Microsoft has rolled out significant changes across its Microsoft 365 portfolio, including price increases for E3 and E5, expanded security capabilities in Business Premium, the introduction of E7, and new Defender and Purview suites designed specifically for small and midsized businesses.
While many organizations are focused on the price increases, the bigger story is how Microsoft continues to bundle more security, compliance, and AI capabilities into its licensing plans.
What’s Changed?
Recent Microsoft 365 updates include:
- Microsoft 365 E3 increased from $36 to $39 per user/month
- Microsoft 365 E5 increased from $57 to $60 per user/month
- Business Basic and Business Standard received price increases and additional mailbox storage
- Business Premium pricing remained unchanged
- New Defender Suite and Purview Suite add-ons were introduced for Business Premium customers
- Microsoft introduced E7 as its highest-tier security and AI-focused offering
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Business Premium remains one of Microsoft’s best values for organizations with fewer than 300 users.
Recent additions include:
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1
- Intune Remote Help
- Intune Advanced Analytics
- Additional Intune Plan 2 capabilities
Business Premium already includes:
- Microsoft 365 Apps
- Exchange Online
- SharePoint Online
- Microsoft Teams
- Microsoft Intune
- Microsoft Entra ID P1
- Microsoft Defender for Business
These additions further strengthen Business Premium’s position as the recommended baseline for most SMBs.
Microsoft 365 E3
Microsoft 365 E3 continues to serve as Microsoft’s enterprise productivity and management platform.
E3 includes:
- Microsoft 365 Apps
- Exchange Online
- SharePoint Online
- Teams
- Windows Enterprise
- Intune
- Entra ID P1
Recent additions include:
- Defender for Office 365 Plan 1
- Intune Remote Help
- Intune Advanced Analytics
- Additional Intune Plan 2 functionality
E3 provides a strong enterprise foundation but typically requires additional licensing to reach Microsoft’s full security and compliance stack.
Microsoft 365 E5
Microsoft 365 E5 remains Microsoft’s most comprehensive productivity, security, and compliance suite.
In addition to everything included in E3, E5 adds:
Security
- Entra ID P2
- Defender for Endpoint P2
- Defender for Identity
- Defender for Cloud Apps
- Defender for Office 365 P2
Compliance
- Insider Risk Management
- Advanced Audit
- eDiscovery Premium
- Information Protection
- Data Loss Prevention
Analytics & Voice
- Power BI Pro
- Teams Phone capabilities
- Advanced reporting and analytics
For organizations that want Microsoft’s complete security and compliance stack under a single license, E5 remains the gold standard.
Microsoft 365 E7
Microsoft recently introduced E7 as its highest-tier security offering.
E7 builds on E5 and is designed for organizations investing heavily in:
- AI-powered security operations
- Security Copilot
- Exposure management
- Advanced threat detection
- Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
- Security Operations Center (SOC) modernization
While E7 is likely beyond the needs of most SMBs, it represents Microsoft’s vision for AI-driven security operations.
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Defender Suite for Business Premium
One of Microsoft’s most significant licensing announcements was the Defender Suite for Business Premium.
For approximately $10/user/month, organizations gain access to:
- Entra ID P2
- Defender for Endpoint P2
- Defender for Identity
- Defender for Office 365 P2
- Defender for Cloud Apps
This dramatically expands the security capabilities available to Business Premium customers and brings enterprise-grade threat detection and response to organizations with fewer than 300 users.
Key Benefits
- Risk-based Conditional Access
- Identity Protection
- Privileged Identity Management (PIM)
- Advanced Hunting
- Automated Investigation and Response
- Threat Explorer
- Attack Simulation Training
- Cloud Application Security
For many organizations, this is the single most impactful security upgrade available in Microsoft 365 today.
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Purview Suite for Business Premium
Microsoft also introduced the Purview Suite for Business Premium.
For approximately $10/user/month, organizations gain advanced compliance and data governance capabilities previously associated with E5.
Included capabilities:
- Information Protection
- Sensitivity Labels
- Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
- Insider Risk Management
- eDiscovery Premium
- Advanced Audit
- Communication Compliance
- Advanced Message Encryption
- Customer Key
This makes enterprise-class compliance and data protection accessible to SMBs without requiring an E5 migration.
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Defender Suite + Purview Suite
Microsoft also offers a combined bundle for approximately $15/user/month.
This package includes:
- Entra ID P2
- Defender for Endpoint P2
- Defender for Identity
- Defender for Cloud Apps
- Defender for Office 365 P2
- Information Protection
- DLP
- Insider Risk Management
- eDiscovery Premium
- Advanced Audit
- Communication Compliance
For many SMBs, this combination delivers much of the security and compliance value of E5 while allowing them to remain on Business Premium.
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Which License Should SMBs Choose?
For most organizations under 300 users, our recommendation is straightforward:
Business Premium – Best overall value and security baseline.
Business Premium + Defender Suite – Ideal for organizations focused on cybersecurity, cyber insurance requirements, and advanced threat protection.
Business Premium + Defender Suite + Purview Suite – Best choice for organizations handling sensitive data or operating in regulated industries.
Microsoft 365 E3 – Best for organizations over 300 users that need enterprise licensing but plan to select security components individually.
Microsoft 365 E5 – Best for organizations that want Microsoft’s complete security, compliance, identity, and analytics platform under a single license.
Microsoft 365 E7 – Best suited for enterprises building advanced, AI-driven security operations centers and leveraging Security Copilot at scale.
The biggest takeaway is that many SMBs can now achieve enterprise-grade security by combining Business Premium with Defender and Purview suites—often without the cost of moving every user to E5.
