Microsoft 365 is a subscription service that ensures you always have the latest Microsoft modern productivity tools. There are Microsoft 365 plans for families and individuals, small and medium businesses, large enterprises, schools, and nonprofits.
Microsoft 365 plans for home and business include the powerful Microsoft 365 desktop apps you're familiar with, such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. You also get additional cloud storage and cloud connectivity, allowing you to collaborate on files in real time. With a subscription, you get the latest features, hotfixes and security updates, as well as potential technical support, at no additional cost. There is an option to pay for the subscription monthly or annually. With the Microsoft 365 Family plan, you can also share these subscription benefits with up to five other people.
Note: Microsoft 365 Basic is a new subscription that includes 100GB of cloud storage, secure ad-free email, and Microsoft support. For more information, see the Microsoft 365 Fundamentals FAQ.
Most Microsoft 365 plans for businesses, schools, and nonprofits include the app fully installed on the desktop, but Microsoft also offers a basic plan with an online version of Microsoft 365, file storage, and email. You choose what works best for you: small business, corporate, school or nonprofit.
Office 2021 is sold as a one-time purchase, which means you pay a one-time payment upfront to get Microsoft 365 Apps on one computer. One-time purchases are available for both PC and Mac. But there is no upgrade option for one-time purchases, which means that if you plan to upgrade to the next major version, you'll need to pay the full price.
Microsoft 365 for the web is a free version of Microsoft 365 that you can use in your web browser. You just need to sign up for a Microsoft account with a new or existing email address. Try using the Office apps for the web.
Compare Microsoft 365 subscription and Office 2021 (one-time purchase)
| One-time purchase (Example: Office Small Business 2021) | Microsoft 365 subscription (example: Microsoft 365 Family or Microsoft 365 Personal) |
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| cost | Pay a one-time cost. | Pay a small monthly fee, or pay an annual fee to save costs. | ||
| Microsoft 365 Apps |  |
Get Microsoft 365 apps like Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. |  |
Get fully installed and up-to-date versions of Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook, as well as OneNote for Windows or Mac. Always get the latest features, new tools, security updates and bug fixes. (Computer users can also get Access and Publisher). |
| feature update |  |
This includes security updates but does not get new features. Major version upgrades are not included. |  |
Your app will always be improved. You'll get all the latest features and updates, as well as security updates and bug fixes. |
| Install Microsoft 365 on multiple computers (Mac or PC) |  |
One-time purchase products can be installed once on a computer or Mac. |  |
Install Microsoft 365 Family or Personal on all your devices and sign in on five at the same time – which means you can use Microsoft 365 Apps anywhere and on any device. This includes computers, Macs, tablets and phones. With Microsoft 365 Family, you can also share a subscription with up to five people. |
| Advanced Features on Tablets and Phones |  |
Install the mobile app for free to get basic editing features on a tablet or phone smaller than 10.1 inches. |  |
Install the mobile app for free and get extra features when you sign in to the Microsoft 365 app on your device. |
| additional network disk |  |
Not included. |  |
Store files securely in the cloud and access them from anywhere. Get 1 TB of cloud storage. With Microsoft 365 Family you get 1 TB of storage per user, and anyone you share with will also get their own 1 TB of cloud storage. |
| including technical support | Installation includes initial technical support only. |  |
For help with technical issues or for subscription and billing support, please contact us at no additional cost while using your subscription. |
Recently, many friends are confused about the relationship between Microsoft365 and office. For example, is Microsoft365 an upgraded version of office2021? The latest version of office2021 has been released for two years, will there be an updated version in the future? Which version should we choose when we use it personally? Let's take a look at a series of related questions. 1 What are the historical versions of the Microsoft office
series ? Office 4.0 (1994) Microsoft Office 4.2 (1994) Microsoft Office 4.3 (1996) Microsoft Office 97 (1996) Microsoft Office 2000 (1999) Microsoft Office XP (2001) Microsoft Office 2003 (2003) Microsoft Office 2007 (2007) Microsoft Office 2010 (2010) Microsoft Office 2013 (2013) Microsoft Office 2016 (2015)
Microsoft Office 2019 (2018)
Microsoft Office 2021 (2021)
Among them, Microsoft Office 4.0 to 4.3 are versions designed for Windows 3.x operating systems, and Microsoft Office 97 is the first version designed for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 Version. Microsoft Office 2007 was the first version to use the Ribbon interface, and Microsoft Office 2010 introduced some new features, such as shared documents and Office Web Apps. Microsoft Office 2013 has made significant improvements in interface design and cloud services, while Microsoft Office 2016 has made further improvements in collaboration and cloud storage.
Microsoft Office 2021 is the latest version at present. For the installation tutorial, please refer to the office2021 custom installation version tutorial. You can choose independently to achieve one-click lightweight installation. They all adopt some new functions, such as real-time collaboration and new charts. type.
2What is Microsoft Microsoft365? 
Microsoft 365 is a powerful cloud-based productivity platform. It is a subscription-based office software suite launched by Microsoft, which includes Office applications, cloud storage services, collaboration tools and a series of other applications and services.
Users can use Microsoft 365 on PC, Mac, iOS, Android and other platforms. In addition to traditional Office software, it also includes applications and services such as Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Exchange.
At present, the versions released by Microsoft 365 mainly include personal and home editions, business editions, enterprise editions and education editions.
3Differences between Office and Microsoft365
Microsoft 365 and Office are different products, not a simple upgrade relationship. They are both office software suites launched by Microsoft Corporation. There are both similarities and differences between the two:
Office and Microsoft365 both include commonly used office software such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Both can run on Windows and Mac operating systems.
Both Office and Microsoft365 can be purchased and downloaded through the Microsoft Store or official website.
Subscription methods are different: Office is a one-time purchase and is owned permanently, while Microsoft365 is a subscription system that requires annual subscription renewal.
Different functions: Microsoft 365 has more functions than Office, such as OneDrive cloud storage, Teams collaboration tools, Outlook mail client, etc.
Updates are done differently: Microsoft 365 regularly rolls out new features and updates, while Office only updates when a security hole or bug is discovered.
Different prices: While the one-time purchase of Office is less expensive, the total cost of using Microsoft 365 over the long term may be lower.
4 Regarding subsequent version updates and usage suggestions
Recently, Microsoft has announced that Copilot with the chatgpt4 function will be deeply bound to Microsoft 365, and the Microsoft 365 Copilot version will be launched soon. At present, the product is in internal testing.
As for whether there will be an updated version of Office 2021, Microsoft officials have not made a clear statement, but they have made it clear that they will not be offline for the time being. According to the past release history, Office will launch a new version every few years, so there may be a new version of Office in the future. However, neither Office 2021 nor future versions are subscription-based products, but require users to make a one-time purchase.
Individuals should make corresponding choices according to their specific functional requirements when using them. If you only need basic office software, you can choose Office2021. If you need more functions and collaboration tools, you can choose Microsoft365, and then you can wait patiently for the upcoming AI smart version Microsoft 365 Copilot, which will definitely be the version that everyone should choose to use.