Microsoft 365 A1 vs. A3 vs. A5: Full Comparison & Verdict 2025

Microsoft 365 vs. Office 365: What’s the Difference?

As far as we know, people tend to mix up Office 365 with Microsoft 365. They believe that Microsoft 365 and Office 365 refer to the same set of services provided by Microsoft. However, this is not the case.

Office 365 is a small subset under Microsoft 365.

Microsoft introduced Office 365 plans on June 28, 2011. This was to bring all of its products and services under a single cloud service, like SharePoint, One Drive, Planner, Yammer. 

Later, Microsoft launched Microsoft 365 plans on March 30, 2020. Microsoft 365 took all the Office apps and services and combined them with add-on features like Enterprise Mobility + Security and Windows 11. These add-ons in the M365 subscription help you defend your organization from spam, malware, and data leakages. 

Even after the rebranding of Office 365 into Microsoft 365, Microsoft did not completely retire Office 365. In fact, Office 365, as a brand, is still being used for enterprise, education, government plans.

The advantage of using an Office 365 subscription is that it provides consumers with an adequate collection of the best of office apps at a lower cost. However, Office 365 plans do not offer many advanced features in terms of security, compliance, and device management.  This is where Microsoft 365 plans come in. 

What is Office 365? A cloud services platform that offers familiar Microsoft products like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneDrive (along with other productivity services) either online or on-premises via a subscription plan.

What is Microsoft 365? An all-in-one bundle that includes the MS Office suite, Windows 10 Pro, and Enterprise Mobility+Security for a complete, interconnected experience.

Microsoft 365 vs. Office 365: How to choose?

The buying recommendations are summarized as follows:

An organization's security requirements and application usage depend on the size of the organization.

Small organizations that don't need high security and information protection can choose an Office 365 subscription plan with minimal security features.

For larger organizations that require advanced high-security tools and device management features, a Microsoft 365 subscription plan is the best option.

So, why choose Microsoft 365?

Microsoft 365 Education is for schools and other learning institutions. The goal is to give educators access to productivity and collaboration software that students can benefit from.

In general, schools or organizations looking to adopt Office 365 typically need to purchase Windows 10 Pro and subscribe to security services over time. These organizations then also need to ensure that all of their users are properly connected and included in a secure subscription.

With MS365, everything is integrated from the start. Not only does this reduce hassle from a purchasing perspective, but it also makes it easier for the end user to navigate. By purchasing the entire Microsoft ecosystem from the start, institutions have the opportunity to save valuable resources and money and put it toward better teaching.

What are the plans for Microsoft 365 Education? what is the price? any discount?

If you’re in the education sector you have different options (O365 A1, A3, and A5 along with M365 A1, A3, and A5) that are roughly equivalent to the corresponding Enterprise offerings but less costly. 

Below are all educational plans offered by Microsoft:

Quick comparison list: Microsoft 365 A1 vs. A3 vs. A5

The obvious differences between each plan are compared below.

Benefits of Microsoft 365 Education:

Save time

• Schools adopting Microsoft 365 see a measurable impact on classroom efficiency. A recent Forrester Consulting study found that teachers reclaimed over 200 hours each year – shifting valuable hours from administrative tasks to engaging students.

Save money

• Microsoft now offers Office 365 A1 for free to educational institutions, which is the same functionality as the free offerings from Google. 

• Microsoft offers deep discounts for those who need A3 and A5 licenses. Plus, Microsoft Store offers up to 10% cash back for everyone.

• Microsoft also offers a 40:1 ratio of free complimentary student licenses per paid faculty license. That means if you purchase 100 seats of Microsoft 365 A3 for faculty, you’ll receive 4,000 complimentary (free) Microsoft 365 E3 for student licenses.

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What's the difference between Microsoft 365 Education plans?

Microsoft 365 A1 For Devices

Microsoft 365 A1 Legacy includes Intune for Education for device management, Office 365 A1 Education, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft OneNote for classroom collaboration, and Windows Pro upgrade for better learning outcomes.

The upgraded version of Microsoft 365 A1 Legacy is Microsoft 365 A1 For Devices.

Microsoft 365 A1 For Devices adds full desktop apps and Minecraft: Education Edition to support and engage all learners, providing value beyond competitive offerings at the same price point.

But Microsoft 365 A1 isn’t a subscription at all (and it’s not subject to the new pricing increase for most plans). It’s a one-time purchase of $38 per device that lasts for up to 6 years.

That means you can spend time-bound stimulus or capital funds to lock in cloud management and a broad set of apps for multiple years.

What’s Included in Microsoft 365 A1?

• Microsoft 365 Apps for Desktop - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access (PC only), and Publisher (PC only)

• Office Mobile Apps - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote mobile Apps

• Office for the web

• Visio for the web

• Email & calendar, IM, persistent chat, Yammer

• Files & content management: file storage, sharing, Groups, Planner

• Microsoft Teams with classroom experiences, PLC and Staff teams

• OneNote Class Notebook, Sway

• Learning Tools, Accessibility Checker, Office Lens

• Skype for Business

• Windows 10 Upgrade--Microsoft 365 A1 includes right to upgrade devices from Windows Professional 7/8.1 to Windows 10 Pro Education

• Intune for Education--Set up a cloud IT solution for your school in an hour; Schools can now get a simple but powerful solution for managing policies, apps and settings for your classroom devices.

