Updated September 2022 Choosing an Office 365 license is a critical step before migrating to the cloud. With multiple options for small, medium, and enterprise businesses, navigating the differences can get overwhelming. This Office 365 license comparison will reveal the options available within Business and Enterprise options to help you make the correct choice for your organization. Learn more about:
- Microsoft Licensing Changes in 2022 - The New Commerce Experience
- Microsoft Government Licensing
- Office 365 Educational Licensing
- Microsoft GCC and GCC High Licensing
- Microsoft First Line Worker (F1 & F3) Licensing
Price Comparison for Office 365 Business Plans and Enterprise Licenses
When comparing Office 365 licenses, price is one of the first questions decision-makers ask. Here are the prices of each Office 365 Business and Enterprise license:
| Microsoft Licensing Plan | Price Per User Per Month |
|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Apps for Business | $8.25 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | $6.00 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Premium | $22.00 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard | $12.50 |
| Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 | $36 |
| Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 | $57 |
| Microsoft 365 Enterprise F1 | $2.25 |
| Microsoft 365 Enterprise F3 | $8 |
| Office 365 Enterprise E1 | $10 |
| Office 365 Enterprise E3 | $23 |
| Office 365 Enterprise E5 | $38 |
| Office 365 Enterprise F3 | $4.00 |
The base price per user for Office 365 Business and Enterprise Plans ranges from $6 to $35, and this cost can quickly add up for larger organizations. On the other hand, if you rely on certain functionalities like Rights Management or cloud PBX, bundling these services into your license can actually save your organization money. If you have third party tools for Anti-Virus, eDiscovery, MFA, SIEM etc, these savings can become immense.
It is important to know that Microsoft now requires an annual term for all licensing. Under “The New Commerce Experience” licensing can be accquired as P1Y (Pay One Year) or P1M (Pay One Month) licensing. Month-to-Month pricing is available at a 10% premium. To learn more read our run down on Microsoft New Commerce Experience. To better weigh the costs to your organization, let’s compare the features of the Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise plans.
How Office 365 Enterprise and Business Plans Differ
Both the Microsoft 365 Business plans and Enterprise plans are available for organizations with fewer than 300 employees.
Because larger companies are more likely to be using Office 365, you might be contemplating whether to go with a Business or Enterprise option.
Here are some major features you gain with Office 365 Enterprise plans:
- Microsoft Teams PBX and PSTN conferencing (PSTN calling is available as an add-on in E3 and E5)
- Advanced Information Protection
- Advanced Threat Protection
- Active Directory integration
- Power BI
- Viva Insights
- Litigation Hold
- Unlimited archive and mail storage
- Enterprise app management
Enterprise plans are only available when purchased as a one-year commitment.
Here’s a breakdown of all Microsoft 365 Business plans so you can better understand how they differ.
Microsoft 365 Business Plans
Microsoft 365 Business plans were created for small businesses with fewer than 300 employees that might not need all the bells and whistles Enterprise Microsoft 365 and Office 365 offer.
Here’s what’s included in each Microsoft 365 Business plan for small companies.
