Business alternatives to Word, PowerPoint, and Excel
The best free office software can provide an alternative platform to the more familiar Word, PowerPoint and Excel apps of Microsoft Office.
For most users, Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365) remains the original and best office suite, and it takes matters further with an online version that offers cloud backups and mobile use as required. Microsoft Word (opens in new tab), Excel (opens in new tab), Publisher (opens in new tab), Access (opens in new tab), PowerPoint (opens in new tab), and Outlook (opens in new tab) remain key office apps.
Microsoft has now extended its 365 brands to Windows, in the form of Windows 365, a way of accessing your files on a majority of devices from the cloud.
However, over the years other companies have released rival office suites to help with productivity (opens in new tab), some of which are paid for and some of which are free - sometimes with the same company offering both.
All of these alternatives to Microsoft Office (opens in new tab) offer a similar range of software applications, mainly based on creating and editing documents, spreadsheets,
and presentations
However, while most offer the ability to work with traditional Microsoft Office documents, do be aware that not all will preserve formatting when exporting from or into Microsoft Office, which can be a problem when sending documents between different programs.
Even still, for home users and new businesses, the idea of being able to create, edit, manage and organize office documents without incurring costs can be very welcome.
Here then are the best free office software apps currently available.
#5 FreeOffice
from the folks over at Softmaker. It's a free offer. Initially released in 1994, it's a less featured version of their Commercial office suite, with most of the key features most people would ever need. Its compatibility with the popular Microsoft Office formats is very good, with only the occasional minor issue here and there depending on whether you prefer the newer ribbon style at the top, similar to Microsoft Office.
Or the classic menus and toolbars. The user interface can be easily switched to what best suits your needs, and it's also been optimized with support for touch screens with larger icons and increased space. Free alternative to Microsoft Word. The plane makers are a substitute for Excel. And similar to PowerPoint, they called their presentations. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
#4 OnlyOffice
quickly gaining in popularity is only office. While they do have enterprise editions, that can be quite expensive. They're free. Desktop Edition is open source, with the source code available on GitHub. the only office has strong compatibility with Microsoft Office formats but has some minor issues with images. Its cab-based interface allows you to work on multiple files within the same window. If working with others on the same project is important to you, their collaboration feature lets you credit, comment, review, and interact using chat in real-time. They also have third-party plugin support that will let you install plugins to enhance its functionality. Only office is available for both Windows and Mac OS and you can also install it on the various distros of Linux, but some are already pre-install. Simply named document, spreadsheet, and presentation.
#3 WPS office
is WPS office. I've been called out for being a Microsoft Office clone. WPS has a user interface that has the same look and feels as Microsoft Office, with the absolute best compatibility of any office suite. there are more than 100,000 templates for you to choose from, some of which are free and others only available if you upgrade to their premium product. There are a couple of downsides to WPS keeping it out of our top two spots. First of all, it's ad-supported, and second, it's developed by a Chinese software developer, which raises privacy concerns and ethical issues for many people. But if you don't mind the ads and have no problems using closed-source Chinese software, it's available for download on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Its alternatives closely resembling Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are Writer spreadsheets, presentations, and a built-in PDF viewer.
#2 Google Docs
The runner-up Spot is a free online office suite from Google which includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint alternatives they called docs, sheets, and slides. They have excellent compatibility and can be easily converted to Google's file formats and vice versa. To make things easier, you'll find a good variety of premade templates for resumes, letters, those used for work, and a whole lot more. Help enhance your productivity. You'll also find useful add-ons for every product in their office suite to improve functionality. Does not mind being the product. All you need is a Google account. It can be accessed from any computer or your favorite browser and has excellent cross-platform support with mobile apps for iOS and Android.
#1 LibreOffice
LibreOffice is still the best free alternative to Microsoft Office. Its fully featured office suite is open sores and free software, which means you have no financial cost to use it, and you are not the product that your data is being used, collected, or sold to other companies for financial gain. Six programs are included with LibreOffice writer, talk and impress, and other alternatives to Word, Excel, and Power. Vector graphics and flow chart bases used for databases and math are for formula editing. Its compatibility with Microsoft Office has improved quite a bit over the years, and you get even more features. Extensions can be installed and have a wide variety of temples. LibreOffice is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Which free office software is best for you?
When deciding which free office software to download and use, first consider what your actual needs are, as sometimes free platforms will only give you access to a basic set of tools, so you may find a paid subscription is much more worthwhile. Additionally, budget software options can sometimes prove limited when it comes to the variety of tools available, while higher-end software can cater to every need, so do ensure you have a good idea of which features you think you may need.
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