Microsoft 365 is the subscription that gives a business its email, its Office programs and its shared files. It is the right choice for most small businesses. Picking the wrong plan, though, is easy, and so is paying for things you never use.
The business plans in plain words
All prices are per person per month on an annual commitment, and they change, so check the current figures. The shape of the plans has stayed the same for years.
- Business Basic. Email with a 50 GB mailbox, 1 TB of OneDrive storage, Teams, and the web and phone versions of Word, Excel and Outlook. No desktop Office programs. Right for staff who work in a browser or only need email.
- Business Standard. Everything in Basic, plus the full desktop Office programs on up to five computers each. This is the plan most small businesses should be on.
- Business Premium. Everything in Standard, plus the security tools: device management, advanced phishing protection, and the ability to wipe a lost laptop. Worth it for any business that handles client data, and required by many cyber insurance policies.
- Apps for Business. The desktop Office programs and OneDrive, but no business email. Only for a business that already has email elsewhere and wants Office.
What "email on your own domain" means
The business plans give every person an address at your own domain, such as jane@yourcompany.com, rather than a Gmail or Outlook.com address. That is the single most visible sign that a business is established. Our guide to email on your own domain explains the domain side; Microsoft 365 handles the mailbox side.
The mistakes we see most
- Buying the personal plan for a business. Microsoft 365 Personal and Family are for home use. They have no business email and cannot be shared between staff properly. If the business has a domain, it needs a business plan.
- One shared login for everyone. Each person needs their own account. Sharing one saves a few dollars a month and costs you the ability to see who did what, to remove someone when they leave, and to pass a security review.
- Assuming Microsoft backs it up. It keeps the service running, but a deleted file or mailbox is only kept for a limited time, and a hijacked account can empty its own data. A separate backup of Microsoft 365 is inexpensive and we recommend it for every business plan.
- Forgetting two-step sign-in. It is included on every plan and must be turned on for every person. A business email account with only a password is the way most small businesses get broken into.
- Buying through the wrong place. The same plans are sold directly by Microsoft and through partners. Buying through a partner costs the same or less and gives you someone to call. Buying one plan on a credit card in someone's name and another elsewhere makes a mess that takes hours to untangle later.
Shared mailboxes are free
An address like info@ or sales@ that several people need to see does not need its own paid licence. A shared mailbox is free on the business plans, and any licensed person can be given access to it. Many small businesses pay for these without knowing.
How many licences
Count the people who need to sign in, not the devices. A person on Business Standard can install Office on five computers, five tablets and five phones. A part-timer who only reads email can be on Basic while everyone else is on Standard; the plans mix freely.
Moving from what you have now
Moving email from Gmail, from a web host's mail service or from an old Exchange server into Microsoft 365 is routine, and the old messages, contacts and calendars come across. Plan it for a quiet day, because the switch-over takes a few hours during which mail can be delayed. We do this regularly and can handle the whole move, including the domain changes.
Our usual recommendation
For a business of two to twenty people: Business Standard for everyone, Premium for anyone handling sensitive data or for the whole business if insurance asks for it, shared mailboxes for the generic addresses, two-step sign-in for everyone, and a backup. Ask us if you would like help choosing or setting it up.