Office 2024 is a one-time purchase: Office Home & Business 2024 costs $249.99 for one PC or Mac, receives security updates but no new features, and reaches the end of support in October 2029. Microsoft 365 is a subscription: Business Standard, at $14.00 per user per month on an annual plan as of October 2026, adds business email, Teams, 1 TB of OneDrive and desktop apps that stay current on up to five PCs or Macs per person.
That makes the choice less about which is better and more about what each person and machine needs. This guide explains what Microsoft now means by Office and by Microsoft 365, what Office 2024 includes and leaves out, where Office 2021 and 2019 stand, and what each option costs over the support window. Our Microsoft 365 management service handles the licensing and the changeover for clients.
What is the difference between Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365?
Microsoft now uses Office for the apps you buy once and Microsoft 365 for the subscriptions. In Microsoft's own comparison, a one-time purchase installs once on a PC or a Mac and gets security updates but no new features, while a subscription gets new features, security updates and fixes as they ship, along with cloud storage.
For a business the gap is wider than the apps. A Microsoft 365 business plan is also the email system (Exchange Online), the file system (OneDrive and SharePoint), the meeting and chat system (Teams) and the sign-in system (Entra ID). Office 2024 is only the apps, so it still needs an email service and somewhere to keep shared files.
| As of October 2026 | Office Home & Business 2024 | Microsoft 365 Business Standard |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | $249.99 once per computer | $14.00 per user per month on an annual plan, or $16.80 month to month |
| Installs | One PC or Mac | Up to 5 PCs or Macs, 5 tablets and 5 phones per user |
| Desktop apps | Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote | The same apps, plus Access on PCs |
| Feature updates | None; security updates only | Continuous |
| Support ends | October 2029 | No end date while you subscribe and stay on a supported version |
| Business email | Not included | Exchange mailbox, 100 GB per user |
| Cloud storage | Not included | 1 TB of OneDrive per user, plus SharePoint |
| Teams | Works with Teams, which isn't included | Included, with webinar hosting |
| Next major version | Bought again at full price | Included |
| Best for | A single computer that must stay on one version, or a sole user with email elsewhere | Almost every business user |
What does Office 2024 include?
Office Home & Business 2024 is the edition a business can use. It lists at $249.99 on Microsoft's product page as of October 2026 and includes the classic 2024 desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote for one PC or Mac, for use at home or at work. Office Home 2024, at $179.99, leaves out Outlook and is marked for non-commercial use, so it isn't an option for a business.
Three limits matter for a small business:
- No feature updates. Security fixes arrive, but the apps stay as they were on release day, while Microsoft 365 subscriptions keep receiving new features and tools.
- No upgrade path. Microsoft says there are no upgrade options, so the next major release is a new purchase at full price.
- A fixed end date. Microsoft's lifecycle page retires Office 2024 in October 2029. After that the apps keep opening but stop receiving security fixes.
Larger organizations buy Office LTSC 2024 through volume licensing instead. Microsoft positions it for regulated or restricted environments that can't take feature updates, gives it five years of mainstream support with no extended support, ships it without Publisher, and leaves Teams as a separate download, according to its Office LTSC 2024 overview. The same overview notes that LTSC lacks the cloud-backed features of Microsoft 365 Apps, such as real-time collaboration and AI-driven automation.
What does Microsoft 365 add for a business?
Business Standard is the closest subscription to Office 2024 because it includes the installed desktop apps. On top of them it adds:
- A business mailbox on your own domain, 100 GB per user, plus a 50 GB archive
- 1 TB of OneDrive storage per user and SharePoint sites for shared files
- Teams meetings and chat, plus webinar hosting with attendee registration
- Installs on up to five PCs or Macs, five tablets and five phones per user
- Apps that update themselves, so nobody buys Office again in 2029
If you only want the desktop apps, Microsoft 365 Apps for business lists at $10.00 per user per month on an annual plan as of October 2026, with the installed apps and 1 TB of OneDrive. Microsoft lists business email and Teams with Business Standard, not with Apps for business. Business Basic, at $7.00, is the reverse: email, Teams and storage with web and mobile apps only. Our Business Basic vs Standard comparison covers that choice.
What about Office 2021 and Office 2019?
