On 1 July 2026, Microsoft raised the price of several Microsoft 365 plans for businesses. If your subscription has not renewed yet, you may not have noticed. You will.
What changed
Business Basic rose by around 16%.
Business Standard rose by around 12%.
Business Premium did not change.
Enterprise plans such as Office 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 also went up. Microsoft has added features alongside the rise, including more mailbox storage and improvements to Copilot Chat.
When you start paying more
Current subscriptions keep their price until their first renewal after 1 July. If you are on an annual commitment that renews in, say, February, the new price applies from February. New subscriptions and new licences are charged at the new price now.
That gives most businesses a window to review what they have before the higher price kicks in.
Five ways to cut the bill back
1. Remove licences nobody uses. Leavers’ licences are often left assigned “just in case”. Shared mailboxes do not need a licence at all in most cases. A review usually finds a few.
2. Match the plan to the person. Not everyone needs the same plan. Staff who only use email and Teams in a browser may be fine on Business Basic, while others need the desktop apps.
3. Look again at Business Premium. With Standard rising and Premium unchanged, the gap has narrowed. Premium includes security you may be paying for separately or going without: Intune device management, Defender for Business and the Conditional Access controls we covered in our Conditional Access guide. For many businesses it is now the better value.
4. Check your commitment. Monthly-term subscriptions cost more than annual ones. If your headcount is stable, an annual term saves money; if it changes often, a mix may suit you better.
5. Count the add-ons. Copilot, extra storage, phone system and audio conferencing licences all add up. Make sure each one is being used.
Why it is worth doing properly
A licence review is not just about cost. It is also when you find the leaver whose account is still active, the shared mailbox anyone can sign in to, or the staff who have never had multi-factor authentication switched on. Saving money and closing security gaps tend to happen together.
Let us do the review
We manage Microsoft 365 for businesses across the North East and can review your licences against how your people actually work, then make the changes before your renewal. See our Microsoft 365 and Azure services, talk to us or call 01642 661888.