Microsoft 365 Business Basic (Formerly Office 365 Business Essentials)
Looking to get basic Microsoft 365 functionality? Microsoft 365 Business Basic offers business email with 50 GB mailbox storage, custom email domain, and web versions of essential Office 365 applications like Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Here’s what you need to know about the Business Essentials license:
| The Basics | |
|---|---|
| Price | $6/user/month |
| Who It’s For | Companies with fewer than 300 users that don’t rely heavily on Office 365 applications, online storage, and who do not need desktop applications |
| What You’ll Get |
|---|
| 1 TB of OneDrive storage |
| 24/7 phone and web support |
| 300 user maximum |
| Custom email domain addresses |
| Email with 50 GB mailbox |
| Microsoft Planner to manage tasks and teamwork |
| Microsoft Teams chat-based workspace |
| SharePoint (company-wide intranet and team sites to connect people to content, expertise and processes.) |
| Unlimited Microsoft Teams video conferencing for up to 250 people. |
| Web versions of Office applications: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint |
| Yammer to collaborate across departments and locations |
Microsoft 365 Apps for Business (Formerly Office 365 Business)
Next is the Office 365 Business plan. Here are the price and specs for this license option:
| The Basics | |
|---|---|
| Price | $8.25/user/month (1-year agreement) or $10/user/month (1-month agreement) |
| Who It’s For | Businesses with fewer than 300 users that only need Office applications, cloud file storage, and sharing (email hosting not included) |
| What You’ll Get |
|---|
| 24/7 phone and web support |
| Desktop versions of Office 365 applications: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote (plus Publisher and Access for PCs) |
| Office Online: Web versions of Office 365 applications Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote |
| OneDrive and 1 TB of OneDrive storage |
| Per user licensing permits apps installed on 5 phones, tab;lets and PCs for each user. |
Microsoft 365 Business Standard (Formerly Office 365 Business Premium)
Microsoft 365 Business Standard adds critical small business tools such as Microsoft Bookings to allows customers to schedule appointments, and Mile IQ for real-time mileage tracking from your mobile devices.
| The Basics | |
|---|---|
| Price | $12.50/user/month |
| Who It’s For | Businesses with fewer than 300 users that need the latest desktop versions of Office applications, cloud services and email hosting alongside small business applications. |
| What You’ll Get |
|---|
| 1 TB of OneDrive storage |
| 24/7 phone and web support |
| Custom email domain addresses |
| Desktop versions of Office 365 applications: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote |
| Email with 50 GB mailbox |
| FastTrack deployment support (with purchase of 50+ seats) |
| Microsoft Bookings to enable customers to schedule appointments |
| Microsoft Planner to manage tasks and teamwork |
| Microsoft Teams chat-based workspace |
| SharePoint (company-wide intranet and team sites to connect people to content, expertise and processes) |
| Unlimited Teams video conferencing for up to 250 people |
| Web versions of Office 365 applications: Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint |
| Yammer to collaborate across departments and locations |
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
The most powerful Microsoft Business Suite without going for full enterprise plans, Microsoft 365 Business premium takes all of the features of Microsoft 365 Business Standard and rolls in industry leading advanced security features, including Advance Threat Protection against zero-days, ransomware, malware, the ability to selectively wipe company data from mobile devices with Intune, Restrict copying and saving of company information on mobile devices, apply document restrictions and provide unlimited archiving.
| The Basics | |
|---|---|
| Price | $22/user/month |
| Who It’s For | Businesses with fewer than 300 users that need stronger security and compliance tools, but not the full Enterprise Mobility and Security Suite (EMS). |
| What You’ll Get |
|---|
| 1 TB of OneDrive storage |
| 24/7 phone and web support |
| App Protection for Office Mobile Apps |
| Custom email domain addresses |
| Desktop versions of Office 365 applications: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote |
| Email with 50 GB mailbox |
| Exchange Online Archiving |
| FastTrack deployment support (with purchase of 50+ seats) |
| Information Rights Management |
| Intune Selective Wipe |
| Microsoft Bookings to enable customers to schedule appointments |
| Microsoft Planner to manage tasks and teamwork |
| Microsoft Teams chat-based workspace |
| Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection |
| SharePoint (company-wide intranet and team sites to connect people to content, expertise and processes) |
| Unlimited Teams video conferencing for up to 250 people |
| Web versions of Office 365 applications: Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint |
| Windows Defender |
| Windows Defender Exploit Guard |
| Yammer to collaborate across departments and locations |
Note on GoDaddy’s Microsoft 365
We strongly suggest against purchasing Office 365 or Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy due to both hidden costs, and lack of feature availability. To learn more, read our blog on Migrating from GoDaddy Office 365 to Microsoft Office 365.
