Key Differences Between Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 Plans
- E3: Basic security and compliance features.
- E5: Advanced security tools (e.g., Microsoft Defender).
- E3: Includes Office apps, email, and OneDrive.
- E5: Adds Power BI, advanced analytics, and calling features.
- E5: Includes full Microsoft Defender and information protection.
Key Differences Between Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 Plans
Microsoft 365 offers a wide range of subscription plans designed to cater to various business needs, but the two most popular enterprise-level options are Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5.
These plans are structured to provide businesses with essential tools for productivity, collaboration, and security, but they differ significantly in terms of features, pricing, and capabilities.
Understanding the key differences between Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 is crucial for organizations to make an informed decision when selecting the best plan for their unique requirements.
In this article, we’ll examine each plan’s core features, explore security and compliance offerings, compare analytics and business intelligence capabilities, and provide guidance on making the right choice based on your organization’s specific needs.
Core Features and Pricing
The base pricing of Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 reflects the differing levels of functionality provided by these plans. As of 2024, the cost structure is as follows:
- Microsoft 365 E3: $36 per user/month
- Microsoft 365 E5: $57 per user/month
Both plans include a solid foundation of productivity tools for any modern workplace. These shared core features include:
- Office Applications: Access to Office apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams (Microsoft Teams is now an optional add-on for E3 and E5, as of April 2024).
- OneDrive for Business: Cloud-based storage allows users to access and share files from anywhere.
- SharePoint Online: Collaborative document management and sharing platform.
- Exchange Online: Cloud-based email hosting with enterprise-grade security and reliability.
- Basic Device and Application Management: Basic tools for managing devices and apps within your organization.
- Core Security Features include basic encryption, antivirus protection, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to protect user data and devices.
While these core features are common to both the E3 and E5 plans, the most significant differences between them emerge in security, compliance, analytics, identity and access management, and communication and collaboration.
Security Capabilities
E3 Security Features
Microsoft 365 E3 includes many basic security features that are sufficient for many businesses.
These include:
- Advanced Threat Analytics: Basic threat protection for detecting and investigating security incidents in your organization.
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P1: Provides essential endpoint security, including malware protection, threat detection, and vulnerability management.
- Windows Information Protection (WIP): Helps protect sensitive company data by enforcing device security policies.
- Azure Information Protection P1: Provides basic capabilities for classifying and protecting data based on sensitivity.
E5 Enhanced Security
Microsoft 365 E5 offers a comprehensive suite of advanced security features, providing a higher level of protection for organizations that require more robust security solutions:
- Microsoft 365 Defender Suite: A unified security platform that protects endpoints, identities, apps, and email from a single dashboard.
- Advanced Threat Protection for Mailboxes: Adds additional email security layers, including protection from phishing, malware, and other malicious content in emails.
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P2: Enhances endpoint security with more advanced features, such as endpoint detection and response (EDR) and automated investigation and remediation.
- Microsoft Defender for Identity: Provides advanced identity protection to detect and investigate identity-based threats.
- Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps: Protects cloud applications by detecting risky activity, monitoring data sharing, and managing access control.
- Enhanced Threat Intelligence and Automation: Provides automated response capabilities and deeper insights into security threats.
These advanced security features are particularly valuable for organizations with complex security needs, such as those in regulated industries or those with high-risk data.
Compliance and Governance
E3 Compliance Features
Microsoft 365 E3 includes several compliance tools to help organizations meet basic legal and regulatory requirements:
- Basic Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Helps prevent sensitive data from being shared or leaked accidentally.
- Core Information Protection: Provides the ability to classify and protect data.
- Standard Retention Policies: Helps manage how long data is retained and when it should be deleted.
- Basic eDiscovery Capabilities: Provides the ability to search and retain information for legal purposes, though it is limited compared to E5.
E5 Advanced Compliance
For organizations with more stringent compliance and regulatory requirements, Microsoft 365 E5 includes enhanced compliance features, such as:
- Advanced Information Protection: More sophisticated data classification and protection tools, with automatic labeling and encryption.
- Advanced eDiscovery: Provides in-depth search, analysis, and legal hold capabilities for large-scale litigation or internal investigations.
- Insider Risk Management: Helps detect and respond to internal security threats by monitoring user activity and data usage.
- Advanced Audit Capabilities: Provides deeper audit trails and reports for critical activities across Microsoft 365 services.
- Records Management: This module supports the long-term retention and management of records, including the ability to classify and manage data throughout its lifecycle.
- Advanced Retention Policies: More granular control over retention, allowing organizations to meet industry-specific legal requirements.
These compliance features are essential for organizations that handle sensitive information, operate in regulated industries, or must comply with strict legal standards.
Analytics and Business Intelligence
E3 Analytics
Microsoft 365 E3 offers basic analytics capabilities to help organizations gain insights into how their employees are using Microsoft 365 tools:
- Basic Reporting Tools: This tool provides basic usage reports and activity tracking for SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams services.
- Standard Usage Analytics: Offers insights into how employees interact with applications and data across Microsoft 365 services.
- Core Business Insights: Provides basic data visualization tools to track productivity metrics and key business activities.
E5 Advanced Analytics
Microsoft 365 E5 delivers significantly more advanced analytics and business intelligence capabilities, including:
- Power BI Pro: Provides powerful data visualization and business intelligence tools, allowing organizations to create rich dashboards and reports from their data.
- MyAnalytics provides individual users with insights into how they spend their time, helping them improve their productivity and work-life balance.
- Workplace Analytics: Provides organizational-level insights, allowing leaders to monitor work patterns, productivity, and team collaboration.
- Advanced Data Visualization: E5 offers more sophisticated tools for analyzing and presenting data, helping organizations make more data-driven decisions.
