# Microsoft 365 licensing: every plan compared, with UK prices URL: https://computecloud.co.uk/microsoft-365/ Last updated: 2026-10-17 > Microsoft 365 licensing explained for UK organisations: Business, Office 365, Enterprise and Frontline plans compared, with UK prices and what each tier adds. Microsoft sells more than twenty Microsoft 365 plans and the names hide what they contain. This guide sets out the families, the prices in pounds and what each tier actually adds, so you can pick the right mix rather than one plan for everyone. ## Key points - **Four families matter for most UK organisations:** Business (up to 300 users, £5.40–£16.90), Office 365 Enterprise (apps and services only, £7.70–£36.80), Microsoft 365 Enterprise (adds Windows, Intune and security, £33.50 for E3 and £51.60 for E5) and Frontline (£2.30–£7.70) for shift and deskless staff. - **The jump that matters most is the security layer:** Business Premium and Microsoft 365 E3 add Intune, Entra ID P1, Conditional Access and Defender. Business Standard and Office 365 E3 don't manage or protect the devices themselves. - **Few organisations need one plan for everyone.** A mix of Business Premium, Business Basic and Frontline, or E3 for most people and E5 for a few, usually costs far less than the plan the biggest user needs. - Tick the features you need in the [plan comparison tool](https://computecloud.co.uk/microsoft-365-plans/) to see which plans cover them, or [request a free licensing assessment](https://computecloud.co.uk/microsoft-365/assessment/). ## Key facts - **Business plans:** Up to 300 users per organisation - **Business Premium:** £16.90 per user a month - **Microsoft 365 E3 / E5:** £33.50 / £51.60 per user a month - **Frontline F1 / F3:** £2.30 / £7.70 per user a month - **Prices:** UK list, annual commitment, ex VAT (13 Oct 2026) ## The plan families Microsoft 365 is sold in families, and the family you look at depends mainly on how many users you have and whether you need to manage devices. **Microsoft 365 Business** (Basic, Standard, Premium, plus Apps for Business) is for organisations with up to 300 users on each plan. It is the cheapest route to the full Microsoft 365 bundle: Business Premium at £16.90 includes device management and security that costs £33.50 in the Enterprise range. **Office 365 Enterprise** (E1, E3, E5, plus Apps for Enterprise) has no user cap and contains the apps and cloud services only. There is no Windows licence, no Intune and no Defender for devices, which is why Office 365 E3 at £23.30 is cheaper than Microsoft 365 E3. **Microsoft 365 Enterprise** (E3, E5, and the new E7) bundles Office 365 with Windows Enterprise, Intune, Entra ID and Defender. E3 is the standard choice for organisations above 300 users; E5 adds the advanced security, compliance, voice and analytics tiers. **Microsoft 365 Frontline** (F1, F3) is for shift, field and deskless workers who don't need the desktop apps. They are the cheapest licences Microsoft sells and are often the biggest saving in a renewal, because retail, care, logistics and manufacturing staff are frequently sitting on E3 or Business Standard. **Microsoft 365 Education** (A1, A3, A5) mirrors the Enterprise range for schools, colleges and universities, priced through education partners. The [comparison tool](https://computecloud.co.uk/microsoft-365-plans/#tab=plans&p=a1%2Ca1-dev%2Ca3%2Ca-def%2Ca-purv%2Ca5) lists them. ## Microsoft 365 plans at a glance (UK prices) Prices are Microsoft's UK list prices per user a month on an annual commitment, paid yearly, excluding VAT, for the versions that include Teams, checked on 13 October 2026. Monthly commitment costs about 5% more. | Plan | Price | Desktop Office apps | Management and security | Users | |---|---|---|---|---| | Business Basic | £5.40 | Web and mobile only | MFA | 300 | | Business Standard | £10.80 | Yes | MFA | 300 | | Business Premium | £16.90 | Yes | Intune, Entra ID P1, Autopilot; Defender for Business, Defender for Office 365 P1, DLP, Information Protection | 300 | | Apps for Business | £9.80 | Yes (no email or Teams) | – | 300 | | Office 365 E1 | £7.70 | Web and mobile only | MFA | Unlimited | | Office 365 E3 | £23.30 | Yes | Defender for Office 365 P1, DLP, eDiscovery (standard) | Unlimited | | Office 365 E5 | £36.80 | Yes | Defender for Office 365 P2, eDiscovery (premium), Teams Phone, Power BI Pro | Unlimited | | Apps for Enterprise | £13.70 | Yes (no email or Teams) | – | Unlimited | | Microsoft 365 F1 | £2.30 | Read-only web | Intune, Entra ID P1; MFA, Conditional Access | Frontline staff | | Microsoft 365 F3 | £7.70 | Web and mobile only | Intune, Entra ID P1, Windows Enterprise; MFA, Conditional Access | Frontline staff | | Microsoft 365 E3 | £33.50 | Yes | Intune, Entra ID P1, Windows Enterprise, Autopilot; Defender for Endpoint P1, Defender for Office 365 P1, DLP, Information Protection | Unlimited | | Microsoft 365 E5 | £51.60 | Yes | Intune (with Intune Suite), Entra ID P2, Windows Enterprise, Autopilot; Defender for Endpoint P2, Defender for Office 365 P2, Defender for Identity and Cloud Apps, Purview, Teams Phone, Power BI Pro | Unlimited | Every plan above except the two Apps plans includes Exchange email, Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive (F1 has a calendar rather than a mailbox), and all include Copilot Chat. The [comparison tool](https://computecloud.co.uk/microsoft-365-plans/) has the full 500-row matrix with a link to Microsoft's documentation for each row. ## What each tier adds **Business Basic to Business Standard (£5.40 to £10.80)** buys the desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Teams webinars and Clipchamp. If people work in the browser or on a shared device, Basic is enough. **Business Standard to Business Premium (£10.80 to £16.90)** is the security step: Intune for managing laptops and phones, Entra ID P1 with Conditional Access, Defender for Business on every device, Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 against phishing, data loss prevention, sensitivity labels and the right to upgrade Windows Pro to Business. For £6.10 a month it is the best-value step in the whole range. [Business Premium vs Business Standard](https://computecloud.co.uk/microsoft-365/business-premium-vs-business-standard/) sets it out in detail. **Office 365 E3 to Microsoft 365 E3 (£23.30 to £33.50)** adds Windows Enterprise, Intune, Entra ID P1 and Defender for Endpoint Plan 1. If your devices are managed another way and you already license Windows, Office 365 E3 may be all you need. **Microsoft 365 E3 to E5 (£33.50 to £51.60)** adds the advanced security suite (Defender for Endpoint P2, Defender for Office 365 P2, Defender for Identity, Defender for Cloud Apps), Entra ID P2, the premium Purview compliance tools, Teams Phone, audio conferencing and Power BI Pro. [Microsoft 365 E3 vs E5](https://computecloud.co.uk/microsoft-365/e3-vs-e5/) works through when it pays. **Business Premium to Microsoft 365 E3 (£16.90 to £33.50)** is mostly about scale rather than features: no 300-user cap, the Enterprise versions of the apps and services, and the full Intune and Defender for Endpoint products rather than the Business versions. [Business Premium vs Microsoft 365 E3](https://computecloud.co.uk/microsoft-365/business-premium-vs-e3/) explains when a growing company should make the move. ## How to choose Start from roles, not from the plan with the longest feature list. Sort people into three groups: those with a company laptop who handle customer or financial data, those who only need email, Teams and the web apps, and those on the shop floor, in vehicles or on wards who share devices. The first group needs a plan with the security layer (Business Premium or Microsoft 365 E3), the second needs Business Basic or Office 365 E1, and the third needs Frontline. Then check the three things that force a decision: the 300-user cap on Business plans, any compliance requirement that needs the premium Purview tools or Entra ID P2 (which push you to E5 or an add-on suite), and whether you want Teams Phone, which only the E5 plans include. Finally, price the mix rather than the single plan. A 200-person company putting everyone on Business Premium pays £40,560 a year. The same company with 120 on Premium, 50 on Basic and 30 on F3 pays £30,348, with no loss of security for the people who need it. ## Where renewals waste money The same problems come up in almost every Microsoft 365 review. Everyone is on the plan the most demanding user needed, usually because it was simpler at the time. Frontline staff hold E3 or Business Standard they never open. Add-ons bought for a project (Teams Phone, Power BI Pro, Visio, Project) are still assigned to people who moved on. Defender or Intune is being bought separately from a vendor when it is already in the plan. And the renewal quote is accepted as a single line rather than checked against who uses what. Each is easy to fix once the usage data is next to the licence list. The [comparison