Every M365 Plan Explained — Business, Enterprise & Frontline Compared
Detailed breakdown of every Microsoft 365 plan: Business Basic ($6) to E5 ($57), Frontline F1/F3, legacy Office 365 tiers, and standalone Apps plans. Real pricing, storage limits, and selection guidance.
Key Facts
- Microsoft 365 Business plans (Basic, Standard, Premium) are capped at 300 users per tenant — exceeding this requires migration to Enterprise licensing.
- Business Basic ($6/user/month) includes Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive (1 TB), and Teams but no desktop Office apps — ideal for web-only organizations.
- Business Standard ($12.50/user/month) adds full desktop Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and is the most popular SMB plan.
- Business Premium ($22/user/month) layers on Intune device management, Defender for Business, Entra ID P1, and Azure Information Protection — it is the security-focused SMB plan.
- Enterprise E3 ($36/user/month) removes the 300-user cap, adds 5 TB OneDrive per user, advanced compliance, and Windows 11 Enterprise upgrade rights.
- Enterprise E5 ($57/user/month) includes everything in E3 plus Defender for Office 365 P2, Defender for Endpoint P2, Entra ID P2, Power BI Pro, Audio Conferencing, and Phone System.
- Frontline F1 ($2.25/user/month) and F3 ($8/user/month) are designed for shift workers — limited mailbox (2 GB for F1), web-only apps, and mobile-focused experiences.
- The legacy Office 365 E1/E3/E5 plans are still available but lack Windows licensing and advanced security — new customers should choose Microsoft 365 equivalents.
- Apps for Business ($8.25/user/month) and Apps for Enterprise ($12/user/month) provide only Office desktop apps and OneDrive — no Exchange, no Teams.
Business Plans (Up to 300 Users)
Microsoft 365 Business plans are designed for small and mid-size organizations with up to 300 users. This is a hard limit — if you grow beyond 300, you must migrate to Enterprise plans. Plan your growth trajectory before committing. Many organizations adopt Business plans when moving from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 or when upgrading from GoDaddy email to a proper business productivity suite.
Business Basic
$6/user/mo- Web & mobile Office apps only
- Exchange Online (50 GB mailbox)
- Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive (1 TB)
- Basic security (MFA, DLP)
Business Standard
$12.50/user/mo- Desktop Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
- Everything in Basic
- Bookings, Forms, Planner
- Webinar hosting (up to 300 attendees)
Business Premium
$22/user/mo- Everything in Standard
- Intune device management
- Defender for Business (endpoint protection)
- Azure Information Protection P1
- Conditional Access policies
Pro Tip
Business Premium is the only Business plan with meaningful security features. If your organization handles any sensitive data (financial, health, legal), jump straight to Premium — do not try to bolt security add-ons onto Basic or Standard. It will cost more and leave gaps.
Enterprise Plans (Unlimited Users)
Enterprise plans remove the 300-user limit and add substantially more security, compliance, and analytics capabilities. They are the backbone of most organizations with 100+ employees. Companies moving to E3 or E5 often come from on-premises Exchange Server environments or are consolidating multiple tenants through a tenant-to-tenant migration following a merger or acquisition.
Microsoft 365 E3
$36/user/mo- Desktop Office apps + web + mobile
- Exchange Online (100 GB mailbox)
- OneDrive unlimited storage
- Entra ID P1 (Conditional Access)
- Intune Plan 1 (device management)
- Defender for Office 365 P1
- Core DLP, sensitivity labels
- Windows 11 Enterprise
Microsoft 365 E5
$57/user/mo- Everything in E3
- Entra ID P2 (PIM, Identity Protection)
- Defender for Endpoint P2
- Defender for Office 365 P2
- Defender for Cloud Apps
- Auto-labeling, Insider Risk
- eDiscovery Premium
- Power BI Pro included
- Audio Conferencing included
- Teams Phone Standard included
Did You Know?
The gap between E3 ($36) and E5 ($57) is $21/user/month. But buying E3 plus just Defender for Endpoint P2 ($5.20), Entra ID P2 ($9), and Audio Conferencing ($4) as add-ons already costs $18.20 extra — at which point E5 is only $2.80 more and includes everything else. This is the "add-on trap" that Chapter 9 covers in detail.
