Pros & Cons
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- Top-notch office productivity programs
- Includes a custom email address and many business-focused apps
- Smooth collaboration and generous storage allotments
- Regular feature and security updates
- Works on all major platforms
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- Pricey add-ons
- Copilot AI can be intrusive
Microsoft 365 Business Specs
| Anti-Phishing (Clear Warning) | |
| Anti-Spam | |
| API Available for Customers | |
| Chat Client | |
| Cloud-Based Apps | |
| Collaboration Tools | |
| Desktop Apps | |
| Email Delegation | |
| Free Account Offered | |
| Guest Accounts | |
| HIPAA Eligible | |
| Imports From PDF | |
| Links to Live Web Data | |
| Mac App | |
| Mail App Included | |
| Microsoft Active Directory Sync | |
| Microsoft Exchange Compatibility | |
| Mobile Apps | |
| Native Email Encryption | |
| Online Collaboration | |
| Opens/Saves Microsoft Formats | |
| Pre-Built Templates | |
| Price Per Month | $20 per Person (Business Premium) |
| Records Macros | |
| REST API | |
| Starting Storage | 50GB |
| Windows App |
Microsoft 365 Business is the obvious first choice of office suites for any company that wants the convenience and security of desktop-based productivity software. It combines a collection of top-notch office programs—Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word—with a vast array of administrative tools and business-focused apps for booking, collaboration, planning, and much more. Copilot AI features are also prevalent throughout the experience to help you with everything from summarizing a document to performing deep analysis of data. All the core Microsoft 365 apps get regular updates and work just as well online as offline, too. Some apps can seem overwhelming at times, but Microsoft 365 Business is an easy Editors' Choice winner, thanks to its unbeatable proficiency and superb value. It shares that distinction with the extremely capable and online-first Google Workspace.
Pricing: A Good Value, Despite Lots of Add-Ons
The Microsoft 365 Business Basic plan ($6 per user per month, billed annually) unlocks access to the mobile (Android and iOS) and web versions of Excel, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word for up to 300 users. Each user gets 1TB of OneDrive storage space along with a custom business email address. This tier supports calls, chats, and video conferencing via Microsoft Teams, as well as includes other business apps, such as Microsoft Bookings, Forms, To Do, and Planner. Basic AI chat and writing feedback features are available at this level.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)You must pay for the Copilot add-on ($30 per user per month) if you want AI features in the office suite apps or chatbot capabilities that take your work into context. Some of Microsoft's 365 Business plans add this cost right into the subscription rate. You also need to consider paying extra for Teams Premium ($10 per user per month, billed annually), which unlocks additional AI features in that app, and Teams Phone (starting at $10 per user per month, billed annually without a calling plan), which adds support for cell and landline calls outside of your organization. Another available add-on, Microsoft Defender for Business ($3 per user per month, billed annually), promises AI-powered device protection.
Moving up the line, Microsoft 365 Business Standard ($12.50 per user per month, billed annually) unlocks the desktop versions (macOS and Windows) of Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word, along with access to Microsoft Clipchamp and Loop. You also get webinar capabilities via Microsoft Teams. The Microsoft 365 Business Premium plan ($22 per user per month, billed annually) adds access and identity management features and threat protection.
Microsoft 365 is a fast-evolving suite that gets updates every few weeks. Often, these updates introduce new features or change the way the interface works in ways that might require some adjustment. As such, your company might prefer the perpetual license version of Office, which gets just security updates. The business and home version goes for a one-time fee of $249.99. Organizations can also order volume licenses of Office Long Term Service Channel (LTSC) for environments without internet access or that have other restrictions.
Alternatives to Microsoft 365 Business: None Is Quite Equal
Microsoft 365 Business's closest competitor is Google Workspace. It starts at $7 per user per month, billed annually. This level includes 30GB of pooled Google Drive storage per user and access to online apps such as Gmail, Docs, Calendar, Forms, Keep, Meet, Sheets, and Slides. You also get a business email address with a custom domain and Gemini features in Gmail. To unlock the full range of Gemini app integrations, you must upgrade to the $14-per-month Standard plan. If you want to collaborate with colleagues in these apps, everyone has to access the documents on Google’s servers. With Microsoft 365, you can collaborate on documents via a Dropbox folder, a Microsoft SharePoint Server, or a personal OneDrive folder. Google Workspace also gets frequent updates, but its changes tend to be less radical than Microsoft 365 Business's.
Apple's iWork suite (Keynotes, Numbers, and Pages) is less suitable for professional organizations because it doesn't have desktop apps on Windows. Browser-based versions of the app with real-time collaboration features are available, but you still have to be careful about exporting documents in widely acceptable formats. The free and open-source LibreOffice suite offers desktop apps for all major platforms and might appeal to government or law offices, but its programs aren't as capable or reliable as Microsoft's. Otherwise, you could consider SoftMaker Office NX ($129.95 for a perpetual license or starting at $29.90 per year) and Kingsoft WPS Office (free for a limited version or starting at $35.99 per year). Corel WordPerfect (starting at $99.99 for a perpetual license) still exists as an option if you are primarily looking for a writing app.
