Office 365 (now primarily branded as Microsoft 365) is Microsoft's cloud-based productivity suite combining familiar desktop applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint with cloud services including OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams. Originally a subscription alternative to perpetual Office licenses, it has evolved into a comprehensive collaboration and AI-powered productivity platform with real-time co-authoring, cloud storage, Copilot AI integration, and cross-device access. The key distinction: while Office 365 focused on productivity applications, Microsoft 365 bundles those apps with advanced security, device management, compliance tools, and increasingly integrated AI capabilities—making it essential to verify which features your specific subscription plan includes, as capabilities vary significantly across Personal, Family, Business, and Enterprise (E3/E5) tiers.
What This Cheat Sheet Covers
This topic spans 22 focused tables and 192 indexed concepts, 124 flashcards. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.
A jump-to index of every table row in this cheat sheet.
An interactive map of every table and concept in this topic.
Table 1: Subscription Plans
The single most important thing to get right is matching your plan to what you actually need, because the gap between tiers is huge—Personal and Family cover home users, the Business range layers on Teams and management for organizations, and the Enterprise E3/E5 plans add the heavy compliance and security machinery. Note too that nearly every price here rises in July 2026, and Copilot is a separate $30 add-on rather than part of any base plan.
| Plan | Example | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
$6.99/month or $69.99/year (rising to $9.99/$99.99 in July 2026) | • For one person on up to 5 devices • includes Office apps, 1 TB OneDrive storage, and Outlook email—no advanced security or device management features. | ||
$9.99/month or $99.99/year (rising to $12.99/$129.99 in July 2026) | • For up to six users with 1 TB OneDrive per person • same apps as Personal plan but shareable across household members. | ||
$6.00/user/month (rising to $7.00 in July 2026) | • Web-based apps only (no desktop versions) • includes Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, and SharePoint—ideal for organizations needing collaboration tools without local installs. | ||
$12.50/user/month (rising to $14.00 in July 2026) | Everything in Business Basic plus desktop Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and increased mailbox storage (50 GB rising to 100 GB). | ||
$22.00/user/month (rising to $25.00 in July 2026) | Business Standard plus advanced security, device management (Intune), and threat protection—best for small to mid-sized businesses requiring cybersecurity controls. | ||
~$23.00/user/month (rising to ~$25.00 in July 2026) | • Enterprise plan with productivity apps and basic compliance • primarily for large organizations needing core Office apps with Exchange, SharePoint, and OneDrive. | ||
~$36.00/user/month (rising to ~$39.00 in July 2026) | • Office 365 E3 plus Windows 11 Enterprise, Intune, and enhanced security/compliance • Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 being added (Safe Links, Safe Attachments) as part of July 2026 update. | ||
~$57.00/user/month (rising to ~$60.00 in July 2026) | • Most comprehensive plan—E3 features plus advanced security (Defender, Cloud App Security), advanced compliance (eDiscovery, retention), Power BI Pro, and Security Copilot (being added July 2026). | ||
$30.00/user/month add-on (requires qualifying M365 plan) | • AI assistant add-on license enabling Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and more • includes Copilot Chat with work data grounding, Agent Builder, Pages, and Notebooks—separate from base subscription. |