What Is Included in Microsoft 365 Business? Full Breakdown

Most businesses buy a Microsoft 365 Business plan, assume everything is included, then discover months later that staff can't install Word on their laptops or that "the antivirus" they thought they had is the free Windows default. This guide breaks down exactly what each plan includes — and what quietly isn't there until you upgrade or add a managed Microsoft 365 service.

What core services come with every Microsoft 365 Business plan?

Every Microsoft 365 Business plan — Basic, Standard, and Premium — includes the same core collaboration and storage services. These are not gated by tier, so even the cheapest plan gives you full Teams, business email, and cloud storage. The differences appear in Office desktop apps and security, covered below.

The services included across all three plans:

• Microsoft Teams — unlimited meetings, chat, channels, file sharing, recording, transcription, and breakout rooms. Teams Webinars (external registration events, up to 1,000 attendees) are Standard and Premium only.
• Exchange Online — a hosted business mailbox with 50GB Exchange Online mailbox per user, custom-domain email, and full Outlook calendar and contacts across desktop, web, and mobile (Microsoft mailbox limits).
• OneDrive for Business — 1TB of personal cloud storage per user, synced for offline access and shareable with colleagues and external collaborators.
• SharePoint Online — team document libraries, intranet sites, and the backend storage for files shared in Teams channels.
• Microsoft Forms, Planner, To Do, and Lists — surveys, Kanban task boards, personal task lists, and flexible data tracking, all integrated into Teams.
• Viva Engage (formerly Yammer) and Stream — company-wide social networking and video hosting for meeting recordings.

Shared mailboxes, distribution lists, and resource calendars are included at no extra licence cost on every plan. For a security-led view of how these services should be configured, see Microsoft 365 security.

How do the three Microsoft 365 Business plans differ?

The plans differ in three areas: whether you get installable Office desktop apps, how much security and device management you get, and access to Teams Webinars. Core collaboration is identical; the price step pays for Office installs and, at the top tier, a genuine security stack.

Microsoft licence list prices are published at microsoft.com/en-gb. Note that the price step from Standard to Premium buys security, not productivity — which is exactly where most SMEs under-provision.

Why Business Basic does not install Office on your computers

This is the single most misunderstood point in Microsoft 365 licensing. Business Basic provides web-based Word, Excel, and PowerPoint only — there is no desktop install. For staff who live in Outlook and Excel on a laptop, Business Standard or Premium is the minimum realistic plan.

If your users complain they "can't open Office properly," a Basic licence is usually the cause. The fix is a plan change, not a reinstall.

What security you actually get at each tier

Business Basic and Standard ship with baseline protection: Microsoft Defender Antivirus built into Windows, multi-factor authentication via Security Defaults, basic conditional access, and Exchange Online Protection. That is a floor, not a security strategy.

Business Premium adds Defender for Business (endpoint detection and response), Intune for device management, Entra ID P1 for advanced conditional access, and Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 for Safe Links and Safe Attachments. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre treats endpoint detection and MFA as baseline controls for any business, not premium extras (NCSC guidance).

What is not included in any Microsoft 365 Business plan?

Several capabilities sit outside the Business plans entirely and require add-ons, an Enterprise plan, or a third-party product. Assuming they are bundled is how businesses end up exposed — most damagingly on backup, which Microsoft does not provide.

• Teams Phone / PSTN calling — dialling external phone numbers needs a separate calling plan (from £5.95/user/month). See Teams Phone calling.
• Comprehensive backup — Microsoft 365's native retention is not a backup. A dedicated Microsoft 365 backup covers accidental deletion, ransomware, and departing-staff data loss.
• Advanced compliance — litigation hold, unlimited archive, and advanced eDiscovery require E3 or E5.
• Power BI Pro, Dynamics 365, and Windows 365 / Azure Virtual Desktop — separate licences in every case.

What is Microsoft 365 Apps for Business?

There is also Microsoft 365 Apps for Business (approximately £8.10–9.70/user/month, Microsoft list price as of 2026), which provides desktop Office on up to 5 devices plus 1TB OneDrive — but no Exchange email. It suits businesses that already have email elsewhere and only want Office installs. It is a niche choice, less common than Business Standard, but it exists.

AMVIA advises UK businesses on the right plan configuration and manages licences as part of managed IT support. A licence audit identifies whether your current mix is appropriate or whether adjustments would cut cost or close a security gap.