Microsoft 365 Personal vs. Microsoft 365 Family features and pricing

UPDATED 1/17/2025: Microsoft 365 is a subscription service offered by Microsoft that provides various productivity and collaboration tools. It’s essentially a cloud-based version of the familiar suite of Office apps but with some additional benefits.

The company offers two subscription plans: Microsoft 365 Personal, for one user, and the Microsoft 365 Family plan, for up to six people. The new plans are designed to replace Office 365 Home and Personal while maintaining the same pricing scheme and enhancing the existing offerings.

The new plans remain available with the same Office apps, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, and Access. However, the Microsoft 365 branding offers additional services, such as Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Family Safety, Microsoft Loop, and Microsoft Teams. In addition, you will receive more features for existing services, such as PowerPoint Designer and Presenter Coach, Microsoft Editor, Outlook Play My Emails, and more.

Furthermore, as of January 2025, Microsoft is bundling Copilot into the Microsoft 365 apps to access the chatbot AI in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. In the past, you had to purchase a separate $20 subscription on top of the plan you’re already paying, but now, the company has increased the price of the subscription by $3 to bring the AI feature to everyone. 

It’s important to note that the Copilot Pro subscription will continue to exist for those who want priority access to the AI models and early access to new AI features.

Regardless of the plan, you will have access to the versions of the Office apps on up to five devices, access to the latest features and security updates, 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage (per user in the case of the Family tier), and technical support.

The Microsoft 365 Personal plan costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year, and the Microsoft 365 Family plan costs $12.99 per month or $129.99 per year.

Microsoft 365 subscription plans comparison

This table lists the features and pricing of the Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family plans.

Microsoft 365 vs. Office 2024

Microsoft 365 offers a subscription model with constant updates, cloud storage, collaboration tools, and multi-device access. Office 2024 provides a one-time purchase option but lacks some of the features like real-time collaboration and cloud storage.

You should consider one of the Microsoft 365 plans if you want the latest features and updates, need cloud storage, collaborate frequently with others, and have to install Office apps on multiple devices.

On the other hand, you should consider Office 2024 if you prefer a one-time purchase, don’t need the latest features, don’t use cloud storage or collaboration features, and only have to use the apps on one computer.

Pricing can also be a factor in the decision. While the personal plan typically starts at around $99.99 per year and $129.99 per year for the family plan, Office Home 2024 costs $149.99, and when the time comes to upgrade, you will have to pay again for the new version.

Choosing the right plan

• Get Microsoft 365 Personal if you need the app and storage for yourself.
• Get Microsoft 365 Family if you want to share the subscription and its benefits with up to five other people (family or friends). In this case, it’s even cheaper than the Personal plan.

Getting started with Microsoft 365

Also, if you do not have a subscription but a Microsoft account, you can still access many of the features.

Update January 17, 2025: This guide has been updated to ensure accuracy and reflect plan changes.