Billing in eDiscovery

Starting on May 1, 2025, eDiscovery now uses a billing model based on the combination of your enterprise subscription and pay-as-go billing for certain features. This new billing combination includes:

• Your Microsoft 365 subscription and any add-ons. Depending on the licensing and subscriptions for your organization, you have access to specific premium eDiscovery features in the Microsoft Purview portal. For more information about subscriptions and licensing, see the subscription requirements for eDiscovery.
• Pay-as-you-go billing for data storage for non-Microsoft 365 enterprise and cloud AI application data in eDiscovery cases.

Data types

Depending on the type of data included in eDiscovery cases in your organization, subscription or pay-as-you-go billing applies:

• Microsoft 365 data: Non-AI data from Microsoft 365 services and applications. This data type includes data from Microsoft services like Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, etc.

  This data storage is included in your enterprise subscription and isn't subject to pay-as-you-go billing.

• Microsoft 365 AI data: AI data from Microsoft 365 services and applications. This data type includes AI data from Microsoft services like Microsoft 365 Copilot and AI data from Microsoft Office applications like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, etc.

  This data storage is included in your enterprise subscription and isn't subject to pay-as-you-go billing.

• Non-Microsoft 365 AI data: Data from other generative AI applications from Microsoft and other connected external AI applications. This data type includes Copilot in Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft Security Copilot, Microsoft Copilot Studio, any connected or cloud AI application.

  This data storage isn't included in your enterprise subscription and is subject to pay-as-you-go billing. Data for non-Microsoft 365 services and applications is identified by ItemClass.

  The following ItemClasses are applicable to pay-as-you-go-billing:

  • IPM.SkypeTeams.Message.Copilot.Fabric.*
  • IPM.SkypeTeams.Message.Copilot.Security.SecurityCopilot
  • IPM.SkypeTeams.Message.Copilot.BAP*
  • IPM.SkypeTeams.Message.Copilot.Studio.*
  • IPM.Skypeteams.Message.Copilot.Sql.*
  • IPM.SkypeTeams.Message.ConnectedAIApp.*
  • IPM.SkypeTeams.Message.CloudAIApp.SaaS.*

Non-Microsoft 365 AI data scope

Non-Microsoft 365 AI data is added to and exported from eDiscovery case in several ways and is retained for as long as a case is active or closed in your organization. Depending on the data type and the type of process taken in eDiscovery, the application of this data storage costs varies.

The following eDiscovery processes use pay-as-you-go billing for non-Microsoft 365 AI data:

• Direct export of this data from cases using the Microsoft Purview portal
• Adding this data to a review set
• Exporting this data using Microsoft Graph API

The following eDiscovery processes don't use pay-as-you-go billing for non-Microsoft 365 AI data and are included in your enterprise subscription:

• All search processes
• All hold processes
• All case management processes

Configure pay-as-you-go billing

Before you can use features associated with non-Microsoft 365 AI data in eDiscovery in your organization, you must configure an Azure subscription for pay-as-you-go billing. For step-by-step guidance, see Enable Microsoft Purview pay-as-you-go features.

Billing calculation

Every 24 hours, the total amount data storage for non-Microsoft 365 AI data for all active and closed eDiscovery cases is calculated. Deleted cases aren't charged for data storage after they're deleted. The total amount of data is multiplied with daily storage rate to determine the total data storage cost for the day.

At the end of each month, the daily charges are added together for the total eDiscovery data storage costs and are included as part of the all-up data meter storage costs in your Azure account. Details for each eDiscovery process and the costs are itemized.

For example, the following table outlines the non-Microsoft 365 AI data storage amounts for a sample month of eDiscovery activity:

In this example, the total amount of non-Microsoft 365 AI data storage that would be subject to pay-as-you-go-billing rates for the month would be 246 GB. Data associated with processes that aren't applicable to data storage billing and data that is removed from your organization aren't subject to your monthly bill available in the billing section on the Azure portal.

Excluding non-Microsoft 365 data

To exclude non-Microsoft 365 AI data from processes subject to pay-as-you-go billing, you can use search conditions and filters to exclude this data type.

KeyQL condition

Use the following KeyQL statement with the Equals operator to exclude non-Microsoft 365 AI data from a search query:

(NOT((ItemClass:IPM.SkypeTeams.Message.Copilot.Fabric.*) OR (ItemClass:IPM.SkypeTeams.Message.Copilot.Security.SecurityCopilot) OR (ItemClass:IPM.SkypeTeams.Message.Copilot.BAP*) OR (ItemClass:IPM.SkypeTeams.Message.Copilot.Studio.*) OR (ItemClass:IPM.SkypeTeams.Message.ConnectedAIApp.*) OR (ItemClass:IPM.SkypeTeams.Message.CloudAIApp.SaaS.*) OR (ItemClass:ipm.skypeteams.message.copilot.sql.*)))

Filter

Use the Contains none of operator for the Non M365 AI activity type filter to exclude non-Microsoft 365 AI data.