Microsoft Office vs Free Alternatives: What Should You Use?

Microsoft 365 Personal costs around £60/year. That's not nothing — and the free alternatives have improved significantly. Here's an honest assessment.

The free alternatives

LibreOffice (completely free, installed on your PC) is the most capable free alternative. It handles Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files with good (not perfect) compatibility. For personal use where file exchange with others isn't critical, it's excellent. Google Docs/Sheets/Slides (free, browser-based) is increasingly capable and has excellent real-time collaboration. Files are stored in Google Drive. If you work with others or access files from multiple devices, this is arguably better than Microsoft 365 for many use cases. Microsoft 365 free web versions — Microsoft offers free browser-based versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint via Office.com. These are quite capable and maintain full file compatibility.

When Microsoft 365 is worth paying for

• You need advanced Excel features (Power Query, complex macros)
• You use Outlook for email and calendar professionally
• You want the full desktop applications with offline access
• The included 1TB of OneDrive storage justifies the cost
• Your work or school requires specific Microsoft 365 features

When free alternatives are fine

For basic document writing, simple spreadsheets, presentations, and personal use — the free alternatives are completely adequate. The compatibility isn't always perfect, but for most people's actual usage it rarely matters.