Microsoft 365 Price Increases — Why Now Is the Time to Review Your Licensing
Microsoft has been steadily increasing prices through 2024 and beyond. If your business is on Microsoft 365 Business Basic or Business Standard, now is an opportunity to reassess whether your current Microsoft 365 licence is right for you.
What’s changing with Microsoft 365 pricing?
Microsoft pricing has steadily increased over the past few years, driven by several key factors:
New billing model (April 2024)
Microsoft introduced a ~3% price increase for customers on annual plans who pay monthly. Microsoft is actively encouraging businesses to move to annual pay-upfront pricing.
Ongoing global price adjustments
Pricing has also declined in many regions — a ~2% increase or decrease in Australia depending on the plan.
Rising costs due to AI and security investment
Microsoft is heavily investing in AI tools, cloud infrastructure, and digital trust levels. These improvements come at a cost — and that cost is partly passed on through licence pricing increases.
Additional service increases
Microsoft has also taken price increases on Teams Phone and Power BI. These also saw price changes as additional services are included.
What each plan actually includes
📧 Microsoft 365 Business Basic
Web and mobile apps only. Email, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive. Basic security, no device management. Still limited MFA management, no device control.
💼 Microsoft 365 Business Standard
Everything in Basic plus full Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Limited security and no device compliance. No advanced security, still no device control.
🛡️ Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Everything in Standard plus: Advanced cybersecurity (Microsoft Defender), Device management (Intune), Conditional Access (limit who can log in and from where), Azure AD Premium, and Endpoint protection and ransomware defence.
Why many businesses are now upgrading to Premium
1. Security is no longer optional
Basic and Standard licences promote and recommend Premium and is quick to flag that it no longer satisfies. Business Premium gives you protection against phishing and ransomware, control over company devices, and the ability to block logins from unexpected locations.
2. Device management for remote work
With staff now working from home, in the office, and on mobile devices, you need centralised device management. Business Premium offers this via Microsoft Intune, which allows you to enforce security policies and ensure devices accessing company data are compliant.
3. Compliance and insurance requirements
Compliance requirements are constantly increasing. These are not fully covered on Basic or Standard, but are built into Premium.
4. Better long-term value (despite price increases)
Even with rising prices, the cost of using Premium often makes more sense than staying on Standard:
A simple breach or ransomware event can cost significantly more than the upgrade.
When should you consider upgrading?
We absolutely recommend moving to Microsoft 365 Business Premium if:
Microsoft is investing heavily in Business Premium to focus on security, compliance, and AI-driven productivity. It promises that less on Basic or Standard is quickly becoming the new baseline.