Microsoft 365 pricing in 2026: Business plans, E3 and Copilot costs

Microsoft 365 plans and prices

Microsoft 365 is usually the biggest per-seat line in a software budget because everyone gets a license. Email, Office apps, Teams and file storage all ride on it. List prices are public, but the bill depends on choices made at checkout: monthly or annual commitment, Teams or no Teams, and whether Copilot is added.

This guide prices Business Basic, Standard and Premium and the enterprise E3 and E5 suites from Microsoft's official US pages, then shows what Copilot and billing terms add.

Prices below were recorded on 12 October 2026. The headline figure is the lowest price you can get for that plan. Check the official page before you buy, because vendors change prices without notice.

Read this first. All plan prices (Basic USD 7, Standard USD 14, Premium USD 22, Apps for business USD 10, E3 USD 39, E5 USD 60, Copilot USD 30 and Copilot Business USD 21 or USD 18 promotional) and monthly prices (USD 8.40, USD 16.80, USD 26.40) were read on microsoft.com en-us pages on 12 October 2026 in a rendered browser. The Copilot Business USD 18 price is a promotion valid 1 July to 31 December 2026, first year only. The USD 32 Business Premium with Copilot and USD 23.50 Business Standard with Copilot bundle prices may also be promotional, so recheck the third scenario after December 2026. The earlier prices in the history (USD 6, USD 12.50, USD 36, USD 57) come from ProArch, not Microsoft. Google Workspace and Zoho Workplace prices in the alternatives table are from 2026 third-party sources, because Google's page served INR. The Slack price is a list figure and should be rechecked on slack.com.

Microsoft 365 cost calculator

Move the slider to see what each plan costs at your size. The figures use the list prices on this page and leave out tax, add-ons and any discount you negotiate.

What a team of 50 really pays

Fifty users shows what the security tier and Copilot add on top of the Business Standard base.

Where the bill grows

A Microsoft 365 bill moves with the plan tier, the billing term and add-ons. These are the places it moves most.

What each Microsoft 365 plan includes

Compare the plans side by side. Where a cell says Check page, the vendor's pricing page was not specific enough for us to fill it in.

Features we could not place by plan: Web and mobile Office apps, email, Teams, Desktop Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Policy-based identity and access management, Copilot Chat with web grounding. Check the official page for which plan includes each one.

Which Microsoft 365 plan should you pick?

How to pay less for Microsoft 365

1. Commit yearly

   Monthly subscriptions cost 20% more than paying yearly on every Business plan.

2. Assign plans by role

   Put browser-only staff on Business Basic at USD 7 and keep USD 14 desktop seats for people who need the apps.

3. Drop Teams where you have Slack

   No-Teams versions are cheaper, for example Business Standard (no Teams) at USD 10.79.

4. Pilot Copilot first

   License Copilot for a measured group, then expand on real usage, and lock in the first-year promotional price where eligible.

5. Reclaim leavers before renewal

   Remove unused licenses before the annual term renews, because the 7-day cancellation window closes quickly.

6. Ask about volume terms

   Larger tenants can ask a Microsoft partner or sales about volume pricing before renewal.

Subject: Microsoft 365 renewal on [renewal date]

Hi [account manager],

Our Microsoft 365 [plan] subscription renews on [renewal date]. Over the last 90 days, [active users] of the [paid users] we pay for used it.

We would like to renew with [target users] on a [term] term. Before we sign, please send:
1. The current list price and the price you are offering us, line by line.
2. The cap on any price increase at the next renewal.
3. The notice period if we want to cut users or move to another plan.

We are comparing this against [alternative] and plan to decide by [decision date]. If you can offer [target discount] percent off list, or a lower price for a longer term, we are ready to talk this week.

Thank you,
[name]
[company]

Microsoft 365 alternatives and what they cost

If this vendor does not fit, these are the closest options and what they charge.

Keeping Microsoft 365 spend under control

Every employee holds a license, so a tenant quietly collects seats for leavers, shared mailboxes and trial accounts. Nobody sees the waste until the renewal invoice.

• Track who holds a seat. Keep one list of paid seats, their owners and the date each was last used. Our guide to vendor management shows how to set that up.
• Put renewals on a calendar. Log every renewal date and notice period in a contract renewal tracker so nobody finds out after the term rolls over.
• Route new buys through one request. Cards and expense claims hide duplicate subscriptions. A short purchase requisition step catches them before the first payment.
• Know your whole software bill. Pull every vendor into one view with a spend analysis template, then look at the tools with the fastest growth.

Bottom line. Put most office staff on Business Standard, reserve Business Premium for when you will use its security, and pay yearly. Treat Copilot as a separate purchase with its own usage review, and reclaim unused licenses before each renewal date.

Microsoft 365 pricing questions

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