What Office LTSC 2024 and Microsoft 365 cost a small UK business to 2029
For a small office that only needs the desktop Office apps, the choice is between one Office LTSC 2024 licence per PC and £352.80 per person for Microsoft 365 Apps for business over the 36 months to October 2029. That figure is Microsoft’s UK price of £9.80 per user per month, billed yearly and before VAT, carried through to 9 October 2029, the date Office LTSC 2024 stops receiving security updates. With VAT it comes to £423.36.
Microsoft 365 is the better fit when people need business email, Teams, Copilot or Office on several devices each. Office LTSC 2024 makes more sense when PCs are shared, kept off the internet, or bought on a set budget with nothing to renew.
Microsoft 365 business prices in the UK
These are Microsoft’s UK prices in October 2026, per user per month on annual billing, before VAT. The 36-month column runs to October 2029.
| Plan | Per user per month | Over 36 months | Desktop Office apps | Business email and Teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | £5.40 | £194.40 | No, web and mobile apps only | Yes |
| Microsoft 365 Apps for business | £9.80 | £352.80 | Yes | No |
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot | £18.10 | £651.60 | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft 365 Business Premium with Copilot | £24.60 | £885.60 | Yes | Yes |
| Office LTSC 2024 | One payment per device | Nothing further | Yes | No |
Microsoft also sells versions of Basic, Standard and Premium without Teams, at £4.20, £15.60 and £22.10 per user per month. Subscription prices can rise at renewal, so the 36-month figures are what you would pay if prices stay where they are now.
Per user against per device
Microsoft 365 licenses a person. One Apps for business licence lets that person install Office on up to five PCs or Macs, five tablets and five phones, and it comes with 1 TB of OneDrive storage. When someone leaves, the licence moves to whoever replaces them. Apps for business is sold for up to 300 users.
Office LTSC 2024 licenses a device. One licence covers one PC, and anyone who sits at that PC can use it.
Count your people and your PCs before comparing prices. A workshop with two shared PCs and six fitters who take turns on them needs two LTSC licences, or six Microsoft 365 licences. An accountant who works on a desktop at the office and a laptop at home needs two LTSC licences, or one Microsoft 365 licence.
What only Microsoft 365 includes
Microsoft’s own overview of Office LTSC 2024 sets out the gap. “Office LTSC 2024 doesn’t include the latest cloud-backed features and functionality available in Microsoft 365 Apps. As a result, users don’t have access to real-time collaboration, AI-driven automation, or advanced security and compliance tools tailored for a hybrid work environment.”
A Microsoft 365 plan also brings these.
- New features every month. Office LTSC 2024 stays on its 2024 feature set until it retires.
- Copilot, which Microsoft now builds into its UK Business Standard and Business Premium plans.
- 1 TB of OneDrive storage per user.
- Business email and Teams, on Business Basic, Standard and Premium. Apps for business has neither.
What Office LTSC 2024 gives you
Microsoft aims Office LTSC 2024 at “highly regulated or restricted environments that can’t take feature updates”. In a small business that might be a PC on a production line, a till or a machine kept off the internet, though plenty of offices choose it for plainer reasons.
- One payment per PC, with nothing to renew.
- No sign-in needed to keep the apps working. Once Office LTSC is activated, it runs without an internet connection.
- Menus and features that stay put. What your staff learn in 2026 is what they will use in 2029.
- Security updates until 9 October 2029.
- Access, if you choose Professional Plus.
If a subscription lapses
A Microsoft 365 business subscription that reaches its end date, because recurring billing was turned off or the term ran out, doesn’t stop working on that day. Microsoft describes three stages. For the first 30 days the subscription is Expired, and “Users have normal access to Microsoft 365, files, and apps”. The next 90 days are the Disabled stage, when “users can’t access Microsoft 365 services, and only admins can access and back up data”, and the desktop apps eventually drop into a read-only, reduced functionality mode with Unlicensed Product notices. After that the subscription is deleted along with its data, and it can’t be reactivated.
Microsoft also notes that since 9 February 2026 the Expired stage no longer applies to licence-based subscriptions bought directly through a Microsoft Customer Agreement, which removes the 30 days of normal access for those subscriptions.
An Office LTSC 2024 licence has no equivalent. Once activated it stays activated, and the only date that affects it is 9 October 2029, when the security updates end.
Business Basic with Office LTSC 2024
There’s a middle route for offices that want business email without paying for desktop apps twice. Business Basic, at £5.40 per user per month, gives each person an Exchange Online mailbox, Teams and the web versions of Office. Office LTSC 2024 on each PC supplies the desktop apps.