Frontline Plans
Frontline plans serve shift workers, retail associates, factory floor staff, and healthcare workers who do not have a dedicated desk or personal computer. These are Microsoft's lowest-cost plans. Organizations rolling out Frontline licenses for the first time often migrate staff from IMAP-based email or consumer Gmail accounts into M365.
Microsoft 365 F1
$2.25/user/mo- Web & mobile Office apps (view only for some)
- Teams (chat, meetings up to 100)
- 2 GB mailbox (Exchange Online Kiosk)
- OneDrive (2 GB)
- Basic MFA
Microsoft 365 F3
$8/user/mo- Full web & mobile Office apps
- Teams (full features)
- Exchange Online Kiosk (2 GB)
- OneDrive (2 GB)
- Intune, Conditional Access
- Windows 11 Enterprise
Watch Out
Frontline mailboxes are only 2 GB. If your frontline workers need real email (not just basic communication), you need to add Exchange Online Plan 1 ($4/user/month) or consider upgrading to an E3 license for those specific users.
Office 365 Plans (Legacy but Still Available)
Office 365 E1, E3, and E5 still exist. They include the same productivity and collaboration tools but lack Windows 11 Enterprise, Intune, and the advanced security features that come with Microsoft 365 plans. Think of Office 365 as the "collaboration only" tier.
- Office 365 E1 ($10/user/mo) — Web apps + Exchange + Teams + SharePoint. No desktop apps.
- Office 365 E3 ($23/user/mo) — Desktop apps + everything in E1. No Intune, no Windows.
- Office 365 E5 ($38/user/mo) — E3 + Power BI Pro + Audio Conferencing + advanced voice.
- New purchases should generally choose Microsoft 365 over Office 365 — the security features alone justify the price gap.
If you are still on legacy Office 365 plans and want to upgrade to the Microsoft 365 stack, the transition is straightforward — it is essentially a license upgrade within your existing M365 tenant. No data migration needed, just a plan change and policy reconfiguration.
Standalone App Plans
If your organization only needs the Office desktop applications without any cloud services, Microsoft offers two standalone plans:
Microsoft 365 Apps for Business
$12.50/user/mo- Desktop apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access (PC), Publisher (PC)
- OneDrive (1 TB) included
- Up to 300 users
Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise
$12.50/user/mo- Same desktop apps as Apps for Business
- OneDrive (unlimited) included
- No user limit
- Group Policy management
- Telemetry & compliance controls
Did You Know?
Microsoft 365 Business plans (Basic, Standard, Premium) are capped at 300 users per tenant — exceeding this requires migration to Enterprise licensing.
Test Your Knowledge
Question 1 of 4
What is the maximum number of users allowed on any Microsoft 365 Business plan?
Chapter Summary
- 1Business Basic is the entry point: email, file storage, and Teams collaboration for $6/user/month — but users only get browser-based Office apps.
- 2Business Standard at $12.50 is the workhorse plan for organizations under 300 users who need full desktop apps plus cloud services.
- 3Business Premium at $22 is the best value for security-conscious SMBs — you get Intune, Defender for Business, Entra ID P1, and Purview data protection in one bundle rather than purchasing them as individual add-ons.
- 4Enterprise E3 ($36) is the standard for mid-market and enterprise organizations: unlimited users, 5 TB OneDrive, rights-managed encryption, Windows Enterprise upgrade, and baseline compliance tools.
- 5Enterprise E5 ($57) is the all-inclusive tier — advanced threat protection, auto-investigation, Cloud App Security, information barriers, Privileged Identity Management, and full telephony capabilities are all bundled in.
- 6Frontline plans serve workers who share devices or only need mobile/kiosk access. F1 at $2.25 is the absolute minimum (Teams, Shifts, limited mail). F3 at $8 adds Office web apps and a 2 GB Exchange mailbox for meaningful email use.
- 7If users only need Office desktop apps and OneDrive without email or Teams, Apps for Business ($8.25) or Apps for Enterprise ($12) are standalone options that can be paired with Exchange Online plans separately.
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