Microsoft 365 Licensing for a 10, 25, 50 or 100-Person Business
At ten people, Business Premium is the right default for any business handling client data or with remote workers. At 25 to 50 people, the same recommendation holds - and the question shifts from which plan to whether the plan is configured. At 100 people, Business Premium remains correct unless compliance obligations justify the A$16/user/month premium for E3. Headcount is a factor in the decision, but your data sensitivity and compliance requirements matter more than the number on your payroll.
Current Microsoft 365 plan pricing (Australia, 2026)
Microsoft 365 plan comparison - AUD pricing
| Plan | Price (per user/month) | Key inclusions |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | A$8.60 | Web and mobile Office apps only, Teams, Exchange (50 GB), SharePoint, OneDrive |
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard | A$17.80 | Full desktop Office apps + Business Basic features + Forms, Planner, Bookings |
| Microsoft 365 Business Premium | A$32.90 | Business Standard + Intune, Entra ID P1, Defender for Business, Defender for Office 365 P1 |
| Microsoft 365 E3 | ~A$49.00 | Full Office, Teams, Exchange (100 GB + unlimited archive), Windows Enterprise, Compliance tools |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on | +A$47.90 | Microsoft 365 Copilot requires Business Premium or E3 base licence |
10-person business
At ten people, the cost difference between plans is material in absolute terms. The difference between Business Basic at A$8.60 and Business Premium at A$32.90 is A$243 per month for a ten-person team - A$2,916 per year.
The question at this size is: what is the cost of a security incident? A phishing attack that compromises a Business Basic environment - no Conditional Access, no Defender for Business, no safe attachments - can cause weeks of disruption, data loss, and reputational damage that far exceeds the cost of two years of Business Premium.
Recommended for 10 people
- Business Basic: appropriate if staff use primarily web-based Office applications (no heavy Excel or Word desktop use), the business has no sensitive client data, and the owner accepts a lower security posture to minimise cost
- Business Premium: the better default for most 10-person Australian businesses, particularly professional services, finance, or healthcare-adjacent firms handling client data. The security tools are worth more than the premium at this size.
- Not Business Standard: Standard adds desktop Office apps and a few productivity tools over Basic, but provides no security uplift. If you need desktop apps, the jump to Premium for an additional A$15.10/user/month adds Intune, Defender, and Conditional Access - a meaningful security improvement for a small price increase.
25-person business
At 25 people, the IT surface area grows: more devices to manage, more user accounts to secure, more likelihood of a mix of personal and company devices being used for work. Intune and Conditional Access become genuinely useful at this scale.
The 25-person mark is typically where businesses first experience the gap between 'we have Microsoft 365' and 'we have Microsoft 365 configured.' Someone needs to manage device enrollment, maintain Conditional Access policies, and review security alerts. This is the point where an IT management arrangement - whether internal or through a managed service - starts to pay for itself.
Recommended for 25 people
- Business Premium: the standard recommendation for a 25-person Australian business. Security tools are worth configuring at this size and the licence includes everything needed.
- With Copilot add-on: if the business has knowledge workers who would benefit from AI assistance across email, documents, and Teams - and provided the environment is configured and data governance is addressed first - the Copilot add-on becomes viable at this size. Licence selectively: not all 25 users need Copilot initially.
50-person business
A 50-person business is approaching the scale where IT management complexity starts to create real risk without proper tooling. Staff turnover means regular onboarding and offboarding. Multiple device types are in use. Possibly a mix of office and remote work. The Microsoft 365 environment accumulates shared mailboxes, Teams channels, SharePoint sites, and guest users over time.
At 50 people, the value of Business Premium's management tools - Intune for device management, Conditional Access for access control, Defender for Business for endpoint protection - is fully realisable. The security spend is also now significant: 50 users at Business Premium is A$1,645 per month. Getting value from that investment means having the tools configured and maintained.
Recommended for 50 people
- Business Premium: still the standard recommendation for businesses without compliance-specific requirements
- Consider E3 if: the business operates in financial services, legal, or healthcare with eDiscovery or long-term email retention requirements; or if there are Windows Enterprise features needed for device management
- Consider selective Copilot licences: at 50 people, piloting Copilot with 10 to 15 high-value users is a reasonable approach before broader rollout
100-person business
At 100 people, the licence choice is more nuanced. The cost difference between Business Premium and E3 is significant at scale: approximately A$16.10 per user per month, or A$19,320 per year for 100 users. That cost difference is worth paying if E3's compliance capabilities are needed. It is not worth paying if Business Premium's security stack is the primary requirement.
A 100-person business is also likely to have some role specialisation: executives, compliance staff, and privileged IT roles may warrant different licence tiers than the broader workforce. Mixed licence environments (some users on E3, others on Business Premium) are operationally viable at this size.
Recommended for 100 people
- Business Premium for all: appropriate for professional services, technology, and other knowledge work businesses without regulated industry compliance requirements
- E3 for all: appropriate for financial services, legal, healthcare, or government-adjacent businesses where eDiscovery, long-term audit retention, or compliance tooling is a genuine requirement
- Mixed Business Premium / E3: senior leadership and compliance-sensitive roles on E3, broader workforce on Business Premium - reduces cost while meeting compliance requirements where they apply
- Copilot pilot at this size: a structured 20 to 25 user Copilot pilot is reasonable at 100 people, with ROI measurement built in before broader rollout
The most common licensing mistake for Australian SMBs is not choosing the wrong plan - it is choosing the right plan and not configuring it. Business Premium with no Intune enrollment, no Conditional Access policies, and no Defender deployment provides essentially the same security as Business Standard. The licence is not the protection - the configuration is.
Sources & accuracy
Last reviewed: 5 October 2026 · Microsoft product capabilities, licensing and configuration options change regularly. Verify current details at learn.microsoft.com.
Next step
Microsoft 365 Security & Governance Baseline
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