Office 365 E3
Desktop Office apps + email + basic compliance — productivity without security
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Who Is Office 365 E3 For?
Office 365 E3 is the productivity-only enterprise plan — full desktop Office apps, 100 GB email, and Teams, but without the security and device management that Microsoft 365 E3 includes.
O365 E3 is right for you if:
- ✅ You need desktop Office apps for all users
- ✅ Security is handled by third-party tools (CrowdStrike, Okta, etc.)
- ✅ You manage devices with SCCM or a third-party MDM
- ✅ You want to save $13/user vs Microsoft 365 E3
Most organisations should choose M365 E3 instead if:
- ❌ You don’t have separate security tooling
- ❌ You want Intune for cloud device management
- ❌ You need Conditional Access for zero-trust security
Office 365 E3 vs Microsoft 365 E3
flowchart LR
O365["Office 365 E3
$26/mo
Apps + Email + Teams"]
M365["Microsoft 365 E3
$39/mo
O365 E3 + Security"]
ADDS["M365 E3 Adds:
Intune P1
Entra ID P1
Defender for Endpoint P1
Windows 11 Enterprise E3
Information Protection"]
O365 -->|"+$13/mo"| M365
M365 --- ADDS
💡 Plain English: Office 365 E3 is like buying a car without insurance. Microsoft 365 E3 is the car WITH insurance. For $13 more, most organisations should get the insurance.
What’s Included
- Desktop Office Apps — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher
- Exchange Online — 100 GB mailbox, shared mailboxes, in-place archiving
- Teams — Chat, video meetings, webinars, live events
- SharePoint Online — Intranet, document libraries
- OneDrive — Unlimited storage (5+ users)
- Basic DLP — Data Loss Prevention for email and SharePoint
- eDiscovery (Standard) — Content search and legal hold
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can I upgrade from O365 E3 to M365 E3?
Yes — simple licence change in the admin centre. Users keep all their data. The security features (Intune, Entra, Defender) activate automatically.
2. Is Office 365 E3 being phased out?
Not officially, but Microsoft is clearly pushing Microsoft 365 E3 as the default. Most new customers start with M365 E3. O365 E3 remains available for specific use cases.