Microsoft 365 just got more expensive, again. From 1 July 2026, Business Standard rose by around 12% and Business Basic by around 17%, part of a global repricing Microsoft tied to new AI features most small businesses never asked for.
If that renewal notice is what brought you here, you’re not alone, and there are real alternatives worth pricing out before you just accept the new number.
Quick note on terminology, since it shapes what you’ll actually find searching this yourself: “Microsoft 365” is the current product name and the term worth using.
- “Microsoft Exchange” refers specifically to the mail server technology underneath it, more of an IT-admin term than something a business owner searches.
- “Microsoft Workspace” isn’t a real Microsoft product at all, despite sounding like it should be.
This guide covers alternatives to the whole Microsoft 365 suite, email included.
Zoho: The Cheapest Genuine Alternative
Zoho splits cleanly into email-only and full-suite tiers, something Microsoft doesn’t offer at any price point. Zoho Mail Lite runs 80p a month for email alone; Zoho Workplace Standard adds Writer, Sheet and Show, Zoho’s word processor, spreadsheet and presentation apps, for £2.40.
Compare that to Microsoft 365 Business Basic at £5.40 (web apps only, no desktop installs) or Business Standard at £10.80 (full desktop Office), and Zoho undercuts both by a wide margin while still covering the same core ground: email, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, shared storage.
Source: provider pricing pages, comparable full-suite tier, ex VAT
What you’d be leaving behind: Word, Excel and PowerPoint installed on the desktop with full offline access, and whatever your team’s already built around Outlook and SharePoint. What you’d gain: distribution lists and conditional routing rules on every paid tier, no history of surprise price rises, and a genuine email-only option if half your team never touches a document editor anyway.
Google Workspace: The Familiar Full Suite
Google Workspace Business Starter, at £5.90 a month, is the other mainstream option, and it’s worth considering specifically if your team is already fluent in Gmail and Docs, or clients expect to collaborate via Google Docs links.
It’s still meaningfully cheaper than Microsoft’s equivalent desktop tier, though not as cheap as Zoho, and like Microsoft it raised UK prices in March 2025, so the same “will this stay the same price” question applies here too.
Proton Workspace: If Privacy Is the Actual Driver
Some businesses leave Microsoft 365 specifically because of where their data sits and who can access it, not because of price.
Proton Workspace, Proton’s rebranded business suite (from March 2026), now includes Mail, Calendar, Drive, Docs and Sheets under Swiss jurisdiction with zero-access encryption, running around $12.99 a user per month on annual billing.
It’s not the cheapest option here, and collaboration features are genuinely less mature than Microsoft’s, but for a regulated business, legal, healthcare, financial services, where data sovereignty is a compliance requirement rather than a preference, it’s worth a proper look rather than a footnote.
What About Exchange Specifically?
If it’s Exchange itself you’re trying to replace, an on-premises mail server your IT team manages rather than the cloud-based Microsoft 365 subscription, the calculus is different again. Google Workspace and Zoho both replace Exchange’s core job, hosted mail with admin controls, without the server maintenance. For a small business, this is almost always the easier path: nobody’s patching a mail server at 11pm on a Friday when the provider hosts it for you.
The Direct Comparison
| Provider | Entry price /user/month | Desktop apps | Notable strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Workplace | £2.40 | ✗ Web-based | Price, no history of increases |
| Google Workspace | £5.90 | ✗ Web-based | Familiarity, Gmail ecosystem |
| Proton Workspace | ~$12.99 | ✗ Web-based | Privacy, Swiss jurisdiction |
| Microsoft 365 (for reference) | £10.80 | ✓ Full desktop | Deepest Office integration |
Source: provider pricing pages, ex VAT where applicable
Making the Switch
None of these alternatives require desktop Office specifically to function well for most small teams, and the ones that do genuinely need it are usually a minority within any given business, not the whole headcount.
Migrating away from Microsoft 365 means exporting mail over IMAP, moving documents out of native Office formats, and rebuilding any distribution groups or Outlook rules on the new platform, a day or two of admin work for a small team, best timed ahead of your next renewal rather than after the new price has already landed.
If Zoho is the direction that makes sense for your business, our Zoho Mail setup service handles the migration, DNS records and distribution groups properly, so you’re not troubleshooting a botched switch on top of everything else.
Common Questions
What’s the cheapest alternative to Microsoft 365?
Zoho, by a wide margin. Mail Lite at 80p a month for email alone, or Workplace Standard at £2.40 for email plus a full office suite, against Microsoft 365 Business Standard’s £10.80.
Is Google Workspace cheaper than Microsoft 365?
Yes, at the entry tier. Business Starter is £5.90 against Microsoft’s £10.80 for Business Standard, though Google’s apps are web-based rather than installed, which is the trade-off behind the lower price.
What can I use instead of Microsoft Exchange specifically?
Any hosted email platform that doesn’t require you to run and patch your own mail server. Google Workspace and Zoho both do this job without the infrastructure overhead Exchange traditionally carries.
Why is Microsoft 365 getting more expensive in 2026?
Microsoft’s 1 July 2026 global repricing raised most Business and Enterprise tiers, tying the increase to new AI features bundled into the suites whether individual businesses use them or not.