The custom assessment feature and premium assessments are reserved for Office 365 E5/A5/G5 and Microsoft 365 E5/A5/G5 customers. Premium assessments, such as FedRAMP Moderate, FedRAMP High and others, will be available for purchase to customers with E5/A5/G5 licenses during the first half of 2021 through VL, CSP, and WebDirect. The link points to Microsoft 365 Business Premium vs Microsoft 365 E3, which is really the better comparison. 'Microsoft 365' includes Intune, Windows 10 Business (or E3/E5 if Enterprise) and Windows Defender management. 'Office 365' lacks Intune, Windows 10 licensing, and Windows Defender management. Complete with premium office apps and extra support at no extra cost, Microsoft Office has all those office essentials covered. The best of Microsoft Office 365 for Business Score a software solution for the whole family in one fell swoop when you purchase Microsoft Office 365 for the home.
-->Microsoft 365 Business Premium is an integrated solution bringing together the best-in-class productivity of Microsoft 365 with advanced security and device management to help safeguard your business from advanced threats. This service description describes the plan options and features. For more information about Office 365, see Microsoft 365 and Office 365 service descriptions.
Feature availability across Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Microsoft 365 Business Premium plans
Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes essentially all the features available in Microsoft 365 Business Standard along with additional Microsoft security features.
| Plan options | Microsoft 365 Business Standard | Microsoft 365 Business Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office 365 platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Exchange Online | Yes1 | Yes1 | |
| SharePoint Online | Yes | Yes | |
| OneDrive for Business | Yes | Yes | |
| Microsoft Teams | Yes | Yes | |
| Office for the web | Yes | Yes | |
| Office applications | Yes | Yes | |
| Yammer Enterprise | Yes | Yes | |
| Microsoft Bookings | Yes | Yes | |
| Microsoft Power Automate | Yes | Yes | |
| Microsoft Forms | Yes | Yes | |
| Microsoft Planner | Yes | Yes | |
| Microsoft PowerApps | Yes | Yes | |
| Microsoft StaffHub | Yes | Yes | |
| Microsoft Stream | Yes6 | Yes6 | |
| Microsoft 365 administration | Microsoft 365 Business Standard | Microsoft 365 Business Premium | |
| Azure AD Connect sync tool | Yes | Yes | |
| Shared computer activation | No | Yes | |
| Message policy and compliance | Microsoft 365 Business Standard | Microsoft 365 Business Premium | |
| Long-term archiving of Exchange Online-based mailboxes | No | Yes3 | |
| Azure Information Protection Plan 1 | No | Yes2 | |
| Office 365 Message Encryption | No | Yes2 | |
| In-Place Hold and Litigation Hold | No | Yes3 | |
| In-Place eDiscovery | Yes | Yes | |
| Transport rules | Yes | Yes | |
| Data loss prevention | No | Yes | |
| Privacy, security, and transparency | Microsoft 365 Business Standard | Microsoft 365 Business Premium | |
| Built-in anti-spam protection | Yes | Yes | |
| Built-in anti-malware protection | Yes | Yes | |
| Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 | No | Yes7 | |
| Secure Score4 | Yes | Yes | |
| Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 | No | No | |
| Azure AD Premium P1 is available to Microsoft 365 Business Premium customers. | Microsoft 365 Business Standard | Microsoft 365 Business Premium | Enterprise Mobility + Security E3 |
| Azure Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Administrative units | No | Yes | Yes |
| Cloud app discovery | No | Yes | Yes |
| Dynamic groups | No | Yes | Yes |
| Self-service password reset for cloud identities | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Self-service password reset with on-premises AD write-back | No | Yes9 | Yes |
| Device objects two-way synchronization between on-premises directories and Azure AD (device write-back) | No | Yes9 | Yes |
| Conditional access (based on group, location, or device state) | No | Yes9 | Yes |
| Company branding (logon pages/access panel customization) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Application proxy | No | Yes9 | Yes |
