What Is the Difference Between Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Premium?

Quick answer: Business Premium includes security and device management features that Basic doesn't—Defender for Office 365, Intune, Conditional Access. If security matters (and it should), Premium is worth the extra cost.

The Key Differences

Why Security Features Matter

Defender for Office 365

Advanced email protection:

• Safe Links (scans URLs at click time)
• Safe Attachments (sandboxes files before delivery)
• Anti-impersonation (protects against CEO fraud)

Basic filtering catches obvious spam. Defender catches sophisticated attacks.

Intune

Device management:

• Enforce security policies on devices
• Require encryption
• Remote wipe lost devices
• Control which devices can access company data

Without Intune, you can't enforce security on the devices accessing your data.

Conditional Access

Intelligent access policies:

• Block sign-ins from unusual locations
• Require MFA for risky sign-ins
• Only allow compliant devices
• Restrict access by location or device type

This is how you implement Zero Trust properly.

Azure AD Premium P1

Identity security:

• Self-service password reset
• Group-based licensing
• Advanced security reports
• Conditional Access policies

Business Standard - The Middle Ground

There's also Business Standard (~£10/user/month):

• Desktop Office apps (Word, Excel, etc.)
• No security features beyond Basic

Standard gives you the apps but not the security. For most businesses, jump to Premium.

Which Do You Need?

Business Basic is acceptable if:

• Budget is extremely tight
• You have other security tools covering the gaps
• You're a very small team with low risk tolerance

Business Premium is right if:

• You handle any sensitive data
• You need to manage devices
• You want proper email security
• You're subject to compliance requirements
• You want to sleep at night

Our recommendation: Business Premium. The security features are worth £14/user/month. Implementing equivalent security separately costs more.

The Hidden Costs of Basic

Choosing Basic to save money often costs more:

• Third-party email security: £2-5/user/month
• Device management tool: £3-5/user/month
• Additional identity features: £2-4/user/month
• Integration complexity: time and hassle

Premium bundles it all together, integrated and working.

What We Do

We deploy Business Premium as standard for managed clients. The security features are configured properly from day one—Defender policies, Conditional Access, Intune compliance.

For clients on Basic or Standard, we help plan the upgrade and configure security features properly. Turning on Premium without configuration doesn't help—you need the features actually set up.

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