Every few months I sit down with a client who’s paying for Microsoft Teams and using none of it. Instead, a Zoom account the sales team swears by, a Slack workspace the developers won’t give up, and a Microsoft 365 licence that bundles in a tool nobody opens. It’s a small thing, but it adds up.
Microsoft 365 without Teams is a set of licensing options that let businesses buy Microsoft’s best-in-class productivity apps (Outlook, Word, Excel, SharePoint, OneDrive) without paying for the Teams chat and potential calling app bundled in. Microsoft separated Teams into its own “SKU” in 2024, and while the picture has shifted since, buying Microsoft 365 with or without Teams is still very much an option for UK businesses.
What you’ll learn:
- Why Microsoft unbundled Teams from Microsoft 365, and what’s changed since
- The current UK pricing for Microsoft 365 plans with and without Teams
- Why Teams isn’t the right fit for every business (and what people choose instead)
- What the Teams Phone add-on actually costs, and who it’s for
- How to work out which licence mix is right for your business
Why Microsoft 365 now comes with a choice
Microsoft used to bundle Teams into every Microsoft 365 and Office 365 commercial plan by default. Following an EU antitrust investigation brought largely by Slack, Microsoft split Teams out into its own licence from April 2024, giving businesses the option to buy Microsoft 365 with Teams included, or without it and pay less.
From November 2025, Microsoft rebundled Teams back into its standard commercial suites as part of a settlement with Slack, while committing to keep offering “no Teams” versions of its plans at reduced prices (with the flexibility to switch between the two annually built in for eligible customers through the rest of the decade).
The headline for a UK SME owner: the choice hasn’t gone away. If you don’t want or need Teams, you can still licence Microsoft 365 without it, and pay a lower price for the privilege.
What the “no Teams” plans actually cost
As things stand, Microsoft’s published UK pricing for the no-Teams versions of its core business plans is:
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic (no Teams): from £4.20 per user/month (annual commitment)
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard (no Teams): from £8.30 per user/month (annual commitment)
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium (no Teams): from £14.40 per user/month (annual commitment)
Teams can always be added back on for any of the plans above if you change your mind, so you’re not locking yourself out of it permanently.
This is exactly why licensing shouldn’t be a “set and forget” decision. According to the Nxt Gen IT team, we regularly find businesses still paying for the Teams-inclusive plan a full year after moving their calls and messaging elsewhere, simply because nobody circled back to review it. A five-minute licence check is often the cheapest win we deliver a client all year.
Why Teams isn’t for everyone
Teams is a strong product for a lot of businesses, particularly those already embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem. But “included by default” isn’t the same as “right for you.” We see clients stick with something else where:
- There’s existing investment. A business that’s spent two years building Zoom into its sales process, or Slack into its engineering culture, isn’t ripping that out to save a few pounds a month.
- Client expectations run the other way. Recruitment agencies might be targeting a sector where Microsoft 365 has low usage, and clients are more accustomed to Zoom
- The working culture fits better elsewhere. Slack’s channel-based structure suits some teams better than Teams’ more structured layout, and forcing a switch against the grain rarely goes smoothly.
None of this makes Teams the wrong product. It makes it a product that should be chosen, not defaulted into.
Teams Phone: a genuinely optional add-on
Teams Phone (the add-on that turns Teams into a full cloud phone system with a dial-in number and calling minutes) sits a level above the core app and is priced separately again. Microsoft’s published add-on tiers run from around £10 per user/month for the phone system alone up to around £34 with international calling bundled in; UK pricing and included minutes vary by tier, so it’s worth getting an exact quote for your user count.
For a business committed to Teams, folding your phone system into the same platform can make sense. For a business that’s happy with its existing VoIP provider, it’s an easy licence to end up paying for without needing it. Same principle as everywhere else here: it should be a decision, not a default.
Key to note here, Teams is far from the best fit for sales focused businesses wanting slick CRM and third-party AI integration. Things are always improving, but it’s not leading the charge.
How we help clients get this right
This is where a long-term IT roadmap earns its keep. Licensing decisions like these connect to how your team communicates and what you’re trying to spend over the next twelve months. We look at Microsoft 365 licensing as part of that wider picture, aligning what you’re paying for with what your business actually uses, not what happened to be switched on by default.
FAQs
Can I still buy Microsoft 365 without Teams in 2026?
Yes. Despite Microsoft rebundling Teams into its standard plans from November 2025, no-Teams versions of Business Basic, Standard, and Premium remain available in the UK at a lower price, with Teams available as an optional add-on.
Will removing Teams from my licence break anything?
No. It only affects access to the Teams app itself. Outlook, Word, Excel, SharePoint, and OneDrive all continue to work exactly as before.
How much cheaper is Microsoft 365 without Teams?
Based on current published UK pricing, the saving is roughly £3 to £4 per user/month depending on tier, which adds up quickly across a team of any size.
Nxt Steps
- Check what you’re actually paying for. If your team lives in Zoom or Slack, it’s worth confirming whether your Microsoft 365 licences still include Teams by default.
- Don’t assume more expensive means more suitable. The right licence is the one aligned to how your business actually works, not the one with the most features switched on.
- Review it as part of your wider IT roadmap, not as a one-off decision. Tools and pricing both change, and this is worth revisiting annually.
Explore how Nxt Gen IT can support your business. Book a call with our Microsoft 365 expert to learn more.
Ben helps growing businesses turn technology into a driver of performance instead of a barrier. At Nxt Gen IT he works with SME leaders, recruiters, and fast-scaling teams to design solutions that improve reliability, strengthen security, and unlock growth.
With a background in email deliverability and cloud systems, Ben specialises in making sure businesses communicate effectively, keep data safe, and get the most from Microsoft 365. His experience spans solution design, managed IT services, and virtual CIO support, always with a focus on practical outcomes that reduce headaches for business owners.
Ben has supported organisations across the UK, from recruitment agencies struggling with inbox placement to SaaS firms scaling fast, and SMEs needing a trusted partner for their IT. He believes tech is never the end goal: growth is. His role is to make sure technology never gets in the way of it.