Both are on their way out or already gone. Office 2019 left extended support on October 14, 2025, and Microsoft stopped supporting Office 2016 and 2019 connections to Microsoft 365 services on October 10, 2023. Office 2021 support ends on October 13, 2026, and Microsoft lists Office LTSC 2021 as supported for connecting to Microsoft 365 services only until that day, on its Office connectivity page. Older versions might still connect, Microsoft adds, but that connection isn't supported.
So a comparison of Microsoft 365 with Office 2021 or 2019 now has a short answer: don't buy either old version, and replace the copies you have. Our Office 2021 end of support guide lays out the replacement steps.
Which fits a small team?
For nearly every business user, Microsoft 365. Office 2024 makes sense in a few narrow cases:
- A machine that must not change, such as a PC running lab or shop-floor software that was tested against one Office build.
- A computer kept mostly offline. Microsoft says internet access is needed to install and activate Office 2024 and its updates, not for daily use, though Office 2024 also has to be reactivated from time to time.
- A sole proprietor whose email lives elsewhere and who wants the apps on one computer only.
Everyone else is better served by a subscription, usually Business Standard or Business Premium. Premium costs $22.00 and adds Intune device management, Conditional Access and Defender for Business, which is the plan we recommend once laptops leave the office or the business handles client data.
What does each cost over five years?
Using Microsoft's US list prices as of October 2026, for one person on one computer:
| Option | Up front | Per year | Five years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office Home & Business 2024 | $249.99 | $0 | $249.99, plus a new purchase once support ends in 2029 |
| Microsoft 365 Apps for business | $0 | $120.00 | $600.00 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard | $0 | $168.00 | $840.00 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Premium | $0 | $264.00 | $1,320.00 |
On apps alone, Office 2024 is cheaper. The comparison changes once you add what a business still has to buy beside it: a mailbox service, file storage and backup, and a way to manage and secure the device. Those come with the subscriptions above; next to Office 2024 they become separate bills. Subscription prices also move. Microsoft raised Business Standard from $12.50 to $14.00 on July 1, 2026, so treat the five-year figures as estimates.
Labor matters too. Office 2024 is installed and activated one computer at a time and has to be replaced in 2029. Subscription apps update themselves, and a per-user license covers up to five computers, so a replacement laptop doesn't need a new purchase.
How does NetSys help?
We inventory every Office install, confirm who is licensed for what, and swap old perpetual versions for Microsoft 365 Apps where the plan already includes them, testing Outlook profiles, signatures and add-ins on one machine before the rest. Where a computer genuinely needs a one-time license, we record it so its 2029 end date doesn't surprise anyone. The work sits inside our Microsoft 365 management service, month to month.
Book a call with a NetSys engineer if you're still running a mix of Office versions, and we'll work out which machines need a subscription and which, if any, need a one-time license.
Frequently asked questions
What is Microsoft Office vs Microsoft 365?
Microsoft Office now means the one-time purchase versions, such as Office Home & Business 2024, installed on one computer and never upgraded. Microsoft 365 is the subscription: the same apps kept current, plus cloud services such as business email, OneDrive and Teams in the business plans.
What is Microsoft 365 vs Office 2019?
Office 2019 is a perpetual version released in 2018 whose extended support ended on October 14, 2025, so it no longer receives security fixes, and Microsoft stopped supporting its connections to Microsoft 365 services in October 2023. Microsoft 365 replaces it with apps that keep updating. Anyone still on Office 2019 should move to Microsoft 365 Apps or, for a locked-down machine, Office 2024.
Is Office 2024 or Microsoft 365 better for a small business?
Microsoft 365, for almost every business, because the subscription also supplies business email, file storage and Teams, and its apps stay supported while you subscribe. Office 2024 is the better fit only for a computer that must stay on one fixed version or stay mostly offline.
Can Office 2024 connect to Microsoft 365 email?
Yes. Microsoft lists Office LTSC 2024 as supported for connecting to Microsoft 365 services such as Exchange Online and OneDrive until October 9, 2029, the same month retail Office 2024 reaches end of support. You still pay for the mailbox itself through a plan such as Business Basic.
Can I install Office 2024 on more than one computer?
No. Each Office Home & Business 2024 purchase covers one PC or Mac. A Microsoft 365 business subscription covers up to five PCs or Macs, five tablets and five phones per user.
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