Office 365's Per-User Subscription Model

As managing vice president, Rob Helm covers Microsoft collaboration and content management. His 25-plus years of experience analyzing Microsoft’s technology... more

Office 365 is licensed under a per-user subscription licensing model, which offers a user access to hosted services and on-premises software, and which offers the user’s organization product support for the duration of the subscription.

Subscriptions Are Per User

Each user needs a User Subscription License (USL) to use the hosted services and on-premises software associated with Office 365. Licensed users may access the hosted services from any device (including multiple devices simultaneously). For subscriptions that include the Office 365 ProPlus desktop software, each USL entitles a user to activate the software on up to five devices. Similar rules apply to Office Mobile, a suite for smartphones licensed with Office 365 ProPlus. (See “Office 365 ProPlus Delivers Per-User Office Subscriptions” on page 19 of the Mar. 2014 Update.)

Organizations can purchase USLs for third parties (nonemployees), including contractors or business partners, as long as the third party is using the software to fulfill the customer’s internal business needs.

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