In this article, we compare the Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Standard licences and look at how to tell which one is right for your organisation. It’s important to note that Microsoft 365 Business licences are limited to 300 users. If your organisation exceeds this, you’ll need to consider Microsoft 365 Enterprise licensing.
Table of contents
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard: what’s included
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium: what’s included
- Pricing differences between Standard and Premium
- Why Microsoft 365 Premium is right for business use cases
- How we can help
Microsoft 365 Business Standard: what’s included
The Microsoft 365 Business Standard licence includes all the Microsoft Office applications you’d expect an established business to have: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and so on.
As well as the desktop version of these apps, the licence also covers the web and mobile versions. In conjunction with personal online storage, with OneDrive, and shared storage with SharePoint, this means your team can be productive from anywhere.
Alongside these must-have productivity tools, the licence also includes advanced security features, the ability to create your own company and team intranet sites, workflow automation tools, enterprise-level email and calendars and more:
- Microsoft Exchange: Work smarter with business-class email & calendaring.
- MFA with Security Defaults: Basic identity, access, and user management.
- Custom business email support: Get you@yourbusinessname.com for your firm
- Advanced email security: Automatic spam and malware filtering
Microsoft 365 Business Premium: what’s included
Microsoft 365 Business Premium comes with everything the Standard licence has and more. As well as the Microsoft productivity and collaboration tools, the Premium licence includes enterprise-grade security with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
It also includes advanced data-management and security tools. These allow you to discover, classify, and protect sensitive information. Conditional Access allows you to enforce restrictions based on your country, device management or multi-factor authentication (MFA) status, further protecting your business from cyber threats.
Together these features not only ensure your organisation is as productive as possible, no matter where and how your employees work. It also helps you can achieve, and demonstrate, the highest standards of compliance, even in highly regulated sectors.
- Conditional Access: Advanced identity and access management
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: Protection against viruses and phishing attacks
- Microsoft Intune: Protect data and access on devices
- Microsoft Purview: Protect data with classification and labelling
- Advanced Email Security: Protect against threats in attachments & links
- Advanced Information Rights Management: Restrict access to sensitive business information
- Policy-based device security: Protect data on company & employee devices
- Control data security across devices: Keep data within approved apps across devices
- Secure data on lost or stolen devices: Remotely remove data from lost or stolen devices
Pricing differences between Business Standard and Business Premium
Microsoft occasionally updates its pricing. Check the Microsoft website for your country to see what the current prices of Microsoft 365 Business Standard vs Premium are.
On the date on which this page was last updated (March 2025), these were the starting prices (minus added extras) for the two licences:
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard— £9.60 per user per month (excluding VAT)
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium — £16.90 per user per month (excluding VAT)
These prices are based on a 12-month commitment and may be subject to change.
Why Microsoft Business Premium is right for business use cases
The Microsoft 365 Standard licence is primarily designed for organisations that aren’t handling sensitive information. It offers a basic set of productivity and collaboration tools for small businesses.
If you handle sensitive and personal data, you will need a Premium licence. In this context, sensitive data could be anything from personal and financial details in highly regulated sectors, through to customer and supplier business data.
This gives you the tools and technologies required to secure data, whether at rest or in use, to the highest standards required by common industry and data-protection standards.
Given that most businesses and public-sector organisations now handle at least some sensitive and personal data, for many organisations Premium will be the right choice. This assessment is something an experienced technology partner should be able to help you with.
| Plan |
Best for |
Key features |
Starting price |
|
Microsoft 365 Business Standard
|
SMEs and businesses |
Advanced productivity security and compliance tools. |
£9.60 per user per month (excluding VAT) |
| Microsoft 365 Business Premium |
Organisations requiring robust security measures |
Includes all standard features, plus advanced security, enhanced data protection & comprehensive device management |
£16.90 per user per month (excluding VAT)
|
How we can help
Texaport is one of the UK’s leading Microsoft 365 experts. We can help you configure and deploy Microsoft 365 in a way best suited to your needs and goals.
Our experts can help you choose the right licences and capabilities for your business goals. Contact us today to speak to one of our consultants today, to find out how Microsoft 365 can help you achieve your targets.
