This story is part of the Nerds News briefing for April 7, 2026. Watch the full episode on YouTube or read all six stories together in the main briefing.

Microsoft 365 Pricing: The 5–33% Hike Hitting July 1

Microsoft just confirmed another round of pricing changes — and this one is going to land squarely on small business IT budgets. Effective July 1, 2026, Microsoft 365 plans, Copilot add-ons, Defender, and several IT management products are seeing increases of 5% to 33% depending on the SKU.

If you’re running your business on M365 — and most of you are — this matters. A 10% jump on a 25-seat tenant can mean hundreds of dollars a month in unplanned spend, and the higher-tier security and Copilot add-ons are taking the steepest hits. Nobody likes opening a renewal invoice 30% bigger than last year’s.

Here’s the good news: there’s a known workaround that buys you another 12 months at today’s pricing. If you’re on a monthly commitment, switching to an annual commitment license and renewing before July 1 locks in current rates for another full year. We’re auditing every client tenant this week and emailing the folks who are affected with a clear action plan — but if you can’t wait for the email, give us a call and we’ll prioritize your renewal.

Watch the 60-second clip

How ACS helps

Stuff like this is exactly why we built our managed services packages — so small business owners don’t have to track every Microsoft announcement or wonder which patch matters. If you’d like an IT partner that watches this stuff for you and acts before it becomes a problem, schedule a quick call with our team and we’ll put a plan together.