Microsoft has made modifications to its OneDrive for Business storage plans. Previously, the OneDrive for Business (Plan 2) was a favored option among large organizations that required extensive storage capabilities, especially for managing a growing collection of media files like videos and artistic assets. This plan provided unlimited monthly storage for around $10 per user, not including taxes. However, Microsoft has now ceased offering unlimited storage to new customers.
OneDrive for Business (Plan 1) is now the primary offering, providing 1TB of storage by default. This can be extended to 5TB depending on the number of users. Previously, the OneDrive for Business (Plan 2) offered unlimited storage with certain conditions. Organizations had to have a minimum of five users subscribed, with an initial 1TB limit per user. Additional storage, up to 25TB, could be requested directly from Microsoft support.
Microsoft's Official Storage Plans
According to Microsoft's official storage plans overview page, the OneDrive Standalone 100 GB plan has been renamed to Microsoft 365 Basic. This plan offers 100 GB of cloud storage at $19.99 per year. The Microsoft 365 Personal plan, priced at $69.99 per year, provides 1 TB of cloud storage for one person. The Microsoft 365 Family plan, available for $99.99 per year, offers up to 6 TB of cloud storage, divided as 1 TB per person for up to six people. Additionally, Microsoft offers a free plan with 5 GB of cloud storage.
Reason for the Change
A spokesperson for Microsoft conveyed to TechRadar that these alterations were implemented “in response to customer demand.” The aim was to simplify the purchasing process for those opting for OneDrive for Business standalone plans. Customers who are already on these plans will retain the ability to add more users and renew their licenses.
Now, the only monthly standalone option available is OneDrive for Business (Plan 1), priced at $5 per user, which comes with 1TB storage. Microsoft also has other packages available at varying price points. The Microsoft 365 Business Basic package is priced at $6 per user per month, while the Microsoft 365 Business Standard is available for $12.50 per user per month. All these packages set the OneDrive storage limit to a maximum of 1TB.
Dropbox Has Already Dropped Unlimited Plans
This move by Microsoft seems to align with a broader industry trend. Just last week, Dropbox also announced its decision to discontinue its unlimited cloud storage plans for businesses.
New customers purchasing the Dropbox Advanced plan with three active licenses will be allocated 15TB of shared cloud storage. For every additional active license, 5TB of storage will be added. Dropbox emphasized that this amount of storage can accommodate approximately “100 million documents, 4 million photos or 7500 hours of HD video.“
