How much does Microsoft 365 Backup cost?
Microsoft 365 Backup is billed at $0.15 per GB of protected content per month. There is no per-user licence, so the total depends on how much Exchange, OneDrive and SharePoint data you protect — including the parts that do not show up in the standard usage reports.
Quick per-user estimates
These are rough figures for a single user based on common storage patterns. They include a typical 10% recycle-bin uplift and 15% versioning uplift on file workloads.
| Profile | Protected storage | Cost per user / month |
|---|---|---|
| Light — 5 GB mailbox, 5 GB OneDrive | ~11 GB | ~$1.70 |
| Typical — 10 GB mailbox, 20 GB OneDrive | ~35 GB | ~$5.30 |
| Heavy — 30 GB mailbox + archive, 50 GB OneDrive | ~95 GB | ~$14.25 |
The light profile is often cheaper than a per-user third-party product. The heavy profile can beat per-GB pricing with a per-user plan, which is why heavy-mailbox tenants tend to evaluate third-party options at around $2.63 — $7.00 per user per month.
What drives the bill
- Mailbox size — primary mailbox plus online archive.
- OneDrive size — including version history.
- SharePoint size — every site you protect, plus versions and recycle bins.
- Recycle bins — deleted items are billable until they age out.
- Versions — retained file versions count on OneDrive and SharePoint.
How to get an exact number
The fastest way is to run the PowerShell size scripts to pull real mailbox, archive and SharePoint numbers, then use the Microsoft 365 backup cost calculator. That combination includes the archives and recycle bins that usage reports usually omit.
Calculate your cost How pricing works
Frequently asked questions
How much does Microsoft 365 Backup cost per user?
It depends on protected storage per user. At $0.15 per GB per month, a 10 GB mailbox plus modest OneDrive costs around $1.50 per user; a 50 GB mailbox plus heavy OneDrive and SharePoint can cost $10 or more.
Is Microsoft 365 Backup cheaper than third-party backup?
Native backup is often cheaper for light mailboxes and cheaper than per-user third-party pricing for small mailboxes. It can become more expensive than per-user products for heavy mailboxes and always lacks Teams chat coverage.
What makes Microsoft 365 Backup more expensive than expected?
Online archives, recycle bins, retained versions and inactive SharePoint sites all count toward the protected total but do not show up in most usage reports.
Is there a free version of Microsoft 365 Backup?
No. Microsoft 365 Backup is a paid add-on billed through Azure at the published per-GB rate.
How can I get an exact Microsoft 365 Backup cost estimate?
Measure mailbox, archive, OneDrive and SharePoint sizes with PowerShell, then use a per-GB calculator that includes those hidden storage sources.
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