Microsoft rebranded Office 365 to Microsoft 365 back in 2020, but the name change came with real substance. The platform is no longer just Word, Excel, and Outlook in the cloud — it has evolved into a full productivity, communication, and security stack. For small businesses, it is often the single platform decision that affects the most employees on a daily basis.
But Microsoft offers multiple plans at different price points, and the differences between them are not always obvious from the marketing pages. Here is a practical breakdown of which plan makes sense for which type of business, what you actually get at each tier, and how it stacks up against the alternative.
Microsoft 365 Business Plans: What Each Tier Includes
Microsoft offers four business plans for organizations with up to 300 users. Once you exceed 300 users, you move into Enterprise licensing, which is a different conversation entirely.
Microsoft 365 Business Basic — $6.00/user/month
This is the entry-level plan, and it is more capable than many businesses realize. You get:
- Web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook (no desktop apps)
- Exchange Online email with a 50 GB mailbox per user
- Microsoft Teams for chat, video meetings (up to 300 participants), and file sharing
- OneDrive with 1 TB of cloud storage per user
- SharePoint Online for team sites and document management
The key limitation: no desktop applications. Your team works entirely in the browser or mobile apps. For businesses where employees primarily use email, Teams, and light document editing, this is often sufficient. For power users who live in Excel with complex spreadsheets or need advanced Word formatting, the browser versions will feel limiting.
Best for: Service businesses, field teams, and organizations where most employees need email and Teams but do not do heavy document work.
Microsoft 365 Business Standard — $12.50/user/month
This is the most popular plan for small businesses, and the one most organizations should start evaluating first. Everything in Business Basic, plus:
- Desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote (installable on up to 5 devices per user)
- Microsoft Bookings for appointment scheduling
- Microsoft Loop for collaborative workspaces
- Clipchamp for video editing
The desktop apps are the big differentiator. They work offline, they have full feature parity with the standalone versions, and they get regular feature updates automatically. If your team creates documents, spreadsheets, or presentations as a core part of their work, you want this plan.
Best for: Most small businesses with 10-300 employees who need full desktop productivity apps alongside Teams and email.
Microsoft 365 Business Premium — $22.00/user/month
This is Business Standard plus a serious security and device management layer. The additional $9.50/user/month gets you:
- Microsoft Intune for mobile device management (MDM) and mobile application management (MAM) — you can enforce policies on employee devices, remotely wipe company data from lost phones, and manage Windows updates
- Microsoft Defender for Business — endpoint detection and response (EDR) that goes far beyond basic antivirus, with automated threat investigation and response
- Azure Active Directory Premium P1 — conditional access policies that control how and where users can sign in based on location, device health, and risk signals
- Azure Information Protection — classify and protect sensitive documents and emails with encryption and access controls
- Advanced threat protection for email — safe links, safe attachments, and anti-phishing policies
This plan is where Microsoft 365 transforms from a productivity suite into a productivity-plus-security platform. The Intune and Defender for Business components alone would cost more than $9.50/user/month if purchased separately.
Best for: Any business that handles sensitive data, has compliance requirements (HIPAA, CMMC, PCI DSS), has remote workers using personal devices, or simply wants a meaningful security baseline without stitching together separate products.
Microsoft 365 Apps for Business — $8.25/user/month
This is the odd one out. You get desktop apps and OneDrive, but no Exchange email, no Teams, and no SharePoint. It exists for businesses that already have email through another provider and just want the Office desktop apps.
Best for: Niche situations only. Most businesses are better served by Business Basic or Business Standard.
Microsoft 365 vs. Google Workspace: An Honest Comparison
Google Workspace is the obvious alternative, and it deserves a fair comparison.
Pricing
Google Workspace Business Starter runs $7.20/user/month (with 30 GB storage per user), Business Standard is $14.40/user/month (2 TB per user), and Business Plus is $18/user/month (5 TB per user).
On pure price, Microsoft 365 is slightly less expensive at comparable tiers. But the real cost difference shows up in what is included. Microsoft 365 Business Premium at $22/user/month includes Intune and Defender for Business — capabilities that Google does not offer natively at any price tier for small businesses. To get comparable device management and endpoint security with Google Workspace, you need to add third-party products.
Desktop Apps
This is where the comparison gets decisive for many organizations. Google’s productivity tools (Docs, Sheets, Slides) are web-only. There are no desktop applications. For businesses that need offline access, work with complex Excel files from clients or partners, or require advanced formatting in documents, Microsoft 365 has a clear advantage.
