Microsoft has different products and plans with similar options and names, so which fits you best?
If you are considering between Business Premium vs. E3 plans, short answer is it’s almost identical and it’s easy to switch between plans now easier than ever.
Let’s see the detailed comparison below.
Microsoft’s current products and plans:
| Office 365 service family | Plans |
|---|---|
| Business (maximum of 300 users) | Microsoft 365 Business Basic (formerly Office 365 Business Essentials) Microsoft 365 Business Standard (formerly Office 365 Business Premium) Microsoft 365 Business Premium (formerly Microsoft 365 Business) Microsoft 365 Apps for business (formerly Office 365 Business) |
| Enterprise (unlimited number of users) | Office 365 E1 Office 365 E3 Office 365 E5 Office 365 F3 Microsoft 365 F1 Microsoft 365 F3 (includes Office 365 F3) Microsoft 365 E3 (includes Office 365 E3) Microsoft 365 E5 (includes Office 365 E5) Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise (formerly Office 365 ProPlus) |
Service availability within each Microsoft 365 and Office 365 plan
Each Microsoft 365 or Office 365 plan includes a number of individual services, such as Exchange Online and SharePoint Online. The following table shows the services that are available in each plan.
| Service | Microsoft 365 Business Basic | Microsoft 365 Business Standard | Microsoft 365 Business Premium | Microsoft 365 E3/Office 365 E3 | Microsoft 365 E5/Office 365 E51,2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office 365 platform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Exchange Online | Yes 3 | Yes 3 | Yes 3 | Yes 4 | Yes 4 |
| SharePoint Online | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| OneDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft 365 Apps for the web | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft 365 desktop client apps | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft Teams | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Project | No | No | No | No | No |
| Power BI | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Viva Engage | Yes 5 | Yes 5 | Yes 5 | Yes 5 | Yes 5 |
| Azure Information Protection6 | No 7 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft Kaizala | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
1 Office 365 E5 and Microsoft 365 E5 contain Phone System and Audio Conferencing. To implement a Calling Plan requires an additional plan purchase (either Domestic or International).
2 Includes Microsoft 365 E5 Compliance, which provides automatic classification and retention, Microsoft Purview Customer Key, Microsoft Purview Advanced Message Encryption, Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management, Microsoft Purview Communication Compliance, Microsoft Purview Information Barriers, Microsoft Purview Customer Lockbox, Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management, Microsoft Purview Audit (Premium), Records Management, Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Premium) capabilities; and Microsoft 365 E5 Security, which includes Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 2, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Entra ID Plan 2, Microsoft Defender for Identity, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, and Safe Documents.
3 Includes Exchange Online Plan 1.
4 Includes Exchange Online Plan 2.
5 Viva Engage core functionality is included with Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 F1, Microsoft 365 F3, Office 365 E1, Office 365 A1, and Office 365 F3. Premium functionality such as leadership corner, campaigns, advanced analytics, and more are included in Viva Suite license.
6 To learn more about which Azure Information Protection features are included with Microsoft 365 and Office 365 plans, see Azure Information Protection.
7 Azure Information Protection isn’t included, but can be purchased as a separate add-on and will enable the supported Information Rights Management (IRM) features. Some Azure Information Protection features require a subscription to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, which isn’t included with Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 F1, Microsoft 365 F3, Office 365 E1, Office 365 A1, or Office 365 F3.
| Service | Microsoft 365 Apps | Office 365 E1 | Microsoft 365 F3/Office 365 F3 | Microsoft 365 F1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office 365 platform | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Exchange Online | No | Yes 1 | Yes 2 | No 3 |
| SharePoint Online | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| OneDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes 4 | Yes 4 |
| Microsoft 365 Apps for the web | Yes | Yes | Yes | No 5 |
| Microsoft 365 desktop client apps | Yes | No | No | No |
| Microsoft Teams | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Project | No | No | No | No |
| Power BI | No | No | No | No |
| Viva Engage | No | Yes 6 | Yes 6 | Yes 6 |
| Azure Information Protection7 | No | No 8 | No 8 | No |
| Microsoft Kaizala | No | Yes | Yes | No |
1 Includes Exchange Online Plan 1.
2 Includes Exchange Online Kiosk.
3 Microsoft 365 F1 doesn’t include rights to an Exchange mailbox. To enable a full Teams experience, Microsoft 365 F1 licenses may come with the Exchange Online K1 service plan enabled. Although the Exchange Online K1 service plan will provision a mailbox for the user, Microsoft 365 F1 users aren’t entitled to use the mailbox. We recommend that your customers disable Outlook on the web via these steps and ask users not to access the Exchange mailbox via any other methods.
4 Includes 2 GB storage.
5 Microsoft 365 F1 users can read files using Office for the web, but don’t have create/edit/save rights.
6 Viva Engage core functionality is included with Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 F1, Microsoft 365 F3, Office 365 E1, Office 365 A1, and Office 365 F3. Premium functionality such as leadership corner, campaigns, advanced analytics, and more are included in Viva Suite license.
7 To learn more about which Azure Information Protection features are included with Microsoft 365 and Office 365 plans, see Azure Information Protection.
8 Azure Information Protection isn’t included, but can be purchased as a separate add-on and will enable the supported Information Rights Management (IRM) features. Some Azure Information Protection features require a subscription to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, which isn’t included with Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 F1, Microsoft 365 F3, Office 365 E1, Office 365 A1, or Office 365 F3.