Literally millions of businesses worldwide use Microsoft 365, so you’ve probably heard of it. If you’re considering whether it’s the right option for your business versus other solutions, the cost is probably one of the biggest factors in your decision. I’ve been asked a few times whether Microsoft 365 is a one time purchase or a subscription, so I decided to answer the question in a post.
Is Microsoft 365 a one time purchase? Microsoft 365 is not a one time purchase. Microsoft 365 is a subscription. You can pay monthly or annually to get access to everything a M365 subscription offers.
Microsoft 365 isn’t a one time purchase, which could be advantageous or disadvantageous depending on how you look at it. In one way, it means you can get your whole team set up quickly and cost-effectively. On the other hand, you’ll have a monthly or annual cost for as long as you use M365.
To fully answer the question in this blog post, I’m going to tell you how much each licence costs and what you get. By the end of this blog post, you’ll know how much M365 will cost your business monthly or annually, as well as which licences you should be using.
How Much Does Microsoft 365 Cost?
At this point, you’re probably asking how much Microsoft 365 is going to cost you.
The cost of Microsoft 365 will depend on which licence you are using, as the monthly/annual cost differs from licence to licence. If you purchase your licences directly from Microsoft, here’s how much it’s going to cost you.
Microsoft 365 Licence Cost
| Licence | Price (Month) |
|---|---|
| M365 Family | £7.99 |
| M365 Personal | £5.99 |
| M365 Business Basic | £3.80 (Ex VAT) |
| M365 Business Standard | £9.40 (Ex VAT) |
| M365 Business Premium | £15.10 (Ex VAT) |
| M365 Apps | £7.90 (Ex VAT) |
As you can see, there’s quite the price variance between licences. That’s why I’m going to explain what each licence is and what it offers.
Microsoft 365 Licence Types
There are 6 different subscriptions that meet the requirements of most:
- M365 Family
- M365 Personal
- M365 Business Basic
- M365 Business Standard
- M365 Business Premium
- M365 Business Apps
There are also solutions available for enterprises and sectors such as government and education, but pricing is not readily available. However, we have pricing for the 6 licences above and we know what comes with each licence.
Let’s take a look at each plan, beginning with M365 Family. I’ll explain what each plan contains, helping you to determine which licence you need.
M365 Family: How Much Does It Cost And What Does It Offer?
M365 Family is Microsoft’s plan aimed at families – which you may have guessed from the name!
Microsoft 365 Family is available as either a monthly or an annual subscription:
- Monthly cost: £7.99 per month
- Annual cost: £79.99 per year
This is the best subscription for a family, because the one subscription allows up to 6 people to utilise powerful applications, cloud storage, and advanced security solutions.
Here’s what’s included in the M365 Family subscription. Remember that all of the below can be used by up to 6 individuals.
- Access to the Office applications: Use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook on up to 5 devices at the same time. You can use these on a mobile phone, tablet, desktop computer, or laptop.
- 1TB OneDrive cloud storage: All 6 users have 1TB of cloud storage each. You can back up your files and photos and access them on any device. OneDrive allows you to automatically save documents that you are working on as well as easily share with friends and family.
- Access to the latest software updates as soon as they’re available: You will have access to the latest software updates as soon as they become available at no extra cost. For example, if a new set of features are released for Word, you will get them as part of your subscription without having to spend any extra.
- Technical support whenever you require it: As part of your M365 subscription, you will have technical support whenever you require it over the phone or via chat.
M365 Personal: How Much Does It Cost And What Does It Include?
M365 Personal is Microsoft’s offering for an individual. Everything included is very similar to the M365 Family plan, but this is for one user rather than 6.
Microsoft 365 Personal is available for either a monthly or annual fee:
- Monthly cost: £5.99 per month
- Annual cost: £59.99 per year
This subscription allows one person to use the powerful Office applications, 1TB of cloud storage, and advanced security solutions.
Here’s what’s included with the M365 Personal plan.
- Access to the Office applications: Use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook on up to 5 devices at the same time. You can use these on a mobile phone, tablet, desktop computer, or laptop.
- 1TB OneDrive cloud storage: With M365 Personal, you have 1TB of cloud storage. You can back up your files and photos and access them on any device. OneDrive allows you to automatically save documents that you are working on as well as easily share with friends and family.
