Business Standard vs Premium: the short answer
Choose Microsoft 365 Business Standard if you need desktop Office apps, email and Teams, and you hold little sensitive data. Choose Business Premium if you hold client, patient, member or payroll data and need to control which devices reach it, block risky sign-ins and stop sensitive files leaving by email. Both plans are for up to 300 users and give each person the same apps, 100 GB mailbox and 1 TB of storage.
The extra cost buys security, not productivity. Your staff won’t notice any difference in Word, Excel, Outlook or Teams. What changes is what you can see, enforce and recover when a laptop is stolen, a phone is lost or someone clicks a phishing link.
| Plan | Priori price (KES) | Priori price (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard | KES 1,729 | USD 13.30 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Premium | KES 2,717 | USD 20.90 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Premium with Copilot | KES 3,952 | USD 30.40 |
Per user per month, annual commitment. Excludes VAT (16%). Converted at KES 130 to the US dollar. Prices checked 3 October 2026.
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Prices are per user per month on an annual commitment, excluding VAT, and 5% below the standard price. Business Premium with Copilot adds Microsoft 365 Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams; we confirm availability for your tenant and plan before you commit. Compare every plan on our Microsoft 365 pricing page in KES, or see how ordering and invoicing work on buying Microsoft 365 in Kenya.
Business Standard vs Business Premium, feature by feature
The difference is a security layer: Business Premium adds Intune, Defender for Business, Defender for Office 365 Plan 1, advanced Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft Purview, plus a larger 1.5 TB email archive.
| Feature | Business Standard | Business Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum users | 300 | 300 |
| Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook | Desktop, web and mobile | Desktop, web and mobile |
| Business email | Exchange Plan 1 | Exchange Plan 1 |
| Mailbox size | 100 GB primary, 50 GB archive | 100 GB primary, 1.5 TB archive |
| Cloud storage (OneDrive) | 1 TB per user | 1 TB per user |
| Microsoft Teams | Chat, calls, meetings and webinars | Chat, calls, meetings and webinars |
| Identity and access | Core, Microsoft Entra ID free version | Advanced, policy-based Microsoft Entra ID |
| Conditional access | No | Yes |
| Device management | No | Intune Plan 1 |
| Windows | Not included | Windows 11 Pro upgrade |
| Device protection | No | Microsoft Defender for Business |
| Email threat protection | Spam and malware filtering, Defender for Office 365 time-of-click link checks | Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 |
| Sensitive data protection | No | Purview Information Protection Plan 1 and data loss prevention for email and files |
| Audit logs | Not listed for this plan | Purview Audit Standard |
| Copilot Chat | Included | Included |
Productivity is identical. Both plans include the desktop apps on up to five PCs or Macs, five tablets and five phones per user, Teams webinars and the same extra apps such as Bookings, Planner and Forms. Features are as Microsoft lists them for each plan, checked on 3 October 2026.
Watch the old plan names
Older quotes and articles can mislead you, because Microsoft has renamed these plans. Today’s Microsoft 365 Business Standard was formerly called Office 365 Business Premium, and today’s Microsoft 365 Business Premium was formerly Microsoft 365 Business (Microsoft 365 and Office 365 plan options, Microsoft Learn, checked 4 October 2026). So if a supplier offers you “Office 365 Business Premium”, ask which plan they mean: it may be Business Standard, without Intune or Defender. Current prices for both are on our Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Business Standard pages.
Which plan fits your organisation?
The deciding question is what a lost laptop or a stolen password would cost you, in client trust, downtime and your duties under the Data Protection Act 2019.
Choose Business Standard if…
- You are a small team on a few company laptops and keep little personal or financial data about clients.
- You need desktop Office, email, Teams webinars and storage, and nothing more for now.
- You already run device management and endpoint protection that you are happy with.
- Budget is tight this year and you plan to add security as you grow.
Choose Business Premium if…
- You hold personal data such as patient records, member savings, case files or payroll.
- Staff read work email on personal phones and laptops, and you need to be able to wipe company data from them.
- You want to require multifactor sign-in and block logins from risky places or unmanaged devices.
- You need to label sensitive documents and stop them leaving by email, or clients and funders ask about your controls.
What Business Standard leaves out
Business Standard leaves out device management, endpoint protection, conditional access and data loss prevention, and it keeps a smaller 50 GB email archive. In practice that means:
- No Intune. You can’t enforce passwords or encryption on laptops and phones, or remove company data from a lost device.
- No Defender for Business. Microsoft’s protection against ransomware and malware on PCs is not part of the plan.
- Lighter email protection. Mail is filtered for spam and malware and links are checked when clicked, but you don’t get the full Defender for Office 365 Plan 1.
- Core identity only. Standard uses the free version of Microsoft Entra ID, so there are no conditional access policies to block risky sign-ins.
- No Purview data protection. No sensitivity labels and no data loss prevention for email and files.