Microsoft supports Office LTSC 2024 connecting to Microsoft 365 services until 9 October 2029, so Outlook 2024 works with the Exchange Online mailbox for the whole support period. The Teams desktop app isn’t part of Office LTSC 2024, but it’s a free download and signs in with the Business Basic account.
Over 36 months that comes to £194.40 per user plus one LTSC licence per PC, against £651.60 per user for Business Standard with Copilot.
Three small offices and what suits each
Take a four-person estate agency with a desktop on each desk, email hosted by its web provider and no interest in Copilot. Office LTSC Standard 2024 on each PC covers it until 2029 for a single payment per machine.
A design consultancy whose six staff move between laptops at home and in the office, and edit the same proposals at the same time, belongs on Microsoft 365 Business Standard. Real-time co-authoring and Teams are what that team uses all day, and Office LTSC 2024 has neither built in.
A builders’ merchant with three shared counter PCs and a manager who needs email on their phone can split the difference. Office LTSC Standard 2024 goes on the counter PCs, and the manager gets a Business Basic licence for email, Teams and the mobile apps.
If one of your PCs runs an Access database, that PC needs Office LTSC Professional Plus 2024 instead of Standard. Our comparison of the two LTSC editions explains the difference, and Mac users have Office LTSC Standard for Mac 2024.
Our Office 365 Pro Account
Alongside the LTSC licences, we sell the Office 365 Pro Account, a preconfigured Microsoft 365 account delivered with its sign-in details. It includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, Access on Windows only, Teams subject to the account’s entitlements, and 100 GB of OneDrive storage as advertised by the supplier. Outlook isn’t included. The supplier advertises the account for up to five devices, across Windows PCs, Macs, tablets and phones.
The account sits on the Microsoft 365 side of this comparison. It’s licensed to the account and not to a PC, and continued use depends on the Microsoft 365 subscription behind it staying active, as the product page explains. It isn’t one of the Microsoft business plans in the price table above.
On Windows, its apps can’t be installed on the same PC as Office LTSC 2024. Office LTSC 2024 can only use the PerpetualVL2024 update channel, and Microsoft’s rule is “You can’t have a mix of update channels on the same device.” An office that uses both puts them on different PCs, as our guide to Office LTSC 2024 and Microsoft 365 on one PC explains.
Planning for October 2029
Office LTSC 2024 has five years of support and no extended phase, the same pattern as Office LTSC 2021, which reached its end on 13 October 2026. Our article on the Office 2021 end of support shows what that looks like when the date arrives. Whichever way you go, put 9 October 2029 in the diary. A subscription takes that date out of your planning, and a one-time licence means making the decision again in three years.
Questions about Office LTSC 2024 and Microsoft 365
Can Office LTSC 2024 open files made in Microsoft 365?
Yes. Both use the same file formats. A workbook that uses an Excel function Microsoft added to Microsoft 365 after the 2024 release shows a #NAME? error in those cells when it opens in Excel 2024.
Does Office LTSC 2024 need a Microsoft account?
No. The volume licensed version activates with its product key and runs without anyone signing in. You only need an account for services such as OneDrive or Teams.
Does Microsoft 365 Apps for business include Outlook and Access?
It includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote, with Access on Windows PCs. It doesn’t include business email or Teams.
Which works out cheaper over three years?
Microsoft 365 Apps for business costs £352.80 per user before VAT over the 36 months to October 2029. If an Office LTSC 2024 licence costs less than that per PC, and your staff don’t each need Office on several devices, LTSC is the cheaper option. The full range is in our Microsoft Office licences.
Can Office LTSC 2024 and Microsoft 365 apps go on the same PC?
No. Office LTSC 2024 only uses the PerpetualVL2024 update channel, and every Office product on a Windows PC has to use the same channel. Each PC keeps one or the other, and Microsoft 365 email and Teams still work with Office LTSC 2024 through Business Basic.
Sources
- Microsoft 365 Apps for business, Microsoft UK
- Compare all Microsoft 365 business plans, Microsoft UK
- What happens to my data and access when my Microsoft 365 for business subscription ends, Microsoft Learn
- Overview of Office LTSC 2024, Microsoft Learn
- Office versions and connectivity to Microsoft 365 services, Microsoft Learn
- Overview of update channels for Microsoft 365 Apps, Microsoft Learn
- Update Office LTSC 2024, Microsoft Learn