Office 365 Enterprise Plans
Office 365 Business plans are great for companies just starting out or that only require limited functionality. For organizations looking for a more robust solution, Office 365 Enterprise plans are available. With Enterprise plans, your can choose from Office 365 and Microsoft 365 plans. Office 365 only includes Office, while Microsoft 365 is a full suite that includes Office 365, Enterprise Mobility and Security, and Windows 10 Enterprise. These licenses are broken up into E1, E3, and E5 enterprise plans, and F1 and F3 first line worker plans. (Learn all about Microsoft First Line Worker licensing)
Office 365 Enterprise F3
Ideal for line workers, drivers, retail staff, Office 365 F3 is focused on workers who do not spend much time in front of a computer. Including popular office apps for web and mobile devices, including Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. Bring every employee into the fold with Teams collaboration including Task and Shift Management and the unique Walkie Talkie voice mode on mobile.
| The Basics | |
|---|---|
| Price | $8/user/month |
| Who It’s For | Desk-less, mobile, line, and floor staff that do not need desktop applications. Ideally blends into environments with a mix of F3, E3, and E5 licenses for full enterprise management. |
| What You’ll Get |
|---|
| 2 GB of OneDrive storage |
| Microsoft Forms (Complete only, cannot create) |
| Microsoft Planner |
| Microsoft Power Apps |
| Microsoft Shifts |
| Microsoft Stream (View only) |
| Microsoft Sway for Digital Storytelling |
| Microsoft Teams |
| Microsoft To Do |
| Office for Web and Mobile Apps (Including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, OneNote and Teams) |
| Outlook Web and Mobile (No desktop integration or voice mail) |
| SharePoint (Without personal sites site mailbox, or ability to create forms) 2GB/user 10GB shared storage |
| Use apps on all mobile devices and tablets |
Office 365 Enterprise E1
E1 is the least expensive Enterprise plan. Here’s what you get with the E1 license:
| The Basics | |
|---|---|
| Price | $10/user/month |
| Who It’s For | Users that don’t need desktop versions of Outlook or Office applications but still require eDiscovery and data governance. |
| What You’ll Get |
|---|
| Data Governance manual classifications and manual policies for retention and deletion |
| Email 50 GB mailbox (only accessible from Outlook online) |
| File sharing and 1 TB OneDrive storage |
| HD video conferencing |
| OneDrive for Business |
| SharePoint |
| Team sites |
| Teams web conferencing, online meetings, and presence |
| Video Sharing |
| Web versions of Office applications: Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint |
| Yammer |
| eDiscovery search |
Here’s how Office 365 Enterprise E1 differs from Business Premium:
- With E1, you can only access email via the online application.
- With E1, you lose desktop versions of Office applications. You must use the online versions of Outlook and other Office applications like Word or PowerPoint online.
Office 365 Enterprise E3
The E3 license is one of the more popular options for digital-driven businesses. With E3, you gain desktop apps, You gain email, archiving, information protection and more storage options. Additionally, you gain Intune for device management and Azure Information Protection (plan 1) for data loss protection.
Here’s what’s included in E3:
| The Basics | |
|---|---|
| Price | $23/user/month (annual commitment) |
| Who It’s For | Businesses that need more advanced BI, compliance, email, security and voice capabilities. |
| What You’ll Get |
|---|
| Azure Rights Management and document management functions: archiving, rights management, data loss prevention and document-level encryption. |
| Email storage for in-place archive |
| Everything included in the Office E1 License |
| Hosted voicemail support |
| Information protection: message encryptions, rights management, data loss prevention |
| Legal compliance and archiving needs for email: archiving, eDiscovery hold and export, mailbox hold |
| Office Client Apps |
| Unlimited OneDrive storage |
| eDiscovery export and case management |
| eDiscovery legal hold |
The Microsoft 365 Business Premium plan is most comparable to the Enterprise E3 plan in terms of base features.
