Would you pay $3.99 a month for an Outlook.com Premium subscription?

Outlook.com offers all the right features that most consumers expect in an email service these days. But, if you are power users, Microsoft believes you may be looking for more, which is why the software giant is now trialling a Premium subscription.

Costing $3.99 a month, this is not the first and only Outlook.com subscription. There already is an Ad-free plan for users who want to get rid of advertisements, that goes for $19.95 a year, however the Premium tier is meant to unlock more extra, pro-level features.

With the Premium subscription, the idea is to offer users a version of Outlook.com that supports up to five custom email accounts, that is also ad-free. The former feature had been offered for free, being embraced by users who own domains, before Microsoft decided to pull the plug -- only those who previously added accounts would get to keep it.

Microsoft does not say if and when it plans to make this subscription available to the public, with a spokesperson saying that "Outlook.com Premium is currently a small pilot program. We’re always investigating new features based on the wants and needs of our customers, and we have nothing more to share at this time". The fact that there is no yearly price is clear evidence of that.

Microsoft's landing page for the subscription does reveal that customers who sign up for it will only be charged after the first year, although this may change with a possible general availability. That said, a one-year trial would be a good play, as the users who Microsoft targets are unlikely to go through the hassle of setting things up again for a short free testing period.

Obviously, because we are only talking about such a small number of custom email accounts, this subscription looks to be designed with a niche crowd in mind, like folks who need a few addresses up and running for their website. Those who purchase an Office 365 subscription may be able to take advantage of it for free, however, and invite up to five users to try it.

The asking price does seem very reasonable considering the number of custom email addresses involved. With Google Apps, for instance, the cost is $5 per user per month, which is higher no matter how you plan on using that Premium subscription with Outlook.com.