Microsoft may want you to pay more to get Teams

The decision came amidst Redmond’s battle with antitrust regulators.

2 min. read

Published onApril 25, 2023

published onApril 25, 2023

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Key notes

Microsoft has agreed to stop bundling its popular teleconference app, Teams, with the Office 365 subscription. The move was taken following rival Slack’s complaint to antitrust regulators and to prevent an official probe by the EU.

As initially noted byFinancial Times, Slack complained in 2020 that Redmond officials are unfair and anti-competitive by practicing bundling, as companies willing to buy 365 must also opt for Teams at that time.

Although there’s no word from Microsoft’s camp about how it’ll unfold, the decision is likely final and we’ll update you on how to opt-out from getting Teams when purchasing an Office 365 subscription. This also means that you may have to pay a little more to get Teams, as it won’t be included in your Office 365 subscription plan.

Slack raised a complaint at a time when there was a rapid increase in the trend of working from home. The pandemic led to a surge in the usage of communication apps like Teams and Slack, which resulted in a massive opportunity worth billions of dollars, as more users and organizations began adopting remote working tools.

This would be Microsoft’s first antitrust probe since 2008 when the EU accused the tech giant of being anti-competitive by pushing Windows users to download Internet Explorer through a bundle, resulting in a $561 million fine in 2013.

How much does Microsoft price the Office and Teams bundling?

Thesubscription pricefor Microsoft Office 365 apps varies for personal, business, enterprise, and education uses.

For personal and family plans, Redmond officials price the subscription at $99.99/year for up to six people and 6 TB of cloud storage. The app includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneDrive, Editor, Defender, Teams, OneNote, and more.

Additionally, Microsoft has also launched itsAI-powered Copilotassistant for all Office 365 apps. While there aren’t official words from the tech giant about its pricing plan or release date yet, the feature has been tested internally on several select insiders.

What do you think about Microsoft’s decision to stop bundling Teams with Office 365 subscription plans? Let us know in the comments!

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Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier

Microsoft may want you to pay more to get Teams

How much does Microsoft price the Office and Teams bundling?