awesome-copilot/skills/azure-pricing/references/COPILOT-STUDIO-RATES.md

Copilot Studio — Billing Rates & Estimation

Source: Billing rates and management Estimator: Microsoft agent usage estimator Licensing Guide: Copilot Studio Licensing Guide

Copilot Credit Rate

1 Copilot Credit = $0.01 USD

Billing Rates (cached snapshot — last updated March 2026)

IMPORTANT: Always prefer fetching live rates from the source URLs below. Use this table only as a fallback if web fetch is unavailable.

Feature	Rate	Unit
Classic answer	1	per response
Generative answer	2	per response
Agent action	5	per action (triggers, deep reasoning, topic transitions, computer use)
Tenant graph grounding	10	per message
Agent flow actions	13	per 100 flow actions
Text & gen AI tools (basic)	1	per 10 responses
Text & gen AI tools (standard)	15	per 10 responses
Text & gen AI tools (premium)	100	per 10 responses
Content processing tools	8	per page

Notes

• Classic answers: Predefined, manually authored responses. Static — don't change unless updated by the maker.
• Generative answers: Dynamically generated using AI models (GPTs). Adapt based on context and knowledge sources.
• Tenant graph grounding: RAG over tenant-wide Microsoft Graph, including external data via connectors. Optional per agent.
• Agent actions: Steps like triggers, deep reasoning, topic transitions visible in the activity map. Includes Computer-Using Agents.
• Text & gen AI tools: Prompt tools embedded in agents. Three tiers (basic/standard/premium) based on the underlying language model.
• Agent flow actions: Predefined flow action sequences executed without agent reasoning/orchestration at each step.

Reasoning Model Billing

When using a reasoning-capable model:

Total cost = feature rate for operation + text & gen AI tools (premium) per 10 responses

Example: A generative answer using a reasoning model costs 2 credits (generative answer) + 10 credits (premium per response, prorated from 100/10).

Estimation Formula

Inputs

Parameter	Description
users	Number of end users
interactions_per_month	Average interactions per user per month
knowledge_pct	% of responses from knowledge sources (0-100)
tenant_graph_pct	Of knowledge responses, % using tenant graph grounding (0-100)
tool_prompt	Average Prompt tool calls per session
tool_agent_flow	Average Agent flow calls per session
tool_computer_use	Average Computer use calls per session
tool_custom_connector	Average Custom connector calls per session
tool_mcp	Average MCP (Model Context Protocol) calls per session
tool_rest_api	Average REST API calls per session
prompts_basic	Average basic AI prompt uses per session
prompts_standard	Average standard AI prompt uses per session
prompts_premium	Average premium AI prompt uses per session

Calculation

total_sessions = users × interactions_per_month

── Knowledge Credits ──
tenant_graph_credits    = total_sessions × (knowledge_pct/100) × (tenant_graph_pct/100) × 10
generative_answer_credits = total_sessions × (knowledge_pct/100) × (1 - tenant_graph_pct/100) × 2
classic_answer_credits  = total_sessions × (1 - knowledge_pct/100) × 1

── Agent Tools Credits ──
tool_calls = total_sessions × (prompt + computer_use + custom_connector + mcp + rest_api)
tool_credits = tool_calls × 5

── Agent Flow Credits ──
flow_calls = total_sessions × tool_agent_flow
flow_credits = ceil(flow_calls / 100) × 13

── Prompt Modifier Credits ──
basic_credits    = ceil(total_sessions × prompts_basic / 10) × 1
standard_credits = ceil(total_sessions × prompts_standard / 10) × 15
premium_credits  = ceil(total_sessions × prompts_premium / 10) × 100

── Total ──
total_credits = knowledge + tools + flows + prompts
cost_usd = total_credits × 0.01

Billing Examples (from Microsoft Docs)

Customer Support Agent

• 4 classic answers + 2 generative answers per session
• 900 customers/day
• Daily: [(4×1) + (2×2)] × 900 = 7,200 credits
• Monthly (30d): 216,000 credits = **$2,160**

Sales Performance Agent (Tenant Graph Grounded)

• 4 generative answers + 4 tenant graph grounded responses per session
• 100 unlicensed users
• Daily: [(4×2) + (4×10)] × 100 = 4,800 credits
• Monthly (30d): 144,000 credits = **$1,440**

Order Processing Agent

• 4 action calls per trigger (autonomous)
• Per trigger: 4 × 5 = 20 credits

Employee vs Customer Agent Types

Agent Type	Included with M365 Copilot?
Employee-facing (BtoE)	Classic answers, generative answers, and tenant graph grounding are included at zero cost when the user has a Microsoft 365 Copilot license
Customer/partner-facing	All usage is billed normally

Overage Enforcement

• Triggered at 125% of prepaid capacity
• Custom agents are disabled (ongoing conversations continue)
• Email notification sent to tenant admin
• Resolution: reallocate capacity, purchase more, or enable pay-as-you-go

Live Source URLs

For the latest rates, fetch content from these pages:

• Billing rates and management
• Copilot Studio licensing
• Copilot Studio Licensing Guide (PDF)