Communication
Microsoft Teams
Corporate collaboration.
What it is
Microsoft Teams is the collaboration backbone for the corporate world, integrated deeply into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. It combines chat, video conferencing, and file storage with native support for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Built for large organizations prioritizing security and compliance, Teams keeps employees connected across global offices. Especially in the hybrid work era, it is the default choice wherever Microsoft 365 is already the standard.
Key features
Collaborative Editing
Edit an Excel sheet with your team simultaneously during a live meeting.
Live Events
Broadcast major company-wide meetings with Q&A and moderation support.
Together Mode
Use AI to place all meeting participants in a shared virtual classroom or room.
Phone System
Replace traditional office phones with a digital, cloud-based PBX system.
Strengths and trade-offs
What works well
- Office 365 Integration: Edit files collaboratively within the app in real-time.
- Enterprise Security: A world leader in data protection and administrative controls.
- Large Meeting Capacity: Host massive live events and webinars for thousands of attendees.
- Included with Office: Available for free with most business Microsoft 365 licenses.
Where it falls short
- Performance Issues: The app can feel heavy and sometimes sluggish on older hardware.
- Complex UI: Navigating the channel structure can be confusing for non-technical users.
- Guest Access: Adding external users outside the organization can sometimes be difficult.
Who it is for
Large Corporations and IT Managers.
Pick it or skip it
Pick Microsoft Teams if
- Small businesses that only need meetings: Microsoft Teams Essentials is $4.00 per user/month paid yearly, with chat, calls, video, file sharing and 10 GB of cloud storage per user
- Companies that want Teams plus business email and Office on the web — Microsoft 365 Business Basic at $7.00 per user/month paid yearly, with 1 TB of storage per user
- Teams that need the desktop Office apps and Copilot: Business Standard with Copilot at $23.50 per user/month paid yearly
Skip it if
- You have more than 300 employees — every business plan caps identity and access management at 300 users, so you are pushed to the enterprise SKUs
- You want month-to-month billing: all of these are annual subscriptions that auto-renew, with the monthly figure shown only for comparison
- You need desktop Word, Excel and PowerPoint on a budget — Business Basic is web and mobile only, and Teams Essentials has no Office apps at all
Our verdict
The most secure and integrated collaboration platform for teams using Microsoft 365.
Closest alternatives we track
Same category, ordered by verified starting price.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest way to get Microsoft Teams for a business?
- Microsoft Teams Essentials is the cheapest paid tier at $4.00 per user/month paid yearly. It covers chat, calls and video conferencing, real-time collaboration with file sharing, tasks and polling, meeting recordings with transcripts, English live captions and 10 GB of cloud storage per user. It does not include Office apps or business email. Microsoft 365 Business Basic at $7.00 per user/month adds custom business email, web and mobile Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, and raises storage to 1 TB per user.
- How long can a Microsoft Teams meeting run and how many people can join?
- All three business plans — Teams Essentials, Business Basic and Business Standard with Copilot — allow a maximum meeting duration of 30 hours and a participant capacity of 300. Live captions differ: Essentials is English only, while the Microsoft 365 plans support over 30 languages with Microsoft Entra identities.
- Is Copilot included in the Teams business plans?
- Only in Business Standard with Copilot ($23.50 per user/month paid yearly), which includes work-grounded Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. On Teams Essentials and Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Copilot Business is a paid add-on requiring an eligible subscription, and Copilot Chat with web grounding is included on Business Basic at no extra cost. Teams Premium is a separate $10.00 per user/month add-on and still requires an eligible Teams licence.
- How much does Microsoft Teams cost?
- Microsoft Teams starts at $6/user/mo per user. We verified this against the vendor's pricing page; see "What we checked" below for the date.
- Who is Microsoft Teams best for?
- Large Corporations and IT Managers.
- What are the closest alternatives to Microsoft Teams?
- In the same category we track Slack, Mattermost and Rocket.Chat. Each has its own review page with verified pricing, and the comparison links above show them side by side.
- What are the main drawbacks of Microsoft Teams?
- The trade-offs we noted: Performance Issues: The app can feel heavy and sometimes sluggish on older hardware.; Complex UI: Navigating the channel structure can be confusing for non-technical users.; Guest Access: Adding external users outside the organization can sometimes be difficult..
- When should you not use Microsoft Teams?
- Skip Microsoft Teams if: You have more than 300 employees — every business plan caps identity and access management at 300 users, so you are pushed to the enterprise SKUs; You want month-to-month billing: all of these are annual subscriptions that auto-renew, with the monthly figure shown only for comparison; You need desktop Word, Excel and PowerPoint on a budget — Business Basic is web and mobile only, and Teams Essentials has no Office apps at all.
What we checked
- Public APIOffers a documented API you can build against.Yes
- Mobile appHas a native app for iOS or Android, not just a mobile website.Yes
- Open source / self-hostableSource is open and the tool can be run on your own infrastructure.No
- SSO (SAML)Supports SAML single sign-on on at least one plan.Yes
“Not checked” means exactly that — we have not verified it, and we do not guess.
Evidence and freshness
Status: Vendor pricing page verifiedReviewed: 2026-09-09
- Microsoft — Microsoft Teams pricing for business ↗
Checked 2026-09-09 · Supports: Microsoft Teams Essentials $4.00 user/month paid yearly: chat, call, video conferencing, file sharing, tasks and polling, meeting recordings with transcripts, English live captions, 10 GB cloud storage per user, Microsoft 365 Business Basic $7.00 user/month paid yearly: web and mobile Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, custom business email, 1 TB storage per user, 10+ additional apps, identity and access management for up to 300 users, Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot $23.50 user/month paid yearly: desktop, web and mobile Office apps plus Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, webinar hosting, 1 TB per user, All three plans: 1-300 employees, 30-hour maximum meeting duration, 300 participant capacity, Business Basic is web and mobile only; Business Standard covers up to 5 PCs or Macs, 5 tablets and 5 mobile devices, All listed plans are annual subscriptions that auto-renew; monthly figures are the annual total divided by 12, Microsoft Teams Premium add-on $10.00 user/month paid yearly, eligible Teams licence required, Microsoft 365 Copilot Business add-on listed at $21.00, discounted to $18.00 user/month paid yearly, for up to 300 users, Teams Audio Conferencing with dial-out to USA/CAN listed as a no-cost add-on with an eligible Teams licence
Limit: Vendor pricing page was reviewed by an editor on this date; this record is not a ToolCompare benchmark. Prices and limits change. The Copilot add-on figure is a promotional price with a stated end date; the list price is recorded alongside it. Enterprise plans, Teams Phone and Teams Rooms add-ons are separate tabs and are not covered by this record.
Compare Microsoft Teams with alternatives
More Communication tools: see the full Communication category