| Microsoft Identity Manager (MIM) user CAL | No | Yes9 | Yes |
| Connect Health | No | Yes9 | Yes |
| SLA 99.9% | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Device and application management Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes full Intune capabilities for iOS, Android, Mac OS, and other cross-platform device management.8 | Microsoft 365 Business Standard | Microsoft 365 Business Premium | |
| Intune Mobile Device Management (MDM) for PCs, Macs, and mobile devices5 | No | Yes | |
| Mobile Device Management (MDM) auto-enrollment | No | Yes | |
| Intune Mobile Application Management (MAM) for Office apps and LOB apps | No | Yes | |
| Windows update management, Defender, Firewall policies5 | No | Yes | |
| Data protection - selective wipe | Yes | Yes | |
| Security group (SG) targeting for policies | No | Yes | |
| Install Office apps on enrolled Windows 10 devices | No | Yes | |
| Windows Defender configuration | No | Yes | |
| Deploying device profiles and security configuration5 | No | Yes | |
| Enterprise State Roaming for Windows 10 with Azure AD join | No | Yes | |
| Self-service BitLocker recovery | No | Yes | |
| Windows Virtual Desktop | No | Yes | |
| Windows 10 Pro management If you have devices that are licensed for Windows 7 and 8.1 Professional, Microsoft 365 Business Premium provides an upgrade to Windows 10 Pro.9 | Microsoft 365 Business Premium | ||
| Simplified deployment with Windows AutoPilot | Yes | ||
| Subscription activation | Yes | ||
| Organizational control of device screen on idle | Yes | ||
| Organizational control of user access to apps from Microsoft Store | Yes | ||
| Organizational control of user access to Cortana | Yes | ||
| Organizational control of Windows tips and advertising from Microsoft | Yes | ||
| Windows 10 devices kept up-to-date automatically | Yes | ||
| Windows 10 Security | Microsoft 365 Business Premium | ||
| Protect PCs from viruses and other threats using Windows Defender Antivirus | Yes | ||
| Protect PCs from web-based threats in Microsoft Edge | Yes | ||
| Use rules that reduce the attack surface of devices | Yes | ||
| Protect folders from threats such as ransomware | Yes | ||
| Help protect files and folders on PCs from unauthorized access with Bitlocker | Yes |
Notes
1 Includes Exchange Online Plan 1.
2 Azure Information Protection (AIP) enables the supported Information Rights Management (IRM) features. AIP Plan 1 is included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium.
3 Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes Exchange Online Archiving subscription. Each Exchange Online Archiving subscriber initially receives 100 GB of storage in the archive mailbox. When auto-expanding archiving is turned on, additional storage is automatically added when the 100 GB storage capacity is reached. For more information, see Overview of unlimited archiving.
4 Available at https://securescore.office.com. Requires admin permissions. For more information, see Microsoft Secure Score.
5 Simplified Windows 10 device management built into the Microsoft 365 admin center. Intune management capabilities of iOS, Android, macOS, and other cross-platform device management built into the Device management admin center, also licensed for use with Microsoft 365 Business Premium. Third-party apps and configuration of things like WiFi profiles and VPN certificates can also be managed in the Device management admin center.
6 This plan comes with Microsoft Stream Plan 2, which includes Video portal, Speech to text transcription, Deep Search, and Face Detection.
7 Microsoft 365 comes with Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1. For more information, see Microsoft 365 Business Premium security and compliance features.
8 Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscribers are licensed to use full Intune capabilities for iOS, Android, MacOS, and other cross-platform device management. Features not available in the admin center in Microsoft 365 Business Premium, like third-party app management and configuration of WiFi profiles, VPN certificates, etc., can be managed in the full Intune console.
