Alternatives to Apple iWork
Pages, Numbers and Keynote
Apple iWork ranks #4 of 9 in Office suites, with an Alt Score of 82. It is proprietary, freemium from $12.99/month and available on macOS, iOS and Web. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Mac, iPad, and iPhone users who need a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation app without paying for a subscription, from casual users to students and small businesses already in the Apple ecosystem.
iWork bundles three apps: Pages for documents, Numbers for spreadsheets, and Keynote for presentations. Files sync via iCloud and support real-time collaboration with multiple people editing simultaneously. It's free with any Apple device and also usable from a browser via iCloud.com on Windows or other platforms. Documents can be exported to Microsoft Office formats (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and PDF.
Users create or open documents in the relevant app (Pages, Numbers, or Keynote) on a Mac, iPad, iPhone, or in a web browser, with changes synced automatically through iCloud across devices. Collaborators can be invited to a shared document to edit or comment together in real time.
Why people leave Apple iWork
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Office suites checklist (14 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
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| Office suites checklist | Apple iWork | OnlyOffice | Collabora Online | Microsoft 365 | CryptPad | Google Workspace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Self-hostable | ||||||
| E2E encrypted option | ||||||
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| PDF export & editing |
Every fact and feature listed for Apple iWork is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License Proprietary verified 2026-07-11
are licensed, not sold, to you by Apple Inc. (“Apple”) for use only under the terms of this License.
https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/Pages.pdf -
Starts at $12.99/month verified 2026-07-11
$12.99 per month or $129 per year after your free trial.
https://www.apple.com/apple-creator-studio/ -
Pricing model Freemium verified 2026-07-11
And while Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and Freeform remain free for everyone, an Apple Creator Studio subscription offers premium templates, a library of high-quality, royalty-free photos and graphics, an
https://www.apple.com/apple-creator-studio/ -
Platforms macOS, iOS, Web verified 2026-07-11
Pages for iCloud is a web app for creating and editing documents on a Mac computer or Windows device (using a supported browser).
https://support.apple.com/guide/pages-icloud/intro-to-pages-for-icloud-gile83665246/icloud -
Status active verified 2026-07-11
For the optimal experience, full functionality is available with macOS 26, iPadOS 26, and iOS 26 and later.
https://www.apple.com/apple-creator-studio/ -
Word processor Yes verified 2026-07-11
Pages lets you effortlessly create sensational-looking documents.
https://www.apple.com/iwork/index.html -
Spreadsheets Yes verified 2026-07-11
A spreadsheet doesn't have to look like a ledger.
https://www.apple.com/iwork/index.html -
Presentations Yes verified 2026-07-11
With Keynote, it's easy to create and deliver stunning presentations — on your own or together with your team.
https://www.apple.com/iwork/index.html -
Real-time collaboration Yes verified 2026-07-11
Invite others to work with you on your document. Everyone you invite can see changes as they're made, but you control who can edit or only view the document.
https://support.apple.com/guide/pages/collaborate-with-others-tan1a2c0813b/mac -
Desktop apps (offline) Yes verified 2026-07-11
If you edit and then close a document when you're not connected to the internet, you see a cloud icon next to the document in the Open dialog on your Mac.
https://support.apple.com/guide/pages/use-icloud-drive-with-pages-tan79be8e93/mac -
MS Office format fidelity Partial verified 2026-07-11
If you added marks or edits using smart annotations, they won't appear in exported Word, EPUB, plain text (TXT), or Pages '09 documents.
https://support.apple.com/guide/pages/export-to-word-pdf-or-another-file-format-tance1161f26/mac -
Self-hostable No verified 2026-07-11
The grants set forth in this License do not permit you to, and you agree not to, install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-branded computer, or to enable others to do so.
https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/Pages.pdf -
E2E encrypted option Partial verified 2026-07-11
the encryption keys for the document are securely uploaded to servers in Apple data centers. This is because real-time collaboration in Keynote, Numbers, and Pages requires server-side mediation to co
https://support.apple.com/guide/security/advanced-data-protection-for-icloud-sec973254c5f/web -
Free tier limits Yes verified 2026-07-11
You can continue using Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and Freeform for free.
https://www.apple.com/apple-creator-studio/ -
PDF export & editing Yes verified 2026-07-11
Click the Image Quality pop-up menu, then choose an option (the higher the image quality, the larger the file size).
https://support.apple.com/guide/pages/export-to-word-pdf-or-another-file-format-tance1161f26/mac
FAQ
Yes. LibreOffice, WPS Office and Zoho Workplace have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
OnlyOffice, Collabora Online and CryptPad — every license claim links its source.