Is Microsoft Teams Free? (All You Need to Know)

Microsoft Teams is a group collaboration software that can be used to help teams work together remotely. It’s very handy for chatting with your team members, and hosting video calls, and has other tools as well. 

Seeing as how this platform is so helpful to many, you are probably wondering if it’s free, and if not, how much it costs.

Well, I have done the research to find out the answers to these questions and more, so here is what I found out!

Is Microsoft Teams Free in 2024?

Microsoft Teams is free up until a certain point of usage in 2024. If you need to use the program for small groups for short periods of time, you shouldn’t have any issues with its basic packages. As well, whether you’re using a personal or business account can affect the cost of the application.

If you are interested in learning more about Microsoft Teams, like how much it costs to be subscribed to the program, what you can use Teams for, and more, you’ll want to keep reading!

Can You Use Microsoft Teams For Free?

There is a way that you can use Microsoft Teams for free, especially if you only have a small group of people who need to use it.

For a free business account, this is what MS Teams has to offer you:

• Unlimited one-to-one meetings for up to 30 hours long
• Unlimited group meetings for up to 60 minutes
• Up to 100 participants per meeting
• 5 GB of cloud storage per user
• Unlimited chat with coworkers and customers
• File sharing, tasks, and polling
• Data encryption for meetings, chats, calls, and files

For a free personal account, this is what you can expect to be able to do on MS Teams:

• Group calling for up to 60 minutes and 100 participants
• Unlimited chat with friends and family
• Plan together with tasks and polling
• 5 GB of OneDrive cloud storage
• Data encryption for meetings, chats, calls, and files

How Much Does Microsoft Teams Cost?

Depending on what you need from Microsoft Teams will help to determine how much you will be charged each month.

Starting with a business account, as mentioned previously, there is a free option that allows you to do the following:

• Unlimited one-to-one meetings for up to 30 hours long
• Unlimited group meetings for up to 60 minutes
• Up to 100 participants per meeting
• 5 GB of cloud storage per user
• Unlimited chat with coworkers and customers
• File sharing, tasks, and polling
• Data encryption for meetings, chats, calls, and files

Or, you may choose Microsoft Teams Essentials, which is its most popular option and will only cost you $4.00 per user per month. 

In this version, you will receive everything you can get in the free version plus the following:

• Unlimited group meetings for up to 30 hours
• Up to 300 participants per meeting
• 10 GB of cloud storage per user
• Anytime phone and web support

In the Microsoft 365 Basic Business account, which costs only $6.00 Per month, you will get the following:

• Team meetings recordings with transcripts
• Web and mobile versions of Office apps 
• Expanded cloud storage of 1 TB per user
• Business-class email
• Standard security

Another account option is Microsoft 365 Business Standard, which costs $12.50 per month, with this option, you will get everything in the Basic Business account, plus the following:

• Desktop versions of Office apps with premium features
• Webinar hosting
• Attendee registration and reporting tools
• Manage customer appointments

If you don’t need a business account and instead need a personal or home account, you are looking at 3 options.

To start, there’s a free version that consists of the following:

• Group calling for up to 60 minutes and 100 participants
• Unlimited chat with friends and family
• Plan together with tasks and polling
• 5 GB of OneDrive cloud storage
• Data encryption for meetings, chats, calls, and files

If you need a little bit more than that, you might want to consider the Microsoft 365 Personal account, which costs $6.99.

This account includes everything in the free version, plus the following list:

• For one person
• Group calling for up to 30 hours and 300 participants
• Premium versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for PC, Mac, web, and mobile
• 1 TB of cloud storage
• Ad-free email, calendar, and contacts in one place
• Creative tools for writing, design, and graphics
• Advanced grammar, spelling, and editing support
• Ongoing technical support for the duration of the subscription
• Access to the latest updates and new features
• Additional benefits

Or, if you need a little bit more, the Microsoft 365 Family account may be for you. With this, you will get everything in the free version, plus everything listed here:

• For up to six people
• Group calling for up to 30 hours and 300 participants
• Premium versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for PC, Mac, web, and mobile
• 6 TB of cloud storage (1 TB per person)
• Ad-free email, calendar, and contacts in one place
• Creative tools for writing, design, and graphics
• Advanced grammar, spelling, and editing support
• Ongoing technical support for the duration of the subscription
• Access to the latest updates and new features
• Location alerts in the Family Safety mobile app 
• Drive safety reports in the Family Safety mobile app 
• Additional benefits

Also, this option only costs $9.99 per month. So, as you can see, with so many options, you can find the right Microsoft Teams package to fit your needs. 

What Is Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is a group collaboration software that can be used to help teams work together remotely. 

Not only can you chat and make video calls, but there are other collaboration tools within the program.

Many business owners who have staff who work remotely like to keep in touch with everyone through MS Teams.

Also, many students who are attending school online use Teams, along with their teachers and other classmates.

To know more, you can also read our posts on whether Microsoft is a monopoly, what is Microsoft BI, and what is Microsoft Bitlocker.

Conclusion

Microsoft Teams have free versions for both business accounts and personal or home accounts. If you don’t need to use Microsoft Teams for anything too extensive, you should be able to get away with using the free version of the program.