Productivity · head to head
Microsoft 365 vs Anvil
Microsoft 365
Productivity
Subscription bundle of the Office applications with mail, storage, meetings and organisational identity
- From
- $7/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Anvil has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Microsoft 365 business plans are capped at 300 seats, so an organisation that grows past that must move to Enterprise plans, which changes both the price per user and the feature mix at the moment it can least afford a migration project.; Anvil free and AI Pack plans restrict interactive signing to UI-only access
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft 365 and Anvil actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft 365 | Anvil |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $7/month | Free |
| Pricing model | subscription | freemium |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Productivity).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Microsoft 365
- Office applications
- Hosted services
- Teams
- Microsoft Entra ID
- OneDrive storage
- Device management and endpoint protection
- Purview compliance
- Copilot
Only in Anvil
Nothing recorded that Microsoft 365 does not also cover.
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Microsoft 365
- Any organisation that wants mail, documents, meetings and identity from one supplier on one bill.not Anvil
- A company standardising on single sign-on, where Entra ID becomes the account other services authenticate against.not Anvil
- Regulated work that needs retention, legal hold and eDiscovery across mail and documents, provided the tier that includes them is actually bought.not Anvil
- A household that needs installed Office applications on several machines rather than browser-only editing.not Anvil
Anvil
- PDF automation for document workflowsnot Microsoft 365
- E-signature solutions for legal documentsnot Microsoft 365
- Data collection through mobile webformsnot Microsoft 365
- Insurance and healthcare document processingnot Microsoft 365
- Real estate and financial document automationnot Microsoft 365
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Microsoft 365
- Business plans are capped at 300 seats, so an organisation that grows past that must move to Enterprise plans, which changes both the price per user and the feature mix at the moment it can least afford a migration project.
- The compliance capabilities most organisations eventually need, including retention, data loss prevention, advanced eDiscovery and insider risk, sit at the top tier or in add-ons, so the real cost surfaces after an audit or a customer questionnaire rather than at purchase.
- Annual term subscriptions commit you for the year and month-to-month terms cost measurably more per seat, so the flexibility to reduce seats during a quiet period is bought at a permanently higher rate.
- Entra ID becomes the identity for everything else the organisation uses, which is the hardest kind of lock-in to put a number on, because leaving means re-federating every connected application rather than simply replacing a word processor.
- The licensing model is complicated enough that most organisations are either over-licensed or quietly non-compliant, and reconciling it usually requires a partner or a specialist, which is a recurring cost that never appears in the advertised per-user figure.
Anvil
- Free and AI Pack plans restrict interactive signing to UI-only access
- HIPAA compliance and embedded builders require Enterprise tier
- No native Salesforce or HubSpot integrations, Zapier only
Pricing, plan by plan
Microsoft 365
$7/month- Microsoft 365 Business Basic$7/month
- Email and calendar with 50 GB mailbox
- Web and mobile versions of Office apps
- Microsoft Teams included
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard$14/month
- Desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook
- Email and Teams
- 1 TB cloud storage per user
- Microsoft 365 E5$60/month
- Comprehensive security and compliance
- All productivity apps
- Advanced analytics
Anvil
Free- FreeFree
- 2 user seats
- Unlimited templates
- Unlimited submissions and e-sign packets
- AI Pack$99/month
- 5 user seats
- API access to Document AI
- 50-page Document AI limit
- Product Pack$425/month
- 5 user seats
- All AI Pack features
- White-labeling
- Enterprise$null/custom
- Unlimited user seats
- White-label builders
- Advanced security (HIPAA/BAA/DPA, SSO)
Which should you pick?
Choose Microsoft 365 if
- You need office applications.
- You also want hosted services.
Questions people ask
- Is Microsoft 365 or Anvil better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft 365 starts at $7/month and Anvil at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft 365 or Anvil?
- Anvil has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $7/month for Microsoft 365 and Free for Anvil.
- Does Microsoft 365 or Anvil run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Anvil for free?
- Yes. Anvil has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Microsoft 365 starts at $7/month.
- What is Microsoft 365 best used for?
- Microsoft 365 is most often used for any organisation that wants mail, documents, meetings and identity from one supplier on one bill., a company standardising on single sign-on, where entra id becomes the account other services authenticate against., regulated work that needs retention, legal hold and ediscovery across mail and documents, provided the tier that includes them is actually bought., a household that needs installed office applications on several machines rather than browser-only editing.. Of those, any organisation that wants mail, documents, meetings and identity from one supplier on one bill. and a company standardising on single sign-on, where entra id becomes the account other services authenticate against. are not what Anvil is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft 365 do that Anvil cannot?
- Microsoft 365 covers Office applications, Hosted services, Teams, Microsoft Entra ID.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Microsoft 365: What is the difference between Microsoft 365 and Office?
Office was a one-off licence for a specific version. Microsoft 365 is a subscription covering the applications and the hosted services together, and when payment stops the applications drop to a reduced state rather than continuing as they were.
Anvil: Does Anvil offer a free plan?
Yes, Anvil's free plan includes unlimited Etch e-signature packets (dashboard only), dashboard-only PDF filling with Document AI, 2,500 free credits for PDF generation, and 500 free PDF-filling API calls.
SourceMicrosoft 365: Is Teams included?
Not automatically for newer customers. Microsoft unbundled Teams and now sells it alongside the suite, so check what a given quotation actually covers.
Anvil: What is the cheapest paid plan?
The AI Pack tier costs $99/month ($79/month annually) and includes 5 user seats, API access to Document AI features, and 50-page document tagging limit.
SourceMicrosoft 365: What happens to our files if we stop paying?
The documents remain yours and can be downloaded, but access to hosted mailboxes and sites ends after a retention window, so leaving requires a planned export rather than a cancellation.
Anvil: What additional fees does Anvil charge?
Beyond subscription plans, Anvil charges usage-based fees: $0.10 per PDF fill/generation (2,500 included), $1.00 per workflow submission (25 included), and $1.50 per e-sign packet (25 included). Volume discounts up to 55% off are available.
SourceMicrosoft 365: Is Copilot part of the subscription?
No. It is a per-user add-on on top of the base licence, generally with its own term commitment, and it is priced per seat regardless of how much any individual uses it.
Related pages
More on Microsoft 365
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