deskbird vs Microsoft Places: desk and room booking compared
Microsoft Places books rooms and desk pools inside Microsoft Teams and Outlook, and it comes with most Microsoft 365 plans. Since 1 April 2026, booking a specific desk, auto-release and occupancy reports need a space licence on each desk or room. deskbird puts desks, rooms, parking, check-in and office and workforce analytics in one app, priced per active user, inside Teams and Outlook, with no licence per desk.
Quick verdict
Choose Places if your desks already live in Exchange Online and you are willing to licence the desks people book individually. Choose deskbird if you want specific desks, rooms and parking in one app, priced per person instead of per desk.
A real option if you already maintain the Places hierarchy in Exchange Online, set up desks with PowerShell or the Places portal, and plan space licences for individual desk booking, auto-release and occupancy reports.
One app for desks, rooms and parking, with check-in and office and workforce analytics in every plan, priced per active user. Advanced analytics and custom exports come with Professional. Visitor management, room kiosks and sensor-free occupancy measurement are separate add-ons. It runs in Teams and Outlook and syncs with Microsoft 365 and Google calendars.
A mailbox hosted in Microsoft 365. An on-premises mailbox runs on a server your company operates.
A Microsoft licence assigned to a room or a desk, not to a person.
A group of desks in one area. Users reserve a seat in the area, not a specific desk. Microsoft calls it a workspace.
What is Microsoft Places?
Microsoft describes Places as "an AI-powered workplace app that supports flexible work". Its features are "embedded directly in Microsoft Teams and Outlook" (Microsoft Learn, "What is Microsoft Places?", 27 July 2026).
Places comes with most Microsoft 365 plans. Microsoft's licence page, updated 18 August 2026, lists Business Basic, Standard and Premium, E1, E3 and E5, A1, A3 and A5, F1 and F3, and the Teams Enterprise, Essentials and standalone plans.
What is included without an extra licence?
The same licence page lists these core features:
"Most Places features depend on a fully established hierarchy of buildings, floors, rooms, workspaces, and desks."
Microsoft Learn, "What is Microsoft Places?", 27 July 2026That sentence matters more than the feature list. Places is not a booking tool you switch on. It is a directory you build first.
What changed on 1 April 2026?
Microsoft's licence page, updated 18 August 2026, says three Places features "used to require a Teams Premium license". "As of April 1st, 2026" they moved to per-space licensing: each needs a licence on the room or desk itself.
Individual desk booking
Booking one specific desk instead of a seat in a pool. Each desk needs a Microsoft Teams Shared Space licence (MTSS) or a Shared Space Single Space licence (MTSS-SS). Desk pools stay in the core plan.
Auto-release
Frees a room or desk that nobody used. It needs a space licence on that room or desk. Microsoft's FAQ, updated 5 August 2026, adds that auto-release works only on reservable desks, not on drop-in or assigned desks.
Occupancy reports
Reports in Places Analytics on how rooms and desks were used. They need space licences on the rooms and desks in the report.
Two changes went the other way on the same date. Places Explorer and Places Finder moved from Teams Premium into the core plan, and Places Analytics no longer needs a Teams Premium licence. Customers who bought Teams Premium before 1 April 2026 keep the premium capabilities until renewal (Microsoft FAQ, updated 5 August 2026). Check-in itself needs no extra licence. Copilot room booking and Quick book need a Microsoft Copilot licence (licence page, 18 August 2026).
How do Places and deskbird compare side by side?
Only rows with a source are included. Where Microsoft's Places documentation does not describe a capability, the cell says so.
Microsoft column: Microsoft Learn, "License requirements" (updated 18 August 2026), "Desks" and "Enable Places analytics" (27 July 2026), "Frequently asked questions" (updated 5 August 2026), "Compliance, privacy and security in Places" (updated 11 August 2025), "Microsoft Places integration partners" (updated 15 June 2026). deskbird column: deskbird.com product, security and pricing pages as of 14 September 2026.
