Microsoft 365 Business: Basic, Standard or Premium?

Microsoft offers three main plans for businesses with up to 300 users: Business Basic, Business Standard and Business Premium. All of them include e-mail, Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive. They differ in desktop applications, device management and security.

Plans can be mixed: each person gets the license that matches how they work.

Business Basic

Exchange e-mail, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive and the web and mobile versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Suited to people who work mostly in the browser or on mobile, or who do not need the installed applications.

Business Standard

Everything in Basic, plus the installable desktop applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) on several computers, tablets and phones per user. This is the usual plan for a standard office workstation when device management is not a requirement.

Business Premium

Everything in Standard, plus the security and management tools: Intune to manage and configure devices, Entra ID P1 for conditional access, Defender for Business for endpoint protection (EDR), and information protection features. This is the plan that lets you administer your devices centrally and enforce security rules.

How to choose

• You want to manage computers remotely and enforce encryption and conditional access: Premium, at least for company-owned devices.
• Users need Outlook and Excel installed, without central management: Standard.
• Shared workstations, field staff, web-based use: Basic may be enough.
• Security features only protect users who hold the matching license: any mix must stay consistent with your rules.

What to check

• Annual or monthly commitment: the price and the ability to reduce the number of licenses mid-contract differ.
• Teams: depending on the region and the plan, it may be included or sold separately. Check the exact product reference when ordering.
• Paid add-ons (Teams Phone, archiving, AI assistants).
• Licenses still being paid for people who have left.
• The owner of the tenant and the subscriptions: it must be your company.