Microsoft 365 E3 and Office 365 E3, are two different plans, with different prices, but almost identical names. It caused a lot of confusion, especially after the name change of Office 365 back in 2020. What is the difference between those two plans, and is Microsoft 365 E3 really worth the extra money?
In this article, we are going to compare the two different Microsoft 365 plans. At the end of this article, you will find a comparison table with all the features compared next to each other for an easy overview.
Differences between Microsoft 365 E3 vs Office 365 E3
Both plans may share almost the same name, however, there are some big differences between the two, besides the price difference of almost 30%. Both plans offer the same Exchange, Onedrive, and SharePoint plans and are targeted for enterprise organizations.
But the real difference can be found in the advanced features, threat management, and Windows Enterprise support.
Note
Microsoft added new plans without Teams wich are only available in the European Union. These plans are less expensive. Read everything about it in this article
Azure AD Premium P1
The Microsoft 365 E3 plan comes with Azure AD Premium P1. Every Microsoft Office 365 plan comes with Azure AD in the background. But the Premium P1 gives you a lot of security features that you really want to have.
Think of Conditional Access, Windows Hello for Business, and self-service password reset. These features not only help you to protect your data, they also make it easier for your users to use Microsoft Office 365.
With conditional access, for example, you can ensure that MFA is only required when users log in from a strange network, or untrusted device, reducing the change of MFA fatigue. Windows Hello for Business allows your user to log in with biometrics or PIN, instead of using their password every time.
Microsoft Intune Plan 1
Intune allows you to manage all your endpoints (cross-platform) from the cloud. It includes endpoint security, application management, and configuration management.
When looking at cyber security, mobile device management is really important. Company data is often accessed from mobile devices, so you want to have some form of control over those devices. Intune allows you to fully manage those devices.
Advanced Threat Protection
Microsoft 365 E3 comes with multiple threat protection tools compared to Office 365 E3. Almost the complete Microsoft Defender suite is included in the Microsoft 365 plan, giving you the tools to protect your data and endpoints.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is these days one of the best anti-virus and anti-malware solutions that you can use.
Windows 11 Enterprise
Another noticeable difference between Microsoft 365 E3 and Office 365 E3 is the Windows 11 Enterprise license that is included with the first. It also allows you to use Azure Virtual Desktop, gives you access to Windows 365 Enterprise, and comes with tools like Windows Autopatch and Auto pilot to help you manage and deploy your new endpoints.
Microsoft 365 E3 vs Office 365 E3
| Microsoft 365 | ||
| Office 365 E3 | Microsoft 365 E3 | |
| Annual commitment | $23.00 p/m | $36.00 p/m |
| monthly commitment | $27.60 p/m | $43.20 p/m |
| Core Details | ||
| Seat Cap | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Office Apps | ||
| Install Office on 5 Devices | ||
| Office Online | ||
| Excel Power Query and Power Pivot | ||
| Standard Services | ||
| Onedrive Storage | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Exchange | Plan 2 | Plan 2 |
| Exchange Online Mailbox storage | 100GB | 100GB |
| Exchange Online Archive Storage | 1.5TB | 1.5TB |
| SharePoint | Plan 2 | Plan 2 |
| Teams | ||
| Yammer | ||
| Business Apps | ||
| Planner | ||
| Staffhub | ||
| Flow | ||
| Power Apps | ||
| Power Automate | Cloud only | |
| Forms | ||
| To-Do | Plan 2 | Plan 2 |
| Stream | Plan 1 | Plan 1 |
| Microsoft Bookings | ||
| Whiteboard | Plan 2 | Plan 2 |
| Insights by MyAnalytics | ||
| Office 365 E3 | Microsoft 365 E3 | |
| Advanced Services | ||
| Azure Active Directory P1 | ||
| Azure Information Protection Plan 1 | ||
| Active Directory Intergration | ||
| Azure Rights Management | ||
| Microsoft Intune | ||
| Support for shared computer activation | ||
| eDiscovery, Litigation Hold, Retention Policies | ||
| SharePoint eDiscovery, DLP & Insights | ||
| Advanced Threat Analytics | ||
| Self-service Password Reset | ||
| Windows Hello for Business | ||
| Conditional Access | ||
| Threat Protection | ||
| Microsoft Defender Antimalware | ||
| Microsoft Defender Firewall | ||
| Microsoft Defender Exploit Guard | ||
| Microsoft Defender Credential Guard | ||
| BitLocker and BitLocker To Go | ||
| Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Edge | ||
| Defender for Endpoint | Plan 1 | |
| Windows 10/11 | ||
| Windows 10/11 | Enterprise | |
| Windows Virtualization Rights | ||
| Windows Autopatch | ||
| Windows Autopilot | ||
| More info | More info | |
| Buy | Buy | |
Wrapping Up
Microsoft 365 E3 costs quite a lot more than Office 365 E3, but it also comes with a lot of features that are really nice to have. It gives you all the security features that you really want to have these days.
Make sure that you also check out Microsoft 365 Business Premium, because this plan is almost the same price as Office 365 E3, but comes with almost the same features as Microsoft 365 E3.
I hope this comparison helpt you with your choice, if you have any questions, just drop a comment below.
