capacity Pack | $200 / pack / month | 25,000 credits per pack · tenant-level · no rollover | Predictable usage >20,000 credits/month |
| CCCU Pre-Purchase | From $0.95 / CCCU (5% disc.) | 1 CCCU = $1 = 100 credits · 1-year prepaid · min 3,000 CCCUs | High volume · 3,000–3,000,000+ CCCUs/year |
| M365 Copilot Add-on | $30 / user / month | Zero-rates B2E agent interactions for licensed users | High-usage employees (≥3,000 billed credits/user/month) |
| Metric | Value |
|---|
| # | Agent Name | Billed Credits | Non-Billed Credits | Total Credits | % of Total | Type | Share |
|---|
| # | Agent Name | Environment | Billed | Non-Billed | Total | Share |
|---|
| Model | Price | Credits Included | Break-even vs PAYG | Key Constraint |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go | $0.01/credit | Unlimited | Baseline | Azure subscription required |
| 1 Capacity Pack | $200/month | 25,000 credits | >20,000 credits/month | No rollover; tenant-level |
| CCCU (3,000 units) | ~$2,850/year (5% disc.) | 300,000 credits/year | >25,000 credits/month | 1-year prepaid; min 3,000 units |
| M365 Copilot Add-on | $30/user/month | Zero-rates B2E usage | ≥3,000 billed credits/user/month | Autonomous triggers still charged |
ELT Budget Forecasting Reference | Prices in USD (list price) | June 2026
Add-on to existing M365 E3/E5/Business plan. Volume discounts down to $18 at 1,000+ seats.
Capacity Pack model. PAYG available via Azure at $0.008/credit with no commitment.
Required for any flow using premium connectors (SQL, Dataverse, SAP, Salesforce, etc.).
Budget Note: All prices shown are Microsoft list prices in USD. EA, CSP, or volume discounts will reduce actual spend. Verify at microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/pricing before finalising budgets.
How it works: M365 Copilot is a $30/user/month add-on to an eligible base M365 license. Every seat must have a qualifying base plan. Enterprise licensees also get Copilot for Sales, Service & Finance bundled at no extra charge.
| License | Segment | Base $/mo | +Copilot | All-In |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M365 Business Basic | SMB | $7.20 | $30 | $37.20 |
| M365 Business Standard | SMB | $15.00 | $30 | $45.00 |
| M365 Business Premium | SMB | $26.40 | $30 | $56.40 |
| M365 E3 | Enterprise | $36.00 | $30 | $66.00 |
| M365 E5 | Enterprise | $57.00 | $30 | $87.00 |
| M365 F3 (Frontline) | Frontline | $12.00 | $30 | $42.00 |
| Seats | Discount | Add-On Price | Annual Saving/seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 – 9 | — | $30.00 | — |
| 10 – 99 | 15% off | $25.50 | $54 |
| 100 – 299 | 20% off | $24.00 | $72 |
| 300 – 999 | 30% off | $21.00 | $108 |
| 1,000+ | 40% off | $18.00 | $144 |
How it works: Copilot Studio uses Copilot Credits as its billing currency (replaced "messages" Sep 2025). Credits consumed per AI response or agent action. M365 Copilot licensees can build & use internal agents at no extra cost.
Billed monthly via Azure. No upfront commitment. Best for pilots or unpredictable usage.
Pre-purchased pack. Predictable budgeting. Buy multiple packs for higher volumes.
Up to 20% discount vs PAYG for annual commitment. Best for stable high-volume production agents.
| Action / Response Type | Credits | PAYG Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Responses | ||
| Basic / Classic answer | 1 | $0.008 |
| Standard response | 1.5 | $0.012 |
| Generative AI answer | 2 | $0.016 |
| Generative + Graph Grounding | 12 | $0.096 |
| Premium response | 10 | $0.080 |
| Actions & Triggers | ||
| Agent action (per invocation) | 5 | $0.040 |
| Autonomous trigger | 25 | $0.200 |
| Typical CX agent interaction Generative (2) + Graph (10) + 1 action (5) | 17 | $0.136 |
| Agent | Convos | Avg Cr | Monthly $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR FAQ Bot | 500 | 2 | $8 |
| IT Helpdesk Agent | 300 | 12 | $29 |
| Sales Assist Agent | 200 | 17 | $27 |
| Custom Process Bot | 100 | 25 | $20 |
| Monthly Total (PAYG) | $84 | ||
| Annualised | ~$1,008 | ||
✅ At this volume, PAYG ($84/mo) is cheaper than 1 Capacity Pack ($200/mo).
