Alternatives to Microsoft 365
The Office standard with cloud collaboration
Microsoft 365 ranks #3 of 9 in Office suites, with an Alt Score of 86. It is sold by subscription from $9.99/month (Microsoft 365 Personal) and available on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Web. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Individuals, families (up to 6 people), students, and businesses of any size who need everyday productivity, communication, and collaboration tools across devices.
Core Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote), Teams for chat and video meetings, and OneDrive cloud storage with cross-device sync. Plans also include Copilot AI assistance embedded in the apps for writing, data analysis, and content creation, plus extras like Defender security and Designer/Clipchamp creative tools depending on tier. Feature sets and storage limits vary by individual, family, and business plan.
Users subscribe on a monthly or annual billing cycle and install the apps on desktop and mobile or use them in the browser, with files and settings synced through OneDrive across devices. Business and family plans let an admin or owner manage licenses, storage, and shared access for multiple users under one subscription.
Why people leave Microsoft 365
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 | Microsoft 365 | OnlyOffice | Collabora Online | Apple iWork | CryptPad | Google Workspace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Word processor | ||||||
| Spreadsheets | ||||||
| Presentations | ||||||
| Real-time collaboration | ||||||
| Desktop apps (offline) | ||||||
| MS Office format fidelity | ||||||
| Self-hostable | ||||||
| E2E encrypted option | ||||||
| Free tier limits | ||||||
| PDF export & editing |
Every fact and feature listed for Microsoft 365 is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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Pricing model Subscription verified 2026-07-11
With a subscription, you'll always have the latest features, fixes, and security updates along with ongoing tech support at no extra cost.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/buy/compare-all-microsoft-365-products -
Starts at $9.99/month (Microsoft 365 Personal) verified 2026-07-11
$9.99/month
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/buy/compare-all-microsoft-365-products -
Platforms Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web verified 2026-07-11
Microsoft 365 is compatible with PC, Mac, Android, and iOS.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/buy/compare-all-microsoft-365-products -
Status active verified 2026-07-11
With a subscription, you'll always have the latest features, fixes, and security updates along with ongoing tech support at no extra cost.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/buy/compare-all-microsoft-365-products -
Word processor Yes verified 2026-07-11
Get design and writing suggestions and templates, stock photos, icons, and fonts in Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/p/microsoft-365-personal/cfq7ttc0k5bd -
Spreadsheets Yes verified 2026-07-11
Get design and writing suggestions and templates, stock photos, icons, and fonts in Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/p/microsoft-365-personal/cfq7ttc0k5bd -
Presentations Yes verified 2026-07-11
Get design and writing suggestions and templates, stock photos, icons, and fonts in Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/p/microsoft-365-personal/cfq7ttc0k5bd -
Real-time collaboration Yes verified 2026-07-11
If anyone else is working on the document, you'll see their presence and the changes they're making. We call this coauthoring, or real-time collaboration.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/collaborate-on-word-documents-with-real-time-co-authoring-7dd3040c-3f30-4fdd-bab0-8586492a1f1d -
Desktop apps (offline) Yes verified 2026-07-11
You need to be connected to the internet to download this installer file, but once that's done, you can then install Microsoft 365 offline on a PC at your convenience.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/lifecycle/officeinstall/use-the-office-offline-installer -
MS Office format fidelity Yes verified 2026-07-11
One subscription that includes premium Office apps, 1 TB of cloud storage, and advanced security for email and files.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/p/microsoft-365-personal/cfq7ttc0k5bd -
Self-hostable No verified 2026-07-11
A cloud-based service, hosted by Microsoft, for businesses of all sizes.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/platform/what-is-sharepoint -
E2E encrypted option Partial verified 2026-07-11
Microsoft Purview Message Encryption is an online service that's built on the Azure Rights Management service which is part of Microsoft Purview Information Protection.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/ome -
Free tier limits Yes verified 2026-07-11
Get free access to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint using Microsoft 365 for the web (formerly Office).
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/free-office-online-for-the-web -
PDF export & editing Yes verified 2026-07-11
To edit a PDF, open it in Word. This works best with PDFs that are mostly text.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/edit-a-pdf-b2d1d729-6b79-499a-bcdb-233379c2f63a
FAQ
Yes. Apple iWork, LibreOffice and WPS Office 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.