If your Microsoft 365 renewal is coming up, the price per user is probably going up. Microsoft's 2026 pricing update raised Business Basic and Business Standard on July 1, 2026, and says existing customers stay on their current pricing until renewal. So the increase lands on your bill at your first renewal after July 1, not before.
What Changed
| Plan (with Teams) | Before July 1, 2026 | At renewal after | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Basic | $6.00 | $7.00 | +16% |
| Business Standard | $12.50 | $14.00 | +12% |
| Business Premium | $22.00 | $22.00 | No change |
For a 15-person office on Business Standard, that is $1.50 more per user per month: $22.50 a month, or $270 a year. On Business Basic it is $1 per user, or $180 a year for 15 people. Microsoft also lists versions without Teams, which went up too: Basic from $4.40 to $5.40 and Standard from $9.29 to $10.79.
Business Premium did not change. That makes the step from Standard to Premium smaller than it was: $8 per user now, down from $9.50. If you have been on the fence about Premium, our Standard vs Premium comparison covers what the extra buys.
Microsoft is adding a few things alongside the price change: 50 GB more email storage on all three Business plans, Copilot Chat improvements, and time-of-click link protection on Basic and Standard.
A 30-Minute License Audit Before You Renew
A price increase only hurts as much as the number of licenses it multiplies. Most small offices we look at are paying for at least one license nobody uses. Do this before your renewal date, because that is when the next term's price and seat count get set.
- Find your renewal date. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, open Billing > Your products. Each subscription shows its renewal date and how many licenses you pay for. If you buy through a reseller, ask them for the same two numbers.
- Count paid licenses against people. Compare the number of licenses with the number of people who actually work for you today. Extra licenses that are assigned to nobody are money you can stop spending.
- Look for people who left. Open Users > Active users and look for former employees who still have a license. If you need to keep their email, Microsoft says a shared mailbox can store up to 50 GB without a license. Convert the mailbox, then remove the license.
- Match the plan to the job. Business Standard includes the desktop Office apps. Someone who only uses email and the web versions of Word and Excel may be fine on Business Basic. Someone who handles money or client files may belong on Premium.
- Check for paid add-ons. Look for extra storage, standalone apps or other subscriptions on the same bill that the new storage or your current plan already covers.
- Write down the new total. Licenses you will keep, times the new price, times 12. That is the number to budget for 2027.
Things Not to Do
- Don't delete a departed employee's account to save a license before you know what is in the mailbox and OneDrive. Convert or move it first.
- Don't drop everyone to Basic to save money without checking who needs the desktop apps. The savings disappear the first day someone can't open a file the way they need to.
- Don't remove security features to make up the difference. MFA and the other protections in our Microsoft 365 security baseline cost far less than a hacked mailbox.
When to Call Someone
If you can sign in to the admin center, you can do this audit yourself. Get help if nobody knows the admin login, if your licenses come through a reseller you can't reach, or if the user list has names nobody recognizes. That last one is a security problem as well as a billing one. Call (330) 305-2750.
Common questions
When does the new Microsoft 365 price hit my bill?
At your first renewal after July 1, 2026. Microsoft says existing customers stay on their current pricing until renewal, so a subscription that renewed in May kept the old price for its term and picks up the new one next time.
Which Business plans went up?
Business Basic went from $6.00 to $7.00 per user per month and Business Standard from $12.50 to $14.00 (US list prices, with Teams). Business Premium stayed at $22.00.
Do I need to pay for a license for a former employee's mailbox?
Often not. Microsoft says a shared mailbox can store up to 50 GB without a license. Converting a departed employee's mailbox to a shared mailbox keeps the email and frees the license, as long as nobody needs to sign in to it as that person.
Did we get anything for the higher price?
Microsoft is adding 50 GB of email storage and Copilot Chat improvements to all three Business plans, and time-of-click link protection to Basic and Standard. Whether that is worth it depends on whether you were short on mailbox space or link protection before.
