Microsoft AI Spend Estimator
Model Copilot seats, Copilot Credits, Cowork, Code, Autopilot, Copilot Studio and Foundry across a 12-month horizon — with a Low / Likely / High range and a governance position you can take to your budget holder.
Starting scenario
Important
Estimates only. Microsoft does not publish deterministic per-task pricing and some rates are assumptions. Not financial advice. Verify against your agreement and current Microsoft documentation.
Rate card last verified 28 Sep 2026. UK pricing and contracted / EA prices will differ from USD list prices.
Joint engagement modelling
These advanced modules are completed jointly during an engagement, then saved to the client workspace for offline review and ongoing planning.
Pro planning workspace
Open a focused page for deeper modelling. All changes update this scenario.
Monthly forecast
Likely scenario unless stated. Figures in GBP.
Governance recommendation
Put these controls in place before you switch on usage-based billing.
Recommended starting position
Peak consumption in the High scenario is £5,823 per month. Set a tenant spending cap of £6,987 per month (20% headroom) and alert at 50 / 80 / 100%.
- Usage-based billing is off by default for enterprise tenants until an admin creates a spending policy — nothing is consumable until you switch it on.
- New Copilot Business purchases have usage-based billing on by default with default limits (from 19 Oct 2026 direct, 2 Nov 2026 CSP).
- Set hard caps at tenant, group and user level before you enable agentic features broadly.
- Configure alerts at 50%, 80% and 100% of each cap, routed to a named budget holder.
- Restrict premium / frontier model families per group — model choice is the single biggest swing factor in credit burn.
- Monitor with /cost in Cowork, the Cost Management dashboard and the Viva Insights consumption dashboard.
- Remember that building an app and running an app are separate meters — a build-heavy month is not your steady state.
Compare estimates
Add scenario files exported from this or other NeilC estimators (Claude, ChatGPT) to compare them with your current scenario. Figures are the files' USD summaries shown in GBP at your current exchange rate. Files stay in this browser tab and are not uploaded.
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Need help with your AI budget?
NeilC AI Consulting runs costing workshops, EA/MCA-E renewal support and Copilot governance reviews.
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