Microsoft 365 vs Office 365: What’s the Difference in 2026?

People still say “Office 365” every day, and Microsoft hasn’t made it easy to keep up. Here’s what the names mean now, and which plan makes sense for a small UK business.

What changed in 2020

On 21 April 2020, Microsoft renamed its small business plans. Nothing changed in price or features at the time, only the names:

Old name	New name
Office 365 Business Essentials	Microsoft 365 Business Basic
Office 365 Business Premium	Microsoft 365 Business Standard
Microsoft 365 Business	Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Office 365 Business	Microsoft 365 Apps for business

The confusing one is the middle pair. If someone tells you they’re on “Office 365 Business Premium” from years ago, that is today’s Business Standard, not today’s Business Premium.

Where the old names still appear

• Office 365 E1, E3 and E5. Microsoft didn’t rename its enterprise plans, so “Office 365” is still a current product name for larger organisations. Microsoft’s business plans are for up to 300 users, so most small businesses won’t need these.
• Office 2024. “Office” lives on as a one-off purchase (Office Home & Business 2024, for example): the desktop apps for one computer, with no new features after you buy it, and no Teams or business email.
• The app formerly known as Office. The Office app became the Microsoft 365 app, which Microsoft started renaming the Microsoft 365 Copilot app in January 2025. Microsoft now calls it the Microsoft Copilot app. Office.com redirects to Microsoft’s new web address.

So if you’re paying a monthly fee per person for email, Word, Excel and Teams, you’re on Microsoft 365, whatever your invoice or your staff call it.

The Microsoft 365 business plans

These are Microsoft’s own UK list prices at the time of writing (October 2026), per user per month, excluding VAT, on an annual subscription paid yearly. Paying month to month costs more (for example, Business Standard is £12.96 instead of £10.80).

Plan	With Teams	Without Teams	What you get
Business Basic	£5.40	£4.20	Business email, web and mobile Office apps, 1 TB of OneDrive storage
Business Standard	£10.80	£8.30	Everything in Basic, plus the desktop apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
Business Premium	£16.90	£14.40	Everything in Standard, plus security and device management
Apps for business	n/a	£9.80	Desktop apps and 1 TB of storage, but no business email or Teams

Microsoft also sells “with Copilot” versions of Business Standard and Premium that bundle in Microsoft 365 Copilot. If you’re weighing that up, see our AI and Copilot page first.

Prices change. Microsoft raised list prices for most commercial suites from 1 July 2026, citing new security features and Copilot Chat, so check the current figures on Microsoft’s site or ask us before you budget.

What Business Premium adds

Business Premium is the plan built for companies that need stronger security. On top of Business Standard it includes:

• Microsoft Intune to manage and secure laptops and phones, including wiping company data from a lost device
• Microsoft Defender for Business for protection on your computers
• Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to filter phishing links and harmful attachments
• Microsoft Entra ID features such as conditional access, which can block sign-ins from unmanaged devices or unusual places
• Microsoft Purview data loss prevention and sensitivity labels

For solicitors and accountants handling client money and personal data, those extras cover several of the controls that Cyber Essentials and cyber insurers ask about, such as secure configuration and malware protection. Our Microsoft 365 security add-ons post covers when you need more.

With or without Teams

Since April 2024, Microsoft has sold “(no Teams)” versions of each business plan alongside the versions with Teams, after competition concerns in Europe. In the UK, small businesses can still choose either. You’d only pick “no Teams” if you use a different chat and meetings tool. Our Teams plan comparison explains the options.

Which plan should you choose?

For a typical UK office of 5 to 50 people:

• Business Basic suits people who mainly need email, Teams and files, and who are happy using Word and Excel in a browser.
• Business Standard suits people who work in the desktop apps all day.
• Business Premium suits most companies that hold client or financial data, because the security features are built in rather than bought separately.

You don’t have to put everyone on the same plan. Many companies mix them: Premium for most staff, Basic for a few people who only need email.

Microsoft 365 still needs looking after

Moving to Microsoft 365 doesn’t mean Microsoft manages it for you. Many of the protections above aren’t switched on out of the box, and Microsoft changes settings and retires older features regularly. Someone needs to set up multi-factor authentication, device policies, backups and leavers’ accounts, and keep up with the changes.

Our cloud services team does exactly that. If you’re not sure which plans you’re paying for, or whether they’re set up properly, our free IT Assessment is a good place to start.