What You Get With Each Microsoft 365 Plan

Microsoft 365 offers four main subscription tiers for individual and household use: Microsoft 365 Personal, Microsoft 365 Family, Microsoft 365 Basic, and Microsoft 365 Standard. Each plan includes the core Office applications — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook — but they differ in the number of people who can use them, how much cloud storage you receive, and what extra features come along.

Microsoft 365 Personal is a single-user plan. You install Office on one PC or Mac and one tablet, and you get 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage. Microsoft 365 Family covers up to six people in one household, each with their own account and their own 1 TB of storage. Both Personal and Family plans include premium versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, and Publisher, plus 60 minutes per month of Skype calls to phones and mobile numbers.

Microsoft 365 Basic and Microsoft 365 Standard are designed for small businesses and are billed monthly or annually. Basic includes the web and mobile versions of Office apps plus 100 GB of cloud storage. Standard adds the desktop versions of Office apps and 1 TB of storage. Both come with business email hosting through Outlook, video conferencing through Teams, and file sharing through SharePoint.

Key Takeaways

  • Microsoft 365 Personal costs a monthly or annual fee and covers one person on one computer and one tablet, while Family covers up to six household members on multiple devices each.
  • All plans include the full versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, plus cloud storage that ranges from 100 GB to 1 TB depending on the plan.
  • Personal and Family plans renew automatically each month or year and can be cancelled anytime without penalty.
  • Business plans (Basic and Standard) include email hosting, Teams video conferencing, and SharePoint file sharing that personal plans do not offer.
  • You can use the same Microsoft account to manage your subscription across multiple devices, and you can pause or cancel your plan at any time.

How Much Each Plan Costs

Microsoft 365 Personal costs $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year when paid upfront. Microsoft 365 Family costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. Both plans renew automatically, and you can cancel anytime without a penalty or early termination fee.

Microsoft 365 Basic for business costs $6 per user per month, billed monthly. Microsoft 365 Standard costs $12.50 per user per month. These are per-person charges, so a team of five people on Standard would cost $62.50 per month. Business plans also renew automatically and can be cancelled, though the timing depends on your billing cycle.

Prices listed here are current as of this writing, but Microsoft changes pricing periodically. Check the official Microsoft 365 website to confirm the current rate before you purchase.

How Many Devices You Can Use

Microsoft 365 Personal lets you install Office on one PC and one Mac simultaneously, plus one iPad or Android tablet. You can sign in on other devices — a phone, a work computer, a library computer — but you can only have the full desktop version installed on one computer at a time. If you install it on a second computer, it automatically deactivates on the first.

Microsoft 365 Family allows each of the six household members to install Office on one PC and one Mac, plus one tablet each. Each person has a separate Microsoft account and separate cloud storage, so your files stay private from other family members unless you choose to share them.

Business plans (Basic and Standard) let each user install Office on up to five devices — a mix of PCs, Macs, tablets, and phones — and use it on all of them at the same time. This makes them better suited to people who work across multiple machines.

Cloud Storage and File Sharing

Personal and Family plans come with OneDrive cloud storage. Personal includes 1 TB (1,000 GB), and Family includes 1 TB per person, so a full household of six people has 6 TB total to share or divide as needed. You can access your files from any device by signing into OneDrive online, and you can share individual files or folders with other people via a link or by inviting them by email.

Basic plans include 100 GB of cloud storage per user through OneDrive. Standard plans include 1 TB per user. Both business plans also include SharePoint, which is a separate file-sharing system designed for teams and organizations. SharePoint lets you create shared workspaces where multiple people can upload, edit, and organize files together, with permission controls so you can decide who sees what.

If you run out of storage on a Personal or Family plan, you can buy additional OneDrive storage separately, or you can upgrade to a plan with more included storage. Business plans allow you to purchase extra storage as well.

Email and Communication Tools

Personal and Family plans include Outlook email and calendar, which you can use with any email address — your own domain, Gmail, Yahoo, or a Microsoft email account. You also get 60 minutes per month of Skype calls to phone numbers and mobile phones anywhere in the world. Text messages and calls to other Skype users are unlimited and free.

Business plans (Basic and Standard) include Outlook email plus business email hosting, which means you can create email addresses that use your own company domain — for example, yourname@yourcompany.com instead of a generic email provider. Both plans include Microsoft Teams, which is a chat, video conferencing, and file-sharing platform designed for workplace communication. Teams lets you create channels for different projects or departments, hold video meetings with up to 300 people, and record meetings for people who could not attend.

When to Choose Personal vs. Family vs. Business Plans

Choose Microsoft 365 Personal if you are the only person using Office in your household and you want the full desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook on one computer. It is the most affordable option for a single user and includes enough cloud storage for most personal documents and photos.

Choose Microsoft 365 Family if two or more people in your household use Office. The per-person cost is lower than buying multiple Personal subscriptions, and each family member gets their own account, storage, and privacy. Family plans work well for households where parents, adult children, or roommates all need Office for school, work, or personal projects.

Choose a business plan (Basic or Standard) if you run a business, work as a freelancer, or manage a team. Business plans include business email hosting with your own domain, Teams for team communication, and SharePoint for shared file management. These tools are designed to help multiple people work together on projects, track versions of files, and keep business communication separate from personal email.

How to Set Up and Manage Your Subscription

To start a Personal or Family subscription, go to the Microsoft 365 website, choose your plan, and enter your payment method. Microsoft will send you a confirmation email with a link to read Office. Sign in with your Microsoft account, and the installation begins. The entire process usually takes 10 to 15 minutes.

Once you have installed Office, you can manage your subscription through your Microsoft account settings. You can view your renewal date, update your payment method, pause your subscription for up to 13 months, or cancel anytime. If you cancel, you lose access to the desktop versions of Office, but your files in OneDrive remain safe and you can still view them through the web versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

For Family plans, the person who sets up the subscription is the organizer. The organizer can invite up to five other family members by email, and each person accepts the invitation and creates or signs into their own Microsoft account. The organizer pays the bill, but each family member manages their own devices, storage, and settings independently.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use Microsoft 365 on a Mac?

Yes. Personal and Family plans allow one Mac per person. Business plans allow up to five devices per user, including Macs. The Office apps for Mac work the same way as the Windows versions, and your files sync across both operating systems through OneDrive.

What happens if I cancel my subscription?

You lose access to the desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Your files in OneDrive do not disappear — they stay there, and you can view and edit them through the free web versions of Office. You can also read your files to your computer anytime before or after you cancel.

Can I share my Family plan with people who do not live with me?

Microsoft's terms of service define Family plans as for household members only. Technically, you can invite anyone by email, but Microsoft may disable the plan if it detects use outside a single household. If you need to share Office with people outside your home, a Personal plan for each person or a business plan for a team is the intended route.

Do I need an internet connection to use Office with Microsoft 365?

You need internet to install Office and to set up your subscription. After that, you can use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook offline on your computer. Your files sync to OneDrive when you reconnect to the internet. Web versions of Office always require an internet connection.

Can I switch from Personal to Family or from one business plan to another?

Yes. You can upgrade or downgrade your plan anytime through your Microsoft account settings. If you upgrade mid-cycle, Microsoft prorates the cost. If you downgrade, the change takes effect at your next renewal date.