Microsoft 365 A3 vs A5
86 of 238 features differ. Differences are shown first, grouped by product area.
- Microsoft 365 A3
- Microsoft 365 A5
Prices are US list prices per user/month with an annual commitment, verified November 1, 2026. Sources: Microsoft 365 A3, Microsoft 365 A5 (opens in a new tab).
Key differences
- 86 of 238 features differ, most in Threat protection (41), Data protection & compliance (21) and Identity & access (8).
- Microsoft 365 A3: Microsoft publishes no list price for this Education plan; prices come from a sales partner. Microsoft 365 A5: Microsoft publishes no list price for this Education plan; prices come from a sales partner.
- Microsoft 365 A5 includes 81 features Microsoft 365 A3 does not, such as Defender for Endpoint Plan 2, Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 and Entra ID Plan 2.
- Every feature Microsoft 365 A3 includes is also included in Microsoft 365 A5.
- 4 features are in both at a different level, such as Viva Insights (personal): Basic in Microsoft 365 A3, Premium in Microsoft 365 A5.
- 1 more feature differs only in how it is listed: partial, announced, an add-on or to verify.
- 81 included only in Microsoft 365 A5
- Included
- Included at that level
- Add-on
- Partial or announced
- Unclear in the sources; verify before buying
- Not included
| Feature | Microsoft 365 A3, No published list price | Microsoft 365 A5, No published list price |
|---|---|---|
| Suite editions, 3 differences | ||
| Office apps and services edition | A3 | A5 |
| Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) edition | A3 | A5 |
| Windows edition | A3 | A5 |
| Teams, meetings & calling, 7 differences | ||
| Teams Audio Conferencing (full) | Not included | Included |
| Teams Phone | Not included | Included |
| Teams Phone System | Not included | Included |
| Cloud voicemail | Not included | Included |
| Auto attendants | Not included | Included |
| Call queues | Not included | Included |
| Direct Routing (bring your own carrier) | Not included | Included |
| Identity & access, 8 differences | ||
| Conditional Access for SharePoint sites | Not included | Included |
| Entra ID Plan 2 | Not included | Included |
| Access reviews | Not included | Included |
| Entitlement management (basic) | Not included | Included |
| Entra ID Protection | Not included | Included |
| MFA registration policy | Not included | Included |
| Privileged Identity Management (PIM) | Not included | Included |
| Risk-based Conditional Access | Not included | Included |
| Threat protection, 41 differences | ||
| Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 | Not included | Included |
| Attack simulation training | Not included | Included |
| Automated investigation and response (AIR) | Not included | Included |
| Campaign views | Not included | Included |
| Compromised user detection | Not included | Included |
| Teams message entity panel | Not included | Included |
| Teams message quarantine | Not included | Included |
| Threat Explorer | Not included | Included |
| Threat trackers | Not included | Included |
| Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 | Not included | Included |
| Advanced anti-phishing | Not included | Included |
| Real-time reports | Not included | Included |
| Safe Attachments | Not included | Included |
| Safe Links | Not included | Included |
| App governance | Not included | Included |
| Defender for Cloud Apps | Not included | Included |
| Defender for Identity | Not included | Included |
| Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 | Not included | Included |
| Advanced hunting | Not included | Included |
| Automated investigations | Not included | Included |
| Defender for Cloud Apps integration | Not included | Included |
| Endpoint attack notifications (suspended) | Not included | Included |
| Endpoint detection and response (EDR) | Not included | Included |
| Evaluation lab | Not included | Included |
| Threat analytics | Not included | Included |
| Six months of searchable data | Not included | Included |
| Defender Vulnerability Management (core) | Not included | Included |
| Configuration assessment | Not included | Included |
| Continuous monitoring | Not included | Included |
| Device discovery | Not included | Included |
| Device inventory | Not included | Included |
| Remediation tracking | Not included | Included |
| Risk-based prioritization | Not included | Included |
| Software inventory | Not included | Included |
| Software usage insights | Not included | Included |
| Vulnerability assessment | Not included | Included |
| Safe Documents | Not included | Included |
| Microsoft Sentinel benefit | Not included | Included |
| Anti-phishing protection | Not included | Included |
| Real-time detections | Not included | Included |
| URL time-of-click protection | Not included | Included |
| Data protection & compliance, 21 differences | ||
| Audit (Premium) | Not included | Included |
| Communication compliance | Not included | Included |
| Customer Key | Not included | Included |
| Customer Lockbox | Not included | Included |
| Data lifecycle management | Not included | Included |
| Double Key Encryption | Not included | Included |
| eDiscovery (Premium) | Not included | Included |
| Exact data match | Not included | Included |
| Advanced Message Encryption | Not included | Included |
| Privileged access management | Not included | Included |
| Records management | Not included | Included |
| Rules-based classification (Office 365) | Not included | Included |
| Teams data loss prevention (DLP) | Not included | Included |
| Teams DLP and export APIs in Microsoft Graph | Not included | Included |
| Three premium Compliance Manager templates | Not included | Included |
| Rules-based classification (client and scanner) | Not included | Included |
| Advanced analytics (Microsoft Purview) | Not included | Included |
| Endpoint data loss prevention (DLP) | Not included | Included |
| Insider risk management | Not included | Included |
| Trainable classifiers | Not included | Included |
| 10-year audit log retention | Not included | Add-on |
| Device management, 3 differences | ||
| Intune Endpoint Privilege Management (EPM) | Not included | Included |
| Intune Enterprise App Management | Not included | Included |
| Cloud PKI | Not included | Included |
| Viva, analytics & reporting, 2 differences | ||
| Power BI Pro | Not included | Included |
| Viva Insights (personal) | Basic | Premium |
| Licensing rights & services, 1 difference | ||
| Skype for Business Plus client access license (CAL) | Not included | Included |