Decision: Microsoft 365 Apps for Business or Enterprise

In this article, you’ll find an in-depth exploration of each plan. Ultimately, you’ll have a clear picture of which version best suits you and your Business (or Enterprise). Inside each one of those versions, you have a ton of different plans, so let’s dive in.

Microsoft 365 Apps for Business plans high level overview

Microsoft 365 Apps for Business was formerly known as Office 365 Business and offers us four different plans. You can choose between Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, and finally, Microsoft 365 Apps for Business. Note all prices in the screenshot are in USD and might change in the future.

Microsoft 365 for Business plans are only available for organizations under 300 users. So, if your organization has more than 300 users, from a Microsoft perspective, you are now an Enterprise and will require Enterprise licensing.

Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans high level overview

Microsoft 365 Enterprise has two main options: Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5. From a licensing perspective, Microsoft 365 E5 is the highest plan you can get from Microsoft, without counting add-ons, of course.

Now, if you are looking at the image below, you might ask yourself, why did we only say two options, but there are three of them in the screenshot?

The last one, Microsoft 365 F3, is an offering for Field workers. What are field workers? Imagine you are an organization that manages over 100 retail stores. You probably have full-time employees who work from an office daily in front of the PC. Those employees would have an E3 or E5 license. But what about all your full-time or part-time employees that work inside the store? They do not need the full suite of applications as they barely spend time on a PC, but you still want them to have an email address or have access to the intranet on SharePoint.

Field Worker licenses allow users who do not spend all their time on the computer to get licenses at a lower cost. A Microsoft 365 F1 license is currently $2.25/user/month.

Comparing all the Microsoft licensing plans (Business, Enterprise, Field Worker, Non-Profit, Government) in one single post is impossible, so from now on, we will focus only on Business and Enterprise!

Microsoft 365 Business vs. Enterprise: Microsoft 365 apps comparison

Let’s start by comparing the Microsoft 365 Apps we have access to in each of those options. Remember that Microsoft 365 Apps suite used to be called Office and it includes apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more.

	Microsoft 365 Business Basic	Microsoft 365 Business Standard	Microsoft 365 Business Premium	Microsoft 365 Apps for business	Microsoft 365 E3	Microsoft 365 E5
Outlook	Web & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile
Word	Web & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile
Excel	Web & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile
PowerPoint	Web & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile
OneNote	Web & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile	Desktop, web, & mobile
Publisher		Desktop	Desktop	Desktop	Desktop	Desktop
Access		Desktop	Desktop	Desktop	Desktop	Desktop

From the Microsoft 365 Apps aspect, you will notice that Microsoft 365 Business Basic only offers the web and mobile versions of Microsoft 365 apps, while all our other subscriptions on this list offer us access to Microsoft 365 apps on the Web, Mobile, and Desktop as well, which means we can install them on our PCs. For all subscriptions, you are limited to installing Microsoft 365 apps on up to five PCs or Macs, five tablets, and five mobile devices.

From now on, we will stop including Microsoft 365 Apps for business from the comparison tables as the apps above are the only thing this subscription provides, and that is the reason why it doesn’t offer Outlook on the Web – as Microsoft 365 Apps for business doesn’t give you a Mailbox, just access to Outlook.

Email, calendar, and scheduling

Next up, let’s talk about the email functionalities we get with each subscription. While all five subscriptions allow you to add your own domain and have cloud-hosted email, Business plans give you access to 50 GB of storage space, while Microsoft 365 Enterprise subscriptions give you access to 100 gigs!

Enterprise plans also give you access to the Shifts app in Microsoft Teams to schedule shifts for your part-time workers, but that’s only if you have Teams. More on that in a second.

	Microsoft 365 Business Basic	Microsoft 365 Business Standard	Microsoft 365 Business Premium	Microsoft 365 E3	Microsoft 365 E5
Custom business email (name@yourbusiness.com)
Mailbox size	50 GB	50 GB	50 GB	100 GB	100 GB
Meeting invites
Shared calendars
Microsoft bookings
Schedule employees with the Shifts App in MS Teams				Yes (if you have Teams)	Yes (if you have Teams)
Automatic spam and malware filtering

Meetings, calling, and chat

Next, let’s move on to Meetings, calling, and chat, which all fall under the Microsoft Teams category! Not that long ago, this table would have been an easy one to make. However, Microsoft recently unbundled Microsoft Teams from their Enterprise plans address European competition concerns, so for Enterprise subscriptions, Microsoft Teams is only available as an add-on, while Business plans still have Teams inside (with the possibility of buying a plan that’s a bit cheaper and does not include Microsoft Teams).

	Microsoft 365 Business Basic	Microsoft 365 Business Standard	Microsoft 365 Business Premium	Microsoft 365 E3	Microsoft 365 E5
Microsoft Teams App				Available as an add-on	Available as an add-on
One-on-one or group chat				Available as an add-on	Available as an add-on
Chat, meet, share files, and use business apps in a shared workspace with Teams				Available as an add-on	Available as an add-on
Host secure, organized meetings with audio, video, screen-sharing, recording, and the option to enter a 3D immersive space				Available as an add-on	Available as an add-on
Schedule and host webinars				Available as an add-on	Available as an add-on

Social, intranet and storage

Our next category is Social, Intranets, and storage in which we have big differences in services and limits between our subscriptions. While all subscriptions have access to SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business, the amount of storage we have for OneDrive for Business is very different. All business subscriptions give you access to 1 TB of storage per user, while Enterprise subscriptions give unlimited storage, as long as you have a minimum of 5 subscriptions.

