August 26, 2026
For many small and midsized healthcare practices, Microsoft 365 Business Premium is the strongest starting point because it combines the Microsoft Office applications and business email with more advanced identity protection, device management, and cybersecurity capabilities. Business Basic and Business Standard can fit users with less complex requirements, while Microsoft 365 E3 may be appropriate for larger or more complex healthcare organizations.
As of July 1, 2026, Microsoft's U.S. commercial list pricing for plans with Teams is $7 per user/month for Business Basic, $14 for Business Standard, $22 for Business Premium, and $39 for Microsoft 365 E3. Actual pricing can vary by agreement, billing arrangement, reseller, geography, and whether the organization purchases a version with or without Teams.
Choosing the right plan, however, should not be based on price alone. Healthcare practices should compare productivity applications, email and storage, security, identity and access controls, device management, organizational size, and future requirements before deciding which Microsoft 365 license is appropriate.
This four-option comparison explains the differences.
Why Microsoft 365 Licensing Matters for Healthcare Practices
It is easy to think about Microsoft 365 licensing primarily in terms of familiar applications.
Does the employee need Outlook?
Do they need Word and Excel?
Do they use Teams?
Those questions matter, but healthcare organizations also need to consider what security and management capabilities are included with each license.
A less expensive Microsoft 365 license is not necessarily the less expensive solution if the practice must purchase additional security and device-management products separately.
This is particularly important for healthcare organizations because Microsoft 365 may provide access to email, files, employee identities, business information, and potentially electronic protected health information (ePHI).
Microsoft also made significant changes to its commercial Microsoft 365 packages during the summer of 2026. These changes include additional mailbox capacity for the Business plans, new URL protection for Business Basic and Business Standard, additional security and Intune capabilities for Microsoft 365 E3, and Copilot Chat enhancements across the plans discussed here.
That makes this a good time for healthcare practices to review whether their existing Microsoft 365 licensing still matches their needs.
A 4-Option Microsoft 365 Comparison for Healthcare Practices
Option 1: Microsoft 365 Business Basic
Current U.S. commercial list price: $7 per user/month with Teams, based on Microsoft's July 1, 2026 pricing.
Productivity Applications
Business Basic provides access to the web and mobile versions of Microsoft's productivity applications rather than the fully installed desktop Microsoft Office applications included with Standard and Premium.
It also includes Microsoft 365 collaboration capabilities such as Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint.
This can work for employees whose jobs primarily involve browser-based or mobile access.
Email & Storage
Business Basic includes custom business email with a 100 GB primary mailbox and 50 GB archive mailbox per user. Microsoft's summer 2026 changes increased the primary mailbox entitlement from 50 GB to 100 GB.
It also includes 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage per user, which is separate from the employee's mailbox storage. OneDrive provides employees with cloud-based storage for securely storing, accessing, editing, and sharing their work files.
Business Basic also includes SharePoint Plan 1, which provides shared cloud storage and team sites for organizational files and resources.
For a healthcare practice, it is important to distinguish between these different types of storage. The 100 GB mailbox applies to the employee's email, while OneDrive and SharePoint provide cloud file storage and collaboration capabilities.
Security
Business Basic includes Microsoft's baseline security protections.
The 2026 update also adds URL time-of-click protection, providing additional protection when users click links in email and other supported Microsoft 365 experiences.
However, Business Basic does not provide the broader integrated security capabilities found in Business Premium.
Identity & Access
Business Basic provides the identity capabilities necessary to use Microsoft 365, but organizations requiring more advanced identity and access controls should carefully compare it with Business Premium.
For a healthcare practice, this becomes important when evaluating requirements such as more advanced access policies and stronger control over how users access organizational information.
Device Management
Business Basic does not provide the same integrated Microsoft Intune device-management capabilities available with Business Premium.
A practice using Business Basic may therefore need another method of managing and securing the computers and mobile devices employees use.
User Limit
Microsoft 365 Business plans are designed for organizations with up to 300 users.
