Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard or Premium: Which Fits?

What every Business plan includes

Microsoft sells three Business plans for organisations of up to 300 people. They share a core of tools:

• Business email on your own domain, with a 100 GB mailbox per person.
• Microsoft Teams for chat, calls and meetings.
• 1 TB of OneDrive storage per person.
• Multifactor authentication, available through Microsoft's free security defaults.
• A 300-user limit, counted across all three plans together.

Every price in this guide is per user per month, excluding VAT, on an annual subscription paid yearly. We checked Microsoft's UK prices on 22 October 2026.

Business Basic: email, Teams and web apps

Business Basic costs £5.40. Each person gets the web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, plus email, Teams and 1 TB of storage.

There is no installed desktop version of the apps. Spam and malware filtering is included, but device management is not. Basic also includes Microsoft Bookings, Planner and Forms for scheduling, tasks and surveys.

Basic suits people who mostly use email, Teams and shared files. Examples include part-time staff, shop-floor teams and anyone who works from a phone or a shared PC.

Business Standard: the desktop apps

Business Standard adds the installed desktop apps. Each person can use them on up to five PCs or Macs, five tablets and five phones.

On 22 October 2026, Microsoft's UK page led with Standard and Premium bundles that include Copilot. Business Standard with Copilot is £18.10. We can quote Standard without Copilot on request, where Microsoft still offers it.

Sign-in and email protection match Basic: core identity controls plus spam and malware filtering. Device management is still not included.

Standard is the sensible default for office teams who work in Excel, Word and Outlook every day.

Business Premium: security built in

Business Premium includes everything in Standard. Business Premium with Copilot is £24.60. We can quote Premium without Copilot on request, where Microsoft still offers it.

On top of Standard, Premium adds:

• Microsoft Intune Plan 1, to manage laptops, tablets and phones and wipe a lost device.
• Microsoft Entra ID P1, which brings Conditional Access rules, such as allowing sign-in only from a compliant device.
• Microsoft Defender for Business, which protects devices from ransomware and malware.
• Defender for Office 365 Plan 1, which protects email against phishing and malware.
• Sensitive-data protection, to find, classify and protect confidential files.
• A larger archive mailbox, up to 1.5 TB per person once auto-expanding archiving is switched on. Basic and Standard archives are 50 GB.

Premium also protects company data on personal phones without taking over the whole device. Microsoft calls this mobile app management. Our Microsoft 365 security checklist shows where to check the main security settings.

If Premium is more than you need, you can add Defender for Business to Basic or Standard for £2.30 per user per month. It protects devices, but it does not add Intune device management or Conditional Access.

Side-by-side comparison

Copilot and phone add-ons

The Copilot Business add-on is £16.10 per user per month at list price. It is for businesses that want Copilot on an eligible Business plan they already have. Microsoft notes that some advanced AI features are billed by usage, on top of the licence fee. Standard and Premium with Copilot already include it, so those plans do not need the add-on. Microsoft's usage-based billing note applies to those plans too.

Teams Phone Standard is £7.70. It adds a cloud phone system to Teams and needs an eligible Microsoft 365 plan or Teams licence. It does not include phone numbers or call minutes, so you also need a calling plan or phone provider.

How to choose

Ask four questions:

• Does anyone need desktop Word, Excel or Outlook? If nobody does, Basic is enough. If anyone does, start at Standard.
• Do staff use laptops or personal phones for work email? If so, Premium gives you the tools to control them.
• Do you hold client or financial data? Premium's device, sign-in and data controls are built for that.
• Is budget tight? Standard with Copilot plus Defender for Business adds up to less than Premium with Copilot. It protects devices but adds no Intune device management or Conditional Access.

You can mix plans. For example, you could put finance staff on Premium and warehouse staff on Basic. Remember that Premium's protection only covers the people and devices licensed for it.

Check these before you buy

• Shared mailboxes. A shared mailbox such as accounts@ needs no licence of its own, up to 50 GB. The people who open it still need their own licence. Our guide to finding unused Microsoft 365 licences explains when a shared mailbox does need one.
• Renewal. The prices here are for an annual subscription that renews automatically, so check the term before you commit.
• Changing later. Microsoft says you can switch from a qualifying plan to Business Premium, which might raise or lower the monthly charge.

How cloud365.io can help

cloud365.io supplies Microsoft 365 licences on one invoice and can manage them for you, or look after a Microsoft 365 setup you already have. See our prices for the plans and add-ons we list, or choose your route to buy through us or keep your own licences. Tell us how many people need Microsoft 365 and you get a written answer on the plans that fit and what they cost.