Another big difference is that Enterprise subscriptions include Viva Engage (previously Yammer) which enable you to create an enterprise social network, as well as Viva Connections which enable you to bring your SharePoint intranet in teams.

While all subscriptions have access to Microsoft Stream to view videos, Microsoft 365 Business Basic does not give you access to Clipchamp, Microsoft’s video editing tool.

	Microsoft 365 Business Basic	Microsoft 365 Business Standard	Microsoft 365 Business Premium	Microsoft 365 E3	Microsoft 365 E5
Create team sites to share information, content, and files throughout your intranet using SharePoint
Cloud storage per user in OneDrive	1 TB	1 TB	1 TB	Unlimited	Unlimited
Create communication sites in SharePoint
Engage and inform with intelligent video using Stream
Connect everyone at your organization through employee communities and conversations with Viva Engage	Available as an add-on	Available as an add-on	Available as an add-on
Provide a modern engagement experience for employees with Viva Connections	Available as an add-on	Available as an add-on	Available as an add-on
Create and share surveys, quizzes, and polls with Microsoft Forms
Edit videos using basic tools, such as trimming, cropping, and speed control with Clipchamp

Windows in Microsoft 365 business vs enterprise

Our next topic is Windows – and this one is straightforward. Microsoft 365 Enterprise subscriptions include access to the latest version of Windows, while Business subscriptions do not.

	Microsoft 365 Business Basic	Microsoft 365 Business Standard	Microsoft 365 Business Premium	Microsoft 365 E3	Microsoft 365 E5
Latest Windows usage license

Security and information protection

Our final comparison for this article is Security, and Information protection. In this category, Business Basic and Business Standard only get the fundamental features such as multi-factor authentication, spam and malware filtering on email, and password policies, but in the business plan, only Microsoft 365 Business Premium offers premium security features such as Entra ID P1, Microsoft Defender for Business, and Information Protection Plan 1.

From a security perspective, the big differences between Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Microsoft 365 E3 are the Microsoft Defender offerings. Business Premium gives access to a version of Defender built specifically for smaller organizations, not the full suite of Defender applications made for the enterprise.

	Microsoft 365 Business Basic	Microsoft 365 Business Standard	Microsoft 365 Business Premium	Microsoft 365 E3	Microsoft 365 E5
Entra ID premium version included			Entra ID P1	Entra ID P1	Entra ID P2
Microsoft Defender			Microsoft Defender for Business	Microsoft Defender for Endpoint	Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Identity, Office 365
Entra ID premium version included
Entra ID premium version included			Plan 1	Plan 1	Plan 2

Get the detailed comparison

We hope this blog post helped highlight some of the differences between Microsoft 365 Business subscriptions and Microsoft 365 Enterprise subscriptions. While we covered the main topics, there are so many apps inside the suites, especially on the security side, that we encourage you to dive deep into the official Microsoft comparisons as well at the following links:

• Microsoft 365 business: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/compare-all-microsoft-365-business-products
• Microsoft 365 Enterprise: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/microsoft365-plans-and-pricing
• Downloadable PDF: Microsoft 365 Comparison table for Enterprise and Frontline Workers Plans
• Downloadable PDF: Microsoft 365 Comparison table for Small and Medium Business
• Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft Entra Suite Comparison: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/microsoft-entra-pricing
• Microsoft 365 Licensing guidance for security & compliance: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/servicedescriptions/microsoft-365-service-descriptions/microsoft-365-tenantlevel-services-licensing-guidance/microsoft-365-security-compliance-licensing-guidance?WT.mc_id=M365-MVP-5000399

How to have advanced Microsoft 365 security without huge investments?

You may want the advanced security capabilities of Microsoft, but not want to invest resources in maintaining and monitoring everything. After all, there’s always the risk of over-provisioning. Plus, you may not wish to get locked into Enterprise-level pricing. 

Of course, all plans come with phone and web-based online support and a 99.9% uptime guarantee. However, you’ll need to decide if this level of security is enough and whether you want to spend time troubleshooting. 

For example, take one of Microsoft’s most advanced security add-ons – Microsoft Defender for Identity (formerly Azure Advanced Threat Protection). It offers a suite of features for identifying attacks, including learning-based analytics that monitor user behavior and entity behavior. It’s a crucial tool when defending your infrastructure in hybrid environments, where your security is only as strong as your weakest link.

Modern cyber threats often have to deal with unknown or emerging threats. Fortunately, there’s another way.

Introducing Syskit Point

Enabling collaboration while enabling security is an ongoing challenge for IT admins. Especially with pressure coming in from multiple angles. 

You’ve got employees’ needs and expectations around hybrid, remote, and flexible work. There’s the wider industry, where new competitors and cyber threats continue to evolve and emerge. And there are also your customers, now used to 24/7 connectivity and on-demand self-service. 

With so many angles to deal with, you need one central point for your app security and governance. In other words, you need Syskit Point. Here are six ways Syskit Point supports you: 

Protect

Detect unauthorized changes, permissions, and sharing so you can act on potentially suspicious and malicious activity. 

Automate

Schedule periodic access reviews so only the right people have the proper access to the correct files.

View

Enjoy a single pane view of your Microsoft Office 365 environment and ownership, spanning Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, and more.

Provision

Syskit Point includes Microsoft 365 provisioning features to keep usage and creation efficient and secure. You can customize approval flows and processes and apply relevant governance policies.

Track

Get in-depth analytics that show user activities, interaction, and more.

Govern

Manage policy governance from one central location. Auditors can simplify and automate reporting, while admins can control and ensure security and compliance.

Book a free demo to explore what Syskit can do for your business (or enterprise).