July 2026 Changes
Business Basic's U.S. commercial list price with Teams increased from $6 to $7 per user/month.
Microsoft also added:
- 50 GB of additional email storage
- URL time-of-click protection
- Copilot Chat enhancements
- Copilot Chat Analytics
Existing customers generally receive the new pricing at renewal after July 1, 2026.
Best Fit for Healthcare
Business Basic may make sense for certain employees who primarily need business email, cloud storage, Teams, and browser-based Microsoft applications.
For healthcare practices, however, the security and device-management requirements still need to be addressed. The lower license price should not be evaluated without considering the cost of any additional tools required to secure and manage those users.
Option 2: Microsoft 365 Business Standard
Current U.S. commercial list price: $14 per user/month with Teams, based on Microsoft's July 1, 2026 pricing.
Productivity Applications
Business Standard includes the desktop, web, and mobile Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
It also includes Microsoft 365 collaboration capabilities such as Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint.
This is the significant productivity difference between Business Basic and Business Standard.
Email & Storage
Business Standard includes custom business email with a 100 GB primary mailbox and 50 GB archive mailbox per user. Like Business Basic, Microsoft's summer 2026 changes increased the primary mailbox entitlement from 50 GB to 100 GB.
It also includes 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage per user, separate from the employee's mailbox storage. Employees can use OneDrive to securely store, access, edit, and share their work files across supported devices.
Business Standard also includes SharePoint Plan 1 for shared organizational storage, team sites, and file collaboration.
The email and cloud-storage capabilities are therefore essentially the same as Business Basic. The major difference between Basic and Standard is not storage. It is that Business Standard adds the fully installed desktop Microsoft Office applications.
Security
Business Standard includes baseline Microsoft security protections and, following the 2026 packaging update, URL time-of-click protection.
That is an improvement over the previous package.
However, Business Standard still should not be viewed as equivalent to Business Premium from a cybersecurity perspective. Business Premium includes a broader set of integrated security technologies.
Identity & Access
Business Standard provides Microsoft 365 identity capabilities but does not provide the same advanced identity and access capabilities included with Business Premium.
Healthcare practices should determine whether additional identity security is required based on how employees work and the information they access.
Device Management
Business Standard does not include the same integrated Microsoft Intune device-management capabilities found in Business Premium.
If the practice wants centralized management and security policies for employee devices, those requirements need to be addressed separately.
User Limit
Business Standard supports organizations with up to 300 users.
July 2026 Changes
Business Standard's U.S. commercial list price with Teams increased from $12.50 to $14 per user/month.
Microsoft also added:
- 50 GB of additional email storage
- URL time-of-click protection
- Copilot Chat enhancements
- Copilot Chat Analytics
Best Fit for Healthcare
Business Standard may make sense for employees who need the complete desktop Microsoft Office applications but whose security and device-management requirements are being addressed through other solutions.
Healthcare practices should be careful not to choose Business Standard simply because it includes all the productivity applications employees recognize.
The better question is:
Does Business Standard provide the security and management capabilities we need, or are we purchasing those capabilities somewhere else?
Option 3: Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Current U.S. commercial list price: $22 per user/month with Teams. Microsoft did not increase the commercial list price for Business Premium as part of the July 2026 pricing update.
Productivity Applications
Business Premium includes the desktop, web, and mobile Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
It also includes Microsoft 365 collaboration capabilities such as Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint.
The productivity capabilities are therefore similar to Business Standard. The major reasons to consider Business Premium are the additional security, identity, and device-management capabilities, not additional Office productivity applications.
Email & Storage
Business Premium includes custom business email with a 100 GB primary mailbox and 1.5 TB archive mailbox per user. Microsoft's summer 2026 changes increased the primary mailbox entitlement from 50 GB to 100 GB.
It also includes 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage per user, separate from the employee's mailbox storage. OneDrive allows employees to securely store, access, edit, and share work files across supported devices.
