The European Commission did not make a final finding that Microsoft broke antitrust law by bundling Teams with Office 365. It raised that concern in a preliminary assessment in June 2024, then closed the investigation on September 12, 2025, by accepting legally binding commitments from Microsoft. Those commitments require qualifying European Economic Area (EEA) customers to have no-Teams suite options, switching and discount protections, and improved interoperability and data portability. Microsoft’s revised commercial packaging and pricing took effect worldwide on November 1, 2025, but the EU-guaranteed rights have narrower geographic and product scope.
What the EU case decided—and what it did not
The headline’s “breached antitrust rules” wording overstates the current legal outcome. On June 25, 2024, the European Commission issued a Statement of Objections setting out its preliminary view that Microsoft may have abused a dominant position by tying Teams to Office 365 and Microsoft 365 productivity applications. A Statement of Objections is not a final infringement judgment.
The Commission later accepted Microsoft’s commitments under Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003. Its decision, adopted on September 12, 2025, made those commitments binding and closed the case without a conventional infringement prohibition decision or a reported fine. The decision summary appeared in the Official Journal on December 18, 2025. The distinction matters: the Commission’s 2024 concerns explain why the case arose, but the binding outcome is a set of forward-looking obligations, not a ruling that Microsoft was definitively guilty. Read the Official Journal decision summary.
How the complaint became a Commission case
Slack filed its complaint on July 14, 2020, arguing that Microsoft’s inclusion of Teams in business productivity suites gave it an unfair advantage. The Commission opened formal proceedings on July 27, 2023. German collaboration provider alfaview filed a complaint on July 20, 2023; it withdrew it on June 10, 2025. Slack withdrew its complaint on July 31, 2025. Those withdrawals did not end the Commission’s own investigation, which continued to a commitment decision.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
#1 Best Overall
Microsoft had already introduced commercial suites without Teams in the EEA in 2023, and extended no-Teams options to other regions in 2024. The Commission said those unilateral changes, considered as a whole, had not fully addressed its concerns at the time of the 2024 objections. Microsoft’s later commitments went further by establishing binding pricing, switching, interoperability and portability requirements. The Commission’s 2023 announcement of formal proceedings describes the investigation’s original context.
Why bundling and interoperability concerned regulators
The Commission’s preliminary theory linked two practices. First, Teams was included with suites containing products such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, limiting customers’ ability to obtain those productivity applications without Teams. Second, the Commission was concerned that limits on interoperability could make it harder for rival collaboration tools to work with Microsoft products and data.
In the Commission’s view, Microsoft held a dominant position in professional productivity software and the bundle could give Teams a distribution advantage: customers already buying Microsoft productivity tools would receive Teams as part of the package, making it harder for Slack, Zoom, Cisco Webex and other rivals to compete. This was the Commission’s preliminary assessment, not a final judicial or administrative finding of infringement. The remedy therefore addresses more than whether Teams appears as a separate line item on an invoice.
Rank #2
- Ideal for Gifting
- Ideal for a bookworm
- Compact for travelling
What Microsoft’s commitments require
The commitments principally protect qualifying EEA business customers using knowledge-worker suites. They preserve the option to buy suites with Teams, while requiring a viable no-Teams choice and measures intended to make switching and competing services more workable.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches- Unbundled suites and price separation: Microsoft must offer qualifying Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites without Teams at lower prices than the corresponding suites with Teams. Standalone Teams pricing must be at least the applicable price difference.
- Discount protections: Discounting on Teams or suites with Teams is subject to rules intended to prevent a customer from receiving a better discount on the bundled option than on the corresponding no-Teams suite.
- Switching and deployment: EEA customers must have recurring opportunities to move from long-term contracts to no-Teams suites. They may deploy those suites in datacentres worldwide.
- Interoperability: Microsoft must improve access and interoperability for rival collaboration providers working with products such as Word, Outlook and OneDrive. The commitments also allow rival tools to embed Office Web Applications and support more prominent integration of rival services in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
- Data portability: Microsoft must provide tools enabling EEA customers to extract Teams messaging data for use with alternative collaboration products.
- Oversight and enforcement: Microsoft must appoint a monitoring trustee. Disputes can be referred to fast-track arbitration, and the decision permits periodic penalty payments for non-compliance.
The main licensing and pricing obligations last seven years; the interoperability and data-portability obligations last ten years. These remedies aim to lower barriers to choosing another collaboration service, but they do not promise that every rival will offer identical features or that migration will be cost-free.
