Microsoft has done a wonderful job of confusing customers over the past few years. Microsoft uses the Microsoft 365 brand to refer to several products, which can be very confusing.
Microsoft 365 (billed monthly per user, NOT per computer)
There are 4 major Microsoft 365 packages that we recommend for our customers, depending on their need:
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic - Email Service only - $6/month
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard - Email Service + Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) - $12.50/month
- Microsoft 365 Apps for Business - Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) only - $8.25/month
- Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise - Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) only, but can also be used in a terminal server (remote desktop) environment - $12/month
There are a number of other services included under the Microsoft 365 umbrella with all of the above packages that we've ignored above for clarity. These include:
- Microsoft Teams (for instant messaging)
- OneDrive (for storing your personal files in the cloud)
Microsoft 365 Home Use Benefits
Because Microsoft 365 licenses are assigned to user accounts and not to specific computers, each user can activate Microsoft 365 applications on up to 5 computers. Users can install Microsoft 365 on home computers, and log in with their workplace credentials to have use of Microsoft 365 at home.
Note that when a user account is deactivated, any computers that have been activated with that user's license will become "unlicensed" and need to be activated under a new user's subscription.