Want to see the deskbird column live, inside your Teams tenant?
Book a demoWhen is Places enough, and when do teams add deskbird?
When is Microsoft Places enough?
- Every employee has an Exchange Online mailbox and works in Teams and New Outlook.
- IT can build and maintain the building, floor, section and desk hierarchy with PowerShell or the Places portal.
- Desk pools match how your office works, or you plan to license individual desks.
- Parking and visitor management are not on your list.
- Occupancy per building, room and desk pool is enough, and you accept space licences for the reports.
When do teams add deskbird?
- People want to pick a specific desk near their teammates in advance, without a licence per desk.
- Desks, rooms and parking should live in one app, still inside Teams and Outlook, with visitors available as an add-on.
- Some staff have mailboxes outside Exchange Online or use Google calendars. deskbird syncs with Microsoft 365 and Google calendars.
- Check-in should work on every desk and room, and usage and attendance analytics should come with the base plan rather than a licence per desk.
- Rollout should take hours, not a PowerShell project. deskbird states 10 minutes to install and up to 24 hours to roll out.
How much setup does each need?
Setting up Microsoft Places
- Build the hierarchy. Microsoft's desks page, dated 27 July 2026, requires Building, Floor, Section and Desk to exist before any desk is added.
- Create desks with PowerShell or the Places management portal. Set each desk to Reservable, Drop-in, Assigned or Unavailable.
- Enable analytics with PowerShell for a mail-enabled security group. Settings take up to 12 hours to apply. Microsoft recommends no more than 200 buildings.
- For automatic booking when someone plugs in, use Teams "Bookable desks". It needs the Teams Rooms Pro Management portal and monitors with a unique serial number. Docking stations and webcams are "coming soon" (Microsoft Learn, 3 September 2026). Its reports cover weekdays from 8:00 to 17:00.
Setting up deskbird
- Add the deskbird app in the Teams admin centre. A Teams admin approves it and assigns it through a setup policy.
- deskbird states that installation takes 10 minutes and rollout takes up to 24 hours. No PowerShell is needed.
- Connect your calendars and sign-in. deskbird syncs with Microsoft 365 and Google calendars and supports Microsoft Entra ID. SAML authentication and SCIM provisioning come with the User & Data Management Plus add-on.
- Configure floor plans, booking and access rules, check-in automation and analytics in deskbird's admin area.
What does each one cost?
What does Microsoft Places cost?
Microsoft's licence page lists which plans include Places. It does not list a separate price for Places. Costs start with the premium behaviours. Since 1 April 2026, each desk that people book individually, or that auto-releases, needs a Teams Shared Space licence (MTSS or MTSS-SS). Rooms with auto-release or occupancy data need a space licence, and Microsoft accepts Teams Rooms or either Shared Space licence there. Microsoft also grants three free MTSS-SS licences for every MTSS licence bought, which lowers the per-desk cost. Copilot room booking and Quick book need a Microsoft Copilot licence.
What does deskbird cost?
deskbird prices per active user. The pricing page, checked 15 September 2026, lists Business at $3.75 per active user per month billed annually, or $4.75 billed monthly. Professional and Enterprise have custom pricing. Prices are also shown in EUR, CHF, GBP, CAD and AUD. Desks are never licensed individually, and booking a desk or a room needs no licence on that desk or room. Add-ons are priced separately.
Which model costs less depends on your ratio of people to desks, and on how many spaces need auto-release and reports. Run that comparison with your own numbers.
Want your own numbers compared, per person against per desk?
Book a demoCan you use Places and deskbird together?
Yes. Microsoft's partner directory, updated 15 June 2026, lists floor-plan conversion partners such as Eptura, GoBright, Planon and ServiceNow, and sensor partners such as VergeSense and Haltian. Microsoft notes that it "doesn't endorse the partners".
deskbird works natively in Microsoft Teams and syncs with Microsoft 365 calendars (deskbird integrations page). One way to combine the two: keep Teams and Outlook as the calendar layer, and run desks, parking and analytics in deskbird. See the Microsoft Teams integration, the Outlook calendar integration and how booking in Teams works.