Minimum published price differences
Microsoft’s published figures are minimum differences between corresponding with-Teams and no-Teams commercial options, not universal retail prices. Actual invoices may differ by country, currency, sales channel, contract and customer segment. Microsoft says dollar differences remain fixed during the seven-year enforcement period, while euro and other currency amounts may fluctuate with exchange rates.
| Suite or standalone category | Published minimum difference |
|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 E3/E5; Office 365 E3/E5 | €8 / $8.55 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard/Premium; Office 365 E1 | €3 / $3.21 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | €1.50 / about $1.60 |
| Microsoft 365 F3 | €1 / $1.07 |
| Teams Enterprise / Teams EEA standalone | Minimum €8 / $8.55 |
| Teams Essentials standalone | Minimum €3 / $3.21 |
These are price deltas, not a promise that switching to a no-Teams suite will reduce a company’s total collaboration spending by that amount. A buyer may need a standalone Teams licence or a different service, and may face migration or integration costs. Microsoft publishes implementation details in its announcement of the revised offerings.
What changed for commercial customers on November 1, 2025
Microsoft says its revised global commercial packaging and pricing took effect on November 1, 2025. New commercial customers worldwide can again choose enterprise suites with Teams, alongside no-Teams versions. Microsoft also reduced prices for qualifying no-Teams enterprise, business and frontline suites and increased the price of standalone Teams Enterprise and Teams EEA to align with the enterprise price difference. The company describes the implementation in its licensing FAQ.
This global commercial rollout is broader than the EU decision’s guaranteed rights. The binding legal commitments principally concern EEA customers and specified professional suites; Microsoft’s worldwide packaging changes do not give every customer everywhere identical legal switching protections.
Rank #4
What existing customers should check before renewal
Microsoft’s FAQ says existing customers are subject to the new packaging, pricing and discounting policies from November 1, 2025. Customers on no-Teams suites or standalone Teams Enterprise are subject to the new pricing at their next renewal after that date. Customers with existing suites that include Teams are not automatically required to remove it.
For EEA customers on multi-year contracts, Microsoft says there are anniversary opportunities over the next five years to switch to the corresponding no-Teams suite while retaining the prior percentage discount. A customer buying through a Microsoft partner should confirm the available transition terms directly: Microsoft says partners may offer the same transition guarantees, but each partner can choose whether to do so.
- Confirm eligibility: Check whether the organization is an EEA customer and whether its subscription is a covered commercial knowledge-worker suite.
- Identify the contract and renewal date: Review the licensing channel, agreement term, anniversary date, seat count and any negotiated discounts.
- Compare full costs: Ask for quotes for the current suite, its no-Teams counterpart, standalone Teams if needed, and any alternative collaboration service. Include partner pricing and the cost of replacing integrations or capabilities.
- Assess operational dependencies: Map use of Teams chat, meetings, calling, channels, meeting rooms, guest access, identity, calendars, SharePoint, OneDrive and compliance workflows.
- Plan any move: Validate messaging-data export, retention and e-discovery requirements, integration replacements, security policies and user training before changing platforms.
The commitments improve the conditions for portability and interoperability; they do not eliminate migration work or guarantee feature parity with Teams. A price comparison alone will not show whether a switch saves money once operational changes are included.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Best Value
- It can be a gift option
- Comes with secure packaging
- Helpful in various ways
Who is outside the EU commitments
Microsoft says the commitments do not currently affect consumer, academic, US government-specific or nonprofit-specific SKUs. Government entities that buy from Microsoft’s commercial price list, including many governments outside the United States, are treated as commercial customers. Frontline suites are not within the Commission’s final commitments, although Microsoft separately made global frontline offerings and price changes.
Accordingly, a household Microsoft 365 subscription should not be assumed to qualify for the business licensing remedies. Buyers should verify the precise SKU and purchasing arrangement in Microsoft’s current licensing FAQ.
What the decision means for a business choice
The decision does not ban Teams, force Microsoft customers to switch, or prevent a company from buying a Microsoft suite that includes Teams. A business can choose a no-Teams suite and use standalone Teams, select Slack, Zoom, Webex or another service, or keep Teams in the bundled suite. The practical change is that qualifying buyers have a more explicit price and licensing route to separate productivity applications from collaboration software, plus obligations intended to ease integration and data movement.
For a personal-finance-minded business owner, the useful comparison is the total cost of ownership at renewal: the Microsoft licence after discounts, the price of any replacement collaboration service, migration and training costs, and the value of existing Teams integrations. The Commission’s remedy seeks to make choice more real; it does not determine which option is cheapest for every organization.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
