Microsoft is the clearest case. On July 1, it raised Microsoft 365 business prices by 5% to 43% and put Copilot Chat into its base plans.
A flat price works on averages, so light users pay for heavy ones. Google's numbers show when the buyer comes out ahead. When Gemini went into Workspace in 2025, Business Standard rose from $12 to $14 a user each month, while the old Gemini add-on had cost $20. A 200-person company on that plan pays $4,800 a year more. Buying the add-on for 20 people would cost the same. So the bundle is the better deal once more than one person in ten uses the AI.
Flat prices also change how much people use. When AOL offered unlimited use for $19.95 a month in December 1996, nobody had a reason to log off, and AOL had to more than double its modems. An AI agent that works all day creates the same cost for the software maker. That is why many bundles come with monthly allowances, which work like a meter that starts later.
For software makers, more than half of what a price change earns comes from renewals and upgrades sold to existing customers. So before the next renewal, take the AI usage figures from the admin console. If few staff use the AI, that is your case for a discount. If many do, the flat price is cheap, and the time to give it more work is before an allowance arrives.