Microsoft Office Suite offers a lot of functions yet if you are looking to shift. Here are the 10 best Microsoft Office Suite Alternatives available.
For more than 30 years, the Microsoft Office suite, which consists of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and a few more office productivity applications, has been a mainstay in the workplace. In this article, we will be discussing the 10 best Microsoft Office Suite alternatives.
Some people still use Microsoft Office in this manner, whereby you had to download the office suite on your Windows PC to use it offline. The Google Docs Editors package from competitor Google put pressure on Microsoft in 2006, and as a result, Microsoft 365, an online version of Microsoft Office, currently exists. Since Google provided its online office suite for free, it swiftly dominated the industry.
Other Microsoft Office alternatives specialized in certain niches, such as cross-platform office suites and open-source office products. There are presently enough Office alternatives with their advantages that it makes sense to explore whether there is a better solution for your company. We have curated a list of the 10 best Microsoft Office Suite alternatives available.
Take a look at our list of the 10 best Microsoft Office Suite alternatives:
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LibreOffice
Over the last few decades, hundreds of open-source alternatives to Microsoft Office have been developed, with LibreOffice emerging as the top dog. This popular program has always trailed Microsoft Office, having been preceded by OpenOffice and StarOffice. LibreOffice’s default format is ODF (OpenDocument), although it can also accept Microsoft Office document types. You may also export to PDF.
LibreOffice is best used as a standalone, single-user desktop office suite. If you want to construct your collaboration server for employees, LibreOffice Online is accessible, but it’s a substantial effort to deploy compared to public cloud-based offerings like Google, Microsoft, and Zoho.
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WPS Office
WPS Office is a new Microsoft Office replacement from Chinese company Kingsoft. It features a clear, well-organized user interface that makes it simple to learn and use. There are two versions of WPS Office: the free version and WPS Office Premium. The free edition provides all of the essential features, including a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation tool. However, you are frequently supplied with irritating advertisements, and cloud storage is restricted to 1GB.
The paid version costs £1.93 per month or £23.22 per year. It eliminates advertisements, increases your cloud storage to 20GB, incorporates optical character recognition, and a PDF editor.
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Apache OpenOffice
It’s a popular name among the top free office suites, and it’s a fork of the now-defunct OpenOffice.org, which is maintained by the Apache Software Foundation. Because of its adaptability, this office productivity software is a viable solution for the general public. Apache OpenOffice, like its predecessor, is free and open-source software that is accessible in 40+ languages and is packed with functionality.
It has a simple and clean user interface and includes a spreadsheet, word processor, presentation program, vector graphics editor, and other tools. However, some users may perceive the UI to be dated. In terms of the unique selling point, this Microsoft Office alternative offers a variety of templates, and you can enhance the capability by installing extensions from the dedicated extensions shop.
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Apple iWork
Apple has traditionally been Microsoft’s strongest rival when it comes to consumer operating systems, but Apple has made a significant investment in its iWork office suite. It is only accessible through macOS (OS X), however, it is free (though not free as FOSS).
With an emphasis on design, iWork is capable of word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation tools. Some people think iWork is so basic they feel dumb using it, and it takes some getting accustomed to it. Despite that, this Mac version of Microsoft Office is still a good office suite for a small business.
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OfficeSuite
MobiSystems’ OfficeSuite is a Microsoft Office substitute that is most often used on iOS and Android mobile devices, however, a version of the program is also available for Microsoft Windows desktops. OfficeSuite is frequently pre-installed on many Amazon, Sony, and Toshiba mobile devices. You may use your OfficeSuite account to automatically sync your documents between your mobile devices and your PC.
There are several methods to purchase OfficeSuite. The free version is just a document reader; to edit documents, you’ll need the personal plan, which costs £29.99 per year. Alternatively, you may pay £44.99 per year for a family plan that includes up to six people, or £75.99 for a one-time purchase that does not expire.
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Office Online
Office Online may also be an excellent alternative to Microsoft Office Suite, which we often install on our PCs and Macs if you prefer to remain with Microsoft-made office applications. It functions directly inside your web browser and can be accessed using your Microsoft account, just like Google’s suite of office applications.
Office Online now offers online versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Sway (which makes presentations), Flow (which automates processes), and other programs. You can edit the documents on your PC or OneDrive similarly to how you can with Google Docs and Sheets. These applications shouldn’t be confused with Office 365, which has a monthly fee. If Microsoft removes any capabilities from these cloud-based Office programs, it won’t come as a surprise.
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Polaris Office
A free office suite from Infraware called Polaris Office is also offered in several commercial editions. Polaris Office is another Microsoft Office competitor that closely resembles the user interface of the original program. It is simple to use, supports all common Office file types, and has superior editing features than other Office substitutes.
One gigabyte of cloud storage is included in the free edition, but you may link your service to add more space. Additionally financed by advertising is the free version. There are several premium upgrades and numerous methods to pay for them if you find this unpleasant.
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WordPerfect
The oldest Microsoft Office substitute on our list and one that predates Office by more than ten years is WordPerfect. WordPerfect, which is only compatible with Windows, is still a somewhat antiquated office program. There are no cloud-based services available here.
Similar to WordPerfect’s outdated price structure. A limited Home & Student version costs £124.99, the Standard version costs £319.99, and the Professional version £514.99. Although there is no continuing subscription like with cloud-based services, this is fairly pricey.
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Calligra Office
The Calligra Office app split away from KOffice in 2010, and KOffice soon went out of business. An open-source office suite called Calligra Office was created using Qt technology. Although it contains more programs than LibreOffice, they don’t always have the same functionalities.
This free Microsoft Office substitute could be for you if you want a basic office package with a few more tools like flowcharts, database administration, and picture editing. If this is all you need, it’s quite affordable, exactly like LibreOffice.
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Zoho Workplace
Zoho provides thousands of various cloud-based solutions for managing everything from contact centers to finances. The portion of these products that most nearly resembles Microsoft Office is called Zoho Workplace.
You have access to online tools for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, cloud storage, video conferencing, calendars, and email, depending on the package you pick (Free, Mail Only, Standard, or Professional). Zoho Workplace is reasonably priced and simple to use if all you need is a cloud-based office suite without all the extras.
