Screenshot of Microsoft 365's homepage, captured for this review.
Microsoft 365 Review
If your business runs on Excel, Outlook and Teams, Microsoft 365 is the obvious choice, and Business Premium is quietly one of the best security bundles in small-business software. Just budget for the 2026 price increases and expect to spend time in the admin centers.
Review last updated 2026-08-19 · How we rate hosts
Scorecard
Pros
- Desktop Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook included from Business Standard up
- 50 GB Exchange mailboxes plus 1 TB OneDrive per user on every tier
- Teams, SharePoint and Exchange in one subscription
- Business Premium bundles real endpoint security (Intune, Defender)
- Unmatched fit with corporate and compliance environments
Cons
- July 2026 price rises pushed Basic and Standard up 12-16%
- Admin centers are sprawling and often need IT help to configure well
- Licensing matrix is famously confusing
- Constant Copilot upsell throughout the interface
Microsoft 365 plans & pricing
Promotional monthly rates as of August 19, 2026; most require the listed prepaid term and renew at the higher rate shown. Confirm on Microsoft 365's site before buying.
| Plan | Intro price | Renews at | Storage | Sites | Bandwidth | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business BasicEmail Hosting | $7/moannual commitment | $7/mo | Web and mobile Office apps plus 1 TB OneDrive; 1 month free trial | |||
| Business StandardEmail Hosting | $14/moannual commitment | $14/mo | Adds desktop Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook installs | |||
| Business PremiumEmail Hosting | $22/moannual commitment | $22/mo | Adds Intune device management and Defender for Business |
Our Microsoft 365 review
Microsoft 365 is the incumbent for a reason: no competitor bundles hosted Exchange email, the desktop Office applications the business world actually runs on, Teams, and a terabyte of OneDrive per user into one subscription. For any company where Excel fluency is a job requirement, the decision usually makes itself.
Pricing changed in July 2026: Business Basic rose to $7 per user per month and Business Standard to $14 on annual commitment, while Business Premium held at $22. Monthly billing runs roughly 20% more. Microsoft softened the increases with larger mailbox allowances and improved Copilot Chat features, but it is still the second price action in two years, and existing customers feel it at renewal.
The tier logic is straightforward. Business Basic gives you 50 GB Exchange mailboxes with web and mobile Office - fine for frontline or email-only staff. Business Standard adds the full desktop apps and is where most companies land. Business Premium is the sleeper: for $8 more per seat it adds Intune device management and Defender for Business, which replaces standalone endpoint security spend for a small business and is genuinely good value.
The honest downside is complexity. Administration spans the Microsoft 365 admin center, Exchange admin center, Entra, Intune and Purview, and the settings for one outcome can live in three of them. Small businesses without IT support frequently misconfigure sharing, retention or security defaults; Google's single console is meaningfully easier. Licensing is its own discipline - the differences between plans, add-ons and Copilot SKUs keep an entire consultant industry employed.
Reliability and deliverability are excellent, backed by a 99.9% financially backed SLA. Support is 24/7 but pot luck: simple issues resolve fast, while complex Exchange or tenant problems can bounce between queues. Migration tooling from Google Workspace or IMAP is mature, and most moves complete without drama.
Lock-in mirrors Google's: SharePoint sites, Teams history and OneDrive links accumulate into a switching cost that grows yearly. Pick Microsoft when the desktop apps and enterprise fit matter; pick Google for lighter administration; pick Zoho when the per-seat total is the deciding factor.
Notable facts
- Exchange Online hosts mail for over 400 million paid Office 365 seats
- July 2026 price rises added 12-16% to Basic and Standard tiers
- Microsoft has pledged to be carbon negative by 2030
At a glance
| Founded | 1975 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Redmond, Washington, US |
| Data centers | Microsoft Azure regions worldwide (60+) |
| Hosting types | Email Hosting |
| Starting price | $7/mo |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days |
| Uptime SLA | 99.9% |
| Support | phone, tickets, knowledge-base (24/7) |
| Free migration | Yes |
| Green hosting | Yes |
Frequently asked questions
Which Microsoft 365 plan do most small businesses need?
Business Standard at $14/user/mo, because it includes the installable desktop Office apps. Choose Business Premium if you also want managed device security via Intune and Defender - it usually beats buying those separately.
Is Copilot included?
Copilot Chat is included, but the full Microsoft 365 Copilot that works inside Word, Excel and Outlook is a paid add-on of roughly $30/user/mo on top of your plan.
Bottom line
If your business runs on Excel, Outlook and Teams, Microsoft 365 is the obvious choice, and Business Premium is quietly one of the best security bundles in small-business software. Just budget for the 2026 price increases and expect to spend time in the admin centers.
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