Comparing the SharePoint Online Plan 1 vs Plan 2 & Feature Differences

In this post, we are comparing the SharePoint Online Plan 1 vs Plan 2 to better understand the key differentiators. So, let us get started.

Microsoft SharePoint is one of the most powerful web-based CMS that offers browser-based productivity tools. It is designed as a cloud-based SaaS service that lets your organization share, manage, and collaborate on the content, knowledge base, and other ‘line of business applications’ LoB. This can be an excellent option to enhance teamwork within your organization, getting information rather quickly and faster and collaborating with your teams rather efficiently.

Related: OneDrive for Business Plan 1 vs Plan 2 – Feature comparison

SharePoint Online is a subscription-based service that lets you share the content across your organization in a cloud-based environment. In fact, the term Online has recently been added to what was earlier known merely as SharePoint which was predominately an on-premise software. The SharePoint Online tool comes with two different subscription plans.

Microsoft has recently done away with the fancy nomenclature and has been using just the naming in the form of SharePoint Online Plan 1 and SharePoint Online Plan 2. How do the two plans compare against one another? Let us check out the differences between Microsoft SharePoint Online Plan 1 and Microsoft SharePoint Plan 2.

Microsoft SharePoint Online Plan 1 – An Overview

The Microsoft SharePoint Online Plan 1 is designed for the small scale and medium-sized organizations. It packs in both SharePoint and OneDrive as part of the package. The plan is available at $5.00 per user per month with the annual commitment.

You get access to a host of features as part of SharePoint Online Plan 1 –

• The plan provides 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage per user.
• It enables your users to share the files seamlessly and securely within or outside the organization.
• You can sync the local copies of your documents for offline viewing. You can also edit them on PCs and Mac.
• You can co-author the files and documents using your familiar Microsoft apps.
• The users would be able to organize the content and manage it efficiently libraries and lists. You would be able to use features such as metadata, retention policies, and record management.
• The plan lets you share files seamlessly between SharePoint and OneDrive.
• Comfortable people search and fully indexed documents when needed.
• Availability of mobile apps for an “on the go” work options. You have access to SharePoint and OneDrive mobile apps on Android, iOS, and Windows.
• FastTrack deployment support.
• A 24×7 support both on the web and phone.
• The plan is made available as part of the commercial license.

SharePoint Online Plan 1 lets you access to enterprise features with limited accessibility. You can view Visio diagrams and visit the access-based webpages. The SharePoint Online Plan 1 also enables you to see the embedded excel content and data insights within the content. The plan also allows you to create and fill in and submit the InfoPath forms.

Microsoft SharePoint Online Plan 2 – An Introduction

Microsoft SharePoint Online Plan 2 is designed for use with large-scaled organizations and enterprises. It provides you access to a full-featured SharePoint that has all the capabilities required for an enterprise. Plan 2 is available at $10 per user per month.

The SharePoint Online Plan 2 comes with all the features available on Plan 1 and offers you a few additional features. Apart from what we have covered under the SharePoint Online Plan 1 above, plan 2 comes with the following features –

• Unlimited access to cloud storage. Unlike the 1 TB limit per user on plan 1, every user will get access to unlimited cloud storage on Plan 2.
• A high degree of customized search options that offer you an exciting choice of enterprise search compatibility.
• You would be able to find your content in an electronic format. This can be an excellent option if you are looking to use some of this content for legal or litigation purposes. It can also be a good option for auditing purposes where you may need to have access to the data in an electronic format.
• The SharePoint Online Plan 2 also provides you access to advanced DLP capabilities. This is extremely useful for protecting, monitoring, and identifying sensitive data.
• The In-Place holds is yet another best option available on Plan 2 to help you safeguard the content from being deleted or editing.

The SharePoint Online Plan 2 provides complete access to enterprise features. You would be able to create and view your Visio diagrams. It also lets you build and execute Access-based apps. The ability to create Excel embedded graphs and create or publish (and fill in) and submit the InfoPath forms.

The Comparison: SharePoint Online Plan 1 vs SharePoint Online Plan 2

Having gone through the basic concepts and features offered by SharePoint Online Plan 1 and SharePoint Online Plan 2, it would be apt enough to give serious thought to the feature comparison between the two. A tabulated comparison would be one of the best options to assist you in picking the best features on either of the plans and choose the right one based on your individual preferences.

Which one should you go with?

Well, the choice of the SharePoint Online plan would be dependent on the actual enterprise requirements you may have. You would find that if you are a small scale or a medium-sized organization, you would be okay with the SharePoint Online Plan 1. Unless you need the high end and full-scale enterprise solutions, you would not need to opt for Plan 2.

Plan 2, on the other hand, is specially designed for large-scale organizations and enterprises. It packs in a wide range of enterprise solutions. The above discussion and the tabulated comparison chart here should help you pick the best options based on your individual needs.

More on Microsoft 365 Plans:

• Microsoft 365 Apps for Business vs Enterprise
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic vs Standard vs Premium
• Comparing Microsoft Visio Plan 1 vs Plan 2
• Microsoft Project Plan 1 vs 3 vs Plan 5

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