Microsoft 365 Business Basic vs Standard vs Premium
Basic is web apps and email. Standard adds desktop Office. Premium adds the security layer.
Microsoft 365 Business Basic gives you web and mobile apps plus email, Teams and file storage. Business Standard adds the desktop Office applications. Business Premium adds device management, advanced threat protection and identity controls. For most businesses that handle customer data, Premium is the plan that actually matches the security expectations of insurers and clients.
Business Basic
Exchange email, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Office apps in the browser and on mobile only. Fits frontline or light users who live in a browser and never need desktop Excel.
Business Standard
Everything in Basic plus the installable desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. The default for office workers for years, and still fine if security is handled by other tools.
Business Premium
Everything in Standard plus:
- Microsoft Intune for managing and securing PCs, Macs and phones. See what is Intune.
- Defender for Business endpoint detection and response.
- Entra ID P1, which enables Conditional Access policies such as requiring MFA everywhere and blocking risky sign-ins. See what is conditional access.
- Defender for Office 365 features for safer links and attachments.
- Information protection for labeling and protecting sensitive documents.
Why Premium is usually the answer
The gap between Standard and Premium is mostly the security controls cyber insurers, frameworks and customers now ask about. Buying those capabilities separately costs more and manages worse. Mixing plans is fine: Premium for everyone with a company device or sensitive access, Basic for kiosk or frontline roles.
Beyond 300 users
Business plans cap at 300 users. Larger organizations move to Microsoft 365 E3 or E5, which add enterprise features and remove the cap.
Mentis Group provides licensing guidance and configuration as part of Microsoft 365 support and our role as a Microsoft Partner. Start with what is Microsoft 365 for business for the platform overview.
Have a question about your own environment? Schedule a consultation with Mentis Group or call (866) 901-7808.