Microsoft kills standalone SharePoint Online and OneDrive plans

In a recent announcement on Partner Center, Microsoft warned users about its plans to discontinue standalone SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business plans (plan 1 and plan 2). While the company is not halting sales right here and right now, businesses should start preparing for the change and pivot from standalone plans to Microsoft 365 Business.

For those unfamiliar, SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business plans 1 and 2 cost $5 and $10 per user per month, respectively, and they provide 1TB or 5TB of cloud storage, plus several additional features for larger organizations. In the announcement post, Microsoft explains its decision to pull the plug on standalone plans 1 and 2 due to low customer demand, higher operational costs for maintaining those plans, and "unintended or nonstandard usage."

The good news is that admins have plenty of time to prepare for the end of standalone plans. Sales will end in June 2026, with Microsoft no longer accepting new customers after May 31 and keeping only existing users for renewals. Renewals will stop in January 2027, and Microsoft will only honor existing contracts until their expiration. Finally, in December 2029, all standalone plans will be completely retired, and customers will have to switch to Microsoft 365 suites, capacity packs, or pay-as-you-go storage options.

To support your customers through this change, you should begin planning now, reviewing customer tenants, positioning Microsoft 365 Business or E3/E5 suites where appropriate, and helping customers optimize, migrate, or archive data as needed. Microsoft continues to share guidance, resources, and updates to help partners successfully navigate this transition and support long term customer success.

It is interesting to see Microsoft mentioning "unintended or nonstandard usage," as this brings some memories of Microsoft killing unlimited OneDrive storage for Microsoft 365 (then Office 365) subscribers and capping it at 1TB. Back then, Microsoft said that it had to do it because it had encountered users abusing the system and uploading dozens of terabytes of data to OneDrive.

You can read more about the retirement of SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business standalone plans 1 and 2 in the official documentation.