Differences between Office 365 Business and Office 365 Pro Plus – Compare Plans

When Microsoft introduced the Office 365 suite, there has been considerable confusion in the minds of the users about the differences between Office 365 Business and Office 365 Pro Plus. Then there are the additional versions and SKUs of Office 365 compounding it further. We thought of addressing your concern and solving the mystery concerning the differences between a few versions of the Office 365.

Office 365 – An Overview

Microsoft offers you ten different alternatives when it comes to Office 365. If you are confused about what Office 365 all about, it is a cloud-based office product that caters to the online usage of the service. It also gives you a subscription-based licensing for Office products installed on your client PCs.

You have access to the following ten options you can opt for –

• Office 365 Home
• Office 365 Personal
• Office 365 Home and Student
• Office 365 suite
• Office 365 suite
• Office 365 suite
• Office 365 ProPlus
• Office 365 Enterprise E1
• Office 365 Enterprise E3
• Office 365 Enterprise E5

Features	Enterprise E3	Business premium
Office 365 Message Encryption	Yes	No
Data Governance	No	Yes
Archiving	Yes	Yes
Auto expand archival	Yes	No
Manual retention/deletion policies	Yes	No
Data Loss Prevention	Yes	No
Number of users	Unlimited	Max 300
OneDrive Storage	Unlimited	1 TB
Email Storage	Unlimited	50 GB
Custom templates, including departmental templates	Yes	No
In-place Hold and Litigation Hold	Yes	No
eDiscovery Online/SharePoint online	Yes	No

We will be focussing on the difference between Office 365 Business and Office 365 Pro Plus for the sake of this post.

Office 365 suite and Office 365 ProPlus – What are the Similarities?

Being the applications from the same family, both Office 365 Business and Office 365 Pro Plus do come with a few similarities. Before we can land on the differences between the plans, let us check out the similar features for a clear understanding.

Both Office 365 Business and Office 365 Pro Plus let you install the apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on up-to five devices. Per account can have five installations on different machines. The option is further available for Android, iOS, and Windows mobile devices as well. Being a subscription model, these versions also allow you to install the latest updates as they become available.

The Differences between Office 365 Business and Office 365 Pro Plus

The above paragraphs should give you a good knowledge of both Office 365 Business and Office 365 Pro Plus and what they do. Now, let us check-out the differences between the two. Here are a few significant differences based on the different aspects.

The Total Number of Users Permitted

Choose the platform based on the number of users permitted from each organization. If you are opting for Office 365 Business, you have a limit of 300 users per account within a single organization. Office 365 Pro Plus, on the other hand, permits an unlimited number of users.

If you are checking out the options for a large organization, you can opt for Office 365 Pro Plus. The moderate number of users can work efficiently with Office 365 Business.

Pricing

This should be quite an obvious differentiator. Given the fact that Office 365 Plus comes with extra features and unlimited users, it will cost you considerably higher than the Office 365 Business plan.

Office 365 Business is available at $8.25 per user per month. The charges for Office 365 Pro Plus are $12 per month per user.

The Extra Features

The Office 365 comes with a few extra features for the Pro Plus customers. You would not find them with the Office 365 Business plan. The additional features include

• Excel Spreadsheet Compare
• Power Pivot for Excel
• Excel Spreadsheet Inquire
• Power Query for Excel
• Power View for Excel

Accessibility to Microsoft Access

This is yet another feature that makes Office 365 Pro Plus stand apart from the Office 365 Business. It lets you have access to Microsoft Access. Microsoft Access is an excellent spreadsheet solution that aids you in building a database with the manageable data. Office 365 Business does not come with an option for accessing Microsoft Access.

Virtual Environment

With Office 365 Pro Plus, you can install Microsoft Excel on Virtual desktops. You may not be able to achieve it with Office 365 Business plan. This can be a great differentiator if you tend to work in a virtualized environment. In such cases, opting for Office 365 Pro Plus can be quite beneficial.

Bundling

Microsoft generally comes with bundled options for its Office 365 plans. The Office 365 Business comes typically with Office 365 Business Premium. The Office 365 Pro Plus is bundled with Office 365 E3 and E4 plans.

Other Minor Differences BetweenOffice 365 Pro Plus and Office 365 Business

Apart from the significant differences we have featured in the above paragraphs, there are a few minor differences between the two versions of Office 365.

Some of the minor differences can be outlined as here below –

• The Office 365 Pro Plus plan supports blocking the cloud-based file storage. This can be achieved through a registry edit. The Office 365 Business does not support this functionality.
• Office 365 Pro Plus lets you work with Exchange Online and SharePoint Online features. This can be quite helpful in Archiving and Compliance requirements. You can make use of the options to message retention and eDiscovery. Office 365 Business version does not come with these features.
• Another feature that should make Office 365 Pro Plus a good option is the inclusion of InfoPath Designer. This can be used to design, distribute, and submit the electronic forms. You can use it with the SharePoint Online. The Office 365 Business does not come with the subscription to Microsoft InfoPath Designer.
• Office 365 Pro Plus also offers integration with Information Rights Management. This works with Microsoft Azure Rights Management Options. If you opt for the Office 365 Business plan, you will not have access to these features.

What Would You want to Opt For?

Well, which one among the two of these plans would you prefer? That would be what will be dependent upon the exact requirements of your company. Check out what features does your company needs and make a well-informed decision based on the exact qualifications.

However, the above discussion must have provided you with an insight into what precisely the two plans offer you. In every sense, the Office 365 Pro Plus has the advanced features in comparison to the Office 365 Business plan. Even regarding support, the Pro Plus can be the best one than the Business plan.

Weigh your points strictly in tune with your exact needs and choose the best plan for your needs. Share your inputs with us.

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