Microsoft 365 E5 vs E3 + Add-ons Calculator
Microsoft 365 E5 is E3 plus a security set, a compliance set, Teams Phone and Power BI Pro. Tick the pieces you would actually buy and the calculator prices them the way an E3 holder buys them, then puts E3 plus add-ons beside E5 per user and for your headcount, at Microsoft list price for the Commercial or Nonprofit segment.
01 Users and price list
Every user on the same route. Mixed tenants run this once per group.
02 E5 capabilities you actually need
Tick what E3 lacks and you would buy. Each line is priced at the step-up SKU Microsoft sells to E3 holders where one exists, otherwise the standalone product.
Microsoft 365 E3 plus the selected add-ons is cheaper by $12.00 per user per month. E5 would add 7 capabilities you did not select.
| E3 route line | Per user / mo | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 E3 | $39.00 | $3,900.00 |
| Microsoft Entra ID P2 | $3.00 | $300.00 |
| Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 | $3.00 | $300.00 |
| Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 | $3.00 | $300.00 |
| E3 route total | $48.00 | $4,800.00 |
| Microsoft 365 E5 | $60.00 | $6,000.00 |
Also in E5, not selected: Defender for Identity, Defender for Cloud Apps, Purview Information Protection and Governance, Purview Insider Risk Management, Purview eDiscovery and Audit, Teams Phone Standard, Power BI Pro.
Microsoft list price, Commercial segment, per user per month on an annual commitment paid upfront. Priced as: “Microsoft 365 E3”, “Microsoft 365 E5”, “Entra P2 Add On”, “Defender for Endpoint P2 Add On for Microsoft 365 E3”, “Defender for Office 365 P2 Add On”.
How the comparison works
Microsoft 365 E5 includes every capability on the list, so the E5 route is one license per user at the E5 price.
The E3 route is Microsoft 365 E3 plus one add-on per selected capability. Where Microsoft sells a step-up SKU to E3 holders (Entra ID P2, Defender for Endpoint P2, Defender for Office 365 P2), the calculator prices that SKU; otherwise the standalone product.
The break-even is the gap between the E5 and E3 prices. When the selected add-ons cost more than the gap, E5 is the cheaper route; when they cost less, E3 plus add-ons is.
Capabilities you did not select are listed as what E5 adds on top; they are not priced into either route.
Teams Phone and Audio Conferencing entitlements depend on the Teams-included or no-Teams SKU; the no-Teams E3 and E5 variants are not modelled. verify with Microsoft
Quick start
- Enter the users and pick the segment.
- Tick the capabilities you would buy on top of E3. Leave the rest unticked; the results list them as what E5 adds.
- Read the two routes per user and for the headcount, then send either route to a quote.
Tip: the “gap” is the E5 price minus the E3 price. Add-ons below the gap keep E3 cheaper; add-ons above it make E5 cheaper. The security set alone usually sits close to the gap, so the compliance ticks decide most cases.
For the editorial verdict with a feature matrix, read Microsoft 365 E3 vs E5: What the Upgrade Actually Buys You.
Example scenarios
01Security set only
100 users who need Entra ID P2, Defender for Endpoint Plan 2, Defender for Office 365 Plan 2, Defender for Identity and Defender for Cloud Apps.
Load this scenario →Security and compliance
250 users who need the security set and the three Purview E5 add-ons.
Load this scenario →Phone and analytics
60 users who need Teams Phone Standard and Power BI Pro and nothing from the security set.
