Managing SharePoint storage isn’t just about capacity - it’s about cost. If your organization is growing fast, storage expenses can sneak up on you. Let’s break down how SharePoint storage is priced and explore ways to reduce those costs.
How SharePoint storage is priced
Microsoft 365 tenants come with a default storage allocation:
- 1 TB base storage per tenant
- +10 GB per licensed user
If you need more, you can purchase additional storage at roughly $0.20 per GB per month. That’s $204 per TB per month, which adds up quickly—especially for large organizations or those with heavy file usage.
📊 Example: A company with 5 TB of extra storage could be paying over $1,000/month just for SharePoint space.
In organizations with fewer users, the base storage is divided among a smaller group, resulting in higher storage available per user. For example, a 50-user organization has 30 GB per user.
In larger organizations, the per-user storage ratio decreases. For instance, an organization with 800 users receives 1 TB + (10 GB x 800 users) = 9 TB, which averages only 11.25 GB per user.
Why costs increase over time
Storage usage tends to grow silently:
- Version history accumulates
- Inactive sites linger
- Large files pile up
- Teams content (stored in SharePoint) expands rapidly
Without regular cleanup, you’ll end up paying for space you don’t actually need.
How to reduce SharePoint storage costs
Here are three proven strategies:
- Archive inactive sites
- Use tools like SProbot to identify and archive sites that haven’t been accessed in months.
- Archived content can be moved to lower-cost storage or deleted.
- Trim document versions
- SharePoint retains hundreds of versions by default.
- Reducing this to 25 or fewer can save significant space.
- Delete large unused files
- Run reports to find oversized files that haven’t been touched.
- Remove or relocate them to OneDrive or external storage.
🔗 Related reading: How to reclaim SharePoint storage
When to consider buying more storage
If you’ve optimized your environment and still need more space, purchasing additional storage may be necessary. But always explore cleanup options first - many organizations find they can reclaim 20–40% of their storage just by removing unused content.
Final thoughts
SharePoint storage costs can escalate quickly, but with proactive management, you can keep expenses under control. Archiving, cleanup, and version trimming are your best allies.
Need help identifying what to clean up? SProbot can automate that for you.
