Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Licenses: Which One is Right for You?

(Updated 6/17/2025)

Table of Contents

• Introductions

• Which Dynamics 365 Sales license is best for small businesses?

• Can I use LinkedIn Sales Navigator with Dynamics 365 without the Relationship Sales license?

• Microsoft Copilot & Copilot for Sales (2025 Update)

• Is Copilot included in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales licenses?

• Conclusion

Introductions

If you’ve been around Microsoft for more than 15 minutes, you already know: software licensing can be a maze of features and capabilities.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales licenses come in multiple types—each with its own pricing, benefits and quirks.

In this post, I’ll simplify it all. Whether you're an SMB leader evaluating options, a technical buyer mapping functionality to needs, or just someone trying to make sense of what you're paying for, this breakdown is designed to help.

What’s now called Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales was originally known as Microsoft CRM or CRM Online. Over time, Microsoft rebranded the platform as part of its broader Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (CE) suite, which includes Sales, Customer Service, and other related apps.

So when you hear “CRM,” “CE,” or “Dynamics 365 Sales,” they’re often referring to different stages in the evolution of the same core product.

Which Dynamics 365 Sales license is best for small businesses?

For many small businesses, the right CRM license comes down to balancing features with affordability. Sales Professional is often a great fit for SMBs with straightforward sales needs—but it’s not the only option. Some may benefit from advanced tools in Sales Enterprise, or even AI-driven capabilities in Sales Premium.

The best choice depends on your team’s size, process complexity, and growth plans—which this guide will help you navigate.

Sales Professional

$65/User/Month

Sales Professional is your entry-level license. It’s one of several Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales licenses built for straightforward sales processes—great for smaller teams, organizations new to CRM, or those with minimal customization needs.

It includes all the basics such as Accounts, Contacts, Leads, Opportunities, Activities and more that you would expect from a modern CRM tool.

What’s included:

• Core CRM: Accounts, Contacts, Leads, Opportunities

• Activities: Tasks, Appointments, Emails

• Outlook, OneNote, and SharePoint integration

• Mobile access (Dynamics 365 app)

• Up to 15 custom entities

Best for:

Organizations looking to move from spreadsheets to a structured CRM without investing in complex configuration or automation.

Limitations to consider:

• No advanced forecasting

• Limited automation and customization

• No access to most AI or Copilot features

Sales Enterprise

$105/User/Month

Sales Enterprise is the next step up—ideal for companies with more complexity, longer sales cycles, or multi-step buying processes. It includes everything from Sales Professional and adds a broader toolset for planning, tracking, and coaching.

It is ideal for companies dealing with more complex sales or those requiring more extensibility and customization than found in Sales Professional.

What’s included (in addition to Sales Professional):

• Forecasting

• Sales territories & goals

• Sales Accelerator

• Business units & hierarchies

• Product catalog families, relationships, hierarchies

• Lead & opportunity scoring

• Embedded Intelligence features:

  • Assistant cards

  • Email engagement tracking

  • Auto-capture of sales data

• Business card scanning

• Basic Sales Insights features (some overlap with Copilot for Sales—see below)

Best for:

Mid-sized to Enterprise teams looking for robust automation, planning, and team management tools.

Note: Includes some limited Copilot features but not full access to Copilot for Sales. See the section below on AI features for details.

Relationship Sales

$160/User/Month (varies by agreement)

Microsoft Relationship Sales (”MRS”) helps businesses build relationships they need using LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator. MRS is not new software; it is simply LinkedIn Sales Navigator packaged by Microsoft under the Dynamics brand.

The MRS license includes the Sales Enterprise license plus a LinkedIn Sales Navigator license and can be purchased directly from Microsoft on an Enterprise Agreement with a minimum of 10 users.

Can I use LinkedIn Sales Navigator with Dynamics 365 without the Relationship Sales license?

Yes. You can get the same combination by purchasing Sales Enterprise through Microsoft and then buying LinkedIn Sales Navigator separately (Teams or Enterprise editions) directly from LinkedIn. Both versions integrate with Dynamics 365 Sales, making it easy to mix and match licenses to fit your budget and team size—especially for those with fewer than 10 users.

What’s included:

• Everything from Sales Enterprise

• LinkedIn Sales Navigator (Team or Enterprise editions)

• Dynamics-to-LinkedIn integration (view profiles, send InMails, log activity)

Important licensing note:

The Relationship Sales license is only available via Microsoft Enterprise Agreements with a 10-user minimum. However, you can replicate the functionality by:

• Purchasing Sales Enterprise through Microsoft

• Buying LinkedIn Sales Navigator separately from LinkedIn (for any user count)

Best for:

Organizations focused on B2B sales, account-based marketing, or relationship-driven outreach.

 

Sales Insights

Add-on ($50/User/Month)

Sales Insights is an add-on for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise or Relationship Sales and is all about turning raw CRM data into meaningful guidance. It uses AI and predictive modeling to help sales teams work smarter and faster.

