Microsoft 365 Business Standard: what's included and what it costs

What is Microsoft 365 Business Standard?

Microsoft 365 Business Standard is the middle Microsoft 365 Business plan. It adds the desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote to the email, Teams and cloud storage in Business Basic, for organisations with up to 300 users. Each user gets a 100 GB mailbox and 1 TB of OneDrive, and can install the apps on 5 PCs or Macs, 5 tablets and 5 phones. It suits people who need the full Office apps but don't need their devices managed and secured. That is what Business Premium adds.

What's included in Business Standard?

The features people compare most, grouped by job. Each one links to the Microsoft page that confirms it for Business Standard. From our Microsoft 365 plans dataset, version 7 November 2026.

Email and calendar

• Exchange Online: 100 GB mailbox
• Exchange Online Archiving: 50 GB archive
• Exchange Online Protection (built-in mailbox security)

Files and storage

• OneDrive storage per user: 1 TB per user
• SharePoint plan and storage: Plan 1; tenant storage 1 TB + 10 GB per licence

Teams and meetings

• Microsoft Teams: included with a condition. Sold with and without Teams. Business suites keep both versions.
• Teams webinars and town halls: 1,000 attendees; 10,000 view-only

Apps

• Desktop Office apps (edition): Microsoft 365 Apps for business
• Office for the web
• Clipchamp Standard

Security and devices

• Microsoft Entra ID Free
• Microsoft Entra multifactor authentication
• Self-service password reset (cloud users)
• Single sign-on to SaaS apps
• Basic Mobility and Security
• URL time-of-click protection (Safe Links lite)

Compliance

• Microsoft Purview Audit (Standard)

See every Business Standard feature in the comparison tool, with Microsoft's source for each.

Mailbox, user and device limits

Each limit links to the Microsoft page that states it.

How much does Business Standard cost?

Per user a month, ex VAT (add 20% for VAT). Microsoft's UK list prices, last checked on 24 October 2026. Paying monthly for an annual subscription costs 5% more, under Microsoft's rule for annual subscriptions paid monthly, and a monthly subscription, which you can cancel at any time, costs 20% more on the Business plans. Those two rows are worked out from the annual price and rounded to the penny.

Sources: Microsoft 365 for business: plans and pricing (UK), Microsoft 365 for business: plans without Teams (UK), Microsoft security for small and medium businesses (UK), Microsoft 365 blog: flexible billing and pricing updates for annual subscriptions (12 November 2024).

Is Business Standard right for you?

Who it suits

• People who work in the desktop apps all day. Anyone building spreadsheets, long documents or presentations who needs Excel, Word and PowerPoint on a PC or Mac rather than in a browser.
• People on devices the company doesn't own or manage. Contractors, associates and partners working on their own machines, or a business that already manages and protects its devices with another product and plans to keep it.
• Teams that make video. Clipchamp Standard is included, and Business Basic doesn't have it.
• Organisations that use another meetings tool. Business Standard is also sold without Teams, at a lower price.
• Organisations of up to 300 people. The cap covers Business Basic, Standard and Premium together, so Standard can sit alongside the other two in one mix.

Who it doesn't suit

• Anyone on a company laptop, or anyone handling customer, staff or financial data. Business Standard can't enrol and manage devices, set Conditional Access rules, or run endpoint detection and response. Pick Business Premium for these people.
• People who only need email, Teams and the web apps. Business Basic covers them for less.
• PCs and remote desktops that several people sign in to. Business Standard doesn't include shared computer activation, which licenses the desktop apps on a shared PC. Business Premium includes it, and so does Office 365 E3.
• Organisations above 300 users. The extra people need an Enterprise, Office 365 or Frontline plan. Office 365 E3 is the plan with no user cap that, like Business Standard, has the desktop apps and no Intune.
• A phone system or Power BI reports. Teams Phone and Power BI Pro aren't included. Teams Phone Standard is sold as an add-on, and Microsoft 365 E5 includes both.

Every plan's price, with and without Teams, is on the Microsoft 365 pricing page.

Moving up or down a plan

Moving up to Business Premium

Business Premium keeps everything in Business Standard and adds the security and management layer listed below: Intune to enrol, configure and wipe laptops and phones, Conditional Access through Entra ID P1, endpoint detection and response through Defender for Business, and Safe Links, Safe Attachments and impersonation protection through Defender for Office 365 Plan 1. It also adds Litigation Hold, shared computer activation and the right to use Azure Virtual Desktop.

The upgrade pays off once the company owns the laptops people use, or holds data it must keep under control. It's also worth checking if you pay another vendor for device management, antivirus or email filtering, because Premium includes its own. If endpoint protection is the only gap, Defender for Business can be bought on its own for Business Standard users. It doesn't bring Intune, Conditional Access or the email and data protection.

Business Premium is £16.90 a user a month with Teams and £14.40 without, £6.10 more than Business Standard with or without Teams (annual subscription paid yearly, ex VAT).

Of the features people compare most, Business Premium adds:

• Email and calendar: Exchange Online Archiving (100 GB archive, auto-expanding to 1.5 TB, against 50 GB archive)
• Security and devices: Microsoft Entra ID P1; Microsoft Entra Conditional Access; Microsoft Intune Plan 1; Windows Autopilot; Windows licence included (Windows Business: Windows 11 Pro upgrade); BitLocker and BitLocker To Go; Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1; Microsoft Defender XDR; Microsoft Defender for Business; Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management (core capabilities)
• Compliance: Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Standard); Basic org-wide or location-wide retention policies; Data loss prevention for email and files; Sensitivity labels (manual); Message Encryption

Compare Business Standard and Business Premium row by row in the tool, with Microsoft's sources, or read Business Premium vs Business Standard.

Moving down to Business Basic

Business Basic has the same 100 GB mailbox, Teams, SharePoint and 1 TB of OneDrive, but no desktop Office apps. People use Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook in the browser, and in the mobile apps on phones and tablets with screens of 10.9 inches or less.

Basic is enough for people who work in a browser, mostly use email and Teams on their phone, or rarely edit documents. Licences are per user, so you don't have to choose one plan for everyone. A common mix is Business Standard for people who create documents and spreadsheets, and Business Basic for everyone else, within the 300-seat total. A licensing assessment can work out the split for your own staff.

Business Basic is £5.40 a user a month with Teams and £4.20 without, £5.40 and £4.10 less than Business Standard (annual subscription paid yearly, ex VAT).

Of the features people compare most, Business Basic doesn't have:

• Apps: Desktop Office apps (edition): Microsoft 365 Apps for business; Install limits per user (5 PCs or Macs, 5 tablets and 5 phones per user, against Mobile apps only: 5 phones and 5 tablets (10.9 in or less)); Clipchamp Standard
• Security and devices: Self-service password reset (cloud users)

Compare Business Basic and Business Standard row by row in the tool, with Microsoft's sources.