Microsoft lets teams pay for Copilot only when they use it
Microsoft introduced pay-as-you-go credits for Microsoft 365 Copilot. The system draws from a global Power Platform environment and works without an Azure subscription. The credits cover Copilot Chat declarative agents, SharePoint agents, and early access to the Retrieval API plus Windows 365 for Agents. Companies can now add usage on demand instead of buying full per-user licenses. The change targets firms that want to test agent features without committing to fixed monthly costs.
Until now, mid-sized companies bought full Copilot licenses at a flat rate and watched most seats sit idle because outputs often felt generic or unreliable. Teams defaulted to manual work or outside tools to avoid both the expense and the risk of exposing internal documents. Credits flip the model to consumption-based billing, which lets users try agent building without a big upfront commitment. The catch is that every weak prompt now carries a direct cost, so teams must set spending limits and governance rules before the first experiment or the savings will disappear into trial-and-error sessions.
Analysis
This is not an invitation to experiment freely; it is a way to turn your existing low adoption into controlled, measurable tests. Log into the Power Platform admin center right now, set a monthly credit cap for your team, and build one simple SharePoint agent that pulls documents for a single recurring task.
Citation
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