What’s included:

• Predictive lead & opportunity scoring

• Predictive forecasting

• Business card reader

• Sales Accelerator

• Relationship analytics (track email/meeting trends)

• Notes analysis (capture key info from call notes)

• Conversation intelligence (transcribe & analyze calls)

• Assistant Studio (custom workflows)

• Pipeline intelligence

• Connection insights

Best for:

Sales leaders who want deeper insight into seller performance and deal health, and sellers who want real-time nudges and prioritization help.

Note: Sales Premium includes all of this by default. Copilot for Sales is a second AI offering and expands on many of these capabilities—see below.

Sales Premium

$150/User/Month

Sales Premium bundles the features of Sales Enterprise plus Sales Insights, making them the most complete, all-inclusive Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales licenses for organizations embracing AI-powered selling.

Why choose it?

• Saves $5/user/month vs buying separately

• Notes analysis

• Relationship analytics

• Pipeline intelligence (predictive forecasting)

• Unlocks full insight + automation feature set

• Includes readiness for full Copilot for Sales capabilities

Best for:

Organizations that want the best of both worlds—robust CRM workflows and cutting-edge AI features that reduce admin work and improve seller effectiveness.

 

Microsoft Copilot & Copilot for Sales (2025 Update)

AI is no longer a futuristic add-on—it’s becoming essential in modern sales.

Sellers today face a constant stream of emails, meetings, and customer data, often spending more time managing systems than building relationships.

Microsoft recognized this imbalance and responded with Copilot, an AI assistant designed to streamline daily tasks, surface meaningful insights, and help sales teams stay focused on selling.

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365)

$30/User/Month

Microsoft 365 Copilot brings AI into the tools salespeople already use—like Outlook, Teams, Word, and Excel. It can draft emails, summarize meeting notes, prep follow-ups, and even generate presentations or proposals—all based on Microsoft 365 data.

It works quietly in the background, helping sellers save time and stay organized without needing to learn a new system.

• Write better emails and meeting recaps

• Summarize documents

• Generate talking points and proposals

• Automate follow-up creation

Note: Microsoft 365 Copilot license is not directly related to Dynamics 365 Sales licensing but included in this article because of its relationship to Copilot for Sales (see below).

 

Copilot for Sales

$50/User/Month (Includes license for Microsoft Copilot)

Copilot for Sales builds on Microsoft Copilot by connecting it directly to your CRM system—Dynamics 365 Sales or Salesforce. It extends the AI capabilities found in Outlook, Teams, and other Microsoft 365 apps with live CRM data, enabling context-aware insights, automated updates, and suggested next steps.

It’s a practical sales assistant that helps your team move faster, respond better, and reduce manual effort across the entire sales cycle.

Is Copilot included in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales licenses?

Not exactly. While some limited Copilot features are available in Sales Enterprise, full Copilot for Sales capabilities require an additional license. Sales Premium is built to support Copilot for Sales, but the license itself is still purchased separately.

Note: There is a $20/User/Month license available if you have already purchased a separate Microsoft Copilot license.

Key features:

• CRM context in Outlook and Teams (see contact, opportunity, last activity)

• AI-generated meeting prep with opportunity health summaries

• Real-time meeting summaries with action items

• Draft follow-up emails based on meeting content

• Guided selling: nudges, reminders, and insights

How to get it:

• Available as an add-on for Sales Premium or Sales Enterprise

• Requires Microsoft 365 Copilot

Best for:

High-performing sales teams that want to reduce data entry, improve consistency, and make smarter decisions faster.

For more information see our recent Blog: Microsoft Copilot for Sales: AI That Boosts CRM Efficiency

 

Wrapping It Up

Dynamics 365 Sales licensing isn’t one-size-fits-all. It reflects the complexity of your sales process, your team’s size, and how much AI and automation you’re ready to adopt. Here’s a quick cheat sheet:

• Just getting started with CRM? Go with Sales Professional

• Need more customization or team hierarchy? Choose Sales Enterprise

• Want LinkedIn built in? Look at Relationship Sales

• Craving insights and automation? Upgrade to Sales Insights or go all-in with Sales Premium

• Looking to future-proof your team? Make sure you’re Copilot-ready

All the above information was distilled directly from the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide. If you would like to see any details that I’ve omitted for simplification purposes, please download the complete Licensing Guide with this link -> Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide.

Licensing decisions shouldn’t slow you down—or leave you guessing. If you're navigating options or rethinking your current setup, feel free to connect.

At Optrua, we spend a lot of time helping organizations make sense of tools like Dynamics 365 Sales, and we're always happy to share what we’ve learned.

About the Author

Ryan Redmond is the founder of Optrua, specializing in CRM and business process optimization. Ryan channeled his passion for efficiency from lessons learned in the Navy to his work today.

He helps businesses streamline technology to improve employee and customer experiences and empower teams to work smarter, not harder, without unnecessary overhead.

Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn.