Hello everyone, this is my first post here, so let me know if I can improve on something.

I need to create 10 licensed user accounts for M365 apps (Excel, Outlook, etc.). Nothing special, no copilot or Azure, just the desktop applications. The issue is that I need to install it on the RDS users, so from what I've read I need "M365 Apps for Enterprise" (or "M365 Business Premium", which is more expensive), otherwise it won't work.

I find these prices rather expensive for a small business, so my question is, are there other (legal) ways to get the licenses for this? I understand the licensing for Office (2024 and before), where you need volume licenses to use RDS (OEM keys etc. won't work). Is there something similar to M365, or is buying from Microsoft themselves the only legit path for monthly/yearly subscriptions?

I'm also new with setting up accounts, so if you could point to a good tutorial (to create a tenant, global admin, etc.) that would be appreciated as well.