Key Takeaways
- Microsoft 365 offers full access to Office apps on the desktop and mobile with guaranteed updates.
- You also get 1TB of OneDrive storage and stronger security with unlimited access to the Personal Vault.
- Microsoft Defender, free VPN, and ad-free Outlook email are included, plus there are extra features on Teams.
I use Office apps like Word, Editor, and OneNote daily for work. While a standalone Office 2021 or the upcoming Office 2024 license may seem like a better option, I prefer the Microsoft 365 subscription for its added benefits. Here are the five reasons why I think an Office 365 subscription justifies the price.
1 Access to Full Microsoft Office Apps on Desktop and Mobile
A Microsoft 365 subscription offers full, offline and online access to its new Office apps, including Word, OneNote, Editor, Excel, and more on desktop and mobile. While you can use the limited free version online and on mobile devices, I prefer the performance of desktop apps, offline access, OneDrive cloud integration, and guaranteed security updates and enhancements.
Where the standalone Office app is limited to one device per license, Microsoft 365 offers multi-device support, allowing you to install office apps on up to five devices with a Personal plan. If you opt for the Family plan, you can share the account with up to six members, each with up to five device support and 1TB storage. Additionally, apps like Editor, Publisher and Access are now part of Microsoft 365.
The Office 365 Suite also tends to receive the latest earlier than the standalone versions.
2 1TB of OneDrive Storage and Stronger Security
One key factor that influenced my decision to choose Microsoft 365 over the standalone Office 2021 app was the need for more OneDrive storage. By default, free OneDrive accounts offer a meager 5GB storage shared across Outlook, Windows Backup, and OneDrive. Once the drive is full, one must frequently free up OneDrive storage space to even receive Outlook emails with attachments.
With Microsoft 365, the Personal plan includes 1TB of storage—plenty enough for all the backups, Outlook emails, and Microsoft Teams attachments. For an additional cost, you can add up to 1TB of extra storage to increase your total storage to 2TB.
On the security front, Microsoft 365 for OneDrive supports ransomware protection and notifies the user when an attack is detected. It also guides you through the recovery process to restore your files. However, without a subscription, you get only one free notification and recovery.
What’s more, it also offers unlimited access to Personal Vault, otherwise limited to three documents in the free plan. Personal Vault is a protected vault (folder) where you can store your documents, such as your passport copy, driver’s license, birth certificate, tax records, automotive insurance, work ID, and other valuable digital assets protected with encryption, even on a local drive.
3 Microsoft Defender
One lesser-known, but handy app in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem is Microsoft Defender. It’s a standalone security app that offers a different set of functionalities depending on the platform and region. That said, it’s important to note that Microsoft Defender shouldn’t be confused with the built-in Windows Security app on Windows computers.
For Android, it works as an antivirus solution with scanning and threat detection. In contrast, on Mac and iOS devices, it works as an extension of your existing antivirus software, offering protection against phishing and unsafe network connections from websites and emails. On a Windows computer, it complements the built-in Windows Security or any third-party antivirus software you might have installed.
What I like most about the app is its central dashboard, allowing you to manage and monitor security across all your devices. You can also view alerts and notifications from any device and even the past 30 days of device activity history.
But it’s not just the security perks. Microsoft Defender also offers VPN access for private browsing, capped at 50GB usage per month for subscribers in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Germany. If you are in the U.S., it provides additional benefits like identity theft monitoring and identity theft insurance features. Unfortunately, not all features are available to everyone, which is a bit disappointing.
4 Ad Free Outlook Email with Advanced Security
Microsoft has discontinued its Outlook ad-free add-on and now includes the ad-free experience as part of the Microsoft 365 subscription. Additionally, it also offers enhanced security features, including advanced screening of email attachments for viruses and malware and Safelinks, which scans URLs to detect phishing and other threats.
Microsoft 365 Outlook also supports multiple options for email encryption. When sending an email, you can choose Do Not Forward as the encryption type to prevent the email from being copied or forwarded. If you set it to Encrypt, the recipient will need to enter a private key to read the email, otherwise, they’ll see a wall of indecipherable text.
5 Microsoft Teams Benefits
In addition to its core features, Microsoft 365 sweetens the deal for Microsoft Teams (Personal) users with some extras, including 30 hours of calling, more room for attachments with OneDrive, and unlimited chats. Personally, I use Teams for one-on-one calls, remote troubleshooting, and occasionally to organize family and social events, so these extended limits have come in handy.
If you use Skype, there’s something for you too. All Personal and Family users get 60 minutes of free Skye calling to landline and mobile phones each month. However, to access this benefit, you need to claim these free minutes by signing in to your Skype account on the web.
As for the pricing, the Microsoft 365 subscription costs $69.99/year for the Personal plan and $99.99/year for the Family plan. If you don’t want to commit a year of payment, the monthly Personal and Family plans cost $6.99 and $9.99, respectively. While these prices are already appealing, with a bit of planning, you can get the subscription at a deep discount during sales on e-commerce websites like Newegg, eBay, and Amazon.
Overall, Microsoft 365 as a bundle is a great value-for-money proposition, especially for those who extensively use Office apps and have increasing cloud storage needs. What’s more, with 365 Family, a six-way split works out to be $16.67 each per year. That said, if you want a competent productivity suite without the bells and whistles of Microsoft 365, there’s no dearth of free Microsoft Office 365 alternatives offering limited but essential features.