Load this scenario →Assumptions and sources
- Microsoft 365 E3 list price
Priced from our subscription page — SKU “Microsoft 365 E3”, annual commitment paid upfront, shown as the monthly equivalent. On the Commercial and Nonprofit price lists. - Microsoft 365 E5 list price
Priced from our subscription page — SKU “Microsoft 365 E5”, annual commitment paid upfront, shown as the monthly equivalent. On the Commercial and Nonprofit price lists. - Microsoft Entra ID P2 list price
Priced from our subscription page — SKU “Entra P2 Add On”, annual commitment paid upfront, shown as the monthly equivalent. On the Commercial and Nonprofit price lists. - Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 list price
Priced from our subscription page — SKU “Defender for Endpoint P2 Add On for Microsoft 365 E3”, annual commitment paid upfront, shown as the monthly equivalent. On the Commercial and Nonprofit price lists. - Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 list price
Priced from our subscription page — SKU “Defender for Office 365 P2 Add On”, annual commitment paid upfront, shown as the monthly equivalent. On the Commercial and Nonprofit price lists. - Defender for Identity list price
Priced from our subscription page — SKU “Microsoft Defender for Identity”, annual commitment paid upfront, shown as the monthly equivalent. On the Commercial and Nonprofit price lists. - Defender for Cloud Apps list price
Priced from our subscription page — SKU “Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps”, annual commitment paid upfront, shown as the monthly equivalent. On the Commercial and Nonprofit price lists. - Purview Information Protection and Governance list price
Priced from our subscription page — SKU “Microsoft 365 E5 Information Protection and Governance”, annual commitment paid upfront, shown as the monthly equivalent. On the Commercial and Nonprofit price lists. - Purview Insider Risk Management list price
Priced from our subscription page — SKU “Microsoft 365 E5 Insider Risk Management”, annual commitment paid upfront, shown as the monthly equivalent. On the Commercial and Nonprofit price lists. - Purview eDiscovery and Audit list price
Priced from our subscription page — SKU “Microsoft 365 E5 eDiscovery and Audit”, annual commitment paid upfront, shown as the monthly equivalent. On the Commercial and Nonprofit price lists. - Teams Phone Standard list price
Priced from our subscription page — SKU “Microsoft Teams Phone Standard”, annual commitment paid upfront, shown as the monthly equivalent. On the Commercial and Nonprofit price lists. - Power BI Pro list price
Priced from our subscription page — SKU “Power BI Pro”, annual commitment paid upfront, shown as the monthly equivalent. On the Commercial price list. - Segment and terms. Microsoft list prices in US dollars, annual commitment paid upfront where the catalog offers it, shown as a monthly equivalent. Monthly-commitment terms run higher. Education and Government buy the A and G plans instead, which this calculator does not model. Taxes are excluded.
- What E5 includes. The capability list is limited to components Microsoft sells separately to E3 holders and that our catalog prices; it is not the full E5 feature list. The E3 and E5 no-Teams variants are not modelled.
Related guides
- Entra ID P1 vs P2 vs Entra Suite: What Each Adds, Who Needs It, and the Price
- Defender for Endpoint P1 vs P2 vs Defender for Business: The Small-Business Security License
- Office 365 E1 vs Office 365 E3 vs Microsoft 365 E3: What Each Includes, October 2026 Prices, and Who Should Pick Which
- Microsoft 365 Security Audit Guide for 2026: Steps, Checklist & Best Practices
- Microsoft 365 E3 vs E5: What the Upgrade Actually Buys You
Security and compliance services
- Microsoft Defender for Identity Implementation
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Implementation
- Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Implementation
- Free Microsoft 365 Security Assessment
- Microsoft Defender for Identity Implementation
- Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management Implementation
- Microsoft Purview eDiscovery Premium Implementation
Questions this calculator gets asked
When is Microsoft 365 E5 cheaper than E3 plus add-ons?
When the add-ons you would buy on E3 cost more per user than the gap between the E5 and E3 prices. The calculator prices each capability at the SKU an E3 holder would buy and compares the sum with that gap; the verdict flips the moment the sum crosses it.
What are the E3 step-up SKUs?
Microsoft sells lower-priced add-on SKUs to Microsoft 365 E3 holders for Entra ID P2, Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 and Defender for Office 365 Plan 2, because E3 already includes the Plan 1 or P1 version. The calculator uses those where the price list has them and the standalone product where it does not; the summary names the SKU used for every line.
Does E5 include anything the list does not show?
The list covers the capabilities people buy separately most often. E5 also carries Audio Conferencing and further Purview and Defender features that have no standalone SKU an E3 holder would buy, so a tenant that wants the whole E5 set compares on the E5 price alone.
Can we mix E3 and E5 in one tenant?
Yes. Many tenants put E5 on the people who need the security and compliance set and keep E3 elsewhere. Run the calculator once per group of users and add the totals.
Why does Teams Phone carry a verify flag?
Teams Phone and Audio Conferencing entitlements depend on the Teams-included or no-Teams SKU of E3 and E5. The calculator prices the Teams-included SKUs; a quote confirms the entitlement for the exact SKU you buy.
Are these the prices we would pay?
They are Microsoft's list prices from the current price list for the segment you pick, per user per month on an annual commitment paid upfront. A quote carries the exact SKUs and is checked by a person before it is binding.
10 capabilities on the list. Sources: IT Partner price list, November 2026; Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 subscription pages in our catalog.