- Access to the latest software updates as soon as they’re available: You will have access to the latest software updates as soon as they become available at no extra cost. For example, if a new set of features are released for Word, you will get them as part of your subscription without having to spend any extra.
- Technical support whenever you require it: As part of your M365 subscription, you will have technical support whenever you require it over the phone or via chat.
M365 Business Basic: How Much Does It Cost And What Does It Include?
The Microsoft 365 Business Basic is the cheapest and most basic of the M365 plans available to businesses. This is an ideal option for businesses that just want something basic; perhaps businesses that have remote workers who could be working on a variety of devices.
M365 Business Basic costs £3.80 per month, excluding VAT, but it is an annual commitment.
Let’s have a quick look at everything that is included as part of this subscription.
- Access to the web and mobile versions of Office apps: The M365 Business Basic subscription gives you access to the web versions of the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint applications.
- Access to secure cloud services: As part of the M365 Business Basic plan, you get access to secure cloud services including Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, and SharePoint. As part of this basic subscription, you get email hosting with a 50GB mailbox as well as 1TB of OneDrive storage.
- Around the clock support: As part of the M365 Business Basic subscription, you get around the clock phone and online support with deployment and any technical issues.
This is the ideal option for businesses that have teams working remotely who will need to utilise their subscription on a range of devices. With your login details, the M365 Business Basic subscription allows you to sign into any device to collaborate using the online versions of the Office applications.
M365 Business Standard: How Much Does It Cost And What Does It Include?
The standard SME plan is the Microsoft 365 Business Standard. This is the best option for businesses needing the ability to work from anywhere and full access to the Office suite of applications.
Microsoft 365 Business Standard is an annual commitment, but it will cost your business £9.40 per month (excluding VAT).
The plan offers more than the Business Basic. It is the best option for the vast majority of businesses. Here’s what the Business Standard includes:
- Access to the premium versions of the Office applications: The M365 Business Standard plan gives you access to the premium versions of Office applications. You get access to Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Access. You can use these applications on PCs and mobile devices, other than Publisher and Access which can only be used on PC.
- Access to secure cloud services: As part of the M365 Business Standard plan, you get access to secure cloud services including Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, and SharePoint. As part of this basic subscription, you get email hosting with a 50GB mailbox as well as 1TB of OneDrive storage.
- Around the clock support: As part of the M365 Business Standard subscription, you get around the clock phone and online support with deployment and any technical issues.
This is the best plan for the majority of businesses. It gives you access to the desktop versions of all the Office applications, as well as a host of secure cloud services, and around the clock support. If you’re looking for something more advanced, including advanced threat protection and PC and mobile management, Microsoft 365 Business Premium might be the best option for you.
M365 Business Premium: How Much Does It Cost And What Does It Include?
Microsoft 365 Business Premium is the best of Microsoft’s SME subscription offerings. It offers everything that Basic and Standard include, as well as extras such as advanced threat protection and PC and mobile device management.
As you can probably guess, greater capabilities also means greater cost. Microsoft 365 Business Premium costs £15.10 per user monthly (exclusing VAT) which is a monthly commitment.
Here’s all the key offerings of M365 Business Premium.
- Access to the premium versions of the Office applications: The M365 Business Premium plan gives you access to the premium versions of Office applications. You get access to Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Access. You can use these applications on PCs and mobile devices, other than Publisher and Access which can only be used on PC.
- Access to secure cloud services: As part of the M365 Business Premium plan, you get access to secure cloud services including Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, and SharePoint. As part of this basic subscription, you get email hosting with a 50GB mailbox as well as 1TB of OneDrive storage.
- Around the clock support: As part of the M365 Business Premium subscription, you get around the clock phone and online support with deployment and any technical issues.
- Advanced threat protection: M365 Business Premium offers you advanced threat protection, including Microsoft Defender for Office 365. The advanced threat protection features give your business all kinds of capabilities. For instance, you can remotely wipe company data from lost or stolen devices using Intune. Furthermore, you can restrict the copying of information to unauthorised apps and locations, apply security policies, and control who has access to sensitive company information.
- PC and mobile management: PC and mobile management are included for Business Premium users, enabling you to configure devices, automatically deploy updates to all your PCs and mobiles, and apply security policies without logging into each individual computer.
That covers all of your options for personal use and SMEs. Hopefully, you’ve found this blog post helpful and you know now which licences you require.