Do I really need Microsoft Office?
Summary:
Microsoft 365 isn't required to open, edit, or send Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files
Pages, Numbers, and Keynote come free with every Mac and handle most documents beautifully
The free web version of Microsoft 365 at office.com works with no subscription
Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides remain the strongest free option for real-time collaboration
LibreOffice is a free, install-on-your-Mac option that resembles older versions of Office
There was a time when buying Microsoft Office was the only way to exchange documents with the rest of the world. That hasn't been true for years. Microsoft 365 now starts at $99.99 per year and goes up from there, but most people don't actually need it. I help clients pick among the free alternatives all the time, and I use most of them myself depending on who I'm working with.
Free Microsoft Office alternatives for Mac at a glance
All four options are free for personal use. Pick the one that fits how you actually work.
| Option | Where it runs | Reads Word/Excel/PowerPoint | Internet required | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pages, Numbers, Keynote | Mac, iPhone, iPad | Yes (export to share) | No | Most Apple users |
| Microsoft 365 for the web | Any web browser | Yes (native) | Yes | Occasional Office tasks |
| Google Docs, Sheets, Slides | Any web browser | Yes (export to share) | Mostly | Real-time collaboration |
| LibreOffice | Mac (installed app) | Yes (set as default) | No | Offline use, old file formats |
Google Docs has a limited offline mode in Chrome. The other web option (Microsoft 365 for the web) requires internet.
Pages, Numbers, and Keynote (Apple's iWork apps)
Free, included on every Mac, iPhone, and iPad
Apple's productivity suite is called iWork, though almost nobody uses that name anymore. You'll hear people refer to the apps by their individual names:
These apps come pre-installed on new Macs, iPhones, and iPads. If you don't see them, they're free downloads from the App Store. They're universal apps now, so one download covers Mac, iPad, and iPhone. If you see an offer to pay for Apple Creator Studio inside the apps, you can likely ignore that. It's a bundle of add-on features for many apps which includes some AI upgrades that most people don't need.
The look. These apps produce some of the best-looking output you can get with little effort, thanks to Apple's high-quality templates.
Working with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint users. These apps can open Microsoft files and export to them, but you have to remember to do the export each time. Each app saves to its own format by default. If you send someone a .pages file, they won't be able to open it without Apple Pages. You can collaborate in real time with anyone who has an Apple ID using iCloud, but anyone you invite who isn't on Apple will have to set up an account.
Privacy. Apple's business model doesn't depend on reading your documents. Your files sync through iCloud Drive if you let them, with strong encryption, and you can save files locally to your Mac instead if iCloud doesn't sit right with you.
Microsoft 365 for the web
Free at office.com
This one surprises a lot of people. Microsoft offers Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as free web apps. You sign in with a free Microsoft account at office.com and use the apps in your web browser. You also get 5 GB of OneDrive storage for the files you create.
For everyday work, the free web version covers the basics well, including documents, spreadsheets with pivot tables, presentations, and real-time collaboration.
Where it falls short. No Excel macros. The 5 GB storage limit fills up fast if you also use OneDrive for backups. And complicated formatting in long Word documents can behave differently in the web version than the desktop one.
If you only occasionally need to send a true Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file, this is the closest thing to "free Microsoft Office" that actually exists.
Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
Free with a Google account
Google's competitor lives entirely in a web browser. There's nothing to install on your Mac. It includes:
Collaboration. This is where Google still wins. Share a document by sending a link, and you and your collaborators can edit at the same time, watching each other's cursors move. No emailing attachments back and forth, no version confusion. For book clubs, family budgets, and small business teams, it's hard to beat.
No save button. New users always look for one. There isn't, because Google saves every change automatically. You can browse the revision history to see who changed what and roll back if needed.
Mobile. The Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps for iPhone and iPad are all free.
Privacy. This is the tradeoff. Google's main business is advertising. Free personal accounts feed signals into the algorithms that decide what ads you see. Google has said for years that they don't use Drive or Docs content directly to target ads, but a free Google account is still a different privacy posture than Apple or LibreOffice. If you have a paid Google Workspace account, the terms are different.
No lock-in. You can export any Google document as Word, Excel, or PDF, and Google Takeout lets you download everything at once if you ever want to leave.
LibreOffice
Free at libreoffice.org
LibreOffice is a free, open-source office suite you install on your Mac. It feels like Microsoft Office from around 2003: menus, toolbars, no "ribbon." Many longtime Office users actually prefer this. The current version is 26.2.
Unlike Microsoft Office, these aren't separate apps. They're all built into the single LibreOffice app: Writer (the Word equivalent), Calc (Excel), Impress (PowerPoint), Draw (vector drawing), Base (database), and Math (an equation editor).