Google Sheets handles basic spreadsheet work well, but it cannot match Excel’s data analysis features, pivot table performance with large datasets, or macro compatibility. If your business regularly exchanges documents with clients, government agencies, or partners who use Microsoft Office formats, you will have better compatibility staying in the Microsoft ecosystem.
Collaboration
Google was ahead on real-time collaboration for years, but Microsoft has closed the gap significantly. Co-authoring in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint works smoothly in both the web and desktop apps. Teams has become a strong competitor to Google Meet, with features like breakout rooms, recording and transcription, and deep integration with the rest of the Microsoft 365 suite.
Google still has an edge in simplicity — less UI clutter, faster page loads in web apps, and a more intuitive sharing model. If your organization is entirely browser-based and values simplicity over feature depth, Google Workspace is a legitimate choice.
Email and Calendar
Both platforms offer reliable email and calendar. Exchange Online has more advanced features for email routing, shared mailboxes, and retention policies. Gmail is more consumer-friendly and has excellent search. For most small businesses, both are perfectly adequate.
Administration and Security
Microsoft 365’s admin center is more powerful but also more complex. Google Workspace’s admin console is cleaner and easier to navigate. For security, Microsoft 365 Business Premium is in a different league — Defender for Business, Intune, and conditional access policies give you an integrated security platform. Google Workspace’s security features are solid but less comprehensive for endpoint protection and device management.
Migration Considerations
Moving to Microsoft 365 from another platform involves several planning decisions that affect the smoothness of the transition.
Email Migration
If you are coming from Google Workspace, on-premises Exchange, or another email provider, Microsoft provides migration tools in the admin center. For Google Workspace migrations, the built-in migration tool handles email, calendar, and contacts. For on-premises Exchange, a hybrid migration or cutover migration depends on the size of your environment.
The most important step: get your DNS records right. MX records need to point to Exchange Online, SPF and DKIM records need to be configured for deliverability, and DMARC should be set up for email authentication. Misconfigured DNS is the most common cause of migration-related email issues.
Data Migration
Moving files from Google Drive, Dropbox, or local file servers to OneDrive and SharePoint requires planning. Microsoft’s SharePoint Migration Tool handles large-scale migrations from file shares. For Google Drive, the Mover tool (now integrated into the Microsoft 365 admin center) transfers files with permissions intact.
Plan your SharePoint site structure before migrating. Dumping everything into a single document library creates the same organizational mess you had before, just in a different location. Think about which teams need access to which content, and structure your sites and libraries accordingly.
Training and Adoption
The technical migration is the easy part. Getting people to actually use the new tools effectively is harder. Identify power users in each department who can serve as informal champions. Focus training on the workflows people use daily — not a comprehensive tour of every feature, but “here is how you do the three things you do most often.”
Microsoft offers free training resources at support.microsoft.com and through the Microsoft 365 Learning Pathways portal, which you can deploy within your SharePoint environment for self-service training.
License Management and Cost Control
Microsoft 365 licensing is flexible, which also means it can get expensive if you are not paying attention.
Right-Size Your Licenses
Not every employee needs the same plan. Your executive team might need Business Premium for the security features. Your office staff might need Business Standard for desktop apps. Your warehouse or field workers might only need Business Basic for email and Teams. Microsoft allows you to mix plans within the same tenant.
Watch for License Sprawl
Microsoft 365 makes it easy to add licenses and add-ons. Teams Phone, Power BI Pro, Visio, Project — the per-user costs add up quietly. Review your license assignments quarterly. Unused licenses (assigned to former employees, or assigned but never activated) are pure waste.
Annual vs. Monthly Commitment
Annual commitment pricing is typically 20% less expensive than month-to-month. If you are confident in your headcount, annual commitments save real money. If your workforce fluctuates significantly, the monthly flexibility might be worth the premium.
Getting Help with Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is straightforward to set up for a handful of users. For larger deployments, migrations from other platforms, or implementations that include the security features in Business Premium, working with a partner saves time and avoids costly misconfiguration.
Exodata provides Microsoft 365 administration, migration, and management services for small and mid-sized businesses. Whether you are choosing the right plan mix, migrating from Google Workspace or on-premises Exchange, or deploying Intune and Defender for Business, our team handles the technical work so your people can focus on their actual jobs. We also provide ongoing managed services for Microsoft 365 — license management, security monitoring, and user support. Reach out to us to discuss what your organization needs.