9 If you have devices that are licensed for Windows 7 and 8.1 Professional, Microsoft 365 Business Premium provides an upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. However, this license does not cover Windows 7.1 or 8 Home Edition with Windows 10 Pro. With Microsoft 365 Business Premium you not only get Microsoft Defender security features that come enabled in Windows Pro, you also get access to premium features like network protection for web-based threats and host intrusion prevention rules to mitigate ransomware. When you set up your Microsoft 365 Business Premium account, you select app protection, and device configuration settings. These settings determine the policies that are applied automatically to devices when they join Azure Active Directory.
Browsing Office 365 plans?
Don’t get out your credit card just yet. There are some options you should try first.
I know, the prospect of a free Office 365 download sounds kind of farfetched. But it’s not. If there is a legal way that you don’t have to pay, you’ll find it here.
Of course, one way is to simply get the free trial of Office 365 if you don’t have it already. This is limited but will give you a chance to try it before you buy.
On to the ways to get a full free Office 365.
1. Get Office 365 through your school
Microsoft offers Office 365 Education for free through many schools and universities. If you are a student or educator, and your institution is eligible, all you need is a valid school email address.
This is a truly free version of Office 365, and you should enjoy this benefit for as long as possible. In addition to your familiar MS apps, it comes with tools to encourage collaboration in the classroom, like Access, Sway, Teams, SharePoint, Stream, and Flow.
Every so often, Office will verify you are still are still an active educator or student. Once your Office 365 Education plan expires, applications will become view-only after 30 days. After 60, you will lose access. To keep working, you will need to subscribe to Office 365, or back up your files and use Office Online.
If you used to be a student, see if your school address will work. If not, access the alumni discount they offer for Office 365 Personal.
2. Get the free trial of Office 365
This is the easiest free option for accessing premium versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, and Access. But it only lasts for a month. After that, you’ll have to begin a subscription or use one of the other methods here.
Note: You will have to provide payment information to sign up for the free trial, though you won’t be charged until the trial expires. When it does, you will start getting billed automatically.
Remember to turn off recurring billing in your Account Settings unless you want to start paying.
Unlike the online version, when Office 365 is installed locally you have full document editing capabilities offline. You can share the free Office 365 trial version with up to five other people. Each person gets 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage, plus the ability to sync and share files across Windows, Apple, and Android devices.
This is a great option, but only for the short-term. You only get a single free trial per email and credit card, so unless you try to bend the terms of the license agreement, it’s a one-shot deal. Or is it?
3. Get the free trial of Office 365 ProPlus
Microsoft provides evaluation versions of its products to potential customers through its Evaluation Center. There you can test-drive the latest features and services the company offers, including Office 365 ProPlus. First, you’ll need to register an Office 365 ProPlus account and qualify for an evaluation account.
Note: Same as the trial version of Office 365, the ProPlus trial requires payment information and bills you after a month.
Purchase Microsoft Office 365
Once you have access to the full evaluation version of Office 365 ProPlus, you can share and manage up to 25 users. It comes with all of the premium Office tools, not just web apps, and Skype for Business. Streaming installation for up to five computers per user allows everyone to work offline with full editing capabilities.
Since it is an evaluation version, Microsoft is still working out the kinks of this software. Things may not work perfectly, so be prepared.
This is Microsoft’s way of hooking enterprise customers, and it is a sleek toolkit for any company. But if you are not looking to pay once the trial is up, you will have to back up and switch to something else.
Tip: G Suite Business isn’t free, but its pricing is competitive and the functionality works well for agile companies.
4. Convince your company to get Office 365
If your need for Office 365 is strictly personal, this may be a tough sell. But if you constantly find yourself in need of full-versions of Word or Excel, you probably have a strong case to make to your employer.
Office Online is great, considering it’s free, but the lack of function or offline capability can be extremely frustrating. If these things are getting in the way and costing you time, it’s likely costing the company more money a subscription would.
This isn’t always going to work—especially if you are your own boss, sorry freelancers—but I told you we were looking at every option to get Office 365 free of charge.
