How to choose the right Microsoft 365 for Business package

Microsoft’s business packages are aimed in par­tic­u­lar at small and medium-sized en­ter­prises (SMEs). The Microsoft business packages are called Business Basic, Apps for Business, Business Standard and Business Premium. Included in all four business packages are Word, Excel, Power­Point and OneDrive ap­plic­a­tions.

All in­form­a­tion in this article is correct as of January 2026.

Microsoft business packages vs Office home packages

The dif­fer­ence between Office packages for in­di­vidu­als and those for SMBs is what you get with them. For the the private sector, Microsoft offers packages that include the usual programs such as Word, Excel and Power­Point. For companies, the packages include ad­di­tion­al or business-optimised services that simplify col­lab­or­at­ive work processes.

Microsoft 365 small business packages offer you familiar and trusted Microsoft ap­plic­a­tions as an online app or in­stall­able component. Microsoft also grants you access to useful tools and programs that primarily help you to develop, manage and advance col­lab­or­at­ive projects as well as fa­cil­it­ate internal and external com­mu­nic­a­tion.

Microsoft 365 Business

The Office you know, only better

• Up to 50 GB Exchange email account
• Outlook Web App and col­lab­or­a­tion tools
• Expert support & setup service

See packages

What are the 4 Microsoft business packages?

Microsoft 365 is available for small and medium-sized busi­nesses in four different packages for up to 300 people:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic
• Microsoft 365 Apps for Business
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium

All of the small business solutions require you to sign up for a sub­scrip­tion, and you can choose between the slightly more expensive monthly sub­scrip­tion and an annual sub­scrip­tion. You pay for the former on a monthly basis, and you can cancel it at any time without incurring any ad­di­tion­al costs. On the other hand, early can­cel­la­tion of the annual sub­scrip­tion, which can be paid both monthly and annually, usually results in ad­di­tion­al costs. You will not receive a refund for payments already made for annual sub­scrip­tions.

Microsoft 365 Business Basic

The es­sen­tials in a nutshell

Among Microsoft business packages, Business Basic is the ideal office suite for any company whose employees travel ex­tens­ively or work from home but need access to project files and emails at all times. The package provides your company’s data with a secure storage platform and your employees with access to the most important Office ap­plic­a­tions via their browser. In addition, com­mu­nic­a­tion features such as shared inboxes, web con­fer­ences or team websites fa­cil­it­ate project col­lab­or­a­tion.

Costs: £4.60 (per user per month) with an annual sub­scrip­tion or £5.52 (per user per month) with a monthly sub­scrip­tion.

Business Basic in detail

Business Basic is the most af­ford­able model for small and medium-sized busi­nesses. It gives you access to the online versions of Word, Excel, Power­Point and OneNote via any standard web browser.

All employees can work on files from the above programs in real time at any time and from anywhere as long as they have internet access. Files created with the online programs are com­pat­ible with the latest versions of the desktop ap­plic­a­tions, so you can send your own documents or open and edit external documents.

However, the focus of the Business Basic package is to help you and your company com­mu­nic­ate and col­lab­or­ate. To that end, the package includes useful online services, which is where Exchange really stands out. Protected from viruses, spam and phishing attacks, the email system provides a central hosting platform for your company’s entire email traffic. Access messages at any time from any device via the Outlook Web app.

In addition, all users receive 1 TB of cloud storage and can send at­tach­ments of up to 150 MB. If you also purchase an in­stall­able Outlook version, you can retrieve your mails as usual via the client ap­plic­a­tion interface. You can set up shared inboxes and calendars too.

The other services of Microsoft 365 Business Basic at a glance:

Microsoft Teams

With the com­mu­nic­a­tion and video con­fer­en­cing software Microsoft Teams, you have access to a platform designed spe­cific­ally for team col­lab­or­a­tion. Through text, voice, and video chat, you can ef­fi­ciently com­mu­nic­ate with col­leagues and external partners. Thanks to its seamless in­teg­ra­tion with Outlook, you can schedule your online meetings in advance. If needed, you can generate custom in­vit­a­tion links that can be sent via email or added to your calendar. Up to 300 people can par­ti­cip­ate in video con­fer­ences, and features like screen sharing, breakout rooms, and live captions make col­lab­or­a­tion even more pro­duct­ive.

OneDrive for Business

Microsoft’s cloud storage OneDrive is the perfect solution to store and manage your company’s data. Create custom directory struc­tures and specify which people can view, create or edit files. All files are available online, can be accessed from anywhere and with any device, and are always up to date thanks to syn­chron­isa­tion. In Business Basic, 1 TB of storage space is available per person.

Share­Point

In addition to the Google Drive al­tern­at­ive OneDrive, you can use the Share­Point ap­plic­a­tion. Create team websites, which – simply put – are folders where you can store files of a specific project. All users involved can access the team documents and share files, info, etc. with each other.

Microsoft 365 Apps for Business

The es­sen­tials in a nutshell

Microsoft 365 Apps for Business is the right choice if you’re happy with the digital in­form­a­tion and work structure within your company but are looking for a feature-rich and versatile office suite. Unlike the other Business packages, this Microsoft Business package does not include Share­Point and only comes with OneDrive and Outlook. The package also assumes you already run an email server and rely on your own com­mu­nic­a­tions software, as Exchange is also not available. In return, however, you get access to the desktop versions of the Office apps, including Premium features.

