Microsoft 365 Plans in 2026: Which One After the Price Rise
Direct answer: from July 1, 2026 Microsoft raised Business plan prices: Business Basic from $6 to $7 and Business Standard from $12.50 to $14 per user per month. Business Premium did not go up (it stays at $22), making it relatively the best-value plan for companies that care about security. Existing customers keep their price until renewal; local-currency prices are set by Microsoft’s official pricing page.
What you get for the higher price
The increase is not “just because” — Basic and Standard also gained:
- +50 GB of mailbox storage (on top of the existing 50 GB),
- time-of-click URL protection in Outlook,
- enhanced Copilot Chat — inbox and calendar awareness plus agents for Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Which plan fits whom
- Business Basic ($7): web and mobile apps only, 50 + 50 GB mail, 1 TB OneDrive, Teams. Enough for people who work mostly in a browser — warehouse, operations, part-timers.
- Business Standard ($14): the same plus desktop apps Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Outlook. The right choice for most office roles.
- Business Premium ($22): Standard plus Intune (device management), Defender for Business and advanced identity protection. From roughly 15 employees up it is the cheapest way to get company security “included” — standalone security tools cost more.
All Business plans cap at 300 users; beyond that you move to Enterprise (E3/E5).
How to save on licences
- Mix plans. Not everyone needs Standard — a common split among our clients is 60% Standard / 30% Basic / 10% Premium by role.
- Pay annually. Monthly commitment carries a 20% premium over the annual term.
- Buy via a CSP partner. The same licence, but with local support and more flexible billing than buying directly.
- Premium instead of a patchwork. If you pay separately for antivirus, MDM and mail backup, Premium usually replaces them for less.
Related questions
Considering moving servers to the cloud alongside M365? Read How much does cloud migration cost and the AWS vs Azure comparison — an M365 environment is usually an argument for Azure. EU data questions are covered in GDPR and cloud.
How SynapseCore helps
We are a Microsoft 365 partner: we design the right licence mix, migrate mail and data, set up security (MFA, Intune, backups) and provide local-language support. Deployment is AI-assisted and done by a small senior team — finished in days rather than weeks. Licences cost the same as buying from Microsoft — with deployment and support on top.
Not sure which plan fits? Contact us — we will send a tailored licence-mix proposal within 48 hours.
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