Microsoft Teams Free Plan Features and Limitations

Every free plan on virtual meeting platforms comes with specific features and limitations, and Microsoft Teams is no exception!

If you’re concerned about the availability of essential features in Microsoft Teams’ free version or curious about potential limitations, then this guide is for you.

In this blog, you’ll get everything you need to know about their “free plan features and limitations“.

So, let’s get started.

Brief Overview of Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a versatile collaboration and communication platform developed by Microsoft, as part of the Microsoft 365 family of products. Primarily they offer online chat & instant messaging, video conferencing & meetings, file sharing, and other communication and collaboration tools and Microsoft 365 integration applications.

They currently hold the position as the second most popular video conferencing platform worldwide, capturing an impressive market share of around 25%, putting it behind Zoom, which claims the majority with a 57% market share.

Microsoft Teams Pricing Plans

Microsoft Teams is available in two distinct editions which are “For Home” and “For Business” and each edition offers 3 different plans, which are:

For Home:

• Microsoft Teams (free) — Free forever
• Microsoft 365 Personal — $5.99/month
• Microsoft 365 Family — $7.99/month

For Business:

• Microsoft Teams Essentials — $4.00 per user/month (excluded tax)
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic — $6.00 per user/month (excluded tax)
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard — $12.00 per user/month (excluded tax)

Features of the Microsoft Teams Free Plan Include:

• 5 GB of cloud storage per user
• Up to 100 participants per meeting
• Unlimited one-on-one meetings for up to 30 hours long
• Unlimited group meetings for up to 60 minutes for a single season
• Full HD 1080p support and bandwidth constraints for high-quality video viewing
• Unlimited chat & messaging and live reaction
• Built-in search functionality
• File sharing, tasks, and polling
• Screen sharing
• Scheduled meeting
• Breakout rooms
• Virtual backgrounds
• Live captions in meetings (English language only)
• Microsoft noise suppression (noise-canceling) feature
• Microsoft Outlook calendar
• Microsoft 365 mobile app which combines Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Data encryption for meetings, chats, calls, and files

Limitations of the Microsoft Teams Free Plan Include:

• Limited file storage across all teams up to 5 GB (1TB available in Business Basic plan)
• Meetings are limited to a duration of up to 60 minutes for group meetings
• A maximum of 100 users can join a meeting (300 available in all paid plans)
• No guest access to teams
• No breakout rooms
• No webinar support
• No meeting recordings and transcripts
• No Microsoft whiteboard
• No automatically live-translated captions or subtitles
• Only English live caption (over 30 languages available from the Business Basic plan)
• Limited-size file attachments in chat (up to 2 GB per file)
• No custom email domain address (available from the Business Basic plan)
• Restrictions on Microsoft Office 365 integrations
• Restricts on usage reporting and analytics
• No phone and web support

Conclusion:

Today, Microsoft Teams stands as a crucial virtual communication medium, presenting a robust set of features and capabilities within its free plan.

Throughout this journey, we’ve explored the myriad possibilities and limitations that shape the digital workplace, providing you with a clear understanding of Microsoft Teams features and constraints!

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