Costs: £8.10 (per user per month) with an annual sub­scrip­tion or £9.72 (per user per month) with a monthly sub­scrip­tion.

Apps for Business in detail

Microsoft 365 Apps for Business also allows you to use the online ap­plic­a­tions of Word, OneNote, Power­Point and Excel via a browser or mobile app (iOS and Android). Users can install the suite on up to five Windows or macOS devices, as well as five mobile devices and five tablets, for a maximum of fifteen devices.

Since Apps for Business has a link to the OneDrive cloud, it is possible to share and col­lab­or­ate on all files in real time. If you have been working offline, the cloud service will syn­chron­ise your documents as soon as you have an internet con­nec­tion again. Microsoft also provides 1 TB of OneDrive storage per person in this business package.

Unlike the Business Basic package, Microsoft Teams and Share­Point team sites are not included. So, when it comes to project and corporate com­mu­nic­a­tions, it’s a matter of setting up al­tern­at­ive solutions. The Exchange mail hosting en­vir­on­ment is also not included in Microsoft 365 Apps for Business. You therefore need your own mail server solution for email com­mu­nic­a­tion and archiving.

Microsoft 365 Business Standard

The es­sen­tials in a nutshell

Microsoft’s Business Standard package is the right choice for users who want to use the Apps for Business features, but also need email hosting in the form of the Exchange ap­plic­a­tion. Business Standard offers you the usual Office programs like Word, Excel and Power­Point, but also scores points with practical tools such as Teams and Share­Point, which optimise col­lab­or­a­tion.

Costs: £9.60 (per user per month) with an annual sub­scrip­tion or £11.52 (per user per month) with a monthly sub­scrip­tion.

Business Standard in detail

With the Microsoft 365 Business Standard package, you get all the apps and services from Business Basic, such as Word, Excel, Power­Point, Outlook and OneDrive. Just as with Apps for Business, the desktop versions of the apps are available here, including premium features.

You also get access to more than ten helpful apps for business needs with the Business Standard package, including Clipchamp and Microsoft Loop. Clipchamp is a user-friendly online video editor that lets you create, edit, and share pro­fes­sion­al videos quickly and without prior ex­per­i­ence, while Microsoft Loop allows you to co-edit and structure content in real time and integrate it directly into other Microsoft ap­plic­a­tions.

You can also enhance your teamwork in Business Standard with the Teams ap­plic­a­tion, which in this package also allows you to hold online meetings with up to 300 par­ti­cipants. Unlike Business Basic and Apps for Business, the Business Standard version gives you the option of holding webinars, which users can register for.

Finally, benefit from email hosting thanks to Microsoft’s cloud solution Exchange. The ap­plic­a­tion gives you access to an inbox with 50 GB of storage and a personal calendar for pro­fes­sion­al schedul­ing.

Microsoft 365 Business Premium

The es­sen­tials in a nutshell

With the Microsoft 365 Business Premium package, you acquire the all-in-one solution for your company’s everyday office life, which not only presents a cross-company email solution (including calendar and 50 GB of storage per person), but also offers more security as well as pro­tec­tion against ransom­ware and other cyber threats.

Costs: £16.90 (per user per month) with an annual sub­scrip­tion or £20.28 (per user per month) with a monthly sub­scrip­tion

Business Premium in detail

Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes all the features of Business Standard. This means that the package includes both the latest Microsoft Office products (online and desktop version) and access to the powerful com­mu­nic­a­tion platforms Exchange and Teams.

Business Premium offers you all the tools you need as a modern small business for struc­tur­ing and col­lab­or­at­ing on projects in one place. You are not dependent on ad­di­tion­al hardware or software to operate an email server or a file server. Your email hosting mailbox includes 50 GB, just like in the other packages.

Another advantage that sets Business Premium apart from the other Microsoft 365 Business packages is its security features. With various pro­tect­ive measures such as Defender, app pro­tec­tion, and In­form­a­tion Rights Man­age­ment, your company’s devices and data are secured. In addition, in the most expensive package for small busi­nesses, your business data is stored within the EU.

Microsoft 365 Business solutions from IONOS

If you’re in­ter­ested in one of the presented Microsoft 365 Business packages, you can also purchase a cor­res­pond­ing sub­scrip­tion directly from IONOS. In addition to the standard Microsoft features, you’ll have access to optional setup services that guide you step by step through the in­stall­a­tion and con­fig­ur­a­tion of the ap­plic­a­tions.

To protect your data in the best possible way, IONOS offers you spam filtering and virus pro­tec­tion in addition to backups in certified data centres. In case of problems or questions about software, sub­scrip­tion or similar issues, support is available around the clock.

A great pro of these office solutions is that they combine IONOS hosting products with powerful Microsoft ap­plic­a­tions. Still, you only need to contact a single point of contact — whether it’s about billing, technical support, or logging in to the Control Center.

Cost: £7.00 (per user per month)