Office 365 E1 vs Office 365 E3 vs Microsoft 365 E3: What Each Includes, October 2026 Prices, and Who Should Pick Which
Office 365 E1, Office 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E3 are the three enterprise suites most 100 to 500-seat organizations actually choose between. The names hide the structure: the two Office 365 suites are apps and cloud services, and Microsoft 365 E3 is Office 365 E3 plus Windows Enterprise, Intune and Entra ID P1. This article lays out what each includes, the Microsoft list prices on the October 2026 price list, per-year totals for 100 and 300 users, what the no-Teams rule changes, and the frontline mixes that change the answer. E3 versus E5 is a separate article; this one stops at E3.
Three suites, two product families
Office 365 is the older family: Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams (on the Teams-included SKU) and, from E3 up, the installed Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. Microsoft 365 wraps an Office 365 suite together with Windows Enterprise and the Enterprise Mobility + Security pieces (Intune and Entra ID P1) and, at the E3 level, Defender for Endpoint Plan 1 and the core Purview capabilities. None of the enterprise suites has a seat cap; our 300-license limit article covers that boundary.
One rule changed the shape of the price list. Since 1 April 2024, Microsoft's licensing notice of that date states, new enterprise subscriptions outside the EEA and Switzerland are sold as suites without Teams, with Microsoft Teams Enterprise bought separately; customers already on a with-Teams suite can keep renewing it and adding seats. The no-Teams SKUs are not on the October 2026 price sheet this site quotes from, so we quote them on request; the separate Teams line, Microsoft Teams Enterprise, is on it at $102.60 per user per year ($8.55 per month).
All prices below are Microsoft list price, October 2026 price list, Commercial segment, annual commitment, per user per year, with the monthly equivalent in brackets.
Office 365 E1: web-only, and where that is enough
Office 365 E1 is $120.00 per user per year ($10.00 per month); Office 365 E1 (no Teams) is $81.48 per user per year. It includes Exchange Online email, Outlook on the web, the web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Teams on the Teams-included SKU. It does not include installed desktop apps, Intune, Windows Enterprise, or the Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 security and compliance layers. E1 carries Exchange Online (Plan 1), the 50 GB mailbox tier described in our Exchange Online plan comparison.
E1 is enough for people who work in a browser all day, people on a shared or virtual desktop where the desktop apps are licensed another way, and contractors or seasonal staff who need a company mailbox and Teams but no installed software. It is the wrong plan for a knowledge worker who works offline on a laptop; adding Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise at $168.00 per user per year ($14.00 per month) to E1 comes to $288.00, only $24.00 under Office 365 E3, which also brings the 100 GB mailbox tier, archiving and Defender for Office 365 Plan 1.
Office 365 E3: the desktop apps and the bigger mailbox
Office 365 E3 is $312.00 per user per year ($26.00 per month); Office 365 E3 (no Teams) is $209.40 per user per year. That is $192.00 above E1, and it buys Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise (the installed Office desktop apps, licensed per user across up to five PCs or Macs, five tablets and five phones), Exchange Online (Plan 2) with the 100 GB mailbox tier and archiving, and the same SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams services as E1. Since 1 July 2026 both E3 suites also include Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 (Safe Links, Safe Attachments and the stronger anti-phishing policies), a change Microsoft announced on 17 June 2026 with the rollout completing during the fall of 2026; other plans still buy it as the Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 add-on at $24.00 per user per year. Each license also adds to the SharePoint storage pool, as our SharePoint storage limits article describes.
What Office 365 E3 does not include is the part people most often assume it does: Windows Enterprise upgrade rights, Intune device management, Entra ID P1 (so no Conditional Access), Defender for Endpoint, and the broader Microsoft 365 E3 security bundle. An organization on Office 365 E3 that wants Conditional Access buys Microsoft Entra ID P1 separately ($84.00); one that wants device management buys Microsoft Intune Plan 1 ($96.00). The next section shows why that arithmetic usually points at Microsoft 365 E3.
Microsoft 365 E3: what the extra $156 buys
Microsoft 365 E3 is $468.00 per user per year ($39.00 per month); Microsoft 365 E3 (no Teams) is $365.40 per user per year. Against Office 365 E3 that is $156.00 more. For it you get everything in Office 365 E3 plus Windows Enterprise E3 rights, Intune, Entra ID P1 with Conditional Access, Defender for Endpoint Plan 1, the core Purview capabilities and, like Office 365 E3, Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 since 1 July 2026, as our E3 vs E5 article lists.
The assembly test settles most of these debates. Office 365 E3 at $312.00 plus Microsoft Entra ID P1 at $84.00 plus Microsoft Intune Plan 1 at $96.00 is $492.00, already $24.00 above Microsoft 365 E3 with no Windows Enterprise and no Defender for Endpoint. Add Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P1 at $36.00 and the assembled stack is $528.00, or $60.00 more than the suite.
