microsoft business plans comparison pdf

Which Microsoft 365 plan is right for your business?

Your business has unique needs, which is why there are several Microsoft 365 plans to choose from, so you get the apps and features you need. Many of the plans sound similar, so we'll guide you through the options to help you find the plan that will best support you to run your business.

If you want a full breakdown and comparison of features in each plan, check out more here .

You can also take a quick 2-minute assessment to get a recommendation on which plan is best for you.

Microsoft 365 for business  is a subscription service that lets you run your organization in the cloud while Microsoft takes care of the IT for you. It connects employees to the people, information, and content they need to do their best work, from any device.

The most popular plan and what is recommended for most businesses is Microsoft 365 Business Standard.

If you have other needs, choose one of the options below:

We already have Word and Excel, but we're interested in email and Microsoft Teams

If your business already has licenses of Microsoft Office, you might only want to get business-class email that gives you a custom email domain address and Microsoft Teams for online meetings. If this is the case, then Microsoft 365 Business Basic would be your best option. 

Web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

Host email with a 50GB mailbox and custom email domain address.

1TB of cloud storage to store and share files.

Facilitate online meetings and video calls for up to 300 users and create a hub for teamwork using Microsoft Teams.

Manage appointments with Bookings and manage projects with Forms, Lists, and Planner.

Click here if Microsoft 365 Business Basic is the right option.

My business and employees just need apps like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel

If your business only needs desktop apps like Word or Excel, Microsoft 365 Apps for business will be your best option.

The latest desktop versions of Microsoft 365 apps: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote (plus Access and Publisher for PC only).

Automatic updates to your apps with the latest features and capabilities.

1 TB of cloud storage to store and share files.

Each license lets you install Microsoft 365 apps on five mobile devices, five tablets and five PCs or Macs per user.

Click here if Microsoft 365 Apps for business is the right option.

What add-ons are there for my business plan?

There are a plenty of add-ons to choose from, but two that we recommend you consider are Microsoft Defender for Business and Teams Phone.

Help keep your devices and servers secure from online threats such as ransomware and malware. Defender for Business is an easy-to-use cybersecurity solution to help protect against, detect, and respond to cyberattacks.

Learn more about Microsoft Defender for Business

Help administrators keep your organization connected with Microsoft Teams calling solutions. Empower employees in remote, in-office, or hybrid work environments with the flexibility of Teams Phone and devices that fit the way you work.

Learn more about Microsoft Teams Phone

Check out  Buy or manage add-ons for Microsoft 365 business plans to learn how to add new features to enhance your subscription.

How do I change subscriptions?

If you chose a plan for your business, but later want to change it, check out Upgrade or change to a different Microsoft 365 for business plan to read how you can switch your plan.

Buy Microsoft 365 for your small business

Payment information and billing

Need more help?

Want more options.

Explore subscription benefits, browse training courses, learn how to secure your device, and more.

Microsoft 365 subscription benefits

Microsoft 365 training

Microsoft security

Accessibility center

Communities help you ask and answer questions, give feedback, and hear from experts with rich knowledge.

Ask the Microsoft Community

Microsoft Tech Community

Windows Insiders

Microsoft 365 Insiders

Was this information helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Microsoft 365 Business Plans Compared

In April 2020 Microsoft changed the names of the Office 365 Business plans to Microsoft 365 Business. Before this name change, we had only Microsoft 365 Business, but now we have Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium, and Apps for Business.

Only the names have changed, the price and the features of the plans have stayed the same. In this article, we are going to take a look at the differences between the Microsoft 365 Business plans . We are going to start with a comparison table so you can quickly compare the most important details between the different plans.

Microsoft 365 for Business Plans Compared

In the table below you will find all the details of the Microsoft 365 business plans compared. You can find the prices for your country here at Microsoft.com . Keep in mind that all Business plans are limited to 300 users.

Note Microsoft added new plans without Teams wich are only available in the European Union. These plans are less expensive. Read everything about it in this article

Tip You can mix Microsoft 365 Business plans with Enterprise plans, so if you have more than 300 users, you buy Office 365 E3 plans for the other users.

Microsoft 365 Business Basic

The Microsoft 365 Business Basic plan, formerly known as Office 365 Business Essentials, is the perfect plan if you don’t work a lot in Word, Excel, or Outlook.

In the Business Basic plan, you don’t get the desktop apps , so you can’t install Word, Excel, Outlook, etc on your desktop. But you can use those applications online in your browser.

The browser versions of these apps work perfectly for light usage. Outlook Online is great to work with, it has all the important features just like the Outlook app. Word and Excel Online also work fine if you need to write an occasional letter or spreadsheet.

