What is the difference between Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard, and Premium?

The biggest difference lies in the availability of desktop applications and security features.

Microsoft 365 Business Basic includes Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, and SharePoint, but only offers web- and mobile-based versions of the most widely used productivity apps, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. This SKU is the cheapest, but users will find it challenging to maintain productivity without access to the full functionality of the desktop versions of Office.  

Business Basic (along with Business Standard and Office 365 E1) will gain URL checks in Outlook and Office applications, which review and verify potentially malicious hyperlinks in emails and documents.

All plans, including Business Basic, now include enhanced Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat features, stronger security with Microsoft Defender, and expanded Intune device management.

Microsoft 365 Business Standard is a more robust plan for organisations looking to transform their office productivity, business processes, communications, collaboration, and more. It provides users with access to everything included in Business Basic, plus desktop Office apps, including Viva Engage (formerly Yammer), 1 TB of OneDrive storage, and limited use rights to Power Apps and Power Automate. Its mid-level price makes it ideal for most organisations to pick this option. 

What's new in Business Standard?
Business Standard will also gain access to enhanced security features from Microsoft Defender, in addition to the URL-checking capabilities shared with Basic. Copilot Chat upgrades across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote are being added, including inbox and calendar awareness and Agent Mode for iterative content creation.

Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes everything in Business Standard, plus premium security features such as Entra ID, Advanced Threat Protection, Azure Information Protection, and Intune. If your organisation has remote workers or BYOD policies, Business Premium is highly recommended. It might be the most expensive of the three SKUs, but it certainly keeps your business well protected against unseen risks while keeping your people productive. 

What's new in Business Premium?
Microsoft announced packaging updates rolling out in 2026 that add features to Business Premium at no extra cost: expanded mailbox storage (an additional 50 GB per user, bringing the total to 100 GB), Copilot Chat enhancements with improved AI capabilities, and Copilot Chat Analytics for usage reporting across the organisation.

Business Premium also gains expanded Copilot Chat access across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote, embedding AI more deeply into daily workflows. 

Additionally, Microsoft introduced optional add-on suites that further extend Business Premium's security: the Defender Suite for Business Premium (adding Defender for Endpoint P2, Defender for Identity, Defender for Cloud Apps, and Entra ID P2) and the Purview Suite for Business Premium (adding eDiscovery Premium and advanced compliance tools). These are optional upgrades. Defender for Business remains fully included in Business Premium.

Contact us at 1800 126 499 for further information or guidance on identifying the most appropriate Microsoft 365 subscription for you.