Microsoft 365 Business Standard vs. Business Premium
Pricing and License Limits
Business Standard costs $14 a seat, a month.
Business Premium costs $22 a seat, a month; the step up is $8 a seat, a month.
Prices are Microsoft's published US list prices checked on November 1, 2026, per user per month, paid yearly on an annual subscription.
Both plans stop at 300 people; above that, the enterprise range applies.
Licenses are assigned per person, so Business Standard and Business Premium can sit in the same tenant.
Features Included in Both Plans
Both plans include email at your company's own domain, a 50 GB mailbox, Word, Excel, and Outlook in a browser and installed, and Microsoft Teams.
Both plans include 1 TB of file storage per person, shared company files and intranet at Plan 1, along with webinars and meeting recording.
Both plans also include Bookings, Planner, Forms, Sway, Loop, and Clipchamp.
Who Each Plan Suits
Business Standard suits staff working on their own machines where losing a laptop is an inconvenience rather than a disclosure.
Business Premium suits companies holding records that would matter if they got out, or issuing company-owned machines they expect to control.
The Seven Capabilities That Separate the Plans
Seven capabilities separate the plans: archive storage, Windows 11 upgrade, control over company devices, protection on the computers, attachment and link scanning, sign-in rules, and finding and protecting sensitive records.
Archive storage is 50 GB on Business Standard and grows to 1.5 TB on Business Premium.
Business Premium includes a Windows 11 Pro upgrade entitlement, which Business Standard does not.
Business Premium includes control over company devices, such as wiping a lost laptop, requiring a PIN, and enforcing encryption, whereas Business Standard does not.
Business Premium includes protection on the computers themselves, while Business Standard does not.
Business Standard has URL time-of-click protection for attachments and links, while Business Premium is listed as Plan 1 for that capability.
Business Premium includes sign-in rules, such as requiring a second factor or blocking sign-ins from unexpected places or unmanaged devices, which Business Standard lacks.
Business Premium includes labeling of sensitive files and stopping them leaving by mail, which Business Standard does not.
The Cost of Separate Add-on Products
Defender for Business costs $3, Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 is $2, Intune Plan 1 is $8, and Entra ID P1 is $7 when bought separately.
If you buy these four products on top of Business Standard, they total $20 a seat, a month.
All four of those products are already included in Business Premium.
Other Plan Comparisons and Contact Information
Other comparisons on this page include Business Basic or Business Standard, Exchange Online Plan 1 or Plan 2, and Microsoft 365 F1 or F3.
CloudCentric is a managed IT provider in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, serving businesses across Charleston and the Lowcountry.
Call (844) 422-7000 to choose and provision the right Microsoft 365 licenses for your staff.