The Best Microsoft Office Alternatives
2 min read
Working from a computer means that some software has to be used. Whether coding, making art, designing 3D objects or writing and editing text, or filling data, some kind of software has to be used.
For the longest while, Microsoft Office has been one of the go-to software suites for office tasks like writing text, editing text, making spreadsheets, databases, and even managing email. Yet, it is not the only office suite that one can use. There are plenty of alternatives nowadays and some of them are free and even open source. Here are the best Microsoft Office alternatives.
LibreOffice – Open Source Office Suite
LibreOffice continues the work of Open Office, making an already good suite better. They are open source and maintained by the Document Foundation. The suite has a very comprehensive list of tools, from Draw, Calc, Impress, Writer, Math to Base. Each of these covers a certain aspect similar to Microsoft Office, one for diagrams, one for presentations, one for spreadsheets, one for writing, one for mathematical formulas, and one for databases.
It is free to download for Linux, Windows, and macOS.
Google Office – Google Workspace
Most necessary office applications are present with Google and their Google Workspace. The workspace suite is to an extent free, offering basic tools like document editing and spreadsheet editing. For businesses, it is purchasable and offers more tools like those for organization, online meetings, a business email, chat, presentations, and many more. It comes with a price, while LibreOffice is free. Being online, it is available everywhere, provided you have an internet connection.
WPS Office
WPS Office is famous for being present on many Android devices. It is not the best software in terms of what it comes with installed. You get ads with the applications, and you must pay to have them removed. The software is available on all systems, however, but it comes with advertising. It is not a bad office suite but in terms of what you get for the price, there are better.
Microsoft 365 – Online Office Suite
Microsoft has its own office online alternative. It is a good alternative and it is online, which for most people, works better than having an offline suite they would need to download with every system iteration.
It offers Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on the lowest setting and it is good enough for most users, but you still have to pay for it. There are better alternatives, already mentioned in the article.
From the many Microsoft Office alternatives, Google has a great, free alternative, albeit cloud-based. LibreOffice is good for everyone using desktops or laptops, being available on most platforms. There are other alternatives but these ones are the best.