tool](https://computecloud.co.uk/microsoft-365-plans/) is the quickest way to see what each plan covers, and a [free licensing assessment](https://computecloud.co.uk/microsoft-365/assessment/) does the matching for you. ## About the prices Microsoft lists its UK prices on the plan pages for Business and Enterprise; Frontline prices and the Business Premium suite add-ons are not always shown there and are taken from UK resellers, marked as indicative in the tool. Charity, education and volume-licensing prices differ, as do prices through a Cloud Solution Provider, which can be slightly below list. Treat the figures here as a guide for planning and confirm them with your licensing partner before you commit. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the difference between Office 365 and Microsoft 365? Office 365 plans (E1, E3, E5) contain the apps and cloud services, meaning Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, Exchange, SharePoint and OneDrive. Microsoft 365 plans contain all of that plus Windows Enterprise, device management (Intune), identity (Entra ID P1 or P2) and security (Defender). Microsoft 365 Business Premium is the small-business equivalent of that bundle. If you only need email and the apps, an Office 365 plan is cheaper. If you need to manage and secure the devices people use, you want a Microsoft 365 plan. ### Which Microsoft 365 plan is best for a small business? For most UK small businesses, Business Premium (£16.90 per user a month) is the right default for anyone with a company laptop, because it includes device management, multi-factor authentication with Conditional Access, Defender for Business and Defender for Office 365. People who only need email and Teams on a shared or personal device can sit on Business Basic (£5.40). The 300-user cap applies to each Business plan separately, so a company with 400 staff can still use them as long as no single plan exceeds 300. ### Can we mix Microsoft 365 plans? Yes. Licences are assigned per user, so a company can hold Business Premium for office staff, Business Basic for people who only need email, and Frontline F3 for shift workers. Enterprise and Business plans can be mixed too. The main rules are the 300-user cap on each Business plan and that some add-ons (for example the Defender and Purview suites) require a specific base plan. ### Do Microsoft 365 plans still include Teams? In the UK and EU, Microsoft sells each Business and Enterprise plan in two versions, with and without Teams, and the version without Teams is cheaper. The prices on this site are for the versions that include Teams. If you already hold Teams through another route, or don't use it, ask for the "no Teams" SKU at renewal. ### Which Microsoft 365 plans include Copilot? Every Business, Enterprise and Frontline plan includes Copilot Chat and the basic Copilot features in the apps. The full Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, which works across your own documents, email and meetings, is a separate paid add-on on top of any plan. ### Is Microsoft 365 E5 worth it over E3? Only if you would otherwise buy several of its components separately. E5 adds Defender for Office 365 Plan 2, Defender for Endpoint Plan 2, Defender for Identity, Defender for Cloud Apps, Entra ID P2, the premium Purview compliance tools, Teams Phone, audio conferencing and Power BI Pro, for £18.10 per user a month more. Organisations that need two or three of those often find E3 plus an add-on suite cheaper. See [Microsoft 365 E3 vs E5](https://computecloud.co.uk/microsoft-365/e3-vs-e5/). ### What do Frontline (F1 and F3) plans include? F1 (£2.30) gives shift and deskless workers Teams, read-only Office on the web, a calendar but no mailbox, Intune and Entra ID P1. F3 (£7.70) adds a 2 GB Kiosk mailbox, the web and mobile Office apps, Power Apps and Power Automate, and Windows Enterprise rights. Neither includes the desktop Office apps. Frontline licences are intended for staff who don't have a dedicated device or desk, and Microsoft's terms define who qualifies. ### How do I find out what we are paying for and not using? The Microsoft 365 admin centre shows licences assigned and the usage reports show who actually opens the apps, but matching the two to the right plan for each person is the work. A [free licensing assessment](https://computecloud.co.uk/microsoft-365/assessment/) does that for you, with the renewal savings set out at UK list prices. --- Get a free Azure migration assessment: https://computecloud.co.uk/assessment/