Microsoft 365 Licensing Guide Australia 2026 — Plans, Pricing and What's Included

Microsoft 365 licensing for Australian businesses in 2026 ranges from $8.20 per user per month for Microsoft 365 Business Basic through to $57+ for enterprise E5 — with each tier adding progressively more security, compliance, device management, and AI capability. Choosing the wrong Microsoft 365 plan is the most common and most costly Microsoft licensing mistake Australian businesses make — typically resulting in either under-licensed security or over-licensed features nobody uses.

Microsoft 365 plans for Australian businesses — full comparison 2026

Microsoft 365 Business Basic — $8.20/user/month. Exchange Online email, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive with 1TB per user, and web and mobile Office apps only. No desktop Office applications. Suitable for frontline and shared-device staff who work entirely in the browser.

Microsoft 365 Apps for Business — $11.60/user/month. Desktop Office apps installable on up to five devices per user, plus OneDrive with 1TB. No Exchange Online email. This plan exists for businesses that already have email hosted elsewhere and only need the Office applications.

Microsoft 365 Business Standard — $17.00/user/month. Everything in Business Basic plus the full desktop Office apps, Teams webinars, Microsoft Bookings, Forms, and Planner. This is the most common starting plan for Australian SMBs, and the point at which most businesses discover they still need to buy security separately.

Microsoft 365 Business Premium — $28.10/user/month. Everything in Standard plus Microsoft Intune device management, Entra ID P1 Conditional Access, Microsoft Defender for Business, Azure AD P1, and Microsoft Purview Information Protection. This is the recommended plan for any Australian SMB with security or compliance requirements.

Microsoft 365 E3 — $41.20/user/month. The enterprise plan with no 300-user cap, adding compliance capability including litigation hold, eDiscovery, and data loss prevention. Appropriate for Australian businesses above 300 users or with enterprise compliance obligations.

Microsoft 365 E5 — $57.30/user/month. Adds Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P2, Microsoft Sentinel entitlements, advanced compliance, and Power BI Premium — for large enterprises with advanced security and analytics requirements.

All pricing in AUD as at August 2026 and subject to change by Microsoft.

Microsoft 365 Business Premium — why it''s the right plan for most Australian SMBs

Business Premium at $28.10 per user per month is the sweet spot for Australian SMBs because it includes everything needed for Essential Eight alignment — Intune, Defender for Business, Entra ID P1, and Purview — without the enterprise overhead and complexity of E3.

The cost comparison is decisive. Assembling the equivalent security separately costs Intune standalone at $10.50/user/month, plus Entra ID P1 standalone at $8.40/user/month, plus Defender for Business standalone at $3.50/user/month — $22.40/user/month in security add-ons on top of a Business Standard base of $17.00, for $39.40/user/month all up.

Business Premium at $28.10 is $11.30 per user per month cheaper than assembling the equivalent from separate components. For a 30-user Australian business that is $339 per month, or $4,068 per year, in savings — before accounting for the administrative overhead of managing multiple separate subscriptions.

Microsoft 365 licensing for Australian government and not-for-profit

Government. Australian government agencies license Microsoft 365 GCC through government purchasing panels, typically at 10–20% below commercial list pricing. Data residency, sovereignty, and PROTECTED-level assessment requirements usually drive the plan mix more than price does.

Not-for-profit. Eligible Australian NFPs receive Microsoft 365 Business Basic free for up to 10 users, and Microsoft 365 Business Premium at approximately $8 per user per month through Microsoft''s not-for-profit programme delivered via TechSoup — a saving of roughly $20 per user per month against commercial pricing.

Education. Microsoft 365 A1 is free for students and teachers at eligible Australian educational institutions, with paid A3 and A5 tiers adding security and analytics.

Mycelium 365 regularly runs not-for-profit licensing optimisation for clients. Several have moved from commercial to NFP licensing after we confirmed their eligibility, with savings between $3,000 and $12,000 per year — money that goes straight back into the mission rather than the software bill.

Microsoft 365 Add-ons — what Australian businesses commonly add

• Microsoft 365 Copilot — $54.20/user/month. The AI productivity layer across Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and PowerPoint. Requires a Business Standard, Business Premium, E3, or E5 base licence. Run an AI readiness assessment before purchasing.
• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P2 — $8.40/user/month. Advanced endpoint detection and response beyond Defender for Business, including automated investigation and threat hunting.
• Microsoft Entra ID P2 — $11.20/user/month. Adds Privileged Identity Management and Identity Protection beyond P1.
• Microsoft Intune Plan 2 — $5.20/user/month. Adds endpoint privilege management and specialised device capability beyond Plan 1.
• Exchange Online Archiving — $4.20/user/month. Unlimited email archiving for Business Basic and Standard users who don''t have it included.
• Microsoft Teams Essentials — $5.50/user/month. Teams for contractors and external parties who don''t need a full Microsoft 365 licence.

Licence sprawl from add-ons is a common and expensive problem — add-ons get bought for a project, the project ends, and nobody removes them. Our managed Microsoft 365 service includes monthly licence optimisation to identify unused add-ons and unassigned licences.

How Mycelium 365 manages Microsoft 365 licensing for Australian businesses

Mycelium 365 is a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partner, so we procure, assign, and manage Microsoft 365 licences directly on your behalf at Microsoft pricing with no markup. Every managed client receives a monthly licence review that flags unassigned licences, unused add-ons, and users on the wrong tier for their actual role. That review has repeatedly paid for itself — most environments we take over carry 5–15% licence waste on day one.

See our packages and pricing, read more about managed Microsoft 365 and Microsoft 365 consulting, or get in touch for a licensing review.