Is Microsoft Teams Free for Business Use?
Is Microsoft Teams Free for Business Use?
Yes, Microsoft Teams is free for business use but it’s limited in the features you can use in the free version. Take a look at what’s included in the free version of Teams below or Microsoft Teams free vs paid comparison table also below. Please remember the features available whether for the Free or Paid version of Teams applies to meeting organizers or meeting hosts.
If you’re invited to a Teams meeting you can join the meeting using the web or desktop or mobile Teams clients. Your meeting invite will have the details of how you can attend or join. You don’t need a Teams account to join a Teams meeting.
For more details on how to join an MS Teams meeting Click Here
Microsoft Teams free meeting time limit
Meet for up to 60 minutes in the free version of Microsoft Teams. (at the time of writing this article, May 2021, Microsoft has decided to support its customers during COVID-19, and have extended this limit to 24 hours until further notice.)
What’s included in the Free version of Teams.
- Meet for 60 minutes.
- Schedule an unlimited number of meetings and, for a limited time, meet for up 24 hours.1
- Up to 10GB of cloud storage.
- Safeguard and access important documents with 10 GB of shared and 2 GB of personal free cloud storage.
- Guest access.
- Collaborate with clients and external partners while maintaining control over your company data.
- Security and compliance.
- Help keep information secure with Microsoft Teams data encryption, at rest and in transit.
- Host up to 100 participants.
- Stay connected with an unlimited number of free, virtual meetings and video or audio calls.
- Unlimited chat.
- Keep the discussion going with as many chats and channel conversations as you need.
- Up to 500K internal and external users.
- Communicate and collaborate with large and small teams, including people outside of your organization.
- Market availability.
- Connect across Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Available in 53 languages and 181 markets.5
What’s not included in the free version of Teams.
The Teams free version offers all the core features, but more advanced ones are only available in the paid version of Microsoft 365. The full-featured and paid version of Teams includes:
- Meeting recordings.
- Host online and video conferencing meetings for up to 250 people.
- Additional storage, with plans starting at 1 TB file storage per user.
- Rich file collaboration in the Office desktop apps.
- Additional first- and third-party app integrations.
- Advanced IT controls. (Such as those available with Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Premium)
- Enterprise-level security and compliance.
- Phone and web support around the clock.
Microsoft Teams free vs paid
Choose the right Microsoft Teams for your business
Get started for free or get Teams as part of Microsoft 365. Microsoft Teams is designed for all kinds of groups (Teams).
| Feature name | Microsoft Teams (free) | Microsoft 365 Business Basic (paid) | Microsoft 365 Business Standard (paid) | Microsoft 365 E3 (formarly Office 365 E3) (paid) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **************** | ||||
| Microsoft Teams pricing in UK£ | FREE | £3.80 user/month (annual commitment) | £9.40 user/month (annual commitment) | £28.10 user/month (annual commitment) |
| Microsoft Teams pricing in USD | FREE | USD$5.00 user/month (annual commitment) | USD$12.50 user/month (annual commitment) | USD$32.00 user/month (annual commitment) |
| Get latest pricing from Microsoft | Get latest pricing from Microsoft | Get latest pricing from Microsoft | ||
| **************** | ||||
| Meetings and calling | This feature is partially included | Included | Included | Included |
| Online meetings (calling and video)1 | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Participant capacity | 100 participants | 300 participants | 300 participants | 10,000 participants |
| Maximum meeting duration | 60 minutes | 24 hours | 24 hours | 24 hours |
| Screen sharing | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Customized backgrounds | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Scheduled meetings | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Meeting recordings | Included | Included | Included | |
| **************** | ||||
| **************** | ||||
| Microsoft Teams (free) | Microsoft 365 Business Basic (paid) | Microsoft 365 Business Standard (paid) | Microsoft 365 E3 (formarly Office 365 E3) (paid) | |
| Chat and collaboration | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Maximum number of users | 500K | 300 | 300 | 500K |
| Unlimited chat messages and search in Teams | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Guest access | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| File attachments in chat | 2 GB per user | 1 TB per user | 1 TB per user | Unlimited |
| File storage | 10 GB across all teams | 1 TB per organization plus 10 GB per license5 | 1 TB per organization plus 10 GB per license5 | 1 TB per organization plus 10 GB per license5 |
| Real-time collaboration in Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| 250+ integrated apps and services for Teams | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| **************** | ||||
| **************** | ||||
| Microsoft Teams (free) | Microsoft 365 Business Basic (paid) | Microsoft 365 Business Standard (paid) | Microsoft 365 E3 (formarly Office 365 E3) (paid) | |
| Productivity apps and services | This feature is partially included | This feature is partially included | Included | Included |
| Web versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Exchange email hosting with custom email domain address | Included | Included | Included | |
| Personal file storage and sharing with OneDrive | 1 TB per user | 1 TB per user | Unlimited personal cloud storage6 | |
| Additional Microsoft 365 services including SharePoint Online, Yammer, Planner, and Stream | Included | Included | Included | |
| Desktop versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Publisher7 | Included | Included | ||