Frequently asked questions
Is Microsoft Places free with Microsoft 365?
The core features are included with Business Basic, Standard and Premium, E1, E3 and E5, A1, A3 and A5, F1 and F3, and the Teams plans. Since 1 April 2026, individual desk booking, auto-release and occupancy reports need a space licence on each desk or room. Copilot room booking needs a Copilot licence (Microsoft Learn, "License requirements", updated 18 August 2026).
Can you book a specific desk in Microsoft Places?
Yes, if the desk is set to reservable and carries a Teams Shared Space licence (MTSS or MTSS-SS). Without a licence, users book desk pools, which reserve a seat in an area rather than a specific desk. In deskbird, a specific desk is booked from the floor plan, and pricing is per active user.
Does Microsoft Places work with on-premises Exchange mailboxes?
Not in a hybrid setup. Microsoft's licence page, updated 18 August 2026, says that in Exchange hybrid environments Places features are only available for users whose mailbox is managed in Exchange Online. Users with an on-premises mailbox cannot access the Places app, Places Finder or work plans, but Microsoft notes they can continue to use Room Finder in Outlook. deskbird syncs with Microsoft 365 and Google calendars.
Does deskbird replace Microsoft Teams or Outlook?
No. deskbird works natively in Microsoft Teams, syncs with Microsoft 365 and Google calendars, and lets employees book from mobile, web, Teams or Outlook. Employees keep the tools they already use.
How long does each one take to set up?
Places needs the building, floor, section and desk hierarchy first. Desks are then created with PowerShell or the Places portal, and analytics settings take up to 12 hours to apply. deskbird is added in the Teams admin centre with admin approval. deskbird states 10 minutes to install and up to 24 hours to roll out.
Does Microsoft Places detect who is in the office?
Partly. Microsoft's FAQ, updated 5 August 2026, describes Wi-Fi based work-location check-in in Teams desktop on Windows and macOS, within working hours and on the tenant's own network, not on mobile. Microsoft adds that automatic updating is off by default and that each user must grant location permission. Teams "Bookable desks" reserves a desk when a user connects a monitor, or a device with audio and video, that reports a unique serial number. deskbird offers this through the deskbird Intelligence add-on, which measures occupancy without physical sensors, cameras or badges, using signals such as Wi-Fi, monitors and docking, anonymous by default.
See deskbird next to your Microsoft setup
Bring your floor plan and your licence questions. We show how deskbird runs inside Teams and Outlook, and what changes for your admins.
Book a demoHow booking in Teams worksSources
- Microsoft Learn, "What is Microsoft Places?", 27 July 2026.
- Microsoft Learn, "License requirements", Microsoft Places, updated 18 August 2026.
- Microsoft Learn, "Desks", Microsoft Places room and desk booking, 27 July 2026.
- Microsoft Learn, "Enable Places analytics", 27 July 2026.
- Microsoft Learn, "Frequently asked questions", Microsoft Places, updated 5 August 2026.
- Microsoft Learn, "Microsoft Places integration partners", updated 15 June 2026.
- Microsoft Learn, "Setting up Bookable Desks in Microsoft Teams", 3 September 2026.
- Microsoft Learn, "Compliance, privacy and security in Microsoft Places", 10 March 2025, updated 11 August 2025.
- deskbird, desk booking, room booking, workplace analytics, workplace intelligence, integrations, security and pricing pages, as of 14 September 2026.
- deskbird blog, "deskbird for Microsoft Teams" (11 February 2026) and "How to book desks and rooms in Microsoft Teams" (6 May 2026).
Features, licensing and pricing are based on public information as of September 2026 and can change. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
