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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 .
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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.
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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.
There are several plans to choose from, but we recommend Business Standard for most small businesses--and that's the setup we'll walk you through.
Go to the Microsoft 365Â business plans page , and select the For business tab.
Choose the plan you want and select Buy now .
The number of people this is for is dependent on how many employees you have and if they need a subscription. You can always just add yourself and then Add more users and licenses when you're ready.
Verify the subscription plan you're purchasing and the quantity of licenses you need.
Select Add a payment method , enter the info requested, and select Save , and then select Place order .
Take a look at an overview of the Microsoft 365 admin center , where you can download apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, add more users, buy new features, and change settings for your business.
Get expert advice, dedicated support and personalized guidance from business specialists. With Business Assist, get help making Microsoft 365 products work for you and everyone in your business. Learn More
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Bring your business ideas to life. Reach and exceed your company goals with Microsoft 365. Manage your content and tools—like productivity apps, email, appointment scheduling, video meetings, chat, and enterprise-grade security—all in one place. Reach more customers Build your brand Run your business Scale securely.
Microsoft 365 is the productivity cloud designed to help you run your business. Find the right Microsoft 365 plan for your business and get started for free.
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.
The right plan for you will depend on what your needs are. Let's explore the options. Microsoft 365 business plans. Microsoft 365 personal plans. What's different. Get a branded email address for your business or bring an existing one. Create branded templates in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Microsoft 365 Business plans. For most small businesses is the Microsoft 365 Business Standard plan the best choice. With a price of $12.50 per user per month, you get the full Office 365 suite, with the desktop apps, Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive, etc. Everything you need to get your business started in the cloud.
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.
Buy Microsoft 365 for your small business to get Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Microsoft Teams. Plus, get a custom email domain and world-class security for your business.
With Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, and Microsoft 365 Business Premium plans, you can host online meetings and video calls for up to 300 people using Microsoft Teams. With Microsoft 365 E3 and E5, Microsoft 365 A3 and A5, and Microsoft 365 Government G3 and G5 plans, this limit increases up to 1,000 people.