5. Free Office 365 (with purchase of a PC)
Here’s an option that is not going to be right for everyone, but if you are in the market for a new computer, this could be an answer. Some PCs come with one year of Office 365. This sometimes includes ultra-affordable laptops, and you still save $99 annually on an Office 365 subscription.
One thing to make sure of is that you are getting what you want. Some computers will only come with Office 365 Personal, and others may not even have an OS installed. Read the fine print and confirm everything is set up as you expect.
What about Office Online and Mobile?
Now you know how to get a free download of Office 365, but I should mention two easy, free-forever Office options just in case they do the trick.
Get Office Online
Office Online is entirely cloud-based and works on most browsers. As long as you have the internet, you have access to familiar MS Office tools like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as Sway, OneNote, Outlook, Calendar, OneDrive, Forms, People, and Skype. Simply create an account and log in from anywhere to collaborate with anyone.
While Office Online doesn’t take up any space, the downside is that you need the internet in order to use the programs and your documents. If you can rely on wifi wherever you need it, this limitation isn’t so bad. Plus, you can always sync your computer with OneDrive so that files are automatically stored for offline access.
The features are greatly limited compared to Office 365, but for personal use, it’s probably okay as long as you plan ahead. The extra logistics required to coordinate larger teams using Office Online, however, probably don’t end up saving much money.
Get the Office mobile app
The Office mobile app works on Android and iOS on your phone or tablet. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are combined into a single app that syncs with all of your devices that use Office.
Office 365 Premium 1 Year Subscription
You can download additional apps, which take up some space, but all of your documents are stored in the cloud. You’ll be able to create and sign PDFs, and edit documents, tables, and slides—but be aware that the editing features are limited without the Office 365 subscription.
Similar to Office Online, the mobile app is okay for personal needs but quickly reveals itself wanting at the enterprise level.
Note: Editing in the Office mobile app is limited to screens up to 10.1 inches. If you have a larger screen, you will have to upgrade to Office 365 or be stuck in read-only.
Dubious methods and hacking
Office 365 Premium Login
Finally, I want to point out that similar to giving Microsoft multiple credit cards or emails in an attempt to prolong your free trial of Office 365, there are other dubious methods out there. These are not always safe for you and may be illegal.
I mention them because your search has no doubt included these options, and many are disguised as genuine with a price that is too good to be true.
For example, you will find people offering Office 365 for $1 on eBay and other sites. This will get you a product key that maybe works, and definitely isn’t legal. Typically, you can use these accounts for one year, or until Microsoft detects that your key is not legitimate.
There are also videos and blogs that show you how to hack Office 365 by emulating a successful KMS activation. These authors claim that the KMS license key is legal, which may be true, depending on how the code is written. But installing the key to access licenses you never bought is certainly not legal.
Plus, whatever patch you copy into your system may have other functions you don’t want. A hacker wrote it after all. For us, we don’t consider it worth the risk.
This goes, too, for any free Office 365 you discover on torrents and other sites that get shut down periodically. With an illegal free version of Office 365 you may get more than you pay for in the worst way.
Final note: If you have to pay… it’s really not that bad!
In the end, Office 365 is an extremely valuable set of programs. Getting it for $99/year is pretty amazing.
I understand why it’s annoying, especially in the eleventh hour when your documents are out of reach. Trust me, I get it. But I also understand that the software of this century requires ongoing maintenance for security and integration. The game has changed and it’s not necessarily evil for companies to move to a subscription model.
Of course there are people who will disagree with me.
LibreOffice is a free fully-loaded office suite. Over 200 million people use the open-source program, which supports more than 200 file types. It’s got Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, and a number of other applications that are recognizable to any user of Word, etc.
There are Google’s free offerings as well, which solve most personal needs for document creation, sharing, and storage. For enterprise needs, though, G Suite for Business is reasonably priced and has a higher user satisfaction score than Office 365.
Use the trials to figure out where you stand. If Office 365 is what you need, budget it in and write it off next year. Here’s a guide to help you make sense of the Office 365 pricing.