Dynamics 365 Business Central pricing
By Emil Björk · Microsoft business apps consultant, Gothenburg
Essentials, Premium, Team Members, Device, and attach — what each costs and who needs which.
Business Central is priced per named user per month on an annual commitment. There are two full-user SKUs — Essentials and Premium — plus a low-cost Team Member licence, a per-device licence for shared terminals, a free External Accountant licence, and attach pricing for users who already hold another Dynamics 365 base licence.
The list prices below are Microsoft's published US figures. The two rules that decide most Business Central bills are that every full user in a tenant must be on the same SKU (you cannot mix Essentials and Premium), and that Team Member is a read-plus-approvals licence, not a cheap way to license data entry.
List prices
| Licence | List price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Business Central Essentials | $80 / user/month | |
| Business Central Premium | $110 / user/month | Adds manufacturing and service management. All full users in the tenant must be on the same SKU. |
| Business Central Team Members | $8 / user/month | Read access plus time/expense entry, approvals, and updating the user's own records. |
| Business Central Essentials (attach) | ≈ $30 / user/month | For users whose base licence is another qualifying Dynamics 365 app. Premium attach is also available at a reduced rate — see the licensing guide.Not on the product pricing page; from the licensing guide — confirm. |
| Business Central Device | ≈ $40 / user/month | Per shared device (POS, shop floor, warehouse terminal), not per person.Not on the product pricing page; from the licensing guide — confirm. |
| External Accountant | Free | No charge. Full-user rights scoped to the company the accountant supports. |
List price as of 2026-09-03; check Microsoft for current pricing. Regional price lists, Enterprise Agreements, CSP partners, and promotions all differ from US list.
Licence cost calculator
US list prices as of 2026-09-03, annual commitment, before any partner or volume discount. Runs in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
| Line | Qty | Unit / month | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials (base) | 10 | $80 | $800 |
| Total per month | $800 | ||
| Total per year | $9,600 | ||
Licences are usually 25–40% of five-year cost; implementation, ISV apps, storage, and support come on top.
Rules that change the bill
- No mixing: a single tenant runs all full users on Essentials or all on Premium. One department needing service management or manufacturing moves everyone to Premium — price the uplift against an AppSource ISV on Essentials first.
- Team Member is not a data-entry licence. Posting transactions, processing orders, or creating items on a Team Member licence is a compliance failure.
- Attach pricing requires that the most expensive app a user needs is their base licence; Business Central then attaches at the reduced rate, or vice versa.
- Hidden lines: database storage beyond the included quota, additional production environments, API call capacity, and paid AppSource apps. Budget the licences, then plan for implementation to match or exceed the year-one licence total.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Business Central cost per user?
- Microsoft's list price as of September 2026 is $80 per user per month for Essentials and $110 for Premium, both on an annual commitment. Team Members are $8. Regional price lists and partner discounts vary.
Can I mix Essentials and Premium licences?
- No. Every full user in a tenant must be on the same SKU. If anyone needs manufacturing or service management, every full user is Premium.
What does the External Accountant licence cost?
- Nothing. It gives an external accountant full-user rights scoped to the company they support, and one is included per tenant.
How much is a Business Central attach licence?
- Roughly $30 per user per month for Essentials as an attach to another qualifying Dynamics 365 base licence, per the licensing guide — confirm the current figure with Microsoft or your partner before quoting.
Sources
Licensing guides
- Business Central licensing and pricingHow Business Central is licensed — Essentials vs Premium, Team Members, External Accountants, and what really drives total cost.
- Business Central pricing tiers explainedA practical look at Essentials, Premium, Team Members, External Accountants, and the hidden costs that matter beyond the SKU.
- Dynamics 365 licensing explainedThe whole Dynamics 365 licensing model in one place — base and attach licences, per-user tiers, Team Members, device licences.
- License optimisation for Dynamics 365How to keep Dynamics 365 license spend efficient — right-sizing per user, attached vs base licences, Team Members, the cost-control discipline.
- What is Business Central?A practical introduction to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central — the SaaS ERP for small and mid-sized businesses.
Other products
Spotted a price change? Send a correction — the list is re-verified against Microsoft's pages, and the date at the top is the last check.