Two add-ons on the October sheet are built for Microsoft 365 E3 and are worth knowing before anyone proposes E5: the Entra P2 Add On at $36.00 (PIM, Identity Protection and access reviews; Entra ID P1 vs P2 explains which frameworks push you there) and the Defender for Endpoint P2 Add On for Microsoft 365 E3, also $36.00. Microsoft 365 E3 does not include Microsoft 365 Copilot ($360.00, separate add-on), Teams Phone or Power BI Pro.
October 2026 prices and per-year totals for 100 and 300 users
Microsoft list price, October 2026 price list, per user:
| Plan | Per year, annual commitment | Monthly equivalent | Monthly term, per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office 365 E1 | $120.00 | $10.00 | $12.00 |
| Office 365 E3 | $312.00 | $26.00 | $31.20 |
| Microsoft 365 E3 | $468.00 | $39.00 | $46.80 |
Per-year totals, one plan for everyone, annual commitment:
| Users | Office 365 E1 | Office 365 E3 | Microsoft 365 E3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | $12,000 | $31,200 | $46,800 |
| 300 | $36,000 | $93,600 | $140,400 |
These are the Teams-included SKUs. A new enterprise customer outside the EEA and Switzerland buys the no-Teams suite (Office 365 E1 $81.48, Office 365 E3 $209.40, Microsoft 365 E3 $365.40 per user per year) plus Microsoft Teams Enterprise at $102.60 per user per year ($8.55 per month), so the true 300-user comparison is the no-Teams suite plus $30,780 of Teams Enterprise, not the totals above. The monthly-term prices run about a fifth above the annual rate and belong only on seats you expect to drop; NCE annual vs monthly has the break-even. Microsoft 365 E5 is $720.00 per user per year; read E3 vs E5 in 2026 before anyone proposes that jump.
Frontline mixes and the Business Premium comparison
No 300-user organization is uniformly knowledge workers, and the enterprise suites are meant to be mixed. The frontline SKUs on the October 2026 sheet are Microsoft 365 F3 at $120.00 per user per year and Microsoft 365 F1 at $36.00. Our F1 vs F3 vs Business Basic article covers the eligibility rules.
A worked mix for 300 users: 200 knowledge workers on Office 365 E3 ($62,400) plus 100 shift or field workers on Microsoft 365 F3 ($12,000) is $74,400 per year, against $93,600 for Office 365 E3 everywhere.
The other comparison buyers ask for is Business Premium. At $264.00, 300 Business Premium seats cost $79,200 against $140,400 for Microsoft 365 E3, and Business Premium already carries Intune, Entra ID P1 and Defender for Business. What it lacks is Windows Enterprise and the enterprise mailbox tier, and it stops at 300 seats. Business Premium vs E3 is the full treatment; under 300 users with no Windows Enterprise requirement, Business Premium wins on price.
Assign whichever you choose against a real inventory: How to run a Microsoft 365 license audit is the method, and our Microsoft 365 License Audit and Optimization service ($1,950 per project, one week) does it with your sign-in and usage data.
Old plan names you will still see on invoices
Renewal paperwork, invoices and old contracts still carry names Microsoft retired years ago. The map:
| Older name | Current name | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Office 365 Business Essentials | Microsoft 365 Business Basic | Web and mobile apps, mailbox, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams |
| Office 365 Business Premium | Microsoft 365 Business Standard | Adds the desktop apps to Business Basic |
| Microsoft 365 Business | Microsoft 365 Business Premium | Adds Intune, Entra ID P1, Defender for Business and Windows Business rights |
| Office 365 Business | Microsoft 365 Apps for business | Desktop apps and OneDrive, no mailbox |
| Office 365 ProPlus | Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise | The desktop apps on their own, bought with E1 or alongside enterprise plans |
| Azure Active Directory | Microsoft Entra ID | Renamed; the P1 and P2 tiers are unchanged |
| Microsoft Endpoint Manager | Microsoft Intune | Renamed |
The confusion that costs money is the old Office 365 Business Premium: a customer who asks for "Business Premium" today gets Microsoft 365 Business Premium at $264.00 per user per year, with a security layer the old plan never had. Check which one the renewal quote means. The Business plans cap at 300 users; the enterprise suites in this article do not.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Office 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E3?
Microsoft 365 E3 is Office 365 E3 plus Windows Enterprise E3, Intune, Entra ID P1 (Conditional Access), Defender for Endpoint Plan 1 and the core Purview capabilities. On the October 2026 price list the difference is $156.00 per user per year ($468.00 against $312.00), less than buying Entra ID P1 and Intune Plan 1 separately ($180.00 together).
Does Office 365 E1 include Teams?
