Microsoft Details Pricing for Office 365 Subscriptions

As if Windows 8, Microsoft Surface, and Windows Phone 8 weren't enough, Microsoft is also preparing to launch Office 2013. Redmond today detailed pricing for its software suite, talking new subscriptions for Office 365 as well as pricing for standalone purchases of Office 2013.

First up is the single subscription to Office 365 Home Premium, which covers an entire household. Each user will be able to sign in with his or her Microsoft account (which means access to documents and personalized settings) and one subscription provides access for up to five machines (Mac or PC). This subscription will be available across 227 markets worldwide (online and in-store) for $99.99 billed per year. Aside from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, and Publisher, Office 365 Home Premium will also net you 20GB of SkyDrive storage, 60 minutes of Skype world calling per month, and continuous updates.

Microsoft is also offering Office 365 Small Business Premium, which is aimed at businesses with less than 10 employees. This will cover up to five machines (again, PC or Mac) for access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, and Publisher plus Lync. There's also a 25GB Outlook mailbox, 10GB of cloud storage for the company and 500MB per user, the ability to host online meetings, and the ability to set up, build and maintain a website with no additional hosting fees. 

If subscriptions aren't your thing, you can always grab Microsoft's suite of productivity tools in the more traditional form of Office 2013. Prices start at $139.99 for Office Home and Student 2013, both of which include Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Office Home and Business 2013 include all the applications in Home and Student with Outlook thrown in on top while Office Professional 2013 includes the applications in Home and Business with Access and Publisher on top.

Lastly, starting next month, anyone purchasing Office 2012 or Office for Mac 2011 will qualify for one free year of Office 365 Home Premium or the equivalent Office 2013 offering, when it becomes available. This upgrade deal will kick in on October 19.

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