• Minecraft: Education Edition

Microsoft Office 365 A1 – Key Benefits

Simple and Cost Effective

• Each license lasts for the life of the device

Supports all Learners

• Support learning experiences (with or without an internet connection) with desktop Microsoft Teams, Office apps, and OneNote Class Notebook.

• Unlock an immersive, learning experience in a game students love with Minecraft: Education Edition.

• Accessibility and inclusivity features like Learning Tools.

Easy Deployment and Support

• Manage all your Windows and iOS devices, users and thousands of other apps from a single cloud dashboard

• Comprehensive online training resources and professional development with the Microsoft Educator Center

Microsoft 365 A3

What’s Included in Microsoft 365 A3?

• Full versions of Microsoft Office 365 for installation on up to 5 PCs or Macs per user. Applications included are

• Microsoft Word

• Microsoft Excel

• Microsoft PowerPoint

• Microsoft Outlook

• Microsoft OneNote

• Microsoft Publisher (PC only)

• Microsoft Access (PC only)

• Microsoft Office apps on up to 5 tablets and 5 phones per user

• Web versions of Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft OneNote, and Microsoft Outlook

• Microsoft Teams, a digital hub that integrates the conversations, content, and apps your school needs to be more collaborative and engaged

• Class and Staff notebooks

• Professional Learning Community (PLC) groups

• Self-grading quizzes with Forms

• Digital storytelling with Sway

• Inform and engage with communication sites and team sites throughout your intranet using SharePoint

• Compliance solutions with a unified eDiscovery center

• Rights management, data loss prevention, and encryption

• Enterprise video service for creating, managing, and sharing videos securely across an organization

• App development without writing code to extend business data quickly with custom web and mobile apps

• Workflow automation across apps and services to automate business processes without writing code

• Plan schedules and daily tasks with Microsoft Teams

• Email with 100 GB mailbox

• Unlimited personal cloud storage

• Unlimited email storage with In-Place archiving

• Advanced email with archiving and legal hold

• HD video conferencing

• Host meetings for up to 10,000 people with Skype Meeting Broadcast

• Assess risk and gain insight into potential threats with Office 365 Cloud App Security

• Let parents or guardians and students schedule appointments with faculty online using Microsoft Bookings

Microsoft Office 365 A3 – Key Benefits:

• Provide collaboration tools to your entire school with free Office 365 for Education

• Stay connected with the broadest suite of mobile collaboration apps

• Stay in control of your data with advanced security and compliance tools.

• Students learn using the only software listed as a top employer demand for high-paying jobs

• Create, share and collaborate with intelligent services that save time.

• Student Use Benefit licenses available to schools that license 100% of their Knowledge Workers.

Microsoft 365 A5

What’s Included in Microsoft 365 A5?

• Comes with Microsoft Office. Stay up-to-date with the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote Windows or Mac (plus Access and Publisher for PC only). Each user can install the Office apps on up to 5 PCs or Macs.

• Mobile Versions of Office Applications. Fully-installed and always up-to-date versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote for iOS, Android or Windows mobile devices, Each user can install the Office apps on up to 5 phones and 5 tablets

• Includes Windows 10 Enterprise A3. Builds on Windows 10 Enterprise and provides the enterprise-grade manageability and security for schools.

• Minecraft: Education Edition with Code Builder. Minecraft: Education Edition with Code Builder allows educators and students to explore, create, and play in a Minecraft world. Players can not only develop computational thinking but can also apply their creations across the curriculum.

• Intune for Education. Schools can now get a simple but powerful solution for managing policies, apps and settings for your classroom devices.

• Email and calendaring. Connect with customers and coworkers using Outlook and Exchange.

• Collaboration & Learning Tools. Instant messenger (IM), persistent chat, and Yammer. Microsoft Teams with classroom experiences, professional learning communities (PLC), and staff teams. And OneNote Class Notebook, Sway

• File storage. Manage your files from anywhere with 1TB of storage.

• Client Access Licenses. Standard and Enterprise CALs for: Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, Skype for Business Server, Windows Server, Advanced Threat Analytics CML, System Center Configuration Manager CML, and System Center EndPoint Protection SL

Microsoft 365 A5 for Schools – Exclusive Features:

• Advanced Security features including -

• Office 365 A5: Advanced Threat Prevention, Threat Intelligence

• Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS) A5: Azure Active Directory P2, Azure Information Protection P2, Cloud App Security

• Azure Advanced Threat Protection

• Windows 10 Education A5: Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection

• PSTN (public switched telephone network) Conferencing, Cloud PBX (private branch exchange)

• Advanced eDiscovery, Customer Lockbox, Advanced Data Governance

• Features Power BI Pro, MyAnalytics

Microsoft 365 A5 for Schools – Key Benefits:

• It includes Office 365 Education, Windows 10, Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS)

• Intune for Education, included as part of EMS, is designed specifically for devices management in schools

• Minecraft: Education Edition adds an immersive, learning experience in a game students love

• The student-use benefit saves schools money by providing student licenses at no additional cost when institutions purchase for faculty and staff

Full comparison list: Microsoft 365 A1 vs. A3 vs. A5

To review services and features in greater detail, see the Office 365 Education service description.

