Microsoft 365 - 42% More Expensive in 2025 !

There has been a significant 42% price increase for UK consumers on Microsoft 365 Personal subscriptions, rising from £59.99 to £84.99 per year. 

The Family plan has seen a 31% increase, going from £79.99 to £104.99 annually.

1.  When Did These Apply ?

- These price hikes took effect from January 16, 2025 for Renewals and New Subscribers

2.  Why ? And What Are The Benefits ?

- Microsoft attributes these price increases to the integration of new AI features like Copilot and Designer, which aim to enhance productivity across Microsoft's applications

- In my opinion, there are many better (free) AI tools than Copilot

- See article 'AI - Smarter Web Searching'

3.  What About OneDrive & Outlook/Hotmail Email Storage ?

- If you have a Microsoft email address, then stopping your Microsoft 365 subscription has implications for OneDrive Storage (for your emails);  and use of Outlook email client (if you use it!)

- Microsoft offers OneDrive storage as a separate, stand-alone option for consumers.  This is called the 'OneDrive Standalone' plan, which provides 100 GB of cloud storage without including any additional Office services

- The OneDrive Standalone plan is still priced at £19.99 per year, or you can choose to pay £1.99 per month.  This option is ideal for users who need more storage than the free 5 GB Basic plan but don't require the full suite of Microsoft 365 applications

4.  What Are The Alternatives

- Most people aren't aware that there are various good enough, free options:

• Microsoft 365 Free Version - this comes with 5GB of OneDrive cloud storage and access to the web browser versions of Word/Excel/PowerPoint etc.  There is no option for the 'full' downloadable versions (that most people don't actually need!)

• Open Office & Libre Office - these free Suites both come with full downloadable Apps that can 'Open' and 'Save' in MS Office file formats.  Open Office also has a web browser versions

• Google Web Apps - the free Google-Docs/Sheets/Slides includes with 15GB of Google-Drive cloud storage.  They can Read/Write in MS Office formats in real-time.  Being web browser-based, these Apps can be used on any device, anywhere, anytime

If you have an @GMail.com email address, you already have access to the Google Web Apps - which are all seamlessly integrated.

Another plus is that all of your data is more likely in one (Google) cloud - and not spread across Microsoft, Apple and elsewhere ! 

HTS are happy to answer any Questions or to help you easily move to away from Microsoft 365.

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