Microsoft Word vs ONLYOFFICE

Microsoft Word

• People who want a full desktop word processor on Windows or Mac
• Households: Microsoft 365 Family covers 1 to 6 people
• Occasional writers who only need the free browser version
• Buyers who prefer a one-time purchase to a subscription

ONLYOFFICE

• Organizations that want to host their own office suite
• Teams on Nextcloud, Box, Moodle or Odoo that need document editing there
• Sharing files with clients in separate rooms with their own permissions
• People who want free desktop editors that work offline

Microsoft Word

• The Windows and Mac apps need a Microsoft 365 subscription or a one-time Office purchase; only the web version is free.
• Copilot requires a paid subscription, has usage limits, and on shared plans works for the subscription owner only.
• On phones and tablets, advanced formatting and track changes need a Microsoft 365 subscription.
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic ($7.00 per user / month paid yearly, or $5.40 without Teams) includes only the web and mobile versions of Word.

ONLYOFFICE

• The free DocSpace Startup plan stops at 3 admins, 12 rooms and 2 GB, and lacks SAML SSO, LDAP, branding, a custom domain and the audit trail.
• DocSpace Business costs $20 per admin a month; the pricing page shows it as reduced from $30 and gives no end date for that price.
• Docs Enterprise is licensed by simultaneous connections, from $1,500 for a 1-year, 50-connection, on-premises license with Basic support.
• A 1-year Docs Enterprise license stops working when it ends; a lifetime license keeps running but loses free updates after its support period.

Microsoft Word

Copilot in Word

Drafts, rewrites and summarizes documents and answers questions about them. It needs a Microsoft 365 subscription, and usage limits apply.

Editor

A built-in checker for spelling, grammar and writing style. The free web version includes basic spelling and grammar checks.

Real-time co-authoring

Share a document with anyone, including people without an account, and edit it together, with track changes and version history. Shared files are stored in OneDrive.

Templates

Thousands of customizable templates are available at no charge, and the free web version includes a basic set of templates, fonts and icons.

Dictate

Speech-to-text for writing by voice, plus transcription of audio files into a document. Dictation and voice commands are part of the free web version.

Immersive Reader and Accessibility Checker

Immersive Reader gives a pared-back reading view, and the Accessibility Checker recommends fixes to formatting, color contrast and word choice.

ONLYOFFICE

Document, sheet and slide editors

Online editors for text documents, spreadsheets and presentations, which the vendor describes as highly compatible with Microsoft Office and OpenDocument formats.

PDF editor and fillable forms

Build fillable PDF forms and have them filled in online, read and edit PDFs, and convert documents to Markdown, HTML or e-books.

Real-time co-editing

Co-edit in character-level or paragraph-level mode, track changes, compare documents, leave comments and mentions, and chat or call from inside the editor.

DocSpace rooms

DocSpace sorts files into rooms with their own access rights: collaboration, public, form-filling and custom rooms, and virtual data rooms.

AI assistants and agents

AI tools generate documents, sheets, slides and forms, rewrite and translate text, and extract text from scanned PDFs. Any AI model can be connected, including a fully local one.

Connectors and self-hosting

More than 40 ready-made connectors add the editors to platforms such as Nextcloud, Box, Moodle, Odoo and WordPress, and the server can run on your own infrastructure.

Microsoft Word

• Free$0

  Word for the web for 1 person, with real-time collaboration, basic spelling and grammar, basic templates, dictation and 5 GB of storage.

• Microsoft 365 Personal$9.99

  per month, or $99.99 per year

  1 person signed in on up to 5 devices, 1 TB of cloud storage, and the Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook desktop apps with Copilot.

• Microsoft 365 Apps for business$10.00

  per user / month, paid yearly

  Desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook for up to 300 employees, with 1 TB of cloud storage per user.

• Microsoft 365 Family$12.99

  per month, or $129.99 per year

  Everything in Personal for 1 to 6 people, each with 1 TB of storage. AI features are for the subscription owner only.

• Microsoft 365 Premium$19.99

  per month, or $199.99 per year

  Everything in Family, plus extensive Copilot usage and agentic AI features such as advanced research and analytics.

• Office Home 2024$179.99

  one-time purchase for 1 PC or Mac

  Classic 2024 desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, with no upgrade path to later releases.

ONLYOFFICE

• Community and free appsFree

  Docs Community and DocSpace Community builds for self-hosting, desktop editors for Windows, Linux and macOS, and iOS and Android apps.

• DocSpace Startup$0

  Cloud plan with up to 3 admins, 12 rooms and 2 GB of storage, and unlimited users and guests. The page labels it a limited-time offer.

• DocSpace Business$20

  per admin / month

  Cloud plan with unlimited rooms, 250 GB per admin, SSO, branding, automatic backups and audit trail. Shown reduced from a crossed-out $30.

• Docs EnterpriseFrom $1,500

  1-year license, 50 connections, on-premises, Basic support

  Self-hosted editors to connect to another platform, licensed by simultaneous connections for 1 year or for life, with three support levels.

• DocSpace EnterpriseCustom

  On-premises DocSpace paid per connection, with unlimited admins and rooms, multi-space management and support under an SLA.

Microsoft Word

• Annual discount

  Save up to 17% by paying yearly

  Microsoft 365 Personal is $99.99 a year against $9.99 a month, Family $129.99 against $12.99 and Premium $199.99 against $19.99.

• Education

  Students save 50% on Microsoft 365 Personal

  Verified college and university students pay $4.99 a month for Microsoft 365 Personal. Student status has to be re-verified each year to keep the price.

• Education

  Office 365 A1 free for eligible schools

  Educators and students with an eligible school email address get Office 365 A1 at no cost, which includes the web versions of Word and the other core apps.

• Lifetime license

  Office Home 2024 one-time purchase

  $179.99 buys the classic 2024 desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for 1 PC or Mac, with no subscription.

ONLYOFFICE

• Nonprofit

  Free DocSpace cloud for nonprofits and schools

  Nonprofits and schools can request a free DocSpace cloud with 2 GB of storage and up to 20 admins. It requires an ONLYOFFICE banner on their website or a post about the partnership.

• Education

  Discounted rate for educational institutions

  The DocSpace pricing FAQ says educational institutions other than schools can get a discounted