Microsoft Places is transitioning from a user-based to a space-based licensing model starting in April 2026. This shift should align licensing costs with how organizations manage physical workspaces and extend access to core Places experiences across Microsoft 365 tenants.
- Currently, Microsoft Places uses a user-based licensing model. Starting April 2026, licensing is tied to physical spaces rather than users.
- Microsoft will also remove the “Places Enhanced” capabilities from the Teams Premium license at the end of the current subscription term or upon renewal.
Timeline
- Starting 1 April 2026, organizations can acquire the new Teams Shared Space license. Places Enhanced capabilities will no longer be included in new Teams Premium subscriptions.
- For organizations with a Teams Premium license, the transition takes effect at the end of the current subscription term or upon renewal. It’s the Places Enhanced service plan in the subscription.
How does this affect your organization?
As Microsoft announced a few weeks ago, users without a Teams Premium license will gain access to additional Microsoft Places features starting 1 April 2026. As part of this update, Microsoft is introducing an updated space-based license, currently named Teams Shared Devices (Product ID CFQ7TTC0LH0V).
Across our AI-powered workplace solutions, we’re continually looking for ways to streamline how organizations manage their inventory of shared desks, spaces, and assets. The newly renamed Teams Shared Space license (formerly Teams Shared Devices license) will be the way that organizations manage this inventory of assets, adding the ability to manage up to four desks with a single license (in addition to the previous ability to manage either a common area phone, a Teams panel, shared space like a room, or a hotdesking device included in the Teams Shared Device license). IT admins will be able to assign licenses to bookable shared spaces individually and control which workspaces are available for employees to use with this new functionality.
Starting April 2026, users can access Places Finder and the Places app without a Teams Premium license.
The new Shared Space license covers desk reservation support, auto-release policies for desks and rooms, and space-based analytics.
Users can reserve individual desks only if those desks are covered by a Shared Space license, or if they still hold a Teams Premium license under the previous terms. After renewal, applicable Microsoft Places capabilities will require Shared Space licensing.
Desks configured as bookable, with auto-release policies, and desk and room analytics all require a Shared Space license to function. Without it, bookable desks appear unavailable to users, auto-release policies can be configured but will not take effect, and analytics remain inaccessible, regardless of the underlying configuration.
Organizations should review their desk, desk-pool, and room configurations to identify spaces that will require a Shared Space license before April 2026, or before their Teams Premium license is renewed.
Ensure Shared Space license coverage for:
- Desks that require reservation support
- Spaces (including Rooms) using auto-release policies
- Spaces requiring space-based analytics
