Microsoft may want you to pay more to get Teams

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 by Financial 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?

The subscription price for 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 its AI-powered Copilot assistant 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!