Estimate Copilot Cowork spend

Cowork is a metered add-on, not a seat price. Compare several work patterns in one tenant-level planning range. A qualifying Copilot license is still billed separately for each user.

Microsoft-published inputs

Known pricing anchors

$0.01 per Copilot Credit for pay as you go
Light tasks: 100–300 credits
Medium tasks: 300–700 credits
Pre-purchase entry threshold: 300,000 credits annually

WhichM365 planning assumption

Heavy-task ceiling

Microsoft publishes a 700+ credit floor, but not a ceiling, for heavy tasks. This tool uses 2,000 credits only to create a conservative planning range.

Workforce cohorts

Model different usage patterns together.

Add groups only when their expected task mix differs. Inputs remain in this page and clear when it reloads.

Assumptions and methodology

Microsoft's July 2026 planning estimates use 100 to 300 credits for light tasks and 300 to 700 for medium tasks.
Microsoft does not publish a heavy-task ceiling. This planner uses 700 to 2,000 credits as a planning assumption, not a promised cap.
Credits pool at the tenant level. User- and group-level policies can scope access and limits, but consumption is totaled for the tenant.
The /cost command is approximate and retrospective for the current billing cycle. It is not an invoice ledger or pre-task quote.
A limit is not an instantaneous pre-task access gate; administrators should use access policy and monitoring together.
Frontier-model ranges are used as a planning ceiling for light and medium work. Lighter models are designed to cost less.
Pay as you go is $0.01 per credit. Annual pre-purchase discounts start at Microsoft's published 300,000-credit threshold.

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. The Copilot license is the fixed connection; credits are the metered usage.

Native Microsoft 365 Copilot experiences do not incur separate Work IQ charges. Credits apply when Work IQ is accessed directly through APIs inside a custom agent or solution.

Microsoft Copilot Credits billing overview

Building an app is different from running it

App creation in Cowork or Copilot Studio can consume credits. Hosting and running that app in Copilot Managed Runtime can incur separate consumption. This task estimator does not calculate app-building or app-hosting costs.

Microsoft describes Cowork app building as a Frontier feature, and Copilot Studio apps and Copilot Managed Runtime as paid public preview. Confirm availability and terms before budgeting.

For users with Power Apps Premium, app runtime is included within applicable request limits. Usage beyond those limits, and AI runtime such as agents and Work IQ APIs, can still consume credits. This is not unlimited AI usage.

Ask the responsible technical team to confirm separate app-creation and runtime spending policies. Review the default Auto-apply new services setting so future supported services do not inherit spending policies unexpectedly.

Microsoft app creation and runtime licensing guidance

WhichM365 provides independent educational decision support. Its author is a Microsoft employee acting in a personal capacity. WhichM365 is not a Microsoft product or service and is not sponsored, authorized, or endorsed by Microsoft.