Getting Started: Simple Setup, Good Support
Microsoft makes it easy to sign up for a 365 Business account, which, when you first create it, generates email addresses in the form yourname@yourdomain.onmicrosoft.com. I recommend changing this to reflect your custom domain because scammers frequently use more general domain names.
To create a unique new domain name or link your account to an existing one, head to the setup page in the account’s Admin Center. Microsoft will automate the process of linking an existing domain if you use a popular hosting service, such as GoDaddy or WordPress. Google Workspace also lets you create a new domain or link an existing one during the initial setup.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)Microsoft offers 24/7 phone support without extra charge in English and many other languages, along with web-based support. However, you get these benefits only if you purchase a subscription directly from Microsoft. If you subscribed through a third-party partner, you need to ask that company for support. As for other help, Microsoft’s many user forums are just moderately useful. They tend to have outdated information, and the answers aren't always relevant.
Office Apps: Still the Best
You can read about my full impressions of the Microsoft 365 office productivity apps in my review of the consumer-oriented Microsoft 365. In short, no other apps offer nearly their combination of features and reliability. Yes, you have to deal with some annoyances and quirks, but they should still be your first choice for crafting professional documents, emails, presentations, and slideshows. Below, I call out a few business and Copilot-focused features.
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Word
Next to the Editor icon (for grammar and spelling fixes) on Word's toolbar is a Copilot icon that opens the AI assistant's new pane. This pane offers to summarize the current document, generate images, or write something in response to a prompt, which you can then insert into your document simply by clicking on an icon. If you trust Copilot’s research and analytical skills, this can save you from opening a separate AI app. In its current form, Copilot seems somewhat pushy—it displays an icon in the margin every time you start writing a new paragraph. You can turn this behavior off in the Options (Windows) or Settings (macOS) menus.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)Excel
Microsoft’s Copilot AI is more useful in Excel than in PowerPoint or Word. I especially like its ability to perform deep analysis using Python. In testing, Copilot quickly generated summary statistics of a huge table of data, complete with a line chart. It also creates worksheets from scratch. For example, I asked Copilot to create a table summarizing Microsoft’s weekly stock prices over the past six months. It searched for the data, generated a table in seconds, and then offered to insert it into a worksheet. The resulting chart had a header row with convenient drop-down buttons for sorting each column. Copilot's ability to suggest conditional formatting that highlights rows with blank cells or cells with text values instead of numbers is also impressive.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)Other recently additions include the GROUPBY and PIVOTBY functions that work like Pivot Tables, filtering and sorting data according to fields that you specify. You can combine these functions with Pivot Tables, but, unlike Pivot Tables, they automatically refresh when your data changes. They do require building a fairly complex formula by hand, however.
PowerPoint
Among PowerPoint's latest features are a Record tab that lets you create a video of you narrating your presentation, while putting text in a teleprompter tab so you can avoid constantly looking down. Meanwhile, an accessibility tab evaluates whether your slides have all the information that users who rely on screen-reading software need. Finally, you can now easily add a live camera feed to all slides.
Copilot in PowerPoint can create a new presentation from scratch or summarize an existing one. In corporate settings, the app can even create presentations from a starter template that includes logos and other stylistic features.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)Outlook
Microsoft 365 Business defaults to the new Outlook app, though you can still choose the old one if you desire. The new version does almost everything the old one did, just in a refreshingly customizable and simple interface. It now integrates the Editor panel for spelling and grammar checks and can automatically translate messages that arrive in a foreign language.
If you have been using Apple Mail or Mozilla Thunderbird to manage your email because you just couldn't get along with the old Outlook, I now don't hesitate to recommend this new version.
Additional Business Apps: More Than Competitive
Other apps in the suite include Forms, which creates web-based fill-in forms that you can embed on your website, post on social media, or share with a link. The app can chart and analyze the answers you receive. Google offers a similar Forms app.
Microsoft Loop is a collaborative planning tool with a simple but highly customizable interface. It lets you divide a project into discrete components and get only the notifications relevant to you. Google’s Project Manager is similar, but somewhat less capable.
The Microsoft Teams communications app integrates tightly with Microsoft 365 Business’s scheduling features. Google Meet works similarly. Just keep in mind that users outside of your organization will probably be most familiar with Zoom.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: Microsoft)
Microsoft 365 Business
Microsoft 365 Business is the clear market leader for workplace-ready office suites, thanks to its broad availability, excellent update policies, and unbeatable apps for creating decks, documents, spreadsheets, and more.