Business Standard (~$12.50/user/mo) covers the core apps most small businesses need — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Exchange, OneDrive and SharePoint. Business Premium (~$22/user/mo) adds advanced security (Intune device management, Microsoft Defender) and Azure Information Protection. Most small businesses should start with Standard and only move to Premium if they need device management and stronger security.
What both plans include
Both give you the full Office desktop apps, business email on your domain (Exchange/Outlook), Teams for communication, 1 TB OneDrive per user, and SharePoint for team files. For day-to-day productivity, they're identical.
What Business Premium adds
| Feature | Standard | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| ~Price/user/mo | $12.50 | $22.00 |
| Office apps + Teams/Exchange | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft Intune (device management) | No | Yes |
| Microsoft Defender for Business | No | Yes |
| Azure Information Protection | No | Yes |
| Advanced threat protection | Basic | Advanced |
When Standard is enough
For most small businesses under ~25 people without dedicated IT, Standard covers everything needed: professional email, Office apps, Teams collaboration and cloud storage. If you're not managing company devices centrally or handling sensitive regulated data, Premium's extras go unused.
When to step up to Premium
Choose Premium if you need to manage and secure company devices remotely (Intune), want enterprise-grade threat protection (Defender for Business), or must protect sensitive documents with encryption and access policies. Businesses in healthcare, finance, legal, or those with compliance requirements usually justify Premium.
The verdict
Start with Business Standard unless you specifically need device management and advanced security. The ~$9.50/user/mo difference adds up fast across a team — only pay it when Intune or Defender solves a real requirement. DigitalTools sells Microsoft 365 subscriptions with instant activation.
