Is Microsoft Teams free, and if so, how does the free version compare to the premium experience?
Platforms for communication and collaboration have become essential to the new age of work. Hybrid and remote policies are evolving, and every business needs a digital hub where staff can connect, share ideas, and innovate. For many, Microsoft Teams is the perfect solution.
It’s the platform the team at UC Today uses daily for audio and video conferencing, group and private chat, file-sharing, and more. But in an uncertain economy, you may not be willing to invest in a paid plan for Microsoft Teams.
When Microsoft began rolling out “Microsoft Teams Premium” and introducing new pricing strategies to business owners, some companies were left concerned. Additionally, now that Microsoft has agreed to unbundle Teams and the Microsoft Office apps worldwide, pricing confusion is growing. The good news? Free versions of Microsoft Teams are still available.
However, just like with any free plan, there are limitations to consider.
What Happened to Microsoft Teams Free (Classic)?
Like many software as a service (SaaS) companies, Microsoft understands the draw of a free plan. The company has offered users a free version of Teams for almost as long as the platform has existed. However, they recently updated their pricing structure and the names of their plans, confusing many end-users.
Initially, the Microsoft Teams free plan was known as “Microsoft Teams Free Classic.” In April 2023, Microsoft shut down this Teams version, encouraging users to move to a paid plan instead, such as Microsoft Teams Essentials.
Microsoft removed the old free plan and introduced a new one, “Microsoft Teams (Free).” Unfortunately, the company didn’t make switching to this new plan easy. No direct migration plan was included for users who wanted to move to the latest version.
Also, Microsoft didn’t allow users to transfer their data and chat from the previous tool into a new plan. In other words, continuing with a free Teams version meant companies had to start over from scratch.
This was likely part of Microsoft’s strategy to convince more business users to upgrade to a paid account. Even switching to the $4 per user, per month Essentials plan allowed companies to retain their meetings, files, chats, and channels and access to more storage space and Microsoft Office apps. It also allowed Microsoft to update its messaging and branding for the free Teams version, which is advertised as a “personal” collaboration tool rather than a business app.
Is Microsoft Teams (Free) Still Available?
While Microsoft Teams Free (Classic) might be gone, a free version of the platform is still available to access today. Like the old solution, the new Microsoft Teams (Free) plan will give users a lighter, pared-down version of the Teams experience.
You’ll still be able to host meetings and chats on the new free plan, but you won’t have access to many of the advanced features offered to premium users, such as Teams Copilot AI.
You also won’t have access to any Teams Phone features.
Microsoft Teams (Free) includes:
- Unlimited group meetings with a time cap of 60 minutes per meeting
- Unlimited 1-to-1 meetings for up to 30 hours
- A maximum of 100 people per meeting
- 5GB of cloud storage for each user
- Unlimited chat via Microsoft Teams messaging
- Polling, task management, and file sharing
- Data encryption for all conversations (calls, meetings, and chats)
The standard Microsoft Teams (free) plan is a standalone solution, meaning you won’t have access to any Microsoft 365 office apps. Notably, you can use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other popular Microsoft 365 apps on the web for free by signing up here. However, you won’t be able to download any of the desktop versions of the apps without a paid plan.
The Limitations of Microsoft Teams (Free)
The answer to “Is Microsoft Teams free?” is “yes, but with some caveats.”
Ultimately, you can access Microsoft Teams for free and still benefit from many great features. You’ll be able to connect with as many people as you like via chat and create channels for Teams. Notably, the free version of Teams you’ll get will be the updated “Teams 2.0” client. Microsoft is transferring all users onto this new client, even customers using the app for free.
As a free user, you’ll be able to host group and one-on-one meetings just like you would with a standard plan. However, there are limitations on the meeting length and number of participants. Group meetings are limited to 60 minutes each, and you can only add 100 to a meeting.
You’ll also miss out on features like:
- Multilingual live captions
- Breakout rooms
- Recording and transcriptions
- Whiteboards
- Collaborative annotations
- Webinars
- Guest access
- Third-party Teams apps
- Multi-factor authentication
- Customer support and uptime SLAs
- Exchange email accounts
- Office 365 apps
- Copilot (available as an add-on)
Plus, you won’t get the extra storage, identity access and user management, custom business email, and spam/malware filtering you can access on other Teams plans. Overall, this plan is intended for individuals, not companies.
Microsoft Teams Free vs. Paid: The Other Options
Ultimately, while Teams is available for free, you won’t get the entire experience on the free plan. Microsoft wants customers to upgrade to a premium plan. That means even after Microsoft de-bundles Microsoft Teams and the Office apps, there will always be limitations on free users.
The good news is you can unlock additional functionality for as little as $4 per month per person. The bad news is that once a user upgrades to a premium account, there’s no option to revert to a free account using the same email address.
It’s also worth noting that the option to include Microsoft Teams in plans is only available with Microsoft 365 plans. Office 365 subscriptions don’t include this option.
Users looking to upgrade their Microsoft Teams experience can choose between the following plans:
Microsoft Teams Essentials
Pricing: $4 per user per month (requires an annual subscription).
Microsoft Teams Essentials, available for $4 per user per month, gives you everything in the free Teams version, plus some extras. You’ll have unlimited group meetings (lasting up to 30 hours), plus phone and web support if you encounter any issues with your app.
