Microsoft 365 Personal vs Family? Which should you buy?

Back in March, Microsoft announced the Microsoft 365 Family and Microsoft 365 Personal plans for consumers. Microsoft 365 used to be an enterprise bundle that brought together the best of Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS), but with new packages for consumers now the new Family and Personal plans include plenty of Microsoft services for regular users including Office 365, Teams, Skype calls Microsoft Editor and more.

However, both the subscriptions are made for different people and there are minor differences in the features you will be getting with each subscription. Here are some of the key differences between the Family and Personal plans:

• The number of people- The most significant difference between Microsoft 365 Family and Personal is the number of people allowed on each subscription. Microsoft 365 Personal, as the name suggests is for a single person. It can be installed on one machine and can be used by a single person.
  Microsoft 365 Family, on the other hand, allows up to 6 installs. So, it can be installed on 6 different devices making it perfect for a family who can share the licenses and do not want to pay extra for separate licenses.

• OneDrive Storage- Both the Personal and Family come with OneDrive storage. However, Personal users will get just 1 TB of storage along with their subscription which can be used by one person. Family users, on the other hand, will get 6 TB of storage which can be divided among 6 users and each getting 1 TB of storage.

These are the two major differences between the Personal and Family plans. Following are the features and services that are common between the two subscriptions and will be available to all the paying customers regardless of the plan:

• Office apps- Both the subscriptions come with all the Office apps and include premium services such as Outlook, OneDrive, Skype, Teams consumer edition and the new Family Safety app.
• Microsoft Editor- Microsoft recently announced its own AI Editor and both the plans include a free subscription to Microsoft Editor.
• OneDrive- Both the plans include OneDrive subscription, but the Personal plan will get you only 1 TB while the Family plan will get you 6 TB (divided among 6 people).
• Skype- Skype’s consumer version is included with the subscription, but Microsoft also includes free 60 minutes of Skype calling per month.

https://youtu.be/AnSuASngwK8

Should you buy Microsoft 365 Personal or spend more for Microsoft 365 Family?

The choice depends on your usage. The Microsoft 365 Personal will cost you $69.99/year while the Family Plan will cost you $99.99/year. So even if you are two people who plan to use it then you should go for the Family plan as that will be cheaper than the Personal plan. At the end, it all comes down to if more than 1 person plans to use the subscription in which case Microsoft 365 Family is a better choice. However, if you are an individual then you should get Microsoft 365 Personal as that offers the same benefits but for an individual.

Both the Personal and Family can be purchased from the Microsoft Store. As noted above, the Personal plan will cost you $69.99/year while the Family plan will cost you $99.99/year. Alternatively, you can also pay for it monthly in which case, the Personal plan comes down to $6.99/month and the Family plan comes down to $9.99/month. You can also try out the Personal plan for free for a month if you are unsure about purchasing it.

Do note that Microsoft has changed the branding of the plans so Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal users will be moved to Microsoft 365 Family and Microsoft 365 Personal, respectively. You do not need to do anything or pay extra for the services bundled with the new services.

• Microsoft 365 Personal ($69.99/year or 6.99/month) (Yearly license recommended)
• Microsoft 365 Family ($99.99/year or $9.99/month) (Yearly license recommended)