Microsoft 365 costs €13 per user per month. That sounds straightforward. But over five years, an organisation with 50 employees will pay nearly €40,000 in subscription costs, just for the Office applications. A pre-owned Office 2024 Standard licence from Softtrader costs €140 per user as a one time payment. In this article, we calculate the Total Cost of Ownership, or TCO, for seven organisation sizes, from 10 to 1,000 users, two Microsoft 365 packages, and two pre owned alternatives. The calculation is based on Microsoft 365 prices as of July 2026, after the announced price increase, and current Softtrader prices at the time of writing in April 2026. No volume discounts have been applied to these prices yet.
What are we comparing?
A fair TCO comparison requires a clear framework. We are specifically comparing the costs of using the Office desktop applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. This is the functionality that both Microsoft 365 and a perpetual Office licence provide.
Microsoft 365 also includes cloud services that a perpetual licence does not include: Exchange Online for email, OneDrive for cloud storage, Teams for video meetings, and SharePoint Online for collaboration. We do not include these services in the calculation, but we do discuss them in the section “What does Microsoft 365 offer that on premises Office does not offer?” If your organisation actively uses these cloud services and cannot or does not want to host them internally, that is a relevant consideration in addition to the TCO calculation.
| Microsoft 365 subscription | Pre owned Office one time purchase | |
|---|---|---|
| Package A | Microsoft 365 Business Standard: €13 per user per month ($14) | Office 2024 Standard: €140 per user, one time |
| Package B | Microsoft 365 E3: €36.50 per user per month ($39) | Office 2024 Pro Plus: €150 per user, one time |
| Office apps | Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, desktop, web, and mobile | Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, desktop |
| Licence term | As long as you keep paying | Perpetual, no subscription |
| Updates | Always the latest version | Security updates until October 2029 |
The EUR amounts for Microsoft 365 are indicative and based on the USD list prices for July 2026 after the exchange rate adjustment of February 2026. Final EUR rates may vary by region and contract type. The Softtrader prices are the current prices at the time of writing in April 2026. For larger volumes, the price per licence may be significantly lower.
The calculation: TCO per user over 5 years
Below, we calculate the total cost over 60 months, or 5 years, per user, based on Microsoft 365 rates as of July 2026.
Microsoft 365 Business Standard vs Office 2024 Standard
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard | Office 2024 Standard, pre owned | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per month | €13 | €0, paid one time |
| Cost per year | €156 | €0 |
| Cost over 5 years | €780 | €140 |
| Savings per user | €640, or 82% |
Microsoft 365 E3 vs Office 2024 Pro Plus
| Microsoft 365 E3 | Office 2024 Pro Plus, pre owned | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per month | €36.50 | €0, paid one time |
| Cost per year | €438 | €0 |
| Cost over 5 years | €2,190 | €150 |
| Savings per user | €2,040, or 93% |
What does this mean for your organisation? TCO by organisation size
The savings per user only become truly visible when you multiply them by the number of employees in your organisation. Below is the 5 year TCO for seven common organisation sizes, compared with Microsoft 365 Business Standard at €13 per user per month.
| Users | Microsoft 365 Business Standard, 5 years | Office 2024 Standard, one time | Savings in € | Savings in % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | €7,800 | €1,400 | €6,400 | 82% |
| 25 | €19,500 | €3,500 | €16,000 | 82% |
| 50 | €39,000 | €7,000 | €32,000 | 82% |
| 100 | €78,000 | €14,000 | €64,000 | 82% |
| 250 | €195,000 | €35,000 | €160,000 | 82% |
| 500 | €390,000 | €70,000 | €320,000 | 82% |
| 1,000 | €780,000 | €140,000 | €640,000 | 82% |
And for organisations currently using Microsoft 365 E3, compared with Office 2024 Pro Plus at €150 per user:
| Users | Microsoft 365 E3, 5 years | Office 2024 Pro Plus, one time | Savings in € | Savings in % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | €22,200 | €1,500 | €20,700 | 93% |
| 25 | €55,500 | €3,750 | €51,750 | 93% |
| 50 | €111,000 | €7,500 | €103,500 | 93% |
| 100 | €222,000 | €15,000 | €207,000 | 93% |
| 250 | €555,000 | €37,500 | €517,500 | 93% |
| 500 | €1,110,000 | €75,000 | €1,035,000 | 93% |
| 1,000 | €2,220,000 | €150,000 | €2,070,000 | 93% |
Large volumes? The price becomes even more attractive. Microsoft offers volume discounts on Microsoft 365 subscriptions, but the price per user for pre owned licences also drops significantly at higher volumes. These price differences are not reflected in the tables above, because project pricing depends on various factors. Softtrader regularly supports projects involving 1,000, 5,000, and even more than 20,000 licences. Request a no obligation quote for your specific situation and receive a tailored offer, including volume discount, within 24 hours.
Break even analysis: when does Microsoft 365 become more expensive?