Business Premium also includes SharePoint Plan 1 for shared organizational storage, team sites, and file collaboration.
One storage difference worth noting is the archive mailbox. Business Premium provides a 1.5 TB archive mailbox, compared with 50 GB for Business Basic and Business Standard. The OneDrive cloud-storage entitlement remains 1 TB per user across all three Business plans.
Security
This is where Business Premium becomes substantially different from Business Basic and Business Standard.
Business Premium provides a more comprehensive Microsoft security foundation, including technologies designed to help protect users, devices, email, and organizational information.
That makes Business Premium particularly relevant for healthcare practices that want security incorporated into the Microsoft 365 environment rather than treating Microsoft 365 strictly as a productivity platform.
Identity & Access
Business Premium includes Microsoft Entra ID Plan 1, providing more advanced identity and access-management capabilities.
This supports capabilities such as Conditional Access, which allows organizations to make access decisions based on factors such as the user, device, location, and sign-in conditions.
These controls can play an important role as healthcare practices strengthen authentication and move toward phishing-resistant methods such as passkeys.
Device Management
Business Premium includes Microsoft Intune, allowing organizations to centrally manage devices and apply security policies.
For healthcare practices, this can help address questions such as:
- Is the computer accessing company information managed?
- Does it meet organizational security requirements?
- Is appropriate security configured?
- Can organizational policies be applied consistently?
- What happens when a device is lost or an employee leaves?
Device management is one of the major reasons Business Premium deserves consideration beyond its productivity applications.
User Limit
Business Premium supports organizations with up to 300 users.
July 2026 Changes
Unlike Business Basic and Business Standard, Business Premium's $22 U.S. commercial list price with Teams did not increase in Microsoft's July 2026 pricing update.
Microsoft added:
- 50 GB of additional email storage
- Copilot Chat enhancements
- Copilot Chat Analytics
Best Fit for Healthcare
For many independent small and midsized healthcare practices, Business Premium is the Microsoft 365 license we would evaluate first.
It combines the productivity applications employees expect with a stronger integrated foundation for identity security, endpoint protection, and device management.
That does not mean every healthcare organization automatically needs Business Premium or that Business Premium provides every cybersecurity control a healthcare practice may require.
It means Business Premium provides a stronger starting point when productivity and security are evaluated together.
Option 4: Microsoft 365 E3
Current U.S. commercial list price: $39 per user/month with Teams, based on Microsoft's July 1, 2026 pricing.
Productivity Applications
Microsoft 365 E3 includes the desktop, web, and mobile Microsoft Office applications along with enterprise Microsoft 365 productivity and collaboration services.
It also includes Microsoft 365 collaboration capabilities such as Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint.
Like Business Standard and Business Premium, E3 therefore provides the core productivity and collaboration tools most healthcare employees use every day. The primary reasons to consider E3 are its enterprise-level security, identity, device management, compliance, storage, and scalability capabilities, rather than a fundamentally different set of everyday Office applications.
Email & Storage
Microsoft 365 E3 includes enterprise business email with a 100 GB primary mailbox and expanded email archiving capabilities appropriate for organizations with greater storage, retention, and compliance requirements.
It also includes 1 to 5+ TB of OneDrive cloud storage per user, depending on the organization's configuration and eligibility. This is separate from the user's email mailbox and provides substantially more potential cloud file storage than the 1 TB per-user entitlement included with the Business plans.
E3 also includes SharePoint for shared organizational storage, collaboration, and management of files and content across the organization.
For a growing healthcare organization, the combination of larger potential OneDrive storage, enterprise email capabilities, and more advanced information-management capabilities can become increasingly relevant as the number of employees, locations, and volume of organizational data increase.
Security
Microsoft 365 E3 already provides a broader enterprise security foundation, and Microsoft strengthened it further in the summer 2026 packaging update.
Microsoft added Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1, which provides additional protection for email and collaboration environments.
Identity & Access
Microsoft 365 E3 includes enterprise identity and access-management capabilities that can support more complex organizational environments and access requirements.
For larger healthcare organizations, this can provide the foundation for centrally managing access across a larger workforce and more complex technology environment.
Device Management
Microsoft 365 E3 includes Microsoft Intune capabilities, and Microsoft's 2026 packaging changes expanded those capabilities further.
The summer 2026 additions include:
- Intune Remote Help
- Intune Advanced Analytics
- Intune Plan 2
These additions make E3 more capable for organizations with more complex endpoint-management requirements.
User Limit
Unlike Microsoft's Business plans, Microsoft 365 E3 is not subject to the Business-suite 300-user maximum.
That makes E3 an important option as organizations grow beyond the limits of Microsoft's Business licensing.
July 2026 Changes
Microsoft 365 E3's U.S. commercial list price with Teams increased from $36 to $39 per user/month.
Microsoft also added:
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1
- Intune Remote Help
- Intune Advanced Analytics
- Intune Plan 2
- Copilot Chat enhancements
- Copilot Chat Analytics
Microsoft says the new security and management capabilities began rolling out during summer 2026.
Best Fit for Healthcare
Microsoft 365 E3 may make sense for:
- Healthcare organizations approaching or exceeding 300 users
- Larger medical groups
- Multi-location organizations with more complex requirements
- Organizations requiring enterprise licensing
- Organizations needing more sophisticated endpoint-management capabilities
- Healthcare organizations whose security, compliance, or information-management requirements exceed the Business plans
For many independent medical practices, E3 may be more than the organization requires.
The objective is not to purchase the most expensive Microsoft license available. It is to choose the license that appropriately matches the organization's requirements.
Microsoft 365 Business Basic vs. Standard vs. Premium vs. E3
Here is the same comparison in a condensed format:
| Category | Business Basic | Business Standard | Business Premium | Microsoft 365 E3 |
| July 2026 U.S. list price with Teams | $7/user/month | $14/user/month | $22/user/month | $39/user/month |
| Desktop Office applications | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Business email | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 100 GB primary mailbox | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| URL time-of-click protection added in 2026 | Yes | Yes | Broader security capabilities already included | Defender for Office 365 P1 added |
| Advanced identity/access capabilities | Limited | Limited | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft Intune device management | No | No | Yes | Yes, with additional 2026 capabilities |
| Maximum Business-plan users | 300 | 300 | 300 | Not subject to Business-plan 300-user cap |
| Typical fit | Limited-use/cloud users | Productivity-focused users | Security-focused SMB healthcare practices | Larger/complex healthcare organizations |
Microsoft's July 2026 pricing applies to new and renewing commercial customers, while customers already under an existing agreement generally transition to the new pricing at their next renewal after July 1. Microsoft also continues to offer suites with and without Teams, so actual pricing can differ from the with-Teams figures used in this comparison.
Four Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Microsoft 365 License
1. What Does Each Employee Actually Need?
Not every employee necessarily needs the same license.
A physician, practice administrator, billing employee, front-desk employee, and part-time worker may use technology differently.
Consider:
- Whether desktop Microsoft Office applications are required
- Whether the employee works remotely
- Which devices the employee uses
- What information the employee accesses
- Whether the employee needs advanced collaboration capabilities
- Which security controls should apply to that employee
A combination of license types may sometimes make sense.
However, mixing licenses should be intentional. Saving money on a user's Microsoft 365 license does not make sense if doing so creates a security gap that then has to be addressed another way.
2. What Security and Device-Management Capabilities Does the Practice Need?
This is where healthcare practices should look beyond Outlook, Word, Excel, and Teams.
Consider whether the organization requires:
- Conditional Access
- Centralized device management
- Endpoint security
- Email protection
- Strong identity controls
- Protection for organizational information
- Management of computers and mobile devices
- Consistent security policies across the workforce
Microsoft's 2026 additions improve several plans, but they do not make the four options equivalent. Healthcare practices should evaluate the complete security environment rather than comparing one feature in isolation.