The 5GB of cloud storage upgrades to 10GB per user, and you can host up to 300 participants in a meeting. You’ll also get:
- Live meeting captions (English only)
- Access to hundreds of third-party apps
- Collaborative annotations in Teams meetings
- Standard security settings
- Team meeting recordings (with transcription)
- Microsoft whiteboard
Microsoft 365 Business Basic
For the slightly higher price of $6 per user per month, companies can add onto the features of the “Essentials” plan. It’s uncertain whether the Business Basic plan will change in the future, but users can currently choose to purchase this plan with Teams and web and mobile versions of Office 365 apps, or you can purchase a plan that removes Teams entirely.
The plan without Teams includes all of the same features (except for the collaboration app), and costs $4.45 per month, per user. Features include all of the capabilities of Teams Essentials, plus:
- User, access, and identity management for 300 employees.
- A custom business email address.
- Web and mobile versions of Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word.
- 1TB of cloud storage per employee
- 10+ additional Microsoft apps (such as Microsoft Bookings, Planner, and Forms)
- Web and phone support
- Automatic malware and spam filtering
Microsoft 365 Business Standard
The Business Standard plan for Microsoft 365, available for $12.50 per user per month, includes all the features of Business Basic alongside some extras. Like Business Basic, you can choose to purchase this plan with or without Microsoft Teams included. The version without Teams costs $10.25 per month per user.
The additional features included in Business Standard are:
- Desktop versions of Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook
- Webinar hosting with reporting and attendee registration
- Collaborative spaces with Microsoft Loop
- Video editing and design with Clipchamp
You can also choose to add Microsoft 365 Copilot to this plan for an additional $30 per user per month. Copilot isn’t available for the other two plans mentioned above.
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
For $22 per month per user, you can upgrade to the “Premium” version of Microsoft’s Business plan, which includes all of the features of Business Standard, plus some bonuses. Again, you can access the Microsoft 365 Business Premium plan without Teams for a cheaper price of $19.75 per month per user. The bonus features of this plan include:
- Advanced access and identity management
- Greater cyber threat protection for phishing and viruses
- Enterprise-grade endpoint and device protection
- Information safeguarding with Microsoft Purview
- Microsoft Defender, Entra ID, and Intune
Again, Copilot for Microsoft 365 is also available as an add-on for this plan.
Personal Plans that Include Microsoft Teams
Notably, Microsoft does offer “personal” and “family” plans, alongside business plans. In fact, the free version of Microsoft Teams is intended for individual users rather than employees. While these plans don’t include all of the features you get in the Business plans, like Entra ID, Clipchamp, and various other capabilities, there’s nothing to stop you from using them for work.
Currently, both personal plans offered by Microsoft include Teams:
- Microsoft 365 Personal: $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year: For a single person, this plan includes Teams, support for five devices, PC, Mac, phone, and tablet access, 1TB of file storage, and apps with premium features, like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You also get ad-free email and identity, data, and device security features.
- Microsoft 365 Family: $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year: All the features of the personal plan for up to 6 people and 6TB of cloud storage (shared). There’s also a free trial for one month.
Neither plan supports Microsoft 365 Copilot as an add-on, or Microsoft Teams Premium.
Is Microsoft Teams Free? Phone Bundles and Add-Ons
Notably, all of the plans mentioned above, including the free version of Microsoft Teams, do not include access to Microsoft Teams Phone. You also won’t be able to access various add-ons and extras available for Teams without an extra fee.
Phone Bundles
Teams phone bundles are add-ons for Teams, so they don’t include access to any Office apps. However, they do give you all the critical features you need for inbound and outbound calling, with call queues, recording, transcription, attendant features, and call transfers.
Prices start at $8 monthly for the Teams Essentials and Teams Phone Bundle. That price increases to $10 per month with pay-as-you-go calling. There are also plans ranging up to $32 per user per month, with an included phone number.
Microsoft Teams Premium and Copilot
Microsoft recently introduced Microsoft Teams Premium. Notably, this isn’t a standalone plan for Teams but an add-on service. It includes access to various unique features, including advanced AI tools and meeting personalization options.
With Teams Premium, you can add watermarks to meetings, control who can record a session, set up custom webinar experiences, and use real-time data storage. You can also access all the Open AI technology available for Teams throughout your meeting experiences.
Prices start at $10 per user per month.
Copilot for Microsoft Teams is only available in the Microsoft 365 Copilot plan. This costs $30 per month per user, or $360 per year, per user. Notably, this plan isn’t the same as Microsoft Copilot Pro, which gives you access to more advanced Copilot features but doesn’t bring AI functionality to Microsoft Teams.
How to Use Microsoft Teams for Free
So, is Microsoft Teams Free?
Simply put, there is still a free version of Microsoft Teams available, but it’s limited and not exactly the same as the classic free version of Teams. Still, this plan still has value to offer budget-conscious companies and users. The good news is you can access Microsoft Teams for free easily.
All you need to do is go to the Microsoft website and sign up for a free account. Notably, you can only access the free version of Teams if you don’t already have a Commercial 365 subscription. You’ll need to enter your username for your account and indicate how you want to use Teams (such as for personal or work reasons).
After that, you can enter a password and decide whether you want to use the Teams desktop or mobile app or the service on the web. Once you’re set-up, you can start inviting users and communicating just like you would with the standard Teams version.
Remember, you can upgrade to a premium account on Teams whenever you like by heading to your account settings. But once you do upgrade, there’s no turning back, at least not with the same email address.
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