Unlike Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Office 365 E3 includes:
- Exchange Online Archiving (EOA) and Legal Hold
- Unified eDiscovery Center
- Rights management, data loss prevention and encryption
- Ability to add on PSTN
Office 365 Enterprise E5
Building off the E1 and E3 business plans, Office 365 E5 is the highest tier Microsoft offers. With this license, you gain Audio Conferencing, Phone System, Power BI pro, Customer Lockbox, and Microsoft Cloud App Security:
| The Basics | |
|---|---|
| Price | $38/user/month (annual commitment) |
| Who It’s For | If you use or plan to use Skype for Business Cloud PBX, we recommend the Office 365 E5 license. For $35/user/month, you gain a complete, consolidated phone system along with all functionality available within Office 365. |
| What You’ll Get |
|---|
| Advanced Data Governance |
| Advanced analytics with Power BI Pro and Microsoft MyAnalytics |
| Advanced eDiscovery |
| Advanced security with Advanced Threat Protection and Customer Lockbox |
| Cloud-based call management |
| Enhanced security features: Advanced ediscovery, secure attachments and URLs and access controls |
| Enhanced visibility and control of your Office 365 environment |
| Everything included in E3 licenses |
| Microsoft’s Business Intelligence tools for end user organizational analytics |
| Teams Calling |
| Unlimited OneDrive storage |
Next, we look at Office 365 Enterprise ProPlus. It is the last Enterprise plan offering.
Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise (Previously Office 365 ProPlus):
Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise offers a option for users who don’t need email but want Office 365 applications.
| The Basics | |
|---|---|
| Price | $12/user/month (annual commitment) |
| Who It’s For | Users that rely heavily on Office 365 applications on mobile devices, do not need email access but require compliance and basic business intelligence. |
| What You’ll Get |
|---|
| File sharing and 1 TB OneDrive online document storage |
| Fully installed Office on PC/Mac |
| Mobile device management |
| Office Online: Create, view and edit rights for online versions of core Office apps for collaborating on documents |
| Office apps on tablets and phones |
| On-premises Active Directory sync for single sign-on |
| Self-service BI in Excel |
| Sway for Office 365 |
| eDiscovery search |
Microsoft 365 Enterprise Licenses
Unlike the consumer branded Microsoft 365, Microsoft 365 Enterprise is a suite that includes Office 365, Enterprise Mobility and Security, and Windows Enterprise. M365 Enterprise gives you the enterprise security and compliance features you need, while providing cost savings through vendor consolodation and reduced management and training overhead.
Microsoft 365 F1
While Office 365 F1 was retired in April 2020, Microsoft 365 F1 remains. A cost effective way to give first line workers collaboration tools including Teams, Sharepoint and Yammer, M365 F1 lacks email and while it includes Office apps for Web and Mobile devices, that access is just read only. This gives desk-less workers the ability read documentation no matter where they are. While this license is incredibly cost effective, you should consider if users may have a need to edit for tasks such as inventories, security logging, etc. before settling on F1 licensing.
| The Basics | |
|---|---|
| Price | $2.25/user/month |
| Who It’s For | Desk-less, mobile, line, and floor staff that do not need to edit documents. Ideally blends into environments with a mix of F3, E3, and E5 licenses for full enterprise management. |
| What You’ll Get |
|---|
| Azure Rights Management |
| Document Tracking and Revocation |
| Encryption Key Management |
| Integrated PC and On-Premises Management |
| Microsoft Forms (Complete only, cannot create) |
| Microsoft Planner |
| Microsoft Security and Compliance Center |
| Microsoft Shifts |
| Microsoft Stream (View only) |
| Microsoft Teams |
| Microsoft To Do |
| Mobile Device Management and Mobile Application Management |
| Multi-factor authentication and Conditional Access |
| READ ONLY Office for Web and Mobile Apps (Including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, OneNote and Teams) |
| SharePoint (Without personal sites site mailbox, or ability to create forms) 2GB/user 10GB shared storage |
| Use apps on all mobile devices and tablets |
Microsoft 365 F3