3. What Are the Practice's HIPAA Responsibilities?
No Microsoft 365 license makes a healthcare practice HIPAA compliant simply because the organization purchases it.
Microsoft provides technologies that can support healthcare organizations in protecting information and implementing security controls, but the organization remains responsible for how those technologies are configured and used.
HIPAA compliance involves more than Microsoft 365 licensing, including:
- Risk analysis and risk management
- Policies and procedures
- Access controls
- Workforce responsibilities
- Appropriate safeguards
- Security configuration
- Device management
- Handling of ePHI
The right Microsoft 365 license should support the practice's security and compliance strategy.
4. What Will the Practice Need Over the Next Three to Five Years?
Licensing decisions should account for where the organization is going, not just where it is today.
Consider whether the practice expects to:
- Add physicians or employees
- Open additional locations
- Expand remote work
- Adopt additional cloud applications
- Strengthen cybersecurity requirements
- Increase device-management requirements
- Introduce AI tools
- Approach the 300-user Business-plan limit
The objective isn't to overbuy technology today.
It is to avoid choosing a licensing structure that becomes unnecessarily restrictive as the organization grows.
Don't Compare Microsoft 365 Licenses Based Only on Monthly Price
The July 2026 pricing makes this point especially important.
At Microsoft's current U.S. commercial list prices with Teams, the difference between Business Standard and Business Premium is $8 per user per month.
For a 25-user practice, that difference is approximately $200 per month, or $2,400 per year, before considering taxes, reseller pricing, billing arrangements, or other factors.
If Business Standard does not include security or device-management capabilities the practice requires, those capabilities may need to be purchased and managed separately.
The real comparison becomes:
Microsoft 365 license + additional security products + additional management
versus:
a Microsoft 365 license that already includes more of the required capabilities.
This is why healthcare practices should evaluate the total technology and security stack, not simply the Microsoft license price.
Common Microsoft 365 Licensing Mistakes Healthcare Practices Should Avoid
Common mistakes include:
- Selecting licenses based solely on monthly price
- Assuming Business Standard and Business Premium provide equivalent security
- Giving every employee the same license without evaluating job requirements
- Assuming Microsoft 365 automatically makes the practice HIPAA compliant
- Ignoring the 300-user limit of the Business plans
- Failing to review licensing after Microsoft changes its packages
- Purchasing advanced capabilities but never configuring them
That final point is worth emphasizing.
Buying a security feature and actually using it are two different things.
A healthcare practice can purchase Business Premium or E3 and still fail to receive the intended security benefit if the included capabilities are never properly configured.
Questions to Ask Your Managed IT Provider About Microsoft 365 Licensing
Which Microsoft 365 licenses are we currently using?
Your provider should be able to explain which licenses are assigned and why.
Are we using the security capabilities we're already paying for?
Licensing a feature does not mean it has been configured.
How do Microsoft's 2026 licensing changes affect us?
Ask whether your current licenses gained capabilities, whether pricing changed, and when new pricing applies to your agreement.
Are any employees missing security capabilities because of their current license?
This is especially important when an organization mixes Business Basic, Standard, Premium, or Enterprise licenses.
Is our Microsoft 365 licensing appropriate for our HIPAA responsibilities?
The answer should address configuration, security, risk, and how the technology is being used, not simply the name of the Microsoft license.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Microsoft 365 license is best for most healthcare practices?
For many small and midsized healthcare practices, Microsoft 365 Business Premium is a strong starting point because it combines desktop productivity applications with more advanced identity, security, and device-management capabilities.
However, the best license depends on the practice's size, workforce, security requirements, devices, existing cybersecurity tools, and compliance needs.
Is Microsoft 365 Business Standard enough for a healthcare practice?
It can be, depending on how the rest of the organization's security environment is designed.
Business Standard provides the desktop Microsoft Office applications and received additional URL protection in Microsoft's 2026 update, but it still does not provide the same integrated identity, security, and device-management capabilities as Business Premium.