File compatibility. LibreOffice has its own open format, but you can change the default to save everything as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. Here's how:
With LibreOffice open, go to LibreOffice menu > Preferences > Load/Save > General
Near the bottom, set "Document Type" to "Text Document"
Set "Always Save As" to "Word 2010-365 (.docx)"
Change "Document Type" to "Spreadsheet" and set "Always Save As" to "Excel 2010-365 (.xlsx)"
Change "Document Type" to "Presentation" and set "Always Save As" to "PowerPoint 2007-365 (.pptx)"
Click OK
Old file support. LibreOffice opens documents that nothing else can read anymore: WordPerfect, ClarisWorks, AppleWorks, Microsoft Works, Lotus 1-2-3, StarOffice, and others. If you have files from the 1990s collecting digital dust on a backup drive, LibreOffice may be the only program that can still open them. From there you can save a copy in something modern.
Collaboration. Limited. You email files back and forth, the way we all worked in 1999. There's a separate product called LibreOffice Online that adds real-time collaboration, but it requires running your own server, which isn't realistic for most home users.
Privacy. Your files live on your Mac. The project doesn't track you, sell ads, or upload your data. If "what happens if this company goes out of business" worries you, LibreOffice removes that worry.
When you actually do need Microsoft Office
A few situations where I tell clients to bite the bullet and pay for Microsoft 365:
Your workplace requires it and won't accept other file formats
You use Excel macros, advanced pivot tables, or VBA scripts
You exchange documents with someone who sends Word files with tracked changes that have to come back unchanged
You're a power user of any single app and want every feature available
If that's you, I recommend the subscription over the one-time purchase. Office Home 2024 ($149) installs on one Mac forever, but it doesn't include OneDrive or Outlook, and Microsoft only updates it for five years. Microsoft 365 Family at $129.99 per year is hard to beat if anyone else in your household will use it, since it covers up to six people, each with 1 TB of OneDrive. For one person who needs the full desktop apps, Microsoft 365 Personal is $99.99 per year.
Common mistakes when switching away from Microsoft Office
Here's where I see people stumble:
Sending a .pages, .numbers, or .key file to a Windows user. Apple's apps save in their own formats by default. Before you email a document to a Word user, go to File > Export To > Word (or PDF). Otherwise the recipient gets a file they can't open.
Assuming Google Docs makes a perfect copy of complex Word formatting. It doesn't. If your Word document has heavy formatting, custom fonts, tables nested inside tables, or tracked changes, expect some translation issues when you import it into Google Docs.
Subscribing to Microsoft 365 because the trial expired. Microsoft promotes the subscription heavily and tucks the free web version away. If you only need Word or Excel occasionally, office.com gets you most of the way for free.
Key Takeaways
Try the free option that matches how you actually work before paying for Microsoft 365
Start with Pages, Numbers, and Keynote since they're already on your Mac
Use office.com if you have to send a real Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file once in a while
Use Google Docs when you need real-time collaboration with people on different devices
Use LibreOffice if you want a local install with the look of older Office
Subscribe to Microsoft 365 only if your workflow truly requires it
Further reading
If you'd like a hand picking the right option for the way you actually work, book a one-on-one tech tutoring session with me in San Francisco, Washington DC, or by Zoom from anywhere.
Pages, Numbers, and Keynote (Apple's iWork apps)
Free, included on every Mac, iPhone, and iPad
Apple's productivity suite is called iWork, though almost nobody uses that name anymore. You'll hear people refer to the apps by their individual names:
These apps come pre-installed on new Macs, iPhones, and iPads. If you don't see them, they're free downloads from the App Store. As of early 2026 they're universal apps, so one download covers Mac, iPad, and iPhone. If you see an offer to pay for Apple Creator Studio inside the apps, you can likely ignore that. It's a bundle of add-on features for many apps which includes some AI upgrades that most people don't need.
The look. These apps produce some of the best-looking output you can get with little effort, thanks to Apple's high-quality templates.
Working with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint users. These apps can open Microsoft files and export to them, but you have to remember to do the export each time. Each app saves to its own format by default. If you send someone a .pages file, they won't be able to open it without Apple Pages. You can collaborate in real time with anyone who has an Apple ID using iCloud, but anyone you invite who isn't on Apple will have to set up an account.
Privacy. Apple's business model doesn't depend on reading your documents. Your files sync through iCloud Drive if you let them, with strong encryption, and you can save files locally to your Mac instead if iCloud doesn't sit right with you.
Microsoft 365 for the web
Free at office.com
This one surprises a lot of people. Microsoft offers Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as free web apps. You sign in with a free Microsoft account at office.com and use the apps in your web browser. You also get 5 GB of OneDrive storage for the files you create.
For everyday work, the free web version covers the basics well, including documents, spreadsheets with pivot tables, presentations, and real-time collaboration.
Where it falls short. No Excel macros. The 5 GB storage limit fills up fast if you also use OneDrive for backups. And complicated formatting in long Word documents can behave differently in the web version than the desktop one.
