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Microsoft’s first Business Central price update in 5+ years goes live November 1, 2025. List prices rise for Essentials, Premium, and Device licenses, and the per-license storage entitlement increases at the same time. New prices apply to new purchases on/after Nov 1 and to existing tenants at first renewal on/after that date.

The Exact Price & Storage Changes (USD List)

SKU Before Nov 1, 2025 From Nov 1, 2025
Business Central Essentials $70/user/mo + 2 GB/license $80/user/mo + 3 GB/license
Business Central Premium $100/user/mo + 3 GB/license $110/user/mo + 5 GB/license
Business Central Device $40/device/mo + 1 GB/license $45/device/mo + 1.5 GB/license
  • Applies to new cloud subscriptions and existing ones at first renewal on/after Nov 1, 2025.
  • Microsoft notes currency/region variations; confirm with your partner.
  • Team Members still $8/user/month on the public pricing page as of today (unchanged by this update).

Why Microsoft is Doing this Now?

Microsoft’s blog frames this as the first increase in 5+ years, pointing to substantial feature investment (including Copilot) and the storage entitlement bump that lands alongside the price change. The effective date was moved from Oct 1 to Nov 1, 2025 to give partners more time.

Storage Model—What Really Changes in Practice?

Business Central capacity = base tenant storage (80 GB) + per-license allowance (now larger per Essentials/Premium user and per Device license) + any add-on capacity you buy. Capacity is shared across environments in a tenant. If you exceed limits, Microsoft restricts some admin actions (like creating additional environments) but doesn’t stop transactions.

Why this matters: Many tenants near capacity because of growth in posted entries, attachments, extensions, and extra sandboxes. The bigger per-license allowance can delay add-on capacity purchases—use the Admin Center capacity page to check your trajectory.

License Types and Who Needs What

  • Essentials — core finance, sales, purchasing, inventory, projects, warehouse. Good default for most SMBs that don’t run formal Manufacturing or Service Management. (See Microsoft pricing page for plan positioning.)
  • Premium — everything in Essentials plus Manufacturing and Service Management. Choose Premium only if those modules are truly in scope.
  • Team Members — light users who read data, approve workflows, and update limited records. $8/user/mo list (unchanged).
  • Device — shared device scenarios (kiosks, shopfloor terminals). Sees the same Nov 1 price move and storage bump.

Can You Mix Essentials & Premium? (And the 2024 Wave 1 Nuance)

Short answer: Don’t mix Essentials and Premium in the same company/environment. Microsoft’s guidance is to use one full-user type per environment; you can run separate environments (one Essentials, one Premium) under the same tenant if you truly need both.

Nuance (2024 Wave 1): A Premium user can sign in to a company set to Essentials experience (they won’t see Premium features). The reverse is not true—Essentials users can’t sign in to a Premium company. This helps orgs where a small subset needs Premium functionality while others operate in Essentials-only companies.

Budget Impact Scenarios

Math: Users Ă— monthly price Ă— 12

Essentials (Full Users)

Users Old annual ($70) New annual ($80) Annual change (USD)
5 $4,200 $4,800 +$600
10 $8,400 $9,600 +$1,200
25 $21,000 $24,000 +$3,000
50 $42,000 $48,000 +$6,000
100 $84,000 $96,000 +$12,000

Premium (Full Users)

Users Old annual ($100) New annual ($110) Annual change (USD)
5 $6,000 $6,600 +$600
10 $12,000 $13,200 +$1,200
25 $30,000 $33,000 +$3,000
50 $60,000 $66,000 +$6,000
100 $120,000 $132,000 +$12,000

Device Seats

Devices Old annual ($40) New annual ($45) Annual change (USD)
5 $2,400 $2,700 +$300
10 $4,800 $5,400 +$600
25 $12,000 $13,500 +$1,500

Team Members (Unchanged)

Users Old annual ($8) New annual ($8) Annual change (USD)
10 $960 $960 $0
25 $2,400 $2,400 $0
50 $4,800 $4,800 $0

Pro tip: If your org is heavy on read/approve work, re-validate who truly needs full users vs Team Members—this can absorb part of the increase. (List pricing/renewal timing rules per Microsoft blog; Team Members page confirms $8.)

Renewal Timing Strategy Checklist

Use this if your renewal is close to the effective date.

  • Confirm your renewal date. If it’s before Nov 1, 2025, you can renew at old list until your next term. If it’s on/after Nov 1, budget the new list.
  • Right-size seats. Audit real usage (approvals, read-only roles) and shift appropriate users to Team Members.
  • Choose one full-user type per environment. If only a subset needs Manufacturing/Service, consider a separate Premium environment for that team, with the rest on Essentials.
  • Model storage growth. Check Admin Center capacity, including sandboxes. The per-license bump may push add-on storage further out.
  • Communicate early. Update budget holders and procurement so quotes and POs reflect Nov 1 pricing.

Downloadable Calculator (Ready for Sales/Finance)

Open the Excel Calculator sheet and edit Seat Count—annual totals and deltas update automatically. The Notes tab summarizes the effective date, storage model, and quick guidance.

FAQs

1. When do the new prices take effect?

November 1, 2025. Microsoft pushed back from Oct 1 to Nov 1.

2. Do existing customers get charged immediately?

No. New prices apply at first renewal on/after Nov 1, 2025.

3. What exactly is changing (price + storage)?

Essentials $70→$80 (+2→3 GB), Premium $100→$110 (+3→5 GB), Device $40→$45 (+1→1.5 GB).

4. Is Team Members changing?

No; still $8/user/month on Microsoft’s pricing page as of today.

5. What’s the base storage for a tenant?

80 GB base per tenant, plus per-license allowance, shared across environments.

6. Can I mix Essentials and Premium?

Not in the same company/environment. You can deploy separate environments (one Essentials, one Premium). Also, since 2024 Wave 1, Premium users can sign in to an Essentials company (without Premium features).

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