Updated September 2026: in 2021 I argued Microsoft 365 Family needed entertainment, such as music or video, bundled alongside storage and Office to keep users, as Apple was doing. I have rewritten it into a comparison of how the big subscription bundles differ and how to choose one.
My family was on Microsoft 365 Family, with each of six people getting 1 TB of OneDrive and Office apps, and OneDrive backing up everyone's photos. It was good value, but I felt Microsoft was missing what Apple offered: music and video in the same subscription. Five years on, every big technology company sells a bundle, and they are built around very different ideas.
What do the main bundles include?
- Apple One: Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and iCloud+ storage, with higher tiers adding more.
- Amazon Prime: delivery benefits plus Prime Video and Amazon Music.
- Google One: storage shared with family, with higher tiers adding Google's AI features.
- Microsoft 365: storage per person and Office apps, with Copilot AI features added in 2025.
Did Microsoft add entertainment?
No. Microsoft has kept Microsoft 365 focused on productivity and added AI rather than music or video. Its gaming subscription, Game Pass, is sold separately. So the gap I pointed out in 2021 still exists; Microsoft has bet on work tools, not entertainment, as the reason to stay.
How do you choose a bundle?
List what your household already pays for separately, then see which bundle covers most of it. A bundle is only good value if you would otherwise pay for at least two of its parts. Paying for a bundle to use one service is usually more expensive than subscribing to that service alone.
Can you combine bundles sensibly?
Yes, and many households do: Microsoft 365 for storage and Office, Prime for shopping and video, and perhaps one music service. The trap is overlap, such as paying for two music services or two cloud storage plans. Review subscriptions once a year and cancel the duplicates.
Was my 2021 wish right?
In one sense, yes: bundles are how these companies now compete. But Microsoft's choice to stay with productivity makes sense for families like mine, who already had entertainment covered elsewhere. The best bundle is the one that matches what you already use.