If you only occasionally need to send a true Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file, this is the closest thing to "free Microsoft Office" that actually exists.
Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
Free with a Google account
Google's competitor lives entirely in a web browser. There's nothing to install on your Mac. It includes:
Collaboration. This is where Google still wins. Share a document by sending a link, and you and your collaborators can edit at the same time, watching each other's cursors move. No emailing attachments back and forth, no version confusion. For book clubs, family budgets, and small business teams, it's hard to beat.
No save button. New users always look for one. There isn't, because Google saves every change automatically. You can browse the revision history to see who changed what and roll back if needed.
Mobile. The Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps for iPhone and iPad are all free.
Privacy. This is the tradeoff. Google's main business is advertising. Free personal accounts feed signals into the algorithms that decide what ads you see. Google has said for years that they don't use Drive or Docs content directly to target ads, but a free Google account is still a different privacy posture than Apple or LibreOffice. If you have a paid Google Workspace account, the terms are different.
No lock-in. You can export any Google document as Word, Excel, or PDF, and Google Takeout lets you download everything at once if you ever want to leave.
LibreOffice
Free at libreoffice.org
LibreOffice is a free, open-source office suite you install on your Mac. It feels like Microsoft Office from around 2003: menus, toolbars, no "ribbon." Many longtime Office users actually prefer this. The current version is 26.2.
Unlike Microsoft Office, these aren't separate apps. They're all built into the single LibreOffice app: Writer (the Word equivalent), Calc (Excel), Impress (PowerPoint), Draw (vector drawing), Base (database), and Math (an equation editor).
File compatibility. LibreOffice has its own open format, but you can change the default to save everything as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. Here's how:
With LibreOffice open, go to LibreOffice menu > Preferences > Load/Save > General
Near the bottom, set "Document Type" to "Text Document"
Set "Always Save As" to "Word 2010-365 (.docx)"
Change "Document Type" to "Spreadsheet" and set "Always Save As" to "Excel 2010-365 (.xlsx)"
Change "Document Type" to "Presentation" and set "Always Save As" to "PowerPoint 2007-365 (.pptx)"
Click OK
Old file support. LibreOffice opens documents that nothing else can read anymore: WordPerfect, ClarisWorks, AppleWorks, Microsoft Works, Lotus 1-2-3, StarOffice, and others. If you have files from the 1990s collecting digital dust on a backup drive, LibreOffice may be the only program that can still open them. From there you can save a copy in something modern.
Collaboration. Limited. You email files back and forth, the way we all worked in 1999. There's a separate product called LibreOffice Online that adds real-time collaboration, but it requires running your own server, which isn't realistic for most home users.
Privacy. Your files live on your Mac. The project doesn't track you, sell ads, or upload your data. If "what happens if this company goes out of business" worries you, LibreOffice removes that worry.
When you actually do need Microsoft Office
A few situations where I tell clients to bite the bullet and pay for Microsoft 365:
Your workplace requires it and won't accept other file formats
You use Excel macros, advanced pivot tables, or VBA scripts
You exchange documents with someone who sends Word files with tracked changes that have to come back unchanged
You're a power user of any single app and want every feature available
If that's you, I recommend the subscription over the one-time purchase. Office Home 2024 ($149) installs on one Mac forever, but it doesn't include OneDrive, Outlook, or any updates beyond five years of security patches. Microsoft 365 Family at $129.99 per year is hard to beat if anyone else in your household will use it, since it covers up to six people, each with 1 TB of OneDrive. For one person who needs the full desktop apps, Microsoft 365 Personal is $99.99 per year.
Common mistakes when switching away from Microsoft Office
Here's where I see people stumble:
Sending a .pages, .numbers, or .key file to a Windows user. Apple's apps save in their own formats by default. Before you email a document to a Word user, go to File > Export To > Word (or PDF). Otherwise the recipient gets a file they can't open.
Assuming Google Docs makes a perfect copy of complex Word formatting. It doesn't. If your Word document has heavy formatting, custom fonts, tables nested inside tables, or tracked changes, expect some translation issues when you import it into Google Docs.
Subscribing to Microsoft 365 because the trial expired. Microsoft makes it easy to subscribe and a little harder to find the free web version. If you only need Word or Excel occasionally, office.com gets you most of the way for free.
Key Takeaways
Try the free option that matches how you actually work before paying for Microsoft 365
Start with Pages, Numbers, and Keynote since they're already on your Mac
Use office.com if you have to send a real Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file once in a while
Use Google Docs when you need real-time collaboration with people on different devices
Use LibreOffice if you want a local install with the look of older Office
Subscribe to Microsoft 365 only if your workflow truly requires it
Further reading
If you'd like a hand picking the right option for the way you actually work, book a one-on-one tech tutoring session with me in San Francisco, Washington DC, or by Zoom from anywhere.
