In a world where subscriptions are getting more expensive or premium features are becoming the preserve of the more expensive tiers, Microsoft 365 has announced plans to offer more software to customers of the service, free of charge.
On top of the free 5GB plan is what the company today calls "OneDrive Standalone 100GB." It costs $365 / $365 per month and comes with little more than a moderate jar of cloud-based storage and online access to Microsoft XNUMX (previously Office XNUMX) apps.
The plan is set to go live and change the name to Microsoft 365 Basic on January XNUMX, XNUMX, though the company announced more features later this year in a bid to capture more customers for its free plan service.
Microsoft 365 Basic
This will include new advanced security features such as ransomware restoration and password protection for shared links.
On top of that, the company will add secure, ad-free email with Outlook and access to support specialists that today is only the preserve of Microsoft's most expensive plans.
Costs will remain unchanged, which, as Microsoft VP Liat Ben-Zur explains in a weblog post (opens in a new tab), has remained a company priority over the years.
Although certain features have changed, the costs of personal and family plans have not changed since Microsoft began offering Office subscriptions to users a decade ago. However, speaking with The Verge (opens in a new tab), Gareth Oystryk, Microsoft 365 product marketing manager, explained that a cost change should not be ruled out for the future.
All account models will also receive a simplified storage breakdown starting in February, which shows a user's allocation to different services like OneDrive and Outlook.
Finally, in an effort to complete a process that began last year, the Office app for Microsoft, as well as for iOS and Android, will transform into the Microsoft 365 app this month.