Microsoft really doesn't want you to buy Office — here's a great free alternative
Don’t pay for a subscription when full office suites are available for free.
Buying Microsoft Office used to be simple: you paid once for a license and could use that version as long as you wanted. But like a lot of software, a one-time purchase has turned into an endless subscription, as is the case with Microsoft 365.
Since Office 2013, Microsoft has pushed the subscription as the main way to buy Office. You can still buy a standalone version for access to Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but it only works on one computer and is pricey.
Microsoft 365's plans can be costly, and being pushed into a subscription for such a fundamental tool is frustrating. That's even more so after Microsoft crammed the plans full of AI features you may not want, then raised the price with no way to skip the AI tools.
Thankfully, there are free alternatives that offer a lot of what you need from Office without all the nonsense.
The simple option: Office Online
If you don't want to use a third-party alternative, Office Online is a web-based suite that's a suitable replacement for many people. By signing into your Microsoft account, you gain access to free web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, plus other tools like Forms, Teams and To Do.
These are stripped-down offerings that lack advanced features like macros and watermarks, but still offer core features like headings in Word, pivot tables in Excel and transitions in PowerPoint. If you're familiar with the Office environment and want files you know will work with standard Office apps, this is a suitable choice.
However, there are downsides aside from the slim feature set. You must have internet access to use it, and you're pushed to save documents to OneDrive, where the free 5GB storage fills up quickly. Lastly, Office Online can struggle with heavy or complex documents.
OnlyOffice offers a full Office experience
While there are several free Office suites to choose from, OnlyOffice is a strong recommendation. It supports four types of files: documents, spreadsheets, presentations and PDFs. These all open as tabs in the same app window, letting you quickly switch between multiple docs of different types, saving in standard Office formats like DOCX and XLSX.
The interface is a lot like Microsoft Office, so you won't have to deal with a huge learning curve. It uses the familiar Ribbon interface, with the options changing depending on the document type you're editing.
Presentations have ready-made themes, plus transitions, animations and plenty of ways to create charts and add shapes. Meanwhile, the PDF tool works for both creating PDFs and reading existing ones.
OnlyOffice does have AI features and can integrate with a chatbot of your choice, but this is optional. On the main OnlyOffice tab at the top-left, you can choose Settings, uncheck AI functions, and restart the app to remove everything AI-related.
Other Office suites to choose from
If you're looking for another choice, LibreOffice is one of the most popular options that may better fit your workflows. Unlike OnlyOffice, its apps are each opened separately, including tools for docs, spreadsheets, presentations, formulas, and diagrams.
LibreOffice can save in and open Office formats, but uses OpenDocument formats like ODT and ODS by default. The software is open-source with community-run development, and it's intentionally built without AI by default.
Trying both suites will help you determine which clicks with you more. While LibreOffice is a solid community-driven choice, OnlyOffice feels smoother with its tabbed interface and integrated PDF support.