Notes:

1 Includes Exchange Online Plan 1 plus supplemental features.
2 Includes Exchange Online Plan 2.
3 Includes SharePoint Online Plan 1 plus supplemental features.
4 Includes SharePoint Online Plan 2.
5 Microsoft Project is not included in Office 365 but can be acquired separately. Project Online Essentials is free. If you are a student or an educational institution, you may be eligible to purchase Project Plan 3 and Plan 5 at educational prices.
6 Includes Intune.
7 Servers and CALs are included for Exchange, SharePoint, and Skype for Business.
8 ECAL or Core CAL, depending on the version of A3 that is purchased—with A5, the ECAL rights are included.
9 Microsoft 365 Apps is required in order to apply protections and send protected emails from the Outlook Desktop.
10 Formerly Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection.
11 Formerly Azure Advanced Threat Protection.
12 Formerly Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection.
13 Universal Print included in Windows Education A3 and A5.
14 0 (zero) Print-job included.
15 Viva Learning is available as a paid add-on to Office 365 and Microsoft 365 A1, A3, and A5 for Faculty.
16 It is not available for Students or in Student Use Benefits.

What Microsoft 365 Education plan is right for me? How to choose?

Microsoft 365 A1

The A1 plan is the most basic and free plan of Office 365 Education, and the core applications included in the plan are all available in the online-only version; the desktop version is only available with OneNote.

If you need essential Office apps and services, the Office 365 Education A1 plan is enough for you. If teachers and students need extra features, they can subscribe to the A3 and A5 plans.

To sign up for Office 365 Education, all you need is your school email address. Once students and educators enroll in the A1 program, they have cloud access to all of Microsoft's core collaboration and productivity tools.

They can use the email, group collaboration, and chat tools included in the plan to enable cross-platform collaboration for distance learning and distance learning.

Both teachers and students can access tools and their data from any device because everything is stored on the cloud, OneDrive, except Publisher.

Not only can an unlimited number of teachers and students join the Office 365 Education A1 plan, but it also offers Professional Learning Community (PLC) groups, class and staff notebooks, an e-discovery center for compliance solutions, data loss prevention, rights management, and encryption.

Microsoft 365 A3

The first paid version (called A3) offers all A1 plus the capability to install software on five computers. It also features Bookings, a scheduling tool for small businesses.

Microsoft 365 A3 enables schools to help educators unleash creativity, facilitate teamwork, and provide a simple and secure experience in a single, affordable solution. Now include students at no extra cost when you buy for educators, faculty and staff.

Microsoft 365 A3 includes Office 365 Education, Windows 10, Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS), Minecraft for Education, and Intune for Education. Microsoft 365 A3 combines the tools, features, and services that students, teachers, and IT teams need to be more effective and efficient - all in one package at an affordable cost.

Microsoft 365 A5

The main difference between Microsoft A3 and A5 is that Microsoft A3 has all the features of A1 and more, while A5 has all the features of A3 and more. 

In Microsoft 365 A3, you will get Publisher, Access and Bookings. The business-class email will hold 100 GB. The office applications can be fully installed in this application. It can be installed on Mac, PC and even phone. Every user will get the chance to install it on 5 devices. The basic storage will be 1 TB per user. 

Microsoft A5 is much more secure than A3. When the aspect of security comes in, Microsoft A3 will not win the race. A5 will. It comes with much more advanced features that work efficiently against cyber threats. Everything you get in A3 is available in A5, and in addition to that, you will get analytics tools with Power BI.

In terms of price, the A3 subscription plan is cheaper, so if educational organizations are on a tight budget, the A3 is a better choice than the A5.

Considering the needs, A3 is more suitable for small and medium-sized educational organizations. But if the educational facility is larger and needs more secure and powerful software, medium and large educational organizations should choose A5.

Reference way to determine which Microsoft 365 Education edition is right for you

If you're not sure which option is more cost-effective for you, here's how:

Conclusion

Over the years, with all the path-breaking features, Microsoft has achieved such a position that it has given the foundation to several educational institutions. The series of Microsoft A1, A3 and A5 is dedicated to educational institutions. The versions have become advanced gradually to be helpful for the students and teachers too. 

No matter which plan you choose, you may get additional savings - up to 6% cash back - when you order on the official website.

Microsoft 365 Education enables teachers and students to open doors to creativity and innovation while promoting teamwork in the classroom. This simple, secure and affordable solution combines all the essential features of the Windows 10 platform with a simplified licensing framework.

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