AI features in Microsoft 365 are insanely expensive for consumers, and it makes no sense

A few months ago, I published an editorial emphasizing how Microsoft 365 is still my favorite product, but it’s getting too expensive. That piece was triggered by me having to pay my annual Microsoft 365 Family subscription fee and realizing that it had been hiked to $129.99, up from the $99.99 I originally paid for it.

Microsoft’s justification for this price increase was the addition of AI features, which I argued is ludicrous considering that you only get a few AI “credits” per month, and they can only be leveraged by the subscription owner. But hold on, it gets worse from here, so consider this piece a continuation of my previous editorial.

The way things stand right now is that Microsoft 365 Personal and Family cost $99.99/year and $129.99/year, respectively, and both of these offer excellent value if you’re primarily looking to use Office apps and OneDrive cloud storage. The only difference between…