Summary
- Microsoft offered a free VPN service in its 365 suite, but seemingly due to lack of usage, it’s officially going away.
- The recent price hike in Microsoft 365 is still justified by the addition of Copilot AI features, even though the VPN service is now discontinued.
- Customers will need to find dedicated VPN apps post-service discontinuation, and may opt for the Classic plan for pre-hike pricing without the AI bits.
Microsoft is usually the first name that comes to mind when you think of a reliable Office suite, even though there are many other reliable providers of similar tools. It’s mostly because the company offers a comprehensive suite comprising tools to help manage all sorts of data. In 2023, the company threw in a VPN service for free for existing subscribers. However, after a price hike and just a couple of years, this VPN service is officially going away altogether.
In Microsoft’s Personal and Family plans, VPN services were added for no additional charge as a privacy protection feature for the current subscribers. It is delivered through the Microsoft Defender app that encrypts your internet activity and keeps your IP address private. However, WindowsCentral spotted Microsoft documentation revealing the VPN service would be shuttered at the end of this month (via TheVerge).
Price hike is justified, but you’re losing the VPN
Sunset date announced
In the announcement, the company simply stated VPN is going away since it regularly evaluates the usage and efficacy of the features offered. This suggests people didn’t use the VPN as much as Microsoft would’ve liked, and it could be attributed to the 50GB usage cap per month, and automatic connection which would often connect to servers in the user’s own country, negating the benefits of a VPN. However, Microsoft brand clarified that it is investing in “new areas that will better align with customer needs.”
Said investment is surely underway since Microsoft 365 subscription prices rose for the first time in over a decade, by $3 per month per user. This hike is accompanied by the infusion of Copilot AI features in the office suite of apps, but the VPN is still going away.
While Microsoft 365 customers in the US will retain access to credit monitoring and identity theft protection features in the US, they will have to look for a dedicated VPN app. On the bright side, most of these dedicated VPN providers let customers choose the servers they connect to, and offer far more liberal usage limits. Moreover, you can downgrade to Microsoft’s Classic plan if you want to retain pre-hike pricing, and the AI isn’t very useful to you.