What makes the Business Basic plan so great is that you get Exchange Online with 50Gb mailboxes OneDrive and SharePoint. So you can use all the benefits of Office 365 (safely storing your data in the cloud, easily working together and sharing documents, etc.), for only $5 per month.

Microsoft 365 Business Standard

This is basically the default Microsoft 365 plan for small businesses ( hence the name 😉 ). Microsoft 365 Business Standard , formerly known as Office 365 Business Premium, contains everything a small business needs.

It comes with desktop apps so that you can install Outlook, Word, Excel, etc. on your desktops, and it comes with a lot of online business apps.

The desktop apps have of course a lot of advantages over the online versions, but the most important ones are that you can use add-ins (for your business applications for example) and macros . Something that is not possible with the online versions.

Business Standard comes with a couple of Online Business Applications that are only available in Standard and Premium.

• Outlook Customer Manager – a Lite CRM system based on Outlook
• Microsoft Teams Shifts – Built-in Microsoft Teams to plan shifts and tasks
• Microsoft Bookings
• Microsoft Invoicing

Microsoft 365 Business Premium

Business Premium is an original Microsoft 36 plan, it was formerly known as Microsoft 365 Business. It comes with everything that Business Standard has with the addition of a couple of security features/services and a Windows 10 Pro license.

Windows 10 Pro License

The Windows 10 Pro license is a pretty strange one compared to the other plans, so let me explain it a bit. Some of the advanced security features that come with Business Premium don’t work on older versions of Windows or on Windows 10 Home.

So to make full use of the security features, you get a Windows 10 Pro license. Now to be clear, you can only upgrade Windows 7 or 8 Pro to Windows 10 Pro. You can’t upgrade Windows 10 Home to Pro.

Advanced Security Features

The advanced security features help you to stay protected against cybersecurity threats. It protects you from phishing emails and ransomware.

Another important feature is the Azure Information Protection. If you are working with a lot of sensitive data, then you absolutely don’t want the data to be accidentally shared with others. With Information Protection you can classify, label, and encrypt data so it can’t be shared accidentally.

Keep in mind that settings up these features require some knowledge about Office 365, so it might be a good idea to get an IT/Office 365 Consultant to help you set it up correctly.

Microsoft Intune

The last important addition to this Premium Microsoft 365 Business plan is Intune. With Microsoft Intune, you can manage and protect your mobile devices. Keep in mind data mobile devices are easily getting lost or stolen, so you want to make sure that those are fully protected and easily can be wiped clean when lost.

Microsoft 365 Apps for Business

This plan doesn’t really belong here in this comparison, but I have put it in because of the name and the confusion it might cause. You should actually really compare this plan with just buying Office 2019 in my opinion.

Basically, Apps for Business is only the Office applications (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.) with the advantage that you also get Online versions, continuous updates, and 1Tb OneDrive storage. But you don’t get SharePoint or Exchange Online.

So you will have to host your email somewhere else, store your files locally (or in OneDrive) and you won’t get any of the advantages of Office 365.

The Microsoft 365 Business Standard plan is for most businesses the best plan to choose. It comes with the Office apps, and all the cloud features and it’s reasonably priced. If you are still in doubt, you can always start with a trial of Business Standard .

Make sure you also check the following articles:

• Microsoft 365 Business Standard vs Office 365 E3
• Office 365 Branding
• Setup Multi-Factor Authentication in Office 365

You may also like the following articles

How to Reset MFA Office 365

Exchange Online Message Recall Update

Creating an Asset Library in SharePoint

5 thoughts on “microsoft 365 business plans compared”.

M365 Business Premium comes with Windows 10 Business, not Pro. Win 10 Pro is a requirement for Business.

Hi Can M365BP be combine with M365Standard or basic after BP has exceed the 300 limit ?

So 300MBP and 50MBS and so on.

Yes, that is possible.

your statement on Win 10 pro is wrong. Premium CANNOT upgrade a home to pro. I asked microsoft directly to confirm.

“Windows 10 Pro License The Windows 10 Pro license is a pretty strange one compared to the other plans, so let me explain it a bit. Some of the advanced security features that come with Business Premium don’t work on Windows 10 Home. In small companies, you see more Windows 10 Home devices, because people are using a (former) personal device or buy the more affordable computers with Windows 10 Home on it.

So to make full use of the security features, you get a Windows 10 Pro license. Installing it is pretty simple, all you need to do is change the license key and your Windows 10 Home installation will be upgraded to Pro.”

You are correct. I have updated the article.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

So, about that AdBlocker... Will you consider disabling it?

Yes, ads can be annoying. But they allow me to keep writing content like this. You can also support me by Buying Me a Coffee ☕ or visit the shop to get some Tech-Inspired merchandise | Read more about disabling AdBlockers