Try or buy a Microsoft 365 for business subscription

• Article
• 02/09/2023
• 7 minutes to read

In this article

Check out Microsoft 365 small business help on YouTube.

Microsoft 365 for business is a subscription service that lets you run your organization in the cloud while Microsoft takes care of the IT for you. Microsoft manages devices, protects against real-world threats, and provides your organization with the latest in business software. You can sign up for a free trial subscription for Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, or Microsoft 365 Apps for business and try it out for 30 days.

Note

You must use a credit card when you sign up for a free trial. At the end of your free trial period, your trial subscription is automatically converted to a paid subscription. Your credit card isn’t billed until the end of the trial period.

Important

Payment options for Office 365 operated by 21Vianet in China
International credit cards are not accepted. You can pay for your subscription by:

• Invoice
• Online payment using Alipay or China UnionPay
  Proof of payment will be provided in the form of Fapiaos. You can submit your Fapiao request to our Fapiao system about three (3) days after you have paid. For more information, see Apply for a Fapiao for Office 365 operated by 21Vianet.

Before you begin

You don’t need an existing Microsoft account to sign up for a free trial. For all other procedures in this article, you must be a Global or Billing admin for your organization. For more information, see About admin roles.

Need help with choosing a plan?

Deciding on a plan can depend on your specific business needs. The Microsoft 365 plan chooser is designed to help you with this. The chooser will make recommendations based on your answers to questions such as the size of your business, your field of work, the devices you use, and what kind of features, IT support, and security you’re looking for. See Help me find the right plan for my business.

Try a free trial subscription

Use these steps to create an account and sign up for a free trial subscription of Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, or Microsoft 365 Apps for business.

1. Go to the Microsoft 365 Products site.
2. Select the plan that you want to sign up for, such as Microsoft 365 Business Standard, scroll down the page, and select Try free for 1 month.
3. On the next page, follow the steps to set up your account.
4. The sign-up process may take several minutes to complete. After it’s complete, you’re ready to start the setup wizard for your subscription. For more information about setting up your subscription, see Next steps.

Buy a subscription from your free trial

At the end of your free trial period, your trial subscription automatically converts to a paid subscription. The paid subscription defaults to the plan you currently have. You can buy a different plan by following the steps in Buy a different subscription.

If you want to buy your subscription before your trial is over, use these steps:

1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to the Billing > Your products page.
2. On the Your products page, find the subscription that you want to buy.
3. In the Licenses section, select Purchase subscription.
4. Choose a billing frequency for your subscription, then select Checkout.
5. On the next page, verify the subscription, and select Checkout.
6. On the next page, verify the Sold to address, the Billed to information, and Items in this order. If you need to make any changes, select Change next to the applicable section.
7. When you’re finished, select Accept agreement & place order.

Extend your trial

Do you need more time to try out the features of Microsoft 365 for business before buying? If your trial subscription is within 15 days of expiring and the trial hasn’t been extended before then you can extend your trial for another 30 day period. You can only do this one time.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Your products page.
2. On the Products tab, select the trial subscription that you want to extend.
3. On the subscription details page, in the Subscriptions and payment settings section, select Extend end date.
4. In the Extend end date pane, review the extension information, and if necessary, select a payment method. When you’re finished, select Extend trial.

When you’re ready to buy, see Buy your trial version.

Cancel your free trial subscription

If you decide to cancel your trial subscription before the free trial period ends, go to the Microsoft 365 admin center and turn off Recurring billing. The trial will automatically expire when your month ends, and your credit card won’t be charged.

Try a different subscription

If you already have a Microsoft 365 for business subscription, you can use the Microsoft 365 admin center to try a different subscription.

When you add a subscription through the Microsoft 365 admin center], the new subscription is associated with the same organization (domain namespace) as your existing subscription. This association makes it easier to move users in your organization between subscriptions, or to assign them a license for the additional products they need.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Purchase services page.
2. On the Purchase services page, you see the plans that are available to your organization. Choose the Microsoft 365 plan that you want to try.
3. On the next page, select Get free trial. The trial gives you 25 user licenses for a one-month term.
4. Choose to receive a text or a call, enter your phone number, then choose Text me or Call me.
5. Enter the verification code, then select Start your free trial.
6. On the Check out page, select Try now.
7. On the order receipt page, select Continue.

Buy a different subscription

If you already have a Microsoft 365 for business subscription, you can go through the Microsoft 365 admin center to buy a different subscription for your organization.

Watch: Move users to a different subscription

Check out this video and others on our YouTube channel.

As your users change roles, they may need features that aren’t available in their current Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription. When this happens, you can add a new subscription that includes those features, and assign licenses to the people who need them.

Note

For some subscriptions, you can only cancel during a limited window of time after you buy or renew your subscription. If the cancellation window has passed, turn off recurring billing to cancel the subscription at the end of its term.

When you buy another subscription through the Microsoft 365 admin center, the new subscription is associated with the same organization (domain name space) as your existing subscription. This makes it easier to move users in your organization between subscriptions or assign them a license for the additional subscription they need.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Purchase services page.
2. On the Purchase services page, select the plan that you want to buy, select Details, then select Buy.
3. Enter the number of licenses that you need and choose whether to pay each month or for the whole year. Choose whether you want to automatically assign licenses to everyone who does not currently have a license. Then select Check out now.
4. Review the pricing information and select Next.
5. Provide your payment information, and then select Place order > Go to Admin Home.

Note

You must move users from your free trial subscription to the new subscription before your 90-day grace period ends after your trial subscription expires. By doing this, you keep your data, accounts, and configuration. Otherwise, that information is deleted.

Payment options

You can pay for your subscription by:

• Invoice

• Online payment using Alipay or China UnionPay

Proof of payment will be provided in the form of Fapiaos. You can submit your Fapiao request to our Fapiao system about three (3) days after you have paid. For more information, see Apply for a Fapiao for Office 365 operated by 21Vianet.

Note

International credit cards are not accepted.

Next steps

If you have a new account and are setting up your first subscription, you can use the guided setup articles to help you get started.

If you already have a subscription and are adding a new subscription, you can move users to it. To learn how, see Move users to a different subscription.

Related content

Microsoft 365 for business training videos (video)
Add users and assign licenses at the same time (article)
Assign licenses to users (article)
Upgrade to a different plan (article)
Buy or edit an add-on for Microsoft 365 for business (article)
Add storage space for your subscription (article)