Microsoft 365 E7 (Frontier Suite): what is it and what does it mean for your licensing costs?

Microsoft is launching Microsoft 365 E7 Frontier Suite on 1 May 2026: a new enterprise subscription that combines Microsoft 365 E5, Copilot, Agent 365, and the full Entra Suite in one package. The price: approximately €93 ($99) per user per month. It is the biggest licensing change since the introduction of E5 in 2015. In this article, we explain what E7 includes, how the costs compare to the current packages, and why this development makes the alternative of on premise Office licences more relevant than ever. Source: Microsoft Official Blog.

What is included in Microsoft 365 E7?

Microsoft 365 E7 is not a small extension of E5. It is a completely new top tier suite that bundles four existing products, supplemented with advanced security features.

E7 is available with and without Teams, which offers flexibility for organisations that already license Teams separately.

What does Microsoft 365 E7 cost?

Microsoft 365 E7 costs approximately €93 ($99) per user per month. To put that amount into perspective: it is 74% more expensive than the current E5 subscription, approximately €53 per month, rising to €56 from July 2026. The difference is explained by the addition of Copilot, Agent 365, and the Entra Suite.

The E7 bundle discount compared to buying the components separately is approximately 6%. That is relevant for large organisations, but the overall picture remains the same: approximately €93 per user per month is approximately €1,116 per user per year. For an organisation with 100 employees, that amounts to more than €111,000 per year and more than €555,000 over five years.

The EUR amounts in this article are indicative and are based on the official USD list prices and the exchange rate after Microsoft’s currency adjustment of February 2026. Final EUR rates may vary by country and contract type. Microsoft publishes the official regional prices on microsoft.com.

Does your organisation need E7?

E7 is designed for enterprise organisations, 300 plus users, that want to implement AI structurally, including autonomous AI agents that perform actions on behalf of employees. For that target group, E7 solves a real problem: it consolidates multiple separate licences and add ons into one manageable package.

But not every organisation needs that. If your organisation uses the Office apps, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, without Copilot, without AI agents, and without the advanced security features of E5, then with E7 you are paying for a large package of functionality that you do not use. That was already true for E5 compared to E3, and it is now even more true for E7 compared to E5.

The core question is: does your organisation actually use the cloud services and AI features included in the subscription? If the answer is no, then a perpetual on premise licence is the financially wiser alternative.

Prefer to pay only for what you actually use? At Softtrader, you can buy pre-owned Office 2024 licences as a one time investment, without a subscription and without AI features you did not ask for. More than 2,400 organisations have already done so. Receive your tailored quote within 24 hours.

You can read a detailed calculation of the total costs of M365 versus a one time Office licence over five years in the TCO comparison: M365 vs on premise Office.

E7 in the context of rising Microsoft 365 costs

The launch of E7 coincides with the price increases of July 2026 that affect all business Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Business Basic rises by 17%, Business Standard by 12%, and the Enterprise packages by 5 to 13%. E7 is added on top of that as a new, even more expensive layer.

Microsoft justifies the increases by adding security features, Defender for Office 365 Plan 1, and AI functionality, Copilot Chat, to existing packages. The pattern is clear: Microsoft adds functions that many organisations did not ask for, and then increases the price. The six disadvantages of Microsoft 365 that we described earlier, ongoing costs, unwanted updates, vendor lock in, paying for unused functions, dependency, and structural price increases, are reinforced by E7, not reduced.

The alternative: on premise Office without a subscription

For organisations that primarily need the Office apps and use little or none of the cloud services and AI features of Microsoft 365, a perpetual Microsoft Office licence is the most cost efficient alternative. You pay once, there is no subscription, and there are no future price increases.

The latest version is Office 2024 LTSC, available in Standard and Professional Plus. The software is supported by Microsoft until October 2029, includes the same Office apps as Microsoft 365, and does not require an internet connection for daily use. In addition, Office 2021 is still available with support until October 2026.

At Softtrader, you can buy pre owned versions of both editions with savings of up to 70% compared to the new price. The licences are legal, verified, and audit proof. You can read more about the costs of Microsoft 365 versus a one time licence in Microsoft 365 prices: what does a subscription cost?

You can read a comparison between the current Microsoft purchasing model, CSP, and pre owned licences in CSP vs pre owned licences: the alternative after the end of Open License.

When is E7 the logical choice?

E7 is a strong choice for organisations that are already on E5 and want to roll out Copilot structurally to all employees. If you were to purchase E5 + Copilot + Agent 365 separately today, you would pay approximately €98 ($105) per user per month after July 2026. E7 then offers a saving of approximately €5 per user per month, plus the simplification of one licence instead of three.

E7 is also relevant for organisations that want to deploy AI agents in their business processes and need governance, monitoring, and security around them. Agent 365 is the first platform Microsoft offers for centrally managing AI agents, and it is included in E7.

The choice is clear: if you actually use the AI and cloud features, E7 may be cheaper than buying them separately. If you do not use them, you are paying nearly double the cost of E5 for functionality that remains unused.

Frequently asked questions about Microsoft 365 E7

What is Microsoft 365 E7?

Microsoft 365 E7, Frontier Suite, is Microsoft’s new premium enterprise licence, available from 1 May 2026. It bundles Microsoft 365 E5, Copilot, Agent 365, and the Entra Suite into one package for approximately €93 ($99) per user per month.

What is the difference between E5 and E7?

E5 includes the Office apps, Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, advanced security, and compliance. E7 includes everything in E5, plus Copilot, AI assistant, Agent 365, AI governance, and the full Entra Suite, identity management. E5 costs approximately €56 ($60) per user per month after July 2026, E7 costs approximately €93 ($99).

Is E7 also available for small and medium sized businesses?

E7 is an Enterprise package and is aimed at organisations with more than 300 users. The Business packages, Basic, Standard, Premium, remain available unchanged for small and medium sized businesses. E7 does not replace those packages.

Can I use Office without Microsoft 365 E7?

Yes. The Office apps, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, are available as a perpetual licence under the name Office 2024 LTSC. You pay once and use the software without limitation. At Softtrader, you can buy pre owned versions with savings of up to 70%.

What is Agent 365?

Agent 365 is a new Microsoft platform for centrally managing, securing, and monitoring AI agents that perform actions on behalf of employees. It is included in E7 and is also available separately for approximately €14 ($15) per user per month from 1 May 2026.

Do you have another question? View our full FAQ or contact our team.

Looking for Microsoft Office without a subscription and without an AI surcharge? View the range of pre owned Microsoft Office licences at Softtrader and save up to 70%. Receive your tailored quote within 24 hours, or call us directly on +31 24 202 21 03.