Switch to Capacity Pack when monthly credits exceed ~25,000.
Critical Rule: Using even one Premium connector requires a paid standalone license. The M365 included version only supports Standard connectors (SharePoint, Teams, Outlook, OneDrive).
| Plan | Price | Premium Connectors | Apps |
|---|---|---|---|
| M365 Included | Free | ✗ No | Standard only |
| Per App (PAYG) | $10 | ✓ Yes | 1 specific app |
| Per User (Premium) | $20 | ✓ Yes | Unlimited |
| Plan | Price | Premium Connectors | RPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| M365 Included | Free | ✗ No | ✗ |
| Premium (per user) | $15 | ✓ Yes | Attended |
| Process (per bot) | $150 | ✓ Yes | Unattended |
| Hosted Process | $215 | ✓ Yes | Unattended |
| Connector | Type | License Required | Common Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| SharePoint | Standard | M365 included | Document libraries, lists |
| Teams / Outlook / OneDrive | Standard | M365 included | Notifications, emails, file ops |
| Dataverse | Premium | Power Apps/Automate plan | CRM, model-driven apps |
| SQL Server | Premium | Power Apps/Automate plan | On-prem or Azure SQL |
| Salesforce | Premium | Power Apps/Automate plan | CRM data sync & actions |
| SAP | Premium | Power Apps/Automate plan | ERP integration |
| ServiceNow | Premium | Power Apps/Automate plan | IT service management |
| HTTP / Custom Connectors | Premium | Power Apps/Automate plan | Any custom REST API |
| If you want to… | Product needed | Approx. cost | Decision note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Give employees AI in Word, Excel, Teams, Outlook | M365 Copilot | $18–$30/user/mo | Requires existing M365 base license. |
| Build a custom chatbot / virtual agent | Copilot Studio | $200/pack or PAYG | Start PAYG for pilots. Move to packs when credits exceed ~25k/mo. |
| Automate with standard data (SharePoint, Teams) | M365 included PA | $0 (included) | No extra license needed — standard connectors only. |
| Automate connecting to SQL, SAP, or Salesforce | Power Automate Premium | $15/user/mo | Required the moment a premium connector is used. |
| Run unattended server-side automation (RPA) | PA Process | $150/bot/mo | Per bot/process, not per user. |
| Build internal Power Apps using company databases | Power Apps Per User | $20/user/mo | Better than Per App when users access 2+ apps. |
| Roll out a single app to a specific group | Power Apps Per App | $10/user/mo | Cheaper than Per User for <2 apps per user. |
Note: Figures below use example seat counts. Adjust per your organisation’s actual headcount and scope.
| Persona | Seats | All-In $/mo | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge Workers | 100 | $66 | $79,200 |
| Senior Leaders | 20 | $87 | $20,880 |
| Frontline Workers | 50 | $42 | $25,200 |
| IT / Developers | 30 | $66 | $23,760 |
| Sub-total (200 seats) | $149,040 | ||
| Item | Unit | Qty | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copilot Studio – PAYG agents | ~$84/mo | — | $1,008 |
| Power Apps Per User | $20/mo | 50 users | $12,000 |
| Power Automate Premium | $15/mo | 40 users | $7,200 |
| Power Automate Process (bots) | $150/mo | 5 bots | $9,000 |
| Sub-total | $29,208 | ||
| M365 Copilot (200 seats) | $149,040 |
| Copilot Studio (PAYG agents) | $1,008 |
| Power Platform (apps + flows + bots) | $28,200 |
| 🎯 Illustrative Total Annual Budget | $178,248 |
Potential Savings Levers: (1) Negotiate EA/CSP discounts — typically 15–30% off list. (2) Right-size Copilot Studio: start PAYG, shift to packs only when credits consistently exceed 25k/month. (3) Audit Power Platform licenses quarterly. (4) Front-load M365 Copilot rollout to 1,000+ seats to unlock the 40% tier.
Monthly credit consumption (actual) with scenario projections for the next 12 months.
Enter your inputs and click Calculate on each card. Pricing fields are editable.