The Office 365 E1 SKU includes Teams; Office 365 E1 (no Teams) does not. Since 1 April 2024 new enterprise subscriptions outside the EEA and Switzerland buy the no-Teams suite ($81.48, $209.40 or $365.40 per user per year for E1, Office 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E3) plus Microsoft Teams Enterprise at $102.60 per user per year (October 2026 price list).
Does Office 365 E1 include the desktop Office apps?
No. E1 provides the web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Installed desktop apps start at Office 365 E3, licensed per user on up to five PCs or Macs, five tablets and five phones.
Is Microsoft 365 E3 cheaper than Business Premium?
No. Business Premium is $264.00 per user per year against $468.00 for Microsoft 365 E3. Business Premium is capped at 300 users and does not include Windows Enterprise; if neither matters, it is the lower-cost plan with a comparable security layer.
Does Office 365 E3 include Defender for Office 365?
Since 1 July 2026, yes: Microsoft added Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 (Safe Links, Safe Attachments and anti-phishing policies) to Office 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E3, with the rollout completing during the fall of 2026. Plan 2, with attack simulation training and automated investigation, stays in the E5 suites or the Plan 2 add-on.
Sources
- Microsoft's US commercial price list, October 2026 (all Microsoft list prices above; the annual figure divided by 12 gives the monthly equivalent)
- Microsoft Licensing Resources, "Realigning global licensing for Microsoft 365," 1 April 2024 (enterprise suites sold without Teams to new subscribers outside the EEA and Switzerland; existing customers may renew and add seats)
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 is now rolling out to Microsoft 365 E3 — Microsoft Tech Community, 17 June 2026, checked 2026-10-11 (Plan 1 included in Microsoft 365 E3 and Office 365 E3 from 1 July 2026; rollout completing during the fall of 2026)
- What is Conditional Access? — Microsoft Learn, page dated 27 April 2026 (page source opened via the MicrosoftDocs GitHub repository)
| User profile | Plan | Per user per year, October 2026 list | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browser-only worker, shared PC or virtual desktop with apps licensed elsewhere | Office 365 E1 | $120.00 | Mailbox, Teams, SharePoint and web apps |
| Knowledge worker on a device you do not manage | Office 365 E3 | $312.00 | Desktop apps, the 100 GB mailbox tier and, since 1 July 2026, Defender for Office 365 Plan 1; no Intune or Conditional Access |
| Knowledge worker on a company Windows device | Microsoft 365 E3 | $468.00 | Adds Windows Enterprise, Intune, Entra ID P1, Defender for Endpoint P1 |
| Shift or field worker who qualifies as frontline | Microsoft 365 F3 | $120.00 | Frontline eligibility rules apply |
| Under 300 users, no Windows Enterprise need | Microsoft 365 Business Premium | $264.00 | Capped at 300; includes Intune, Entra ID P1, Defender for Business |
| Microsoft 365 E3 user who needs PIM or access reviews | Entra P2 Add On | $36.00 add-on | Cheaper than the E5 step |
| New enterprise subscription outside the EEA and Switzerland | No-Teams suite plus Microsoft Teams Enterprise | No-Teams suite $81.48 / $209.40 / $365.40; Teams Enterprise $102.60 | Microsoft's rule since 1 April 2024 |
Key takeaways
- Office 365 E1 ($120.00), Office 365 E3 ($312.00) and Microsoft 365 E3 ($468.00) per user per year, Microsoft list price, October 2026 price list; the no-Teams SKUs that new enterprise subscriptions buy are $81.48, $209.40 and $365.40, plus Microsoft Teams Enterprise at $102.60.
- For 100 users the totals are $12,000, $31,200 and $46,800 per year; for 300 users, $36,000, $93,600 and $140,400.
- Office 365 E3 plus Entra ID P1 and Intune Plan 1 costs $492.00 per user per year, more than Microsoft 365 E3, which also adds Windows Enterprise and Defender for Endpoint P1; assemble only when most users need none of it.
- E1 is a mailbox-and-web-apps license on the 50 GB mailbox tier; E3 adds desktop apps on five PCs, five tablets and five phones, the 100 GB tier and, since 1 July 2026, Defender for Office 365 Plan 1.
- Mixing F3 ($120.00) or F1 ($36.00) for eligible frontline staff, or Business Premium ($264.00, capped at 300, no Windows Enterprise) for smaller organizations, changes the total more than any discount you will negotiate.
The Office 365 E1, Office 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E3 pages sell each suite at Microsoft's list price with the with-Teams and no-Teams SKUs side by side, and Microsoft 365 F3 and Microsoft Entra ID P1 cover the mixes above. If you want the assignment done against real usage, the Microsoft 365 License Audit and Optimization service ($1,950 per project, one week) produces the per-user plan map, the Tenant Analysis Service Premium ($449 per project, seven days) gives a lighter inventory first, and the Microsoft 365 License Optimization Subscription ($295 per month) keeps it current between renewals. Start with the Plan Optimizer or book a call.
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