M365 F3 bring email into the fold for desk-less workers, but also gives workers the ability to edit documents with mobile and web Office applications, while providing Windows 10 Enterprise features for users with existing Win 10 Pro installs. Enabling M365 enterprise security features including Device and Credential Guard, Windows Hello for Passwordless sign on, Secure Score, and Windows Virtual Desktop (Additional licensing needed)
| The Basics | |
|---|---|
| Price | $10/user/month |
| Who It’s For | Front line workers who still need to collaborate and communicate with email, and office documents. |
| What You’ll Get |
|---|
| Azure Rights Management |
| Document Tracking and Revocation |
| Encryption Key Management |
| Integrated PC and On-Premises Management |
| Microsoft Forms (Complete only, cannot create) |
| Microsoft Planner |
| Microsoft Security and Compliance Center |
| Microsoft Shifts |
| Microsoft Stream (View only) |
| Microsoft Teams |
| Microsoft To Do |
| Mobile Device Management and Mobile Application Management |
| Multi-factor authentication and Conditional Access |
| Office for Web and Mobile Apps (Including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, OneNote and Teams) |
| SharePoint (Without personal sites site mailbox, or ability to create forms) 2GB/user 10GB shared storage. (Users cannot be admins) |
| Use apps on up to 5 mobile devices and 5 tablets per user |
| Windows 10 Enterprise (Requires existing Windows 10 Pro) |
Microsoft 365 E3
M365 E3 brings together best in productivity and collaboration with Office 365 Enterprise E3, Enterprise Mobility and Security E3. and Windows 10 E3
| The Basics | |
|---|---|
| Price | $32/user/month |
| Who It’s For | Employees who want the best in productivity and collaboration and administrators who want to be assured they are operating in a secure and compliant environment. |
| What You’ll Get |
|---|
| Advanced Office 365 data protection |
| Advanced Threat Analytics |
| Azure Rights Management |
| Azure Rights Management |
| Credential Guard |
| Device Guard |
| Document Tracking and Revocation |
| Document tracking and revocation |
| Encryption Key Management |
| Encryption Key Management |
| Enterprise Mobility and Security (EMS) E3 |
| Everything in Office 365 E1+ Office 365 Apps for up to 5 PCs/Macs + 5 Tablets + 5 Mobile Devices |
| Integrated PC Management |
| Integrated PC and On-Premises Management |
| Integrated on-premises management |
| Microsoft Security and Compliance Center |
| Mobile Application Management |
| Mobile Device Management |
| Mobile Device Management and Mobile Application Management |
| Multi-Factor Authentication and Conditional Access |
| Windows 10 Enterprise (Require Win 10 Pro Install) |
| Windows 10 Enterprise (Requires existing Windows 10 Pro) |
| Windows 10 Enterprise E3 |
| Windows Hello for Passwordless Sign On |
| Windows Virtual Desktop (Requires additional licensing) |
Microsoft 365 E5
E5 is the most feature packed of the suites, bringing an integrated phone system and audio conferencing into the mix, as well as advanced security tools such as Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat protection, and Microsoft Cloud App Security.
| The Basics | |
|---|---|
| Price | $57/user/month |
| Who It’s For | Enterprises looking for the most complete productivity and security solution available. |
| What You’ll Get |
|---|
| Advanced Compliance |
| Advanced eDiscovery |
| Audio Conferencing |
| Azure Advanced Threat protection |
| Customer Lockbox |
| Data Governance |
| Everything in Enterprise Mobility and Security (EMS) E3+ |
| Everything in Office 365 E3 + |
| Everything in Windows 10 Enterprise E3+ |
| Exchange Threat Detection |
| Integrated Phone System |
| Intelligent data classification and licensing |
| Microsoft Cloud App Security |
| Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection |
| Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection |
| Privileged Identity Management |
| Risk based conditional access |
If any license doesn’t suit your needs, you can also add on specific features via add-on licensing. But often, the cost of upgrading is cheaper than ballooning a license with monthly add-on charges. (Read more about add-ons here.) You can also mix and match licenses depending on user needs to better control costs.
Agile IT’s cloud licensing services make it easy to purchase, transfer, and manage your licenses. As your cloud solutions provider, Agile IT handles all billing and subscriptions for your Office 365 products. You continue paying Microsoft the monthly license fee, and we take care of the rest.
Have questions about which Office 365 license is right for your organization? Request a quote to see how much you can save.
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