What’s the difference: Microsoft 365 vs Office 365

There is a lot to be said about maintaining consistency in product names, but when there are dozens of products, each with multiple variations, identical names can easily cause confusion. Microsoft, you have our attention.

THIS IS HOW IT ALL STARTED

How the chaos began is as follows: In 2017, Microsoft introduced Microsoft 365, a number of current products offered to enterprises under a single license. The term is comparable to what is already called Office 365. It’s simple to understand how the two products can be confused because a lot of people have wrongly referred to Office 365 as Microsoft 365.

It gets even more confusing when you learn that Microsoft 365 includes Office 365. Let’s break down the differences:

Microsoft 365 vs. Office 365 in brief

Office 365 is a suite of cloud-based productivity applications such as Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and more. Microsoft 365 is a service pack that includes Office 365 and several other services including Windows 10 Enterprise.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 is a service pack that includes Office 365. It also includes Windows 10 Enterprise, Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS), and Machine Learning. As with Office 365, there are several plans to choose from, depending on your needs. Services included in Microsoft 365 are also available as separate licenses.

Office 365

Office 365 is a cloud-based suite of applications and services focused on business productivity. It includes some applications you may already be familiar with, such as Microsoft Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Depending on the tariff, the subscription also includes applications and services such as:

• Skype for Business
• SharePoint
• OneDrive
• Teams
• Yammer
• Planner

And more, along with powerful productivity, collaboration, and security features. Office 365 is a monthly subscription per user. There are a variety of plans to choose from depending on your specific needs. Plans can be mixed and matched within your organization, and you can change plans at any time.