Microsoft 365 Business Premium Features: Complete Guide

Microsoft 365 Business Premium costs $22 per user per month, nearly double what most businesses pay for Business Standard. Whether that price gap is justified depends entirely on which features you actually need and whether you would otherwise buy them separately. This guide breaks down every Microsoft 365 Business Premium feature by category so you can see exactly what you are paying for and decide if the upgrade makes sense for your team.

What Is Microsoft 365 Business Premium?

Microsoft 365 Business Premium is Microsoft's most comprehensive subscription for small and mid-size businesses with up to 300 users. It includes the full productivity suite found in Business Standard (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint) and layers on advanced security, device management, and data protection tools that were previously available only to enterprise customers.

The plan was designed for organizations that need to secure company data across employee devices, protect against phishing and ransomware, and meet compliance requirements without purchasing multiple standalone products. According to Microsoft's Business Premium page, the subscription uses the same security technology that protects the world's largest enterprises.

Related: Not sure which plan tier is right for your organization? Our side-by-side breakdown of Office 365 vs Microsoft 365 covers the full lineup with pricing and a decision framework.

Identity and Access Management

Business Premium includes Microsoft Entra ID P1 (formerly Azure AD Premium P1), which unlocks identity features that Business Standard does not offer.

Key Capabilities

• Conditional access policies: Control who can access company resources based on user location, device compliance, risk level, and app sensitivity. This is the single most impactful security feature for businesses with remote or hybrid employees.
• Self-service password reset: Employees can reset their own passwords securely, reducing help desk tickets.
• Multi-factor authentication with advanced controls: All Microsoft 365 plans include basic MFA, but Entra ID P1 adds granular policies such as requiring MFA only from untrusted networks or unmanaged devices.
• Dynamic group membership: Automatically add or remove users from groups based on attributes like department or location.

For a deeper look at how conditional access works in practice, see our guide to conditional access policies and how they protect your environment.

Endpoint Security with Microsoft Defender for Business

This is often the deciding factor for the upgrade. Microsoft Defender for Business provides enterprise-grade endpoint protection across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android devices.

What Defender for Business Includes

• Endpoint detection and response (EDR): Monitors devices for suspicious activity, provides detailed investigation tools, and can automatically isolate compromised machines.
• Attack surface reduction: Blocks common attack vectors like macro-based malware, credential theft, and unauthorized script execution.
• Threat and vulnerability management: Continuously scans your environment and prioritizes vulnerabilities based on actual risk to your organization.
• Automated investigation and remediation: When a threat is detected, Defender can investigate and resolve it without manual intervention, saving your IT team hours of response time.

Purchasing Defender for Business as a standalone add-on costs roughly $3 per user per month. Intune, discussed below, costs approximately $8 per user per month standalone. Business Premium bundles both at a lower combined price than buying them separately.

Want this level of protection without managing it yourself? Always Beyond deploys and manages Microsoft 365 Business Premium security for small and mid-size businesses. See how our managed IT services work.

Device Management with Microsoft Intune

Business Premium includes Microsoft Intune Plan 1, which gives your organization control over how company data is accessed on employee devices, whether those devices are company-owned or personal (BYOD).

What You Can Do with Intune

• Enforce device compliance policies: Require screen locks, encryption, and minimum OS versions before a device can access company email or files.
• Deploy apps and updates remotely: Push Office apps, security patches, and line-of-business applications to devices without requiring physical access.
• Remote wipe: If a device is lost or an employee leaves, wipe company data without affecting personal files.
• Mobile application management (MAM): Protect company data inside specific apps on personal phones without managing the entire device.

Without Intune, businesses rely on manual device setup and have no centralized way to enforce security standards. For hybrid and remote teams, this gap creates risk every time an employee connects from a personal laptop or phone.

Email and Collaboration Protection

Business Premium adds Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 on top of the Exchange Online Protection included in all plans.

Additional Email Security

• Safe Attachments: Opens email attachments in a sandbox environment to detect malware before delivery.
• Safe Links: Rewrites URLs in emails and documents so they are checked at the time of click, not just at delivery. This blocks delayed phishing attacks where a link is safe when sent but malicious when opened later.
• Anti-phishing policies: Uses machine learning to detect impersonation attempts targeting your executives or brand.

Phishing remains the number one attack vector for small businesses. Safe Links and Safe Attachments close a gap that basic email filtering cannot address.

Data Protection with Microsoft Purview

Business Premium includes foundational Microsoft Purview capabilities for data governance.

• Data loss prevention (DLP): Create policies that prevent sensitive information like credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, or health records from being shared outside the organization through email, Teams, or SharePoint.
• Sensitivity labels: Classify and protect documents and emails with labels that follow the file wherever it travels, including encryption and access restrictions.
• Azure Information Protection: Extends sensitivity labels to on-premises files and third-party cloud services.

For businesses in healthcare, legal, or financial services, these tools address regulatory requirements around data handling without needing a separate compliance platform.

What Is New for Business Premium in 2026

Microsoft announced packaging updates rolling out in summer 2026 that add features to Business Premium at no extra cost:

• Expanded mailbox storage: An additional 50 GB per user, bringing the total to 100 GB.
• Copilot Chat enhancements: Improved AI chat capabilities powered by the latest large language models.
• Copilot Chat Analytics: Usage reporting for Copilot interactions across the organization.

Additionally, Microsoft introduced optional add-on suites in late 2025 that extend Business Premium's security even further. The Defender Suite for Business Premium adds Defender for Endpoint P2, Defender for Identity, Defender for Cloud Apps, and Entra ID P2. The Purview Suite for Business Premium adds eDiscovery Premium and advanced compliance tools. These are optional upgrades, not replacements. Defender for Business remains fully included in Business Premium.

Common Questions About Business Premium Features

Is Business Premium Worth the Extra Cost?

For businesses with remote employees, company-managed devices, or sensitive data, the math favors Premium. Defender for Business alone costs $3 per user per month standalone, and Intune costs roughly $8. Business Premium bundles both plus conditional access, DLP, and advanced email protection for $9.50 more than Standard. Buying the components separately would cost significantly more.

Does Business Premium Include Windows Licenses?

Business Premium does not include a Windows Enterprise upgrade license. It includes management and security features for Windows devices through Intune and Defender, but the Windows operating system license is separate. Enterprise plans (M365 E3/E5) include Windows Enterprise.

Can I Add Power Automate Workflows with Business Premium?

Yes. Power Automate is included in all Microsoft 365 business plans, including Premium. You can build automated workflows without an additional license. See our guide to Power Automate to get started.

Deciding Whether to Upgrade

Microsoft 365 Business Premium is not about getting more productivity apps. It is about wrapping those apps in a security and management layer that protects your business as it grows. If your team works from multiple locations, handles sensitive client data, or manages company-owned devices, the features in this plan replace three to four standalone tools at a lower combined cost. Review your current security stack, identify where the gaps are, and compare the cost of filling them individually against the $22 per user per month Premium subscription.

Need help evaluating whether Business Premium fits your team? Always Beyond audits your current Microsoft 365 setup, identifies security gaps, and manages the transition to Business Premium. Book a free consultation and let our team handle the details.