These enhanced analytics tools are ideal for businesses that need advanced data insights and reporting capabilities to drive better decision-making and performance.
Identity and Access Management
E3 Identity Features
Microsoft 365 E3 includes a range of identity and access management features, including:
- Azure Active Directory Premium P1: Provides essential identity management capabilities, such as self-service password reset, group management, and conditional access policies.
- Basic Conditional Access: Allows you to set policies to restrict access to data based on user roles or device compliance.
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Adds an extra layer of security by requiring a second form of verification (such as a phone or app notification) and a password.
- Single Sign-On (SSO): Allows users to access multiple applications with a single login.
E5 Enhanced Identity
Microsoft 365 E5 builds on these features with more advanced capabilities:
- Azure Active Directory Premium P2: Offers advanced identity protection features, including risk-based conditional access, Identity Protection, and Privileged Identity Management (PIM).
- Privileged Identity Management helps manage and monitor access to sensitive resources and ensures that only authorized users have elevated access to critical systems.
- Advanced Conditional Access Policies: Provides more granular control over how users access data based on device state, location, and user behavior.
- Advanced Authentication Features: Includes additional methods for verifying user identities, such as biometrics and adaptive authentication.
These advanced identity management tools are particularly valuable for organizations that must safeguard critical systems and data while providing flexible and secure employee access.
Communication and Collaboration
E3 Communication Features
Both E3 and E5 plans provide access to Microsoft Teams, but the E5 plan includes additional communication features, including:
- Audio Conferencing: Allows users to dial into meetings via phone, a valuable feature for participants who cannot join via the Internet.
- Teams Phone System: Adds telephony capabilities to Microsoft Teams, enabling organizations to use Teams as a phone system replacement with features like call routing, voicemail, and call queues.
E5 Exclusive Communication Features
E5 subscribers enjoy even more advanced communication and collaboration capabilities:
- Audio Conferencing for up to 1000 attendees: E5 includes a more robust version of audio conferencing, supporting larger meetings and events.
- Advanced Telephony Capabilities: E5 allows organizations to integrate more advanced calling features into Microsoft Teams, including integration with the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and cloud-based phone system capabilities.
- Enhanced Meeting Capabilities: With E5, businesses can host larger and more interactive meetings with features like live events and webinars.
These additional features make Microsoft 365 E5 the better option for organizations with more complex communication needs or those that require support for large-scale meetings and events.
Cost Considerations and ROI
While Microsoft 365 E5 offers a wealth of advanced features, it comes at a higher price than E3. However, organizations should consider the total cost of ownership (TCO) when evaluating the value of these plans. The enhanced security, compliance, and analytics tools provided by E5 can lead to significant ROI through:
- Reduced Help Desk Costs: By streamlining IT management and improving end-user experience, E5 can reduce help desk calls by up to 50%.
- Shortened Ticket Resolution Times: E5 customers report a 15% improvement in ticket resolution times, leading to more efficient IT support.
- Increased Security Efficiency: E5’s advanced security tools can improve response times to security incidents, potentially reducing the impact of security breaches.
Making the Right Choice
When deciding between Microsoft 365 E3 and E5, consider the following factors:
- Choose E3 if your organization needs core productivity and security features, has basic compliance requirements, and operates with standard collaboration needs.
- Choose E5 if your organization requires advanced security and threat protection, must comply with strict compliance regulations, needs comprehensive analytics capabilities, or has complex communication requirements.
A hybrid licensing strategy may also be an option, where you assign E5 licenses to users requiring advanced features while maintaining E3 licenses for those with basic needs. Additionally, you can add specific feature add-ons to E3 licenses when necessary.
Read on how to plan for your Microsoft 365 license renewal.
FAQ: Key Differences Between Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 Plans
What’s the main difference between Microsoft 365 E3 and E5?
E5 includes advanced security features, analytics tools, and enhanced compliance compared to the basic E3 plan.
Is Power BI included in Microsoft 365 E3?
Power BI is only included in the E5 plan, offering advanced business analytics and reporting.
What extra security features does E5 offer?
E5 includes Microsoft Defender for Identity, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, and advanced threat protection features.
Can I upgrade from E3 to E5?
Yes, you can upgrade from E3 to E5 anytime, but there may be additional costs.
Does Microsoft 365 E5 include calling plans?
Yes, E5 includes calling features for Teams, allowing voice calling and conferencing capabilities.
Is Microsoft 365 E5 suitable for small businesses?
E5 is ideal for businesses needing advanced security, compliance tools, and analytics, but it may be overkill for small businesses.
Do both E3 and E5 include Office apps?
Yes, both plans provide Office apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint access.
How does E3 compare to E5 in terms of compliance features?
E5 offers more robust compliance and information protection tools than E3, including advanced auditing and legal hold capabilities.
Does E5 include email encryption?
E5 includes more comprehensive email encryption and data loss prevention features than E3.
Can I use Microsoft Teams with E3?
Microsoft Teams is included with the E3 plan but without the advanced voice and meeting capabilities found in E5.
What’s the storage limit for OneDrive on E3?
E3 offers 1 TB of OneDrive storage per user, similar to the storage in the E5 plan.
Do both plans support hybrid environments?
Both E3 and E5 support hybrid environments for businesses combining on-premises and cloud infrastructure.
What’s the price difference between E3 and E5?
E5 is more expensive than E3, with the additional security and analytics features contributing to the higher cost.
Can I get additional security features in E3?
No, you’ll need to upgrade to the E5 plan to access advanced security features.
Which plan is better for enterprise-level businesses?
E5 is generally better suited for enterprise-level businesses due to its advanced security, compliance, and analytics features.