The break even point is the moment when the cumulative Microsoft 365 costs exceed the one time investment in a pre owned licence. From that moment onward, you pay more with Microsoft 365 than you would have paid with a perpetual licence.
| Comparison | Break even point | After that, Microsoft 365 costs you… |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard vs Office 2024 Standard | After 11 months | €13 per user per month extra |
| Microsoft 365 E3 vs Office 2024 Pro Plus | After 4 months | €36.50 per user per month extra |
The conclusion is clear: with Microsoft 365 Business Standard, a pre owned licence becomes cheaper in less than a year. With Microsoft 365 E3, it happens after just four months. The remaining 49 to 56 months of the five year period are paid purely for the subscription, while the pre owned licence has already been paid off.
What does Microsoft 365 offer that on premises Office does not offer?
The TCO calculation compares the costs of the Office desktop applications. However, Microsoft 365 includes more than just Office apps. A fair comparison requires us to state what Microsoft 365 gives you that a perpetual licence does not.
Microsoft 365 Business Standard includes Exchange Online, business email with 50 GB of storage, OneDrive, 1 TB of cloud storage per user, Teams, chat and video meetings, SharePoint Online, intranet and collaboration, and the web and mobile versions of the Office apps. Microsoft 365 E3 also includes Windows Enterprise licences, advanced compliance tools, and endpoint management through Intune. More about the Microsoft 365 packages and prices.
If your organisation actively uses these cloud services, for example Teams as its primary communication tool or Exchange Online as its email platform, then they provide value that is not included in the TCO calculation. The question is whether that value justifies the additional cost of €640 to €2,040 per user over five years.
In practice, many small and medium sized businesses use only a limited part of Microsoft 365 functionality. If you mainly use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, and your email is handled through your own mail server or a separate email package, then you are paying for a large bundle of services you do not use. In that case, a perpetual Office licence is the financially smarter choice.
When is on premises the better choice?
On premises Office is the smartest choice if your organisation meets one or more of the following criteria.
You want full control over sensitive data. With the increase in data breaches and cyber security incidents, more and more organisations are questioning whether company critical information should be placed in the cloud. On premises Office keeps all your documents and data within your own IT infrastructure and under your own control. Softtrader sees this consideration more and more often among government and semi government institutions, healthcare organisations, law firms, and financial service providers that work with privacy sensitive or confidential information. In these sectors, data sovereignty is not just a preference, but often a legal obligation.
You mainly use the Office desktop applications and do not need the cloud services that Microsoft 365 offers, such as Teams, Exchange Online, and SharePoint.
You want predictable IT costs without ongoing subscriptions and future price increases.
You already have your own IT infrastructure, or an IT partner who manages it, and do not need to depend on Microsoft cloud servers.
In all these cases, a pre owned Office 2024 licence offers the same Office apps as Microsoft 365, without a subscription, without structural price increases, and with Microsoft support until October 2029. More about the difference between CSP licences and pre owned licences.
And after five years?
A common objection is: “But after five years, you need to invest in a new licence again.” That is true. Office 2024 is supported until October 2029. After that date, you will likely want to upgrade to its successor, expected to be Office 2027 or a later version.
Even if you invest another €150 in a pre owned licence after five years, your total investment over ten years is €300 per user. With Microsoft 365 Business Standard, that would be €1,560 per user over the same period, and with Microsoft 365 E3 it would be €4,380. The savings remain structural, even if you renew multiple times.
Do you have another question? View our full FAQ or contact our team.
Looking for Microsoft Office without a subscription?
Explore the full range of pre owned Microsoft Office licences at Softtrader and save up to 70% compared with the new price. Receive your tailored quote within 24 hours, or call us directly on +31 24 202 21 03.
FAQs
Are the Microsoft 365 prices in this calculation final?
The calculation is based on the USD list prices for July 2026, after the announced price increase, converted into EUR after the February 2026 exchange rate adjustment. Final EUR rates are set by Microsoft per region and may differ. The cost relationship remains the same.
What if I already use Microsoft 365?
You can cancel your Microsoft 365 subscription at any time after the current term ends and switch to a perpetual licence. The Office desktop apps work in the same way. Keep in mind that if you cancel Microsoft 365, you will lose access to Exchange Online, OneDrive, and Teams. Make sure to back up your cloud data before cancelling.
Are pre owned licences legal?
Yes. In the UsedSoft ruling, case C 128/11 from 2012, the European Court of Justice confirmed that perpetual software licences may be resold within the EU.
Read more in Cheap Microsoft licences: reliable and legal?
Can I also buy server software as pre owned?
Yes. In addition to Office, Windows Server, SQL Server, Exchange Server, RDS CALs, and other Microsoft server products are also available as pre-owned volume licences from Softtrader. The TCO advantage applies to all of these products.
How much does a pre owned licence cost for larger volumes?
The prices in this article, €140 for Standard and €150 for Pro Plus, are the current prices at the time of writing. For larger volumes, the price per licence is often even lower. Request a no obligation quote and find out within 24 hours how much you can save.