That doesn’t make Business Standard unsafe. Its email is still filtered, and many small teams run it well alongside good habits, separate endpoint protection and regular backup. Microsoft also sells Defender for Business on its own, so if device protection is your only gap, we can price that option against a move to Premium. But if one stolen laptop or one phished password could expose client data, Standard gives you fewer ways to prevent it. Premium’s controls support your work under the Data Protection Act 2019; compliance also needs your own policies and processes. Read more on Microsoft 365 security.
Can you mix Business Standard and Business Premium?
Usually, yes: Microsoft 365 business plans are licensed per user, so you can put the people who handle sensitive data on Premium and the rest on Standard. A clinic might give Premium to doctors, nurses and the records office, and Standard to administrative staff who don’t open patient files.
There is a catch. Premium’s device and access controls protect the users who hold Premium licences. A Standard user who can open the same shared folders, or who handles finance approvals by email, is still a way in. We help you draw that line honestly, so a mixed setup saves money without leaving a gap.
Mixing doesn’t raise the user limit. The 300-user cap counts across all your Business plans together, so 200 Premium users and 100 Standard users is the most one organisation can hold (Microsoft 365 and Office 365 plan options, Microsoft Learn, checked 4 October 2026). Past that point you need an enterprise plan; see Business Premium vs E3.
Adding Copilot to either plan
You don’t need Business Premium to get Microsoft 365 Copilot. Microsoft 365 Copilot Business is an add-on for eligible Business plans, and Business Standard with Copilot also comes as a bundle, at KES 2,903 per user per month through us. Choose the base plan for its security, then add Copilot only for the people who will use it. We confirm availability for your tenant and plan before you commit.
How Priori helps you decide and set up
We weigh your risk against your budget, then make sure the security you pay for is switched on. Premium only protects you once it is configured, and that is where we walk with you step by step.
- Licence and risk review. We look at your users, devices, the data each team handles and your current security tools.
- Recommendation in KES. You get a Standard and Premium mix priced in KES or USD, explained in plain terms. See the wider range on Microsoft 365 for small and medium businesses.
- Security baseline. For Premium users we switch on multifactor sign-in, conditional access, Intune device policies, Defender for Business and phishing protection.
- Migration. We move email and files from Google Workspace, Zimbra, cPanel or another tenant. How Microsoft 365 migration works.
- Training and backup. Staff learn safe email habits, and we can add independent Veeam backup. Training and advisory and Microsoft 365 backup.
Questions
Business Standard vs Premium questions
Cost, security, mailbox size and Copilot: what you get for the step up to Premium.
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How much is Business Standard vs Business Premium in Kenya?
Through Priori, Business Standard is KES 1,729 (USD 13.30) and Business Premium is KES 2,717 (USD 20.90) per user per month on an annual commitment, excluding VAT.
Both are 5% below the standard price, and you only pay for Premium where the security is needed. See the Microsoft 365 pricing page for every plan.
What do you switch on when we move from Business Standard to Premium?
We switch on multifactor sign-in, conditional access, Intune device policies, Defender for Business and phishing protection, so the security you pay for works from day one.
We also set up sensitivity labels and data loss prevention rules where you need them. Microsoft 365 security.
Is Business Standard secure enough for a small business?
It can be for a small team with little sensitive data, but it has no device management, endpoint protection or conditional access.
Standard filters spam and malware and checks links when they are clicked. If you hold client, patient or payroll data, Premium closes the gaps. Microsoft 365 Business Premium.
Which plan helps more with Kenya’s Data Protection Act 2019?
Business Premium, because it adds controls Business Standard lacks: conditional access, device policies, data loss prevention and audit logs.
Compliance also depends on your own policies and processes, so treat any plan as one part of your data protection programme. How we secure Microsoft 365.
What is the difference between Business Standard and Business Premium?
Business Premium is Business Standard plus a security layer: Intune device management, Defender for Business, Defender for Office 365 Plan 1, conditional access and Purview data loss prevention.
The Office apps, Teams, 100 GB mailbox and 1 TB of storage are the same in both licences; Premium also raises the email archive to 1.5 TB. Microsoft 365 Business Premium.
Is Microsoft 365 Business Premium worth it?
Yes, if you hold personal or financial data, or staff use their own phones and laptops for work; if not, Business Standard is often enough.
Premium’s value only shows once its controls are switched on, so budget for setup as well as licences. We configure it with you. Microsoft 365 security.
Do Business Standard and Business Premium have the same mailbox size?
Both have a 100 GB primary mailbox, but Business Premium raises the archive from 50 GB to 1.5 TB per user.
Both run on Exchange Plan 1 with email on your own domain. Microsoft 365 Business Standard.
Should we buy Business Premium with Copilot or add Copilot later?
Buy the bundle if most of your Premium users will use Copilot; otherwise add Microsoft 365 Copilot Business only for the staff who need it.
The bundle is KES 3,952 per user per month. We confirm availability for your tenant and plan before you commit. Microsoft 365 Copilot Business.
Get a quote in KES today
Tell us how many users you have and what you use now. We reply with a recommendation and a price.
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