Microsoft 365 is the subscription model by which, in exchange for a month-to-month (or year-to-year) payment, we can make use of all Office programs, as well as enjoy other additional benefits, such as 1 TB of Microsoft cloud storage. However, these subscriptions, specifically the “Personal” and “Family” versions are somewhat expensive, costing users 7 and 10 euros per month respectively. Therefore, for those who do not want, or can spend so much, Microsoft has announced the arrival of a new plan: Microsoft 365 Basic. What includes?
Broadly speaking, Microsoft 365 Basic is the new Microsoft subscription plan that will come to replace the current OneDrive 100 GB individual plan that will soon disappear. In this way, Microsoft simplifies the names of its products while continuing to offer the same services to users and, incidentally, in addition to cloud storage space, it adds some extras that may be interesting for users.
What we have in Microsoft 365 Basic
The first thing to keep in mind is that this Microsoft 365 plan does not include Word, Excel or other Office programs. The new 365 Basic is a subscription plan for those looking to get a little more out of the cloud. In this way, users can get 100 GB of storage in OneDrive which, added to the 5 GB that Microsoft offers for free, makes a total of 105 GB to save whatever we want in this cloud.
In addition to OneDrive, Microsoft also strengthens email security, removes all traces of advertising within your email, gives us priority access to official support for Microsoft 365 and Windows 11, and, in addition, It allows us to use the web and mobile applications of Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
How much?
The new subscription plan will have the same price as the current OneDrive 100 GB model, that is, 2 euros per month, either 20 euros a year (two months free). Users who are currently paying for the “OneDrive Standalone 100GB” will automatically migrate to this new 365 Basic, paying the same, and also having the advantages that we have mentioned just before.
Regarding the availability of this plan, Microsoft will migrate all users of the OneDrive plan to this basic Microsoft 365 next January 30. If we already paid for this plan, we will not have to do anything, and we will be able to continue using the Microsoft cloud as before, with the same advantages. And, if we want to start taking advantage of Microsoft storage, we can sign up for this plan, as we have said, for only 2 euros per month.
As for whether it’s worth it or not… it depends on each one. This plan only offers us 100 GB of OneDrive storage for 20 euros a year, while for 50 we can have the Microsoft 365 Personal plan, with the entire Office suite and 1000 GB of OneDrive storage. And even if we look for the right offer, we can have this same plan for less than 40 euros.
The different Microsoft 365 plans can be found here.