The practice should determine how any missing requirements will be addressed before deciding that Business Standard is sufficient.
Does Microsoft 365 Business Premium make a healthcare practice HIPAA compliant?
No.
Business Premium provides technologies that can support a healthcare practice's security and compliance efforts, but purchasing the license does not create HIPAA compliance.
Compliance depends on how technology is configured and used along with the organization's policies, procedures, safeguards, risk-management activities, and workforce practices.
Did Microsoft 365 Business Premium increase in price in July 2026?
No. Microsoft's U.S. commercial list price for Business Premium with Teams remained $22 per user/month in the July 1, 2026 pricing update.
Business Basic increased from $6 to $7, Business Standard increased from $12.50 to $14, and Microsoft 365 E3 increased from $36 to $39.
What changed in Microsoft 365 Business plans in 2026?
Microsoft added 50 GB of email storage to Business Basic, Standard, and Premium. Business Basic and Standard also gained URL time-of-click protection. All three received Copilot Chat enhancements and Copilot Chat Analytics as part of the summer 2026 packaging changes.
Can a healthcare practice use different Microsoft 365 licenses for different employees?
Yes.
Different employees may have different technology requirements. However, practices should ensure that mixed licensing does not unintentionally leave particular users or devices without security controls the organization requires.
When should a healthcare practice consider Microsoft 365 E3?
Microsoft 365 E3 deserves consideration when an organization approaches or exceeds the 300-user limit of Microsoft's Business plans, requires an enterprise licensing model, or needs security, management, or organizational capabilities beyond the Business plans.
Microsoft also expanded E3 during summer 2026 with Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 and additional Intune capabilities, making the comparison worth revisiting even for organizations that previously evaluated E3.
Does Microsoft 365 include Microsoft 365 Copilot?
The Copilot Chat enhancements included in Microsoft's 2026 packaging changes should not be confused with a full Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
Microsoft separately offers Microsoft 365 Business with Copilot subscriptions. As of July 1, 2026, Microsoft announced Business Standard with Copilot at $23.50 per user/month and Business Premium with Copilot at $32 per user/month for annual subscriptions with annual billing.
Healthcare practices considering AI should evaluate licensing, data security, governance, and appropriate use before broadly deploying AI capabilities.
Final Thoughts
The best Microsoft 365 license for a healthcare practice isn't necessarily the cheapest plan or the one with the longest feature list. It is the license that provides the right combination of productivity, security, identity protection, device management, compliance support, and scalability for the organization.
For many small and midsized healthcare practices, Business Premium provides a strong balance of those capabilities, while E3 becomes more relevant as organizations grow in size and complexity. The right decision should consider not only the Microsoft license price, but also the security and management tools the practice would otherwise need to purchase separately.
Instead of asking, “Which Microsoft 365 license costs the least?” ask, “Which Microsoft 365 license gives our employees the tools they need while providing the security and management capabilities our healthcare practice requires?”
About ResTech Solutions
ResTech Solutions helps healthcare practices throughout the Houston area select, configure, manage, and secure Microsoft 365 as part of a broader managed IT and cybersecurity strategy.
With more than 10 years of experience supporting healthcare practices, ResTech understands that Microsoft 365 licensing should not be approached simply as a software purchase. The right licensing strategy needs to consider how employees work, which devices they use, what information they access, which security controls the practice requires, and how the organization expects to grow.
Our managed IT services include Microsoft 365 management along with the technology, security, monitoring, backup, and support services needed to maintain a reliable IT environment. Compliance-focused services, including Cyber Liability Management, can be incorporated separately based on the organization's needs.
If you're unsure whether your healthcare practice is using the right Microsoft 365 licenses or getting full value from the licenses you're already paying for, schedule a no-obligation discovery call with ResTech Solutions. We'll discuss your current licensing, security requirements, and business needs and help you determine whether your Microsoft 365 licensing strategy is the right fit.
