Microsoft made its name thanks to Windows and some of the software solutions inside it. Microsoft Office, certainly is just as popular as Windows is as an OS. It’s one of the most popular tools for any kind of productivity environment. The company has evolved it over the past generations, and it includes all sort of products for different needs. However, the core products are still Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It’s an incredibly versatile suite of tools, however, it may not be for everyone as it can be really expensive. Through this article, we will list some of the best Microsoft Office Alternatives. (Via).
Microsoft Office Alternatives
Microsoft Office can be expensive, especially if you want to pay an annual Microsoft 365 subscription. Office is available for free in some capacity, but it’s limited. If Microsoft Office is not a possibility for you, there are some alternatives. From complete suite packages to some alternatives to Office’s most popular apps. Through this article we will teach you some of the valid alternatives available for PCs.
1 – SoftMaker FreeOffice
FreeOffice is a valid alternative over Microsoft Office, but is still not very popular.
It’s not the most complete in terms of replacing every aspect of Microsoft Office. However, it does offer alternatives for Microsoft’s most popular apps – Word, Excel and PowerPoint. These come in form of TextMaker, PlanMaker, and Presentations.
The UI is inspired by Microsoft’s apps, but is more compact. Anyway, these three apps have all the basic functionality you can expect. They are very familair with older Office versions. Each app will give you some templates you can start with.
It’s available for free, but there is a paid version that unlocks more features. In any case, FreeOffice is not trying to make you buy the paid app. You install it, and it will never bother you again. The paid plan include more advanced proofreading and spellchecking options.
The app is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, and mobile devices.
2 – Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
As a good rival for Microsoft, Google certainly has its own offer against Microsoft’s main apps. In fact, the search giant offers alternatives for the three most popular Office apps.
The catch here is that these apps are not available as regular installable Apps. They run on the Web, but you can also make them work offline. It’s possible to install the websites as an app for a typical experience.
Google’s UI is different from Microsoft, but the basic elements are still there. You can write up documents, prepare presentations, and manage spreadsheets easily for free. Google also provides Forms, allowing you to create quizzes and questionnaries to gather results from people easily.
3 – OfficeSuite
Another alternative is OfficeSuite. It’s focused on core apps, but goes a little bit further. It includes Documents, Sheets, Slides, Mail, and PDF. Mail is a proper alternative for Outlook, and the the PDF reader is something missing on Microsoft’s stock suite.
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OfficeSuite has similarities with both Microsoft’s suite of apps and Google’s apps. Each app offers a few templates to choose from when creating a new document. If you create an account, you can also enable autosave through the cloud so that your documents are always in sync.
4 – WPS Office
WPSOffice is yet another Office alternative available for free, but with a premium plan available for all features. WPS office focuses mostly o the core functionality. It brings replacement for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. But a neat addition is a suite of PDF tools.
The suite is a bit different as all three apps are part of one major central app. Each new document you open will open inside a tab rather than its own window. It’s a focused experience.
The UI is similar to Microsoft Office, but still, it has its own visual style with modern touches.
The downside is that the free version has some ads and buttons for WPS premium that may look annoying. It is worth mentioning that WPS Office is also available for mobile devices. It was one of my personal choices when Office was not available on Android smartphones. However, the ads have become quite intrusive in the past iterations.
5 – LibreOffice
LibreOffice is a more classic-style alternative. It fits on fans of earlier Office versions, like the legendary Office 2000/2003. It’s also popular as one of the main office solutions for Linux users. It’s an Open Source project that it’s totally available for free without limitations.
Office has a wide range of apps. These include Writer (Word), Calc (Excel), Impress (PowerPoint), Base (Access), along with Math and Draw. LibreOffice Draw gives you a unique software for creating images and digramas, while Math helps you to create mathematical formulas.
It’s one of the unique that has an alternative to Microsoft Access, giving you option to create and manage databases for free.
If you don’t like the old style of LibreOffice’s UI, then you might look for Apache OpenOffice, which is based on the same original project.
Conclusion – The best Microsoft Office Alternatives
As you can see through this article, there are many options available if you’re looking for an alternative for Microsoft Office. Each one has its perks, advantages and disadvantages.
Personally, I prefer Libre Office over the other alternatives. Despite its classic look, it’s free and open-source and comes with a complete suite for your needs. If you’re on a Linux environment, it certainly will be your main office solution. It’s also good on Windows if you don’t want to spend on Office.