| Make it easier for your customers to schedule and manage appointments with Microsoft Bookings | Included | Bookings available as free add-on | ||
| **************** | ||||
| **************** | ||||
| Microsoft Teams (free) | Microsoft 365 Business Basic (paid) | Microsoft 365 Business Standard | Microsoft 365 E3 (formarly Office 365 E3) (paid) | |
| Security and compliance | This feature is partially included | This feature is partially included | This feature is partially included | Included |
| Microsoft Teams data encryption at rest and in transit | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Single sign-on to all Microsoft 365 apps and services | Included | Included | Included | |
| Enforced multi-factor authentication | Included | Included | Included | |
| Advanced auditing and reporting | Included | Included | Included | |
| eDiscovery with in-place search, hold, and export | | |||
| **************** | ||||
| **************** | ||||
| Microsoft Teams (free) | Microsoft 365 Business Basic (paid) | Microsoft 365 Business Standard (paid) | Microsoft 365 E3 (formarly Office 365 E3) (paid) | |
| Administration | This feature is partially included | This feature is partially included | Included | |
| Administration tools for managing users and apps | | | | |
| Usage reporting for Microsoft 365 services | Included | Included | Included | |
| Configurable user settings and policies | Included | Included | Included | |
| Access to equivalent on-premises servers (Exchange, SharePoint, Skype for Business) | Included | |||
| **************** | ||||
| **************** | ||||
| Microsoft Teams (free) | Microsoft 365 Business Basic (paid) | Microsoft 365 Business Standard (paid) | Microsoft 365 E3 (formarly Office 365 E3) (paid) | |
| Support | This feature is partially included | This feature is partially included | Included | |
| Have peace of mind with 99.9% financially-backed uptime guarantee | Included | Included | Included | |
| Phone and web support around the clock | Included | Included | Included | |
| FastTrack deployment support | Included | |||
| Get latest pricing from Microsoft | Get latest pricing from Microsoft | Get latest pricing from Microsoft |
Is Microsoft Teams Free for Business Use? – FAQ
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Is Microsoft Teams really Free?
Yes! The free version of Teams includes the following:
Unlimited chat messages and search.
Built-in online meetings and audio and video calling for individuals and groups, with a duration of up to 60 minutes per meeting or call. For a limited time, you can meet for up to 24 hours.
10 GB of team file storage plus 2 GB per person for personal storage.
Integrated, real-time content creation with Office apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
Unlimited app integrations with more than 650 business apps to choose from, including Adobe Sign, Evernote, and Trello.
Ability to communicate and collaborate with anyone inside or outside your organization, backed by Microsoft’s secure, global infrastructure. (Source: Microsoft) -
How Many Participants can join a Teams meeting?
Up to 100 people can join a meeting in the free version of Microsoft Teams. To support our customers during COVID-19, we’ve extended this limit to 300 until further specified. (Source: Microsoft)
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How long can you meet for?
Meet for up to 60 minutes in the free version of Microsoft Teams. To support our customers during COVID-19, we’ve extended this limit to 24 hours until further specified. (Source: Microsoft)
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Will my account expire?
No, your account will not expire. (Source: Microsoft)
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What features are Not in the free version of MS Teams?
Several Teams features are only available with a paid Microsoft 365 plan. The full-featured, paid version of Teams includes:
Additional storage with plans starting at 1 TB of file storage per user.
Rich file collaboration in the Office desktop apps.
Additional app integrations.
Advanced IT controls.
Enterprise-level security and compliance. (Source: Microsoft) -
How do I upgrade to a paid version?
The individual who created the tenant (the person who signed up for the free version of Teams) can upgrade directly from the Teams free product by selecting your profile in the top right-hand corner.
Upgrading from the free version of Microsoft Teams also unlocks the full set of Teams capabilities, including Exchange calendar integration, 1 TB of file storage, and advanced administration features. (Source: Microsoft)
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Will I be able to keep my data if I upgrade to a paid Microsoft 365 plan?
Yes. Customers who purchase Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Business Basic directly from the free version of Teams will not lose any data.
Customers needing to purchase Microsoft 365 enterprise plans can work with some of our trusted partners to migrate their data to their new paid plan. (Source: Microsoft)
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Who’s eligible for the free version of MS Teams?
Anyone with any corporate or consumer email address can sign up for Teams today. People who don’t already have a paid Microsoft 365 commercial subscription will have access to the free version of Teams.
If a user at an existing Microsoft 365 commercial customer tries to sign up for free, they will be routed into the managed Teams experience for their organization.
If the user doesn’t yet have a license for Teams as part of their organization’s Microsoft 365 plan, they will be routed to the Microsoft Teams Exploratory experience for free until next agreement anniversary or renewal on or after January 2021.
Learn more about Microsoft Teams Exploratory experience. (Source: Microsoft)
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How can I get support for the free version of Microsoft Teams?
You can check out the self-help resources or get help from the community on the Microsoft Teams Answers forum. (Source: Microsoft)
