Microsoft is introducing fair use limits for more Copilot Chat features for users without a paid Copilot licence. The company is not disclosing how high those limits are.
Copilot Chat is included by default in the business Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Users without a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence will now face a usage limit on more features. Such a limit already existed for image generation. For organisations with up to 2,000 Microsoft 365 licences, the rollout began on 2 November, while larger organisations follow from 9 November. The limits apply to Copilot Chat on the web, desktop and mobile.
Limits unknown
Microsoft sets the limits itself, and administrators cannot view or change them. Microsoft does not publish figures, because the limits can change. They can also vary over the course of the day. Users who reach a limit get a message in Copilot with the time at which the feature will be available again. A response that Copilot is writing at that moment will still be completed.
In most organisations, that message contains an upgrade button. With it, a user requests a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence from their administrator, who approves or rejects the request in the Microsoft 365 admin centre. If an organisation lets users buy licences themselves, they can also purchase one straight away. Administrators can disable those direct purchases per product. Microsoft also advises them to notify the helpdesk.
Sales signal
Microsoft tells its partners that a user who hits the limit is showing interest in the paid version. In the ASPX partner portal, resellers can see which customers have users running into the limits, so they can start a conversation about Microsoft 365 Copilot. That licence costs 30 dollars per user per month. For SMEs, there is Microsoft 365 Copilot Business.
Microsoft is scaling back the free version step by step this year. Since 15 April, Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote only works with a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. Users without a licence have since seen the label “Copilot Chat (Basic)”. After that, users with a licence were given priority. For the others, access can be restricted when capacity is tight.
According to Microsoft, the limits may also extend to other Copilot Chat features in the future. Organisations will only find out in practice how often users run into them.