Which Office 365 Subscriptions Do I Need for Small Business?

Office 365 (now Microsoft 365) includes all the go-to productivity tools that many employees, entrepreneurs, and students rely on, whether they’re managing a spreadsheet or writing an article. 

But, which Office 365 subscriptions do I need for small business, what do the Microsoft office business subscription plans offer, and what is Office 365 small business pricing? 

Let’s dive in.

What Is Office 365?

Microsoft 365, formerly called Office 365, is the company’s subscription service that offers a suite of productivity tools and apps. The service, which was first launched on June 28, 2011, was rebranded back in 2020 and underwent some changes to include a few new features. 

But, what exactly do subscribers get?

That largely depends on the plan you pick but subscribing to a Microsoft Office 365 plan, including Office 365 Business plans, gives you access to programs like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Access, as well as  Outlook, OneDrive, Skype for Business, Teams, Yammer, Planner, SharePoint Online, and OneNote.

Microsoft for Business plans also includes security tools, like Microsoft Defender, email encryption, and password protection.

What Are Common Features Among All Microsoft Office 365 Business Plans?

There are three main Microsoft software packages for businesses to choose from:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic (formerly Office 365 Business Essentials) – The monthly Microsoft Office cost is £4.50 per user per month. 

• Microsoft 365 Business Standard (formerly Office 365 Business) –  This plan costs £9.40 per user per month.

• Microsoft 365 Business Premium (formerly Microsoft 365 Business)- The Microsoft office UK price for this plan is £16.60 per user per month.

Microsoft also has a separate subscription-based Microsoft 365 for business plan for businesses that need access to the Office apps only:

• Microsoft 365 Apps for business ((formerly Office 365 ProPlus and Office 365 Business) – The Microsoft office price in the UK for this plan is £7.90 per user per month.

Worth noting: All Office 365 price business packages are based on an annual commitment. The prices do not include VAT and there is a 1-month free trial for every plan.

All Office 365 Business plans include:

• Web and mobile version of the Office apps 
• Access to the apps on up to 5 phones and 5 tables
• Collaboration tools
• Custom domain 
• 1 TB of OneDrive cloud
• File sharing 
• Audio conferencing
• Exchange Online Protection
• Financially backed uptime guarantee
• Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Lists

Which Microsoft 365 subscription Do I Need for a Small Business?

Microsoft 365 Business Basic 

Microsoft 365 pricing in the UK (Basic Plan): £4.50 per user per month

Services:

• One Drive
• SharePoint
• Microsoft Teams

Features

• Email and calendars – Subscribers get a business-class email with Outlook, 50 GB mailbox per user, and attachments of up to 150 MB.
  Storage – They can store up to 1 TB on OneDrive. 
• Office apps on the web – Access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook on the web and the ability to simultaneously work with others in the same document in real time.
• Instant messaging and online meeting – Subscribers can chat, make voice calls and videos calls and host meetings in Microsoft Teams. 
• Intranet and team sites – Use Sharepoint to create a team site and store and create and manage lists of information, collaborate on files, and view highlighted items.
• Schedules and appointments – They can also create a web-based booking calendar which integrates with Outlook to give customers the flexibility to book a time that works best for them. 

Microsoft 365 Business Standard

Microsoft Office 365 price (Business Standard): £9.40 per user per month.

Services

• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• Outlook
• OneDrive
• SharePoint
• Exchange
• Microsoft Teams
• Publisher (PC only)
• Access (PC only)

Features

Everything included in the Basic plan, plus:

• Professional digital storytelling – Subscribers can use Sway to create engaging and interactive web-based reports, presentations, newsletters and training.
• Intelligent search and discovery – You can search for data sources across the entire organisation, including in apps like Office, SharePoint, and Delve. 
• Web and mobile development – Subscribers get access to templates to build custom business apps for web and mobile with Microsoft Power Apps. They can also or start from scratch since Microsoft Powers doesn’t require coding. 
• Workflow automation – You can use Microsoft Power Automate to build automated workflows between apps and services and receive notifications, synchronise files and collect data.
• Work across multiple devices – Users get access to fully installed Office apps on several PCs, Macs, tablets and mobile devices (plus Windows, iOS, and Android).
• Instant messaging and online meeting – This plan includes a one-step screen sharing feature and allows for HD video conferencing.

Microsoft 365 Business Premium

Microsoft Office 365 subscription in the UK (Premium Plan):  £16.60 per user per month.

Services

• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• Outlook
• OneDrive
• SharePoint
• Exchange
• Microsoft Teams
• Publisher (PC only)
• Access (PC only)
• Intune
• Microsoft Defender
• Azure Information Protection
• Azure AD Premium P1
• Azure Virtual Desktop

Features

Everything included in the Standard plan, plus:

• Streamline appointment scheduling – A Microsoft business account with access to Microsoft Bookings, which allows users to create a website where customers can book appointments.
• Defend against cyberthreats – The Microsoft Defender component in the package protects against viruses, spam, unsafe attachments, suspicious links, and phishing attacks.
• Mobile, devices, and computers management – The cloud-based service Microsoft Intune helps businesses help their company data within approved apps and removes data from lost or stolen devices.
• Secure remote access – With Microsoft advanced multi factor authenticator, employees can securely access business files from remote locations.  
• Business data protection – Azure information Protection encrypts sensitive emails and prevents copying and forwarding confidential business information.

Microsoft 365 Apps for Business

Microsoft 365 subscription in the UK (Apps for Business):  £7.90 per user per month.

Services

• Outlook
• OneDrive
• Word 
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• Publisher (PC only)
• Access (PC only)

Features

• Monthly updates – Access to the latest features and versions of all services provided in the plan.
• Works across multiple devices – Subscribers can install the Office apps on multiple devices, including up to 5PCs, Macs, tablets and mobiles.
• Storage – All subscribers get 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage.
• Professional digital storytelling – Access to Sway, which makes it easy to create web-based reports, presentations, newsletters and training.

Bottom line

Since there nearly 6 million small business in the UK it is only fair for them to have the right Office subscription. When a Microsoft Office plan for a small business is the right pick for you, depends on your business’ needs, your budget, and the number of employees. 

Microsoft 365 Business Premium has everything that Microsoft has to offer, including advanced security and device management features, but if they’re not essential to your business, you might want to choose from some of the cheaper packages, including Microsoft 365 Business Apps, which includes all Office apps.