Microsoft Defender for Business Pricing 2026: $3 a User or Business Premium?

Microsoft Defender for Business costs $3.00 per user a month, paid yearly, for up to 300 users, and each user license covers up to five devices on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. It also ships inside Microsoft 365 Business Premium at $22 per user a month. Servers need a separate add-on license, and there is a one-month free trial.

For most small companies the real decision is not whether that seat price is cheap. It is whether to pay it on top of the Microsoft 365 plan you already have, or to move everyone to Business Premium and get device management, email threat protection and identity controls along with the same endpoint security. The answer depends on which plan you start from, and the arithmetic below makes it explicit.

Prices were checked as of 19 October 2026 on Microsoft's Defender for Business page, its Business Premium page and the Defender Suite for Business Premium page, with licensing rules from Microsoft's Defender for Business FAQ.

Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, tracks 867 security tools as of 19 October 2026 in its security ranking, and 45% of them are free, freemium or open source. Defender for Business sits in the paid majority, so the useful question for a buyer is not whether to pay but which Microsoft bundle to pay through.

How much does Microsoft Defender for Business cost?

There is one standalone price and three ways to get the product. Every figure below is a list price per user per month on yearly billing unless the row says otherwise.

Option	Price	What you get
Defender for Business (standalone)	$3.00 per user a month, paid yearly	Endpoint security for small businesses, up to 5 devices per user
Microsoft 365 Business Premium	$22.00 per user a month, paid yearly	Office apps, email, Teams, plus Defender for Business, Intune Plan 1, Defender for Office 365, Entra ID and Purview
Business Premium, monthly subscription	$26.40 per user a month	Same plan without the yearly commitment
Business Premium (no Teams)	$18.79 per user a month, paid yearly	Same plan minus Teams
Defender for Business servers	No list price on Microsoft's product pages	One license per Windows Server or Linux server, 60 at most

The standalone license is sold as an annual subscription that auto-renews; Microsoft's page shows no monthly-commitment price for it. A paid subscription can be cancelled within 7 days for a prorated refund, and the trial converts to a paid subscription at the end of the month unless cancelled, with a credit card required to start.

The user ceiling is hard. Microsoft's FAQ says companies above it should move to Defender for Endpoint, and a company that outgrows it mid-contract ends up mixing license types, which is worth planning for if you are hiring fast.

What does one user license actually cover?

The license is per person, not per device, and each person can bring up to five devices. A staff member with a laptop, a phone and a tablet uses three of the five slots, so the effective price per device can fall to $0.60 a month when all five are in use.

Microsoft lists next-generation antivirus, attack surface reduction, endpoint detection and response, automated investigation and response, and threat and vulnerability management in the product. Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft's enterprise product, is the engine underneath; Defender for Business strips back configuration and advanced hunting in exchange for wizard-based setup and policies that work out of the box.

That trade matters for who should buy it. A company with no security analyst gets EDR it can run from default policies, while a team that wants to write hunting queries is buying the wrong product.

There is no minimum device count, and managed service providers can watch many customer tenants from Microsoft 365 Lighthouse, so it suits both a 5-person office and an MSP serving dozens of them.

What servers and extra suites cost

Servers are the first gap in the per-user price, because the user license does not cover them. Each Windows Server or Linux instance needs a Defender for Business servers license, the add-on requires at least one paid Defender for Business or Business Premium license, and a subscription can hold 60 server licenses at most. Microsoft's product pages print no list price for it, so get the figure from the admin center or a partner before you budget.

Past 60 servers, Microsoft's FAQ points to Defender for Endpoint Server or Defender for Servers Plan 1 or 2, which are enterprise purchases with their own pricing.

The second gap is everything outside the device. Defender for Business protects endpoints; it does not scan email, protect identities or monitor cloud apps. Business Premium adds email and identity protection, and Microsoft sells the enterprise-grade layer on top as add-ons to Business Premium only:

Add-on for Business Premium	Price per user a month, paid yearly	What it adds
Defender Suite for Business Premium	$10.00	Enterprise-grade XDR across identities, endpoints, apps and email
Defender and Purview Suites for Business Premium	$15.00	The Defender Suite plus Purview data security and compliance

A Business Premium seat with the Defender Suite comes to $32 per user a month, the same list price Microsoft charges for Business Premium with Copilot. Those are two very different purchases at one price point, so a budget line labeled "$32 Microsoft seat" needs a note saying which one it is.

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Is Business Premium worth it over Defender for Business alone?

It depends entirely on the Microsoft 365 plan you already pay for. The table compares adding the standalone license to each business plan with moving to Business Premium, all on yearly billing.

You already have	Your plan + Defender for Business	Extra cost of moving to Business Premium, per user a month
Business Standard ($14.00)	$17.00	$5.00
Business Basic ($7.00)	$10.00	$12.00
No Microsoft 365 (Google Workspace or similar)	Defender for Business alone	Not comparable: Premium replaces your productivity suite

From Business Standard, Premium is the better buy for most companies. The extra $5 per user buys Intune Plan 1 for device and app management, Defender for Office 365 against phishing, Entra ID access policies and Purview information protection. The email and identity controls matter because phishing and account takeover start before any device is touched, and Defender for Business alone does not see them.

From Business Basic the case is weaker. Premium adds the desktop Office apps as well as the security tools, so a team that works fine in the web apps pays $12 more per user mostly for software it may not use. Basic plus Defender for Business is a reasonable floor for a small office.

Companies outside Microsoft 365 are the clearest standalone buyers. A Google Workspace shop can protect every laptop and phone at the standalone price without moving email or documents.

What a 25-person company pays per year

These scenarios multiply printed per-user prices by 25 users and 12 months on yearly billing, with an average of two devices per user. They exclude tax, server licenses and partner fees.

Setup	Monthly list price per user	Yearly total for 25 users
Google Workspace shop + Defender for Business	$3.00	$900
Business Basic + Defender for Business	$10.00	$3,000
Business Standard + Defender for Business	$17.00	$5,100
Business Premium	$22.00	$6,600
Business Premium, monthly subscription	$26.40	$7,920
Business Premium + Defender Suite	$32.00	$9,600

The move from Standard plus Defender to Premium costs $1,500 a year for 25 people. Paying Business Premium monthly instead of yearly adds $1,320 a year, which is the price of being able to cut seats mid-year.

How does it compare with CrowdStrike Falcon Go?

Defender for Business is far cheaper per device for a laptop-and-phone staff, but it is priced per user while Falcon Go is priced per device. CrowdStrike's pricing page lists Falcon Go at $59.99 per device billed annually or $7.99 per device billed monthly, with purchases capped at 100 devices.

For the 25-person company above with 50 devices, Falcon Go comes to $2,999.50 a year on annual billing, against $900 for Defender for Business. Falcon Go is still a reasonable choice for a business that wants a security vendor separate from its productivity vendor, or one that runs mostly non-Microsoft infrastructure and prefers per-device control.

The step up matters too. Falcon Pro adds host firewall management at $99.99 per device a year, and Falcon Enterprise adds EDR visibility and threat hunting at $184.99. Defender for Business already includes EDR at its single price, which is the main reason it undercuts the Falcon ladder for small fleets.

For deeper comparisons, read how much EDR costs across vendors, CrowdStrike Falcon pricing for the full ladder, and Huntress pricing for a managed option. Our best EDR for small business ranking and CrowdStrike alternatives list put both vendors next to others, and the CrowdStrike profile on Toolradar has its directory data.

Which option should you buy?

Buy Defender for Business standalone if you run Google Workspace or Business Basic and need EDR on every device. It is the lowest list price for real endpoint detection and response in this comparison, and it covers phones as well as laptops.

Move to Business Premium if you are on Business Standard. The $5 gap per user buys device management, email protection and identity policies, which cover the inbox and the login as well as the laptop.

Add the Defender Suite to Premium only when you need XDR across identities, email and cloud apps, typically after an incident or a compliance requirement, because it adds almost half the Premium price again.

Plan for servers separately in every case. If you run on-premises servers, price their licenses before you compare totals.

Still deciding whether you need paid protection at all? Our guide on whether Windows Defender is enough covers the free antivirus built into Windows, and the Microsoft Defender for Business review weighs the product itself. For wider shortlists see the best antivirus for business and best cybersecurity tools for small business.

Sources and method

We read Microsoft's Defender for Business page, Business Premium page, Business Standard page, Business Basic page and Defender Suite page on 19 October 2026, with license rules from the Defender for Business FAQ and the Get Defender for Business guide. CrowdStrike prices come from its pricing page the same day. Totals multiply printed list prices; they are not quotes and exclude tax and partner discounts. We did not deploy any of these products for this page. Louis Corneloup, founder of Toolradar and Dupple, edited it; our editorial policy explains what a pricing page will and will not claim.

FAQ

How much does Microsoft Defender for Business cost?

Defender for Business costs $3.00 per user a month, paid yearly, for up to 300 users. Each user license covers up to five devices on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. Server protection needs a separate Defender for Business servers license, up to 60 per subscription.

Is Defender for Business included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium?

Yes. Business Premium, at $22 per user a month paid yearly or $26.40 on a monthly subscription, includes Defender for Business along with Intune Plan 1, Defender for Office 365, Entra ID access controls and Purview. Microsoft says you need either the standalone license or Business Premium, so Business Basic and Business Standard users add the standalone license.

Is there a free trial of Defender for Business?

Yes, a one-month free trial. A credit card is required, and the trial converts to a paid subscription on the term you selected unless you cancel before it ends. After the first payment, Microsoft allows a 7-day cancellation window with a prorated refund.

How many devices does a Defender for Business license cover?

Each user license covers up to five devices, with no minimum device count. A 25-person company with two devices per person needs 25 licenses, not 50. Servers are licensed separately, one license per Windows Server or Linux instance.

Should I buy Defender for Business or Business Premium?

If you already pay for Business Standard, Business Premium costs $5 more per user a month than Standard plus Defender for Business, and adds device management, email threat protection and identity policies. If you use Google Workspace or Business Basic, the standalone license is the cheaper path.

What happens above 300 users?

Defender for Business and Business Premium are capped at 300 users. Microsoft recommends Defender for Endpoint for larger organizations, and a company that grows past the cap licenses the extra users under an enterprise plan such as Microsoft 365 E3.

Cite this: Cyberpresso, "Microsoft Defender for Business Pricing 2026: $3 a User or Business Premium?", November 2026.

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