Which Microsoft 365 Plan Does Your Business Need? Basic, Standard or Premium

Almost every small business we work with uses Microsoft 365. Yet many are on a plan that doesn’t quite fit: paying for things they never use, or missing protection they assume they have.

There are three main Microsoft 365 plans for businesses with up to 300 users: Business Basic, Business Standard and Business Premium. Here’s what each includes, in plain English.

Business Basic

£5.40 per user, per month.

Basic gives you the essentials, all running online:

• Business email with your own domain name
• Calendars and contacts
• Microsoft Teams for chat, calls and video meetings
• OneDrive file storage for each person, and SharePoint for shared company files
• Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook in a web browser and on phones and tablets

The catch is the last point. Basic doesn’t include the full Office apps you install on a computer. The web versions are good for everyday work, but people who live in Excel or work with complex documents usually find them limiting.

Good for: staff who mainly use email and Teams, people who work on shared or non-desk devices, and very simple setups.

Business Standard

£18.10 per user, per month, with Copilot included.

Standard includes everything in Basic, plus:

• The full desktop Office apps, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, installed on up to five computers or Macs per person, plus tablets and phones
• Some extra tools for webinars and booking appointments
• Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant, built into the Office apps

Good for: office staff who need the full Office apps, where you already have good security in place separately.

Business Premium

£24.60 per user, per month, with Copilot included.

Premium includes everything in Standard, plus Microsoft’s business security tools:

• Advanced virus and threat protection for every computer, which spots suspicious behaviour as well as known viruses
• Device management, so company laptops and phones can be set up, kept up to date and locked or wiped remotely if they’re lost
• Smarter sign-in rules, such as blocking sign-ins from unusual countries or from devices the business doesn’t manage
• Extra email protection against phishing and dangerous attachments
• Tools to protect sensitive information, such as stopping documents being shared outside the business

Good for: most businesses that hold customer data, work remotely, need Cyber Essentials, or simply want proper protection built in.

A note on prices

The prices above are Microsoft’s own UK prices, before VAT, on an annual subscription. We supply Microsoft 365 at the same prices. Microsoft also sells Apps for business at £9.80 per user, per month, which gives you the desktop Office apps without business email.

Microsoft raised prices from July 2026, but changes only apply when your subscription renews, so you may not have seen them yet. Prices change from time to time, so check the latest before you budget.

Why the cheapest plan isn’t always the cheapest

On paper, Premium costs £6.50 more per person each month than Standard. In practice, it often replaces several things businesses would otherwise pay for separately: antivirus, device management tools and extra email security.

It also makes Cyber Essentials much easier. Since April 2026, the scheme requires two-step sign-in on every cloud service that offers it, and security updates installed within 14 days. Premium’s tools make both straightforward to manage and prove.

You can mix and match

You don’t have to put everyone on the same plan. A common setup we recommend:

• Premium for office staff and anyone handling sensitive information
• Basic for staff who only need email and Teams, such as drivers, warehouse teams or volunteers

Mixing plans can save a lot over a year, without leaving anyone unprotected.

What about Copilot?

Microsoft now sells Standard and Premium with Copilot, its AI assistant, included. It can draft emails, summarise meetings and documents, and help with spreadsheets. Some of the more advanced AI features are charged separately, based on how much they’re used.

Copilot only saves time if people know how to use it, and it can only see what your security settings allow it to see. Before switching it on across the business, it’s worth checking who has access to which files, so Copilot doesn’t surface anything it shouldn’t.

Don’t forget backups

None of the plans include a full, separate backup of your email and files. Microsoft keeps its service running, but it doesn’t promise to get back data that’s been deleted, overwritten or locked by ransomware. Our Microsoft 365 backup guide explains why a separate backup matters.

Check what you’re paying for

Three quick checks worth doing today:

1. Count your licences against your staff. Are you paying for people who’ve left?
2. Check who’s on which plan. Does everyone need what they’ve got?
3. Check your renewal date, so a price rise doesn’t catch you out.

Need a hand?

We supply and manage Microsoft 365 licences directly, as a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider, at the same prices as Microsoft, and we’ll make sure everyone is on the right plan. If you’d like us to check yours, book a free IT audit. We’ll review your licences, security and backups, and show you where you could save.