Microsoft 365 E7 “The Frontier Suite” — What Australian Businesses Need to Know
Published: 29 March 2026 | Reading time: 10 minutes | Author: AyeTech Licensing & Cloud Team
Key Takeaways
- Microsoft 365 E7 launches 1 May 2026 — the first new enterprise tier since E5 dropped in 2015
- ~A$156/user/month bundles E5, Copilot, Entra Suite, and Agent 365. Buying separately costs ~A$185, so the bundle saves about 15%
- Most SMBs should not rush to upgrade. Industry analysts have questioned whether E7 delivers value for the majority of knowledge workers today
- All M365 tiers get price rises from 1 July 2026 — but E3 and E5 also gain new features at no extra cost
- The NCE renewal grace period ends May 2026. If your renewal slips past July, you are paying more for 12 months
What Has Changed and Why It Matters
Microsoft has announced its first new enterprise licensing tier in over a decade. Microsoft 365 E7, branded “The Frontier Suite,” launches on 1 May 2026 at US$99/user/month (~A$156). It bundles everything in E5 plus Copilot, Entra Suite, and Agent 365 into a single licence. At the same time, Microsoft is raising prices across all commercial tiers from 1 July 2026 and adding genuinely useful features to E3 and E5 at no extra cost.
If you are an Australian business running Microsoft 365, you have decisions to make before July — and they are not as straightforward as Microsoft would like.
What Is in Microsoft 365 E7?
E7 bundles four products. Here is what each one actually does:
Microsoft 365 E5 (~A$95/user/month post-July)
The full Microsoft stack: Office apps, Exchange, SharePoint, Teams, plus enterprise security and compliance — Defender for Endpoint, Defender for Office 365 P2, Purview Information Protection, eDiscovery Premium, and Audio Conferencing. If you are already on E5, you know what this is.
Microsoft 365 Copilot (~A$47/user/month)
AI assistance embedded across the Microsoft 365 apps — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and the Microsoft 365 Chat experience. Copilot uses your organisation’s Microsoft Graph data to generate drafts, summarise meetings, analyse spreadsheets, and answer questions about your business data. It is genuinely useful for some roles (executives, project managers, content-heavy teams) and borderline for others. If your business is exploring AI tools beyond Copilot, read our guide on deploying AI safely without the governance risks.
Microsoft Entra Suite (~A$19/user/month)
This is the identity and network access layer that sits on top of Entra ID P2. It adds:
- Identity Governance: Automated access reviews, entitlement management, lifecycle workflows
- ID Protection: Risk-based conditional access and risky sign-in detection (E5 customers already have this via Entra ID P2)
- Private Access: Zero-trust network access (ZTNA) that replaces traditional VPN
- Internet Access: Secure web gateway with web content filtering — includes an “Artificial Intelligence” category that lets you monitor, log, or block staff access to generative AI sites like ChatGPT, Gemini, and others
- Verified ID: Decentralised identity credentials for employee and partner verification
If you are still running a traditional VPN and have no identity governance automation, Entra Suite is a meaningful step up. If your identity posture is basic (Entra ID P1 or Free), you probably have bigger fish to fry first.
Agent 365 (~A$24/user/month)
Important: Agent 365 Does Not Build or Run AI Agents
Agent 365 is a governance and security layer for managing AI agents in your Microsoft 365 environment. It provides monitoring, policy controls, and audit trails for agents. The actual creation and execution of agents (via Copilot Studio or third-party tools) is separate, and consumption costs are billed on top.
Think of Agent 365 like a security guard for AI bots — it watches what they do, enforces rules, and logs everything. It does not actually do the work. For most Australian SMBs today, this is solving a problem you do not have yet. The AI agent ecosystem in Microsoft 365 is still early, and paying A$24/user/month for governance over agents you are not running is hard to justify. If you are interested in running AI locally without cloud dependency, we covered that in our piece on desktop AI with the NVIDIA DGX Spark.
Australian Pricing Comparison: E3 vs E5 vs E5+Copilot vs E7
All prices below are approximate AUD based on Microsoft’s published USD pricing and typical Australian commercial rates. Your actual pricing may vary depending on your licensing agreement, partner, and seat count.
| Licence Tier | Current Price (AUD/user/mo) | Post-July 2026 (AUD/user/mo) | What You Get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 E3 | ~A$57 | ~A$62 | Office apps, Exchange, SharePoint, Teams, Intune, Entra ID P1, base security |
| Microsoft 365 E5 | ~A$90 | ~A$95 | Everything in E3 + Defender suite, Purview, eDiscovery Premium, Audio Conferencing |
| E5 + Copilot | ~A$137 | ~A$142 | E5 + Copilot AI across all M365 apps |
| E5 + Copilot + Entra + Agent 365 (bought separately) |
~A$180 | ~A$185 | All four products, no bundle discount |
| Microsoft 365 E7 “The Frontier Suite” |
~A$156/user/mo (saves ~A$29 vs separate) | E5 + Copilot + Entra Suite + Agent 365 bundled | |
| E7 Introductory Offer 10% off, 10+ seats |
~A$140/user/mo (saves ~A$45 vs separate) | Same as E7, introductory discount | |
What does E7 actually cost a 50-seat business?
At the introductory rate: 50 seats × ~A$140 = ~A$7,000/month or ~A$84,000/year. At full price: ~A$7,800/month or ~A$93,600/year. That is a big number. For context, the same 50 seats on E5 alone would cost ~A$4,750/month post-July. You are paying an extra ~A$2,250-$3,050/month for Copilot, Entra Suite, and Agent 365 governance.
The question is not “is E7 cheaper than buying separately?” — it is. The question is whether you need all four components for every user.
Who Should Consider E7 — and Who Should Not
E7 probably makes sense if:
- You are already on E5 + Copilot and actively using both across most of your workforce
- You have 100+ seats with mature security and compliance requirements
- You are actively deploying or planning AI agents in Copilot Studio and need governance controls
- You need Entra Suite capabilities — particularly ZTNA (replacing VPN) or identity governance automation
- Your compliance posture demands web content filtering for generative AI sites and centralised agent audit trails
E7 probably does not make sense if:
- You are on E3 today — jumping two tiers is a massive cost increase and likely overkill
- You have 20-50 seats and only a handful of users would benefit from Copilot
- You are not using AI agents and have no plans to in the next 12 months
- Your VPN works fine and you have no immediate need for ZTNA
- You would be licensing Copilot for every user when only 30-40% of your staff would actually use it
What Industry Analysts Are Saying
Industry analysts have questioned whether E7 delivers real value for the majority of knowledge workers today, particularly around Agent 365 which is still maturing as a product category. That aligns with what we are seeing across our client base — most Australian SMBs are better served by a targeted approach: E5 for security, selective Copilot licences for power users, and evaluating Entra Suite independently.
What Is Changing for E3 and E5 Customers — Even Without E7
The July 2026 price increases come with genuine feature additions that are easy to miss in the E7 noise. These apply to your existing licence at no extra cost:
New in E3 (post-1 July 2026)
- Defender for Office 365 Plan 1: Anti-phishing, Safe Links, and Safe Attachments — previously required E5 or a separate add-on. This is a big deal for E3 customers.
- Intune Plan 2: Advanced device management capabilities beyond what Intune Plan 1 offers
- Intune Remote Help: Remote assistance directly through the Intune console
- Intune Advanced Analytics: Device health scoring and anomaly detection
If you are on E3, the Defender for Office 365 P1 inclusion alone is worth noting. Many of our clients were previously paying for this as an add-on or going without it. Post-July, it is baked in.
New in E5 (post-1 July 2026)
- Intune Endpoint Privilege Management: Granular elevation controls — users can run specific apps as admin without having full admin rights
- Cloud PKI: Cloud-based certificate authority for device and user authentication
- Enterprise App Management: Centralised management of Win32 apps through Intune
These are meaningful additions, particularly Endpoint Privilege Management. If you have been considering E5 for security reasons, the post-July feature set makes the case stronger. At AyeTech, we are already planning how to roll these out across managed environments.
The Bottom Line on E3/E5 Changes
Yes, your monthly bill goes up slightly. But the features you are gaining were previously sold as paid add-ons worth more than the price increase. For most businesses, the post-July E3 and E5 are better value than what you are paying for today.
What to Do Now — Before 1 July 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
E5 costs ~A$95/user/month post-July. E7 costs ~A$156. That extra ~A$61/month buys you three things: Copilot (~A$47), Entra Suite (~A$19), and Agent 365 (~A$24). But here is the thing — if you only want Copilot, adding it to E5 is ~A$142 total, which is cheaper than E7. E7 only saves money if you genuinely need all four components for every user. If you are on E5 and just want AI, add Copilot selectively and skip E7.
Business Premium (~A$35/user/month) caps at 300 seats and includes Defender for Office 365 P1, Intune, and Entra ID P1. If you are hitting the 300-seat limit or need advanced compliance (eDiscovery, DLP, Purview), E5 is your next step. Jumping straight to E7 from Business Premium is almost never the right move — you would be going from ~A$35 to ~A$156/user/month, a 4.5x increase. Move to E5 first, stabilise, then evaluate Copilot and Entra Suite separately.
Post-July E3 (~A$62) gains Defender for Office 365 P1, which closes the biggest security gap between the two tiers. E5 (~A$95) still gives you Defender for Endpoint P2, Defender for Cloud Apps, Purview compliance suite, eDiscovery Premium, Audio Conferencing, and the new Endpoint Privilege Management. If you need advanced threat protection, compliance, or legal hold — E5 is worth it. If your main gap was email security, the post-July E3 might now be enough.
Yes. You can run mixed licensing within the same Microsoft 365 tenant. A common approach: E5 for your security and compliance team, E3 for general staff, and Copilot add-ons for select power users. This is almost always cheaper than putting everyone on E7. AyeTech can model the exact cost difference for your seat split.
Yes, but only versus buying all four components. E5 + Copilot + Entra Suite + Agent 365 bought separately = ~A$185/user/month. E7 = ~A$156 (or ~A$140 intro). That is a 15–24% saving. But most businesses do not need all four for every user. E5 + Copilot alone = ~A$142, which is cheaper than E7. The bundle discount only kicks in if you genuinely use Entra Suite and Agent 365 across the board.
Do not jump to E7. Move to E5 for the full tenant (~A$95 × 80 = ~A$7,600/month) for the security uplift, then add Copilot licences only for users who will actually use it daily. If 20 out of 80 staff need Copilot, that is ~A$47 × 20 = ~A$940/month on top. Total: ~A$8,540/month. E7 for 80 seats would be ~A$12,480/month. You save ~A$3,940/month by being selective.
E7 includes Microsoft 365 Copilot (the AI assistant in Word, Excel, Teams, etc.) but Copilot Studio is separate. Building custom agents and workflows in Copilot Studio requires its own licence, and running those agents incurs consumption-based charges on top. Agent 365 in E7 only governs agents — it does not build or host them.
If you are on E3 and currently paying for Defender for Office 365 P1 as a separate add-on, you can drop that add-on once your E3 renews at the post-July pricing. The P1 capabilities (Safe Links, Safe Attachments, anti-phishing policies) will be baked into E3. Check your add-on renewal date — if it renews before your E3 does, you may pay for overlap. AyeTech can audit this for managed clients.
Post-July E3 (~A$62) now includes Defender for Office 365 P1, Intune Plan 2, and Remote Help — features that were previously E5-only or add-on. Business Premium (~A$35) already had Defender P1 and Intune P1. The gap has narrowed, but E3 still adds Exchange Plan 2 (100 GB mailboxes, unlimited archive), full desktop Office apps on unlimited devices, and no 300-seat cap. If you have over 300 users or need unlimited archiving, E3 is the only option. Under 300 seats with basic needs, Business Premium is still cheaper.
Renew early. The post-July features (Defender P1 in E3, Endpoint Privilege Management in E5) roll out to all customers on those tiers regardless of when you renewed. You get the new features either way — but if you renew before 1 July, you lock in the current lower price for 12 months. The NCE grace period ends May 2026, so act now. There is no downside to renewing early.
At list price: 100 × ~A$156 = ~A$15,600/month or ~A$187,200/year. With the introductory 10% discount (10+ seats): 100 × ~A$140 = ~A$14,000/month or ~A$168,000/year. For comparison, 100 seats on E5 + selective Copilot (say 30 users) = ~A$9,500 + ~A$1,410 = ~A$10,910/month. That is ~A$3,000–$4,700/month less than E7, and you are only missing Entra Suite and Agent 365.
Entra ID P2 gives you conditional access, PIM, identity protection, and access reviews. Entra Suite adds identity governance automation (lifecycle workflows, entitlement management), ID Protection, Private Access (ZTNA VPN replacement), Internet Access (secure web gateway with web content filtering that can monitor or block access to generative AI sites), and Verified ID. If you are still running a traditional VPN or need visibility into unsanctioned AI tool usage, Entra Suite adds real value. If your VPN works and your identity setup is solid, P2 alone is probably fine for now.
Not Sure What to Do Before July?
AyeTech runs Microsoft 365 licensing reviews for Australian businesses. We audit your current licences, model the scenarios, and give you a straight answer on what makes sense for your business and budget.
Book a Licensing Review Call 02 9188 8000Sources
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Licensing — Microsoft Learn (updated March 2026)
- Microsoft Entra Licensing — Microsoft Learn (updated March 2026)
- Entra Internet Access Web Content Filtering Categories — Microsoft Learn (updated March 2026)
- Agent 365 Overview — Microsoft Learn
- Copilot Studio Licensing — Microsoft Learn
- Microsoft 365 Enterprise Plans — Australian Pricing
- Microsoft Entra Pricing
About AyeTech
AyeTech is a Sydney-based managed IT services provider specialising in Microsoft 365 licensing, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and managed services for Australian SMEs. We help businesses navigate Microsoft licensing changes and make commercially sound technology decisions.
Contact: 02 9188 8000 | [email protected] | Suite 203, Level 8, 99 Walker St, North Sydney NSW 2060