Productivity suites · by Microsoft
Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 business plans bundle Office apps, Exchange email, 1 TB of OneDrive storage per user, Teams and SharePoint. Business Basic has web and mobile apps only; Business Standard adds desktop apps plus Loop, Clipchamp and webinars; Business Premium adds Intune, Defender and Purview security. All three include Copilot Chat (AI chat with web grounding). Full Microsoft 365 Copilot inside the apps and grounded in work data is a paid add-on or a 'with Copilot' bundle; see the separate microsoft-365-copilot record.
- Paid plans from
- $7/seat/mo
- Free plan
- No
- Data portability
- easy
- Last reviewed
- Oct 13, 2026
Plans & pricing
Business plans are for up to 300 users. Microsoft also sells 'with Copilot' bundles: Business Standard with Copilot $23.50 and Business Premium with Copilot $32.00 per user/month paid yearly. Microsoft 365 Copilot Business was shown as an add-on at $18.00 (promotional, down from $21.00) per user/month paid yearly; it is covered in the microsoft-365-copilot record. Annual commitments paid monthly may incur penalties if cancelled early.
| Plan | Price (USD) | Highlights | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Basic | $7/seat/mo billed annually · $7.00 user/month paid yearly; $8.40 user/month with a monthly subscription. A no-Teams version is $5.40 paid yearly. |
| Verified· Oct 13, 2026Source |
| Business Standard | $14/seat/mo billed annually · $14.00 user/month paid yearly; $16.80 with a monthly subscription. No-Teams version $10.79 paid yearly. |
| Verified· Oct 13, 2026Source |
| Business Premium | $22/seat/mo billed annually · $22.00 user/month paid yearly; $26.40 with a monthly subscription. No-Teams version $18.79 paid yearly. |
| Verified· Oct 13, 2026Source |
| Apps for business | $10/seat/mo billed annually · $10.00 user/month paid yearly. Excludes Teams chat/calling and business email. |
| Verified· Oct 13, 2026Source |
What Microsoft 365 does
17 capabilities mapped. Click one to compare every tool that does it.
| Capability | Fit | Quality | Ease | Precision | Team | Plans | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Write documents and notes | Core feature | All plans | Business Basic has web and mobile apps only · Loop is not in Business Basic | ||||
| Create presentation decks | Core feature | All plans | Full desktop PowerPoint needs Business Standard or above | ||||
| Hold video meetings | Core feature | — | Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium | Not included in 'no Teams' versions or Apps for business | |||
| Store structured data in a shared database or spreadsheet | Strong | All plans | Lists is simpler than Airtable for relational data | ||||
| Analyse data and spreadsheets | Strong | All plans | Desktop Excel (best for analysis) needs Business Standard or above · Copilot inside Excel needs the paid Copilot add-on | ||||
| Collect information with forms and surveys | Strong | All plans | Limited branding and advanced survey logic | ||||
| General-purpose AI assistant | Strong | Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium | Copilot Chat is web-grounded; grounding in your emails and files and Copilot inside Word/Excel/PowerPoint need Microsoft 365 Copilot (add-on) | ||||
| Build dashboards from spreadsheets and data | Partial | All plans | Power BI is sold separately · Sharing refreshable dashboards is clumsy in Excel | ||||
| Transcribe and summarise meetings | Partial | Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium | AI meeting summaries and recaps need the paid Copilot add-on · Only for Teams meetings | ||||
| Write marketing and business copy | Partial | — | Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium | In-app drafting in Word and Outlook needs the Copilot add-on | |||
| Proofread and improve writing | Partial | — | All plans | Only inside Microsoft apps · Less detailed tone feedback than dedicated tools | |||
| Run an internal knowledge base / wiki | Partial | All plans | SharePoint is powerful but hard for non-experts to structure well | ||||
| Ask questions across company documents | Partial | — | All plans | AI answers grounded in work data need Microsoft 365 Copilot · Limited to Microsoft content without connectors | |||
| Build internal tools and lightweight apps | Partial | All plans | Premium connectors need separate Power Apps licences · Steeper learning curve than Airtable interfaces | ||||
| Automate simple app-to-app workflows | Partial | — | All plans | Premium connectors and advanced flows need separate Power Automate licences | |||
| Manage projects and tasks | Partial | — | All plans | Basic compared with dedicated project management tools | |||
| Edit videos | Partial | — | Business Standard, Business Premium | Simple edits only · Not in Business Basic |
Fit and scores (1–5) are editorial judgements. How we score
Why people pay for it
- Desktop Word, Excel and PowerPoint remain the standard for many clients and industries
- Business email and calendar via Exchange and Outlook
- Teams for chat, calls and meetings in one place
- 1 TB OneDrive storage per user and SharePoint team sites
- Copilot Chat included at no extra cost
- Business Premium adds device management and threat protection
Reasons to keep paying
The honest case for Microsoft 365. If these matter to you, don't switch.
- Complex Excel models, macros and PowerPoint templates rely on desktop Office
- Exchange email, calendars and Teams history are core infrastructure
- SharePoint permissions and document libraries are deeply embedded in many companies
- Business Premium security (Intune, Defender) would need several separate tools to replace
Risks to know about
- highmigration complexity
Moving email, Teams and SharePoint for a whole company is a large project.
- mediumvendor lock in
Power Platform apps, Teams workflows and SharePoint permissions are Microsoft-specific.
- mediumfunctionality loss
Dropping to Business Basic loses desktop apps; the AI most people expect inside Office needs the separate Copilot add-on.
- mediumsecurity
Downgrading from Business Premium removes Intune and Defender protections.
- data portability: easy
Office files are industry-standard formats. Mailboxes export to PST. SharePoint structure, Teams history and Power Platform flows are harder to move.
Get more from Microsoft 365
Workflows where Microsoft 365 replaces something else you pay for.
- Run your company wiki in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 instead of paying for Notion or ConfluenceFor teams of up to about 15 who already pay for Google Workspace or Microsoft 365: move the wiki into a shared drive of Google Docs with a Google Sites front page (or SharePoint/OneNote on Microsoft 365). Includes an information architecture template, a Notion export-and-import checklist, AI prompts for cleanup, and the honest list of what you lose — mainly databases, Notion AI and slick page linking.moderate1–3 days for a typical s…$0 extrauses Google Workspace
- Consolidate overlapping AI assistant subscriptions (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Copilot)If you pay for two to four AI assistants, run a one-week, side-by-side test on your real tasks with a provided prompt set and scoring sheet, check which assistant your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 plan already includes, and cancel the rest at their renewal dates. Some heavy users will rightly keep two; the test tells you which.easy1 hour to set up$0 extrauses
- Replace Tableau Creator seats with Data Studio (Looker Studio) dashboards on Google SheetsFor SMB reporting on spreadsheet-sized data: prep your Sheets properly, build the dashboard in Google's free Data Studio (renamed from Looker Studio in 2026), use Claude or ChatGPT for analysis and formulas, and schedule PDF email delivery. Microsoft 365 shops can use free Power BI Desktop, but sharing needs Power BI Pro.moderate1–2 days for the first d…$0 extrauses Looker Studio, Google Workspace
- Drop Grammarly when you already pay for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or CopilotIf you already pay for an AI assistant, prompts handle rewrites, tone and careful proofreading, and built-in checkers (Google Docs, Microsoft Editor, Apple Writing Tools) cover everyday spelling and grammar. What you genuinely lose is Grammarly's real-time underlines everywhere you type, plus plagiarism checks, AI detection and team style guides on paid plans.easy30–45 minutes$0 extrauses
- Stop paying for Otter: use the transcription and AI notes already in Meet, Teams or ZoomMany business plans already include meeting transcripts and AI notes: Google Meet transcripts and 'Take notes for me' on eligible Workspace editions, Teams transcription (with AI notes via Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot), and Zoom's built-in meeting summaries on eligible paid plans. Check what you have, fill gaps with a transcript-to-action-items prompt, and handle recording consent properly.easy30–60 minutes$0 extrauses
Overlaps with
Tools that share capabilities with this one — the first place to look for duplicate spend.
Sources & freshness
- Compare all Microsoft 365 business plans — accessed Oct 13, 2026
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic — accessed Oct 13, 2026
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard — accessed Oct 13, 2026
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium — accessed Oct 13, 2026