Microsoft puts advanced Copilot work on metered credits
The new Copilot app adds Home, Code and Autopilot. Everyday use stays on the per-user license, but the agentic work at the center of the launch now runs on usage-based billing
- Autopilot was previously called Scout.
- Microsoft says Code will reach preview for Microsoft 365 Premium and Pro subscribers later in 2026.
- Cost management in Agent 365 now covers Code and Copilot Managed Runtime, with Copilot Studio agents due in October, according to Microsoft.
- Spending policies can be managed through the Microsoft Graph API, and spend can be assigned to Azure subscriptions or resource groups.
- Heavy users who hit a USL usage limit can switch to Auto at no extra cost or move to credits, Microsoft says.
For UK partners in Microsoft's Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program, a Copilot quote is no longer one line per seat. Anyone selling Cowork, Code or Autopilot has to forecast credit consumption without a price in Microsoft's launch material to anchor it, and agree with the customer who owns the spending policy before anything is switched on.
That governance work – budgets, caps, alerts and chargeback to cost centers – is billable, and MSPs already running Azure cost management are best placed to package it. Partners that leave the meter to the customer will still field the call when the first unexpected invoice lands.
“Agentic work requires a different type of spend, one that gives you the best quality possible with the most advanced models.”Jared Spataro, chief marketing officer, AI at Work, Microsoft
Microsoft unveiled the new version of its Copilot app on 25 September and put its most demanding work outside the per-seat license. Cowork, Code, Autopilot and frontier models such as Astra and Fable run on usage-based billing (UBB), paid for with Copilot Credits.
Home puts Chat alongside Cowork, which takes a delegated task and returns a finished result, and brings Word, Excel and PowerPoint inside the app. Code builds apps, dashboards and automations from plain-language requests on the same technology as GitHub Copilot, hosted on a new Copilot Managed Runtime inside the customer's Microsoft 365 environment. Autopilot is a cloud-hosted agent with its own identity, memory and workspace. Microsoft says Home and Code begin rolling out through its Frontier program in the coming weeks, with Autopilot expanding to private preview at the end of September.
The Copilot user subscription license (USL) still covers Chat, Copilot in the Office apps and Auto model routing, and Microsoft says what it includes is unchanged. UBB requires the USL. For enterprise customers it stays off until an admin creates a spending policy in the Microsoft 365 admin center, and Microsoft says nothing is billed before then. Policies set budgets at tenant and group level, with user caps and spend alerts. Neither the launch post nor Microsoft's pricing post gives a price per credit.
Microsoft's partner blog names AI advisory, security and governance, agent development, FinOps for AI and managed services among the openings for partners.
