How Much is Copilot Pro in 2024?

Copilot Pro is the premium paid version of Microsoft’s AI assistant Copilot. It builds on the existing Copilot capability offered for free but charges a subscription fee to access additional features.

• Announced in 2024, Copilot Pro promises faster AI image generation, better performance through dedicated compute allocation, and tight integration with Microsoft 365 apps.
• It aims to boost productivity for developers, content creators, office workers and more with AI-powered writing, coding, communicating and creating.

Copilot Pro Pricing and Plans

• Microsoft has priced Copilot Pro at $20 per user per month if billed monthly. Annual contracts drop the price to $15 per user per month when billed annually.
• Volume discounts are available for larger organizations with 100+ monthly active users. Academic pricing is also offered to schools and universities.
• The Pro subscription is in addition to any existing Microsoft 365 license. It unlocks a higher tier of Copilot functionality as an add-on.
• Currently Microsoft only offers one unified “Copilot Pro” plan with all features, but tiering may expand over time.

Comparing to Copilot Free

• The original Copilot preview launched in 2021 remains available for free to developers. It provides basic coding assistance in IDEs like Visual Studio Code.
• Copilot Pro builds on this with much faster performance via dedicated cloud compute, 1-click AI image generation, and Microsoft 365 integration.
• Free Copilot users still benefit from ongoing model updates, but Pro delivers the full premium experience. A waitlist governs access to both tiers.

Understanding What’s Included

• Faster AI Image Generation: Generate images from text prompts inside Office docs, emails, etc. at 8-10x the speed of DALL-E online.
• Dedicated Compute: Private compute instance per user removes limits for snappier coding suggestions.
• Native Microsoft 365 Integration: Copilot assists with writing, presentations, spreadsheets and more.
• Technical Support: 24/7 support plus admin tools for enterprise deployments.
• Regular Model Updates: Continual fine-tuning of Copilot’s foundations.
• IP Reassurance: Models exclusively trained on 1st party Microsoft data.

What Copilot Pro Enables

• Accelerated Writing: Copilot helps draft content in Word with autocorrections, predictions, and generated passages to spark ideas.
• Email and Meeting Productivity: Smart scheduling, draft previews, and template suggestions help automate communication workflows.
• Presentation Wizard: Instantly create slide decks in PowerPoint using natural language prompts.
• Code Faster: Copilot eliminates boilerplate code and handles rote coding automatically.
• Analyze Data: Surface insights from tables/databases easily with natural language queries.
• Technical Documentation: Keep knowledge bases, specs, ReadMes and wikis up to date.
• Design Sprints: Rapidly generate mood boards, design system previews, concept images.
• Plus Many More: Workflows for analysts, researchers, digital marketers, students, managers and beyond.

Departmental Use Cases

• Developers: Increase velocity, implement best practices, reduce bugs.
• Designers: Enrich designs with AI-generated images and mockups.
• Writers: Publish more content faster.
• Sales: Streamline processes to close more deals with less effort.
• Marketing: Create campaigns in a fraction of the time.
• Engineering: Democratize analytics and accelerate reporting.
• IT: Automate issue resolution and optimize service delivery.
• Customer Success: Deliver 5-star experiences powered by data insights.

Comparing to OpenAI API Access

• OpenAI recently priced access to its API for models like DALL-E 2 and GPT-3.5 starting at $0.002 per 1K tokens.
• At equivalent usage levels, Copilot Pro costs less per month than raw OpenAI access for most individuals and teams.
• However OpenAI offers more a la carte consumption while Copilot Pro charges a flat rate. Usage limits also differ.
• For tight Office integration, Copilot Pro delivers much more value without OpenAI API complexity.

How Enterprises Can Adopt Copilot Pro?

• Contact a Microsoft representative to get started with volume Copilot Pro licensing. Academic institutions also have designated channels.
• For smaller customers, access will be granted off the waitlist over time through direct signup, similar to GitHub Copilot today.
• Identity and access best practices are critical for securing AI access across large organizations. Learn more on deployment considerations for IT teams.
• Change management will ease adoption as Copilot profoundly impacts workflows. User feedback loops help guide effective usage.

Conclusion

At $20 per user per month, Microsoft Copilot Pro delivers AI assistance unmatched by any other solution integrated with essential Office 365 productivity software. For enterprises spending billions annually on knowledge worker salaries, integrating Copilot into key workflows results in an obvious net productivity boost and material cost savings that overshadow its subscription expense.

The pricing puts cutting-edge AI squarely within reach of businesses compared to research lab models costing millions. As Microsoft continues advancing Copilot capabilities across its stack, the long-term value will only compound for organizations who get started now.

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