What is Microsoft Scout?

Microsoft Scout is Microsoft's first 'Autopilot' — an always-on personal AI agent announced at Build 2026 that works across Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, and SharePoint with its own identity. It is in Frontier preview, requires a GitHub Copilot subscription, and early access favors organizations on Microsoft 365 E5 with Purview.

Agent 365 is Microsoft's control plane for AI agents — registry, identity (Entra Agent ID), security posture, and audit for every agent in a tenant. It is $15/user/month as an add-on, or included in Microsoft 365 E7.

What is the difference between Microsoft 365 E5 and E7?

E7 (about $99/user/month, GA May 2026) bundles E5 plus Microsoft 365 Copilot, Entra Suite, and Agent 365 — roughly 15% less than buying those parts separately, and it includes Teams.

What is the 300-user limit on Microsoft 365 Business plans?

All Microsoft 365 Business plans (Basic, Standard, Premium) are capped at 300 users combined. Organizations crossing 300 seats must move to Enterprise plans such as E3, E5, or E7.

Does the Microsoft 365 Copilot license include AI agents?

The Microsoft 365 Copilot license includes Copilot Chat, Copilot Notebooks, Copilot Search, and the prebuilt Researcher and Analyst agents. As of the June 2026 Copilot Credits Guide, Cowork (autonomous multi-step task execution) requires a Copilot license but is billed separately on usage-based Copilot Credits — it is no longer included in the subscription. Governing many agents at scale is where Agent 365 comes in.

When do Microsoft 365 prices increase in 2026?

Most list prices rise July 1, 2026 — for example E3 from $36 to $39 and E5 from $57 to $60. Existing customers keep current pricing until their next renewal, so locking annual commitments before June 30, 2026 can hold the old rate.

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Government cloud (GCC, GCC High, DoD)

Government uses G-SKUs (G1/G3/G5) and Defender/Purview Suite for GCC, GCC High, and DoD — not the commercial E-SKUs.
Government pricing is partner-only and subject to ITAR/CUI handling rules. Prices are not shown here.
Feature availability differs from commercial; some items show TBD or Not Planned in GCC High. Verify per workload before quoting.
Government July 2026 increases are phased where any rise exceeds 10% (e.g., Office 365 G3 +13%, M365 F1 +33%, M365 F3 +25%).
GCC High added a Business Premium tier and a new 50 GB mailbox option in 2026 — confirm current availability with your Microsoft rep, since government cloud SKUs change faster than commercial ones.
Copilot Chat Analytics and URL time-of-click protection (see What's new) now extend into GCC/GCC High/DoD as well, not just commercial.

GCC service description ↗ GCC High & DoD ↗ How to buy (government) ↗

Copilot Cowork — usage-based cost estimator

Cowork is a usage-based add-on, not a per-seat price. It requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot license as a prerequisite, then bills separately on Copilot Credits at $0.01 per credit (pay-as-you-go; volume discounts apply on pre-purchase). The estimate below is a rough planning range only — actual spend varies with task complexity and usage.

Cowork users Light tasks / user / monthweekly status, simple drafts Medium tasks / user / monthmeeting prep, briefing docs Heavy tasks / user / monthlarge data analysis

Per-task credit ranges (Microsoft's July 2026 planning estimates): Light 100–300, Medium 300–700, Heavy 700+ (Microsoft does not publish a heavy-task ceiling — treat any heavy figure as a floor, not a cap).
These ranges assume a frontier model. Microsoft's lighter model is designed to cost less, so treat this as a planning ceiling on the low/medium bands, not a floor.
Credits pool at the tenant level; this shows estimated tenant monthly spend, not a per-seat charge.
A Copilot license is still required per user and is billed separately from this usage — no Cowork entitlements are included with the Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription.
Pay-as-you-go is $0.01/credit with no commitment. A 1-year Pre-Purchase Plan (P3) offers volume discounts from 5% (300K credits) up to 20% (300M credits) for tenants that want to lock in a rate.

What are Copilot Credits?

Copilot Credits are the shared usage currency behind Cowork, Work IQ APIs, Copilot Studio agents, and AI features in Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. You pay for the work performed, not a flat per-seat fee. Think of it like a utility bill: the Copilot license is the fixed connection, the credits are the metered usage. List rate is $0.01 per credit pay-as-you-go, with prepaid plans offering volume discounts. Admins can set spending limits and alerts, and usage is off until switched on.

Important distinction: native Microsoft 365 Copilot experiences — Copilot Chat, AI in Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Outlook/Teams, and the built-in Researcher, Analyst, and Facilitator agents — do not incur separate Work IQ charges. Credits only apply when Work IQ is accessed directly through its APIs inside a custom-built agent or solution.

Microsoft: Copilot Credits usage-based billing overview ↗

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