The 6 best free alternatives to Microsoft Office 365. Need a free yet powerful alternative to Microsoft Office 365? Here are the best free Microsoft Office 365 office alternatives to consider.
When it comes to productivity suites, few can compete with Office 365. Microsoft offers customers a complete online and offline work experience with Office 365. It's both easy to use and feature-rich for advanced users.
The only caveat is that users will have to shell out $ 59,99 per year if they want to use it. Thankfully, there are a number of free offers available that offer Office 365-like functionality.
The best free alternatives to Microsoft Office 365
1. WPS Office
WPS Office has become increasingly popular since its launch in 2016, and not without good reason. The free version of WPS Office includes Writer, Presentation and Spreadsheet which serve as alternatives to Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel respectively.
Apart from this, WPS Office comes with a PDF to Word converter which supports batch conversion.
WPS Office also offers users up to 1GB of cloud storage to store all their documents. It is available on multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.
The only downsides are that it's not as collaborative as Google's productivity suite and the fact that the free version can sometimes bombard users with annoying ads.
Download: WPS Office for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android.
2. LibreOffice
LibreOffice is an open source project that includes a document, presentation, and spreadsheet editor. Apart from these, users can also create vector graphics and more using LibreOffice. It supports more than 100 languages, making it feasible for everyone around the world.
LibreOffice supports all popular Office 365 formats such as .pptx, .docx, .xlsx and many more. This means that you can import all your existing files into LibreOffice without any problems. To enhance the functionality, there are tons of extensions and templates available for download.
Although LibreOffice comes with a document viewer on Android, it has minimal editing capabilities and even those don't run as smoothly as they should.
LibreOffice can run on Windows, macOS and Linux. There is also a portable version that you can install on a USB drive and simply plug and play.
Download: LibreOffice for Windows, macOS and Linux.
3. OnlyOffice
Among the best free alternatives to Microsoft Office 365 we find OnlyOffice, it is more than enough for your basic business needs. If you're running a small business, it's the perfect productivity suite as it offers great collaborative features.
Users can connect the desktop version of OnlyOffice to various cloud services such as Nextcloud, ownCloud and Seafile. Once connected, you can see all changes in real time and add comments for a more consistent workflow.
To add more features, you can download various plugins that allow you to add YouTube videos, clip art, and even a text-to-speech converter into your presentations. OnlyOffice is available for Windows and Linux.
Download: OnlyOffice for Windows and Linux.
4. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides
Google's work suite is a perfect choice for users who don't want to download any additional software for their productivity needs. It has a word processor, spreadsheet editor, and slideshow creator called Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides.
With real-time collaboration and commentary, working with a team is child's play. Plus, Google's productivity suite supports all popular document formats, so your old files don't get out of date. Although at times, the formatting can get a little confusing.
There is a wide selection of templates that you can modify to suit your particular needs. The best feature is that users only need a web browser and an internet connection to take advantage of Google's offers. Alternatively, if you're having trouble concentrating, here are some ways to improve your attention span and work harder.
Visit: Google Docs | Google Sheets | Google Slides
5. Polaris Office
Polaris Office is another decent productivity suite. It is ad supported with a premium option for people who want extra features. However, if you work alone and don't require frequent collaboration, the free version is more than enough.
In addition to the usual editing of spreadsheets, documents and presentations, Polaris Office also allows you to convert and edit PDF files. The software also supports ODT files. The user interface is quite similar to Microsoft Office 365, so you'll feel right at home when you switch.
With over 100 million users, Polaris Office has one of the best support teams in the industry. The only drawback is that you can only use it on a PC or two mobile devices using a single account.
Download: Polaris Office for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.
6.Free Office
The creators of FreeOffice hail the app as one of the best free alternatives to Microsoft Office 365. This is because the software offers all the features of Office 365 minus the price tag.
FreeOffice consists of a competent word processor, presentation creator and spreadsheet software that fully supports all Microsoft Office formats. It doesn't go wrong with formatting either. Documents are displayed just like in Microsoft Word or Excel.
For users upgrading from newer versions of Microsoft Office, the FreeOffice user interface can seem a little dated. However, it is quite functional and easy to navigate.
Download: FreeOffice for Windows, macOS and Linux.
No shortage of free alternatives to Microsoft Office
For most of us, Microsoft Office has long been the primary productivity suite. Its popularity mainly comes from its integration into Windows, as it usually comes pre-installed.
In addition, it was also an early entry into the productivity space, and many companies and organizations required their employees to be competent during the tech boom.
But there are now many free and open source alternatives available to users, and some of them don't even require users to download any additional files.