The best Microsoft Office alternatives of 2021

Logos of alternatives to Microsoft Office

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The best alternatives to Microsoft Office offer similar features, and most are free.
We tried ten different Office alternatives to separate the best from the worst.
Google Workspace is a simple, free, and familiar alternative.
Read more about why you can trust our tech team to provide the best product recommendations.

Microsoft Office is a capable, feature-rich office suite, but it's not perfect. Pricing for Office 365 starts at $99.95 each year. That's a hefty fee on top of your other myriad subscriptions.

It's also complex, with a long list of options and advanced features that are well outside the basics most people need for day-to-day use. These Microsoft Office alternatives are inexpensive, easy to use, and support file types used in Microsoft Office.

Google Workspace

Google Workspace has established itself as the top alternative to Microsoft Office. It's free and intuitive, and it bundles 15GB of free space for storing your files.

Workspace encompasses a dozen Google apps. The most relevant are Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides. These provide alternatives to Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Google Drive is the cloud storage service and bridge that connects these apps.

Apps are usable through any modern web browser and rely on a basic, classic interface. You can share a document or spreadsheet with just a few clicks. Real-time collaboration is seamless, with each user in the document clearly visible. 

Google Workspace can handle Office files, but you may see errors in complex formatting. Google's web apps can struggle with large documents. You'll also need an Internet connection for most features, though it's possible to edit documents offline.

Google Workspace

Free and intuitive, Google Workspace is a wonderful collection of collaborative apps to help any office flourish.

$0.00 from Google

iWork

The latest updates to iWork make it a smart choice across Mac, iPhone, and iPad. 

You'll enjoy iWork's simple interface. It's less cluttered than Office and more elegant than Google Workspace. Apple has tuned iWork's interface to work well on any size of display, so the UI doesn't overwhelm the smaller screens on an iPhone or iPad. iWork supports Apple Pencil, iCloud sync, and Handoff.

Apple's iWork can open and save to Microsoft Office file formats. Compatibility is wide and reliable. You may end up working in Office file formats frequently, as iWork's file formats are not supported by other office apps. 

Though capable, the scope of iWork is limited. Pages, Numbers, and Keynote offer alternatives to Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, but that's it. Apple's iWork web app is also lackluster. It's clear Apple wants you to use iWork natively on an Apple device. If you're already an Apple fan, however, iWork could be perfect for you.

Apple iWork

iWork's simple interface across all applications make it a smart choice for Apple users across Mac, iPhone, and iPad. 

$0.00 from Apple

Zoho Docs

Zoho Docs debuted over a decade ago and made a name of itself as an underdog to Google Docs. It's a cloud-based productivity service that's free to use and offers perks similar to Google's.

Zoho turns simplicity up to 11. The Writer app opens to little more than a blank white sheet with a cursor ready to accept text. The Sheet and Show apps are more complex but remain less intimidating than Microsoft Office's versions. 

Compatibility with Office file formats is excellent, showing no obvious errors in any documents or spreadsheets we opened. Formatting can differ, however. Bullet lists, for example, have much smaller bullets and far more spacing. 

You can edit documents in any web browser and easily share them via e-mail. Collaboration is simple and quick. Individuals and organizations with less than six users can use Zoho Docs for free, and Zoho throws in 5GB of storage per user.

Zoho Docs

With a simple design and easy collaboration, Zoho Docs is a great free office software option.

$0.00 from Zoho

WPS Office

WPS Office mirrors the look and feel of Microsoft Office, including the ribbon-style interface. It offers alternatives to Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, and includes a PDF reader.

Documents opened in WPS Office look like those opened in Office, right down to the style of bullet lists and spacing of page breaks. That's exciting news if you want the feel of Microsoft Office without the cost.

WPS Office is a local application. Web access is available through WPS Cloud, but the company's cloud-based service is clunky. 

You can use WPS Office for free with limitations, such as a short version history. You can upgrade to a subscription for $29.99 a year or buy a lifetime license for $79.99. That final option will appeal to those who don't want to be saddled with a subscription, as it's almost half the price of Microsoft Office 2019.

WPS Office

The interface of WPS Office mirrors the look and feel of Microsoft Office, but without the steep price tag, making it a great software option for everyone.

$0.00 from WPS

LibreOffice

Want to kick it old school with an office suite that doesn't include cloud-based nonsense? LibreOffice is for you.

This open-source suite is the evolution of a Microsoft Office competitor, called StarOffice, that was first released in 1985. When Office surged to dominance, StarOffice forked into open source as OpenOffice, which has evolved into LibreOffice.

Opening LibreOffice is like stepping into a time machine tuned to 2006. Apps appear similar to Microsoft Office 2003, the last version prior to the ribbon interface. When it comes to Office file support and presentation, though, LibreOffice is modern. File compatibility is broad and formatting is often identical to Microsoft's suite. 

LibreOffice lacks cloud storage, real-time collaboration, and mobile apps. The lack of online features means an Internet connection is never required, so LibreOffice is perfect if you lack consistent Internet access.

The Document Foundation LibreOffice

With impactful processing offline, LibreOffice is a perfect office software if you have spotty Internet access.

$0.00 from LibreOffice

What else we considered

FreeOffice (Free): FreeOffice is a free office suite that closely mirrors Microsoft Office. We prefer WPS Office, but FreeOffice is worth a look.
Dropbox Paper (Free): Paper is a simple document editor from Dropbox. It focuses heavily on collaboration and it's not a true alternative to Microsoft Office.
OfficeSuite ($29.99/year): Another Office clone, OfficeSuite includes an alternative to Outlook and provides 50GB of storage. There's no free version or lifetime license.
OpenOffice (Free): OpenOffice is an open-source office suite like LibreOffice. It's not as frequently updated, so LibreOffice is usually the better choice.
Polaris Office ($39.99/year): Polaris Office attempts to rival Microsoft Office, but its pricing and lack of a free trial make it tough to recommend.
WordPerfect ($249.99): A solid Microsoft Office alternative, WordPerfect's high pricing puts it out of reach of home users and students.
Calligra (Free): Another open-source suite, Calligra is attractive but primarily targets Linux users.

Matthew S. Smith

Freelance Reporter, Insider Reviews

Matthew S. Smith is a freelance consumer technology journalist and general-purpose hardware geek with more than 13 years of industry experience.  In 2014, Matthew joined Digital Trends as Computing Editor. He was promoted to Senior Editor, and then to Lead Editor of Reviews. In that role, he oversaw the site's entire product review program. Matthew's team reviewed more than 1,000 devices, from iPhone to iRobot, every year. He started his career writing about PC hardware for PC Perspective, TechHive, and MakeUseOf, with additional bylines in GamesRadar, The Escapist, and Consumer's Digest. Over time, his expertise grew to cover smartphones, wearables, gaming, and electric bikes. Matthew has attended CES every year since 2009. He also had boots on the ground at IFA, E3, Computex, Microsoft Build, and Oculus Connect, among others.   A casually-hardcore gamer, Matthew owns a custom-built gaming PC and all major modern consoles. He's often found flying the virtual skies in "Microsoft Flight Simulator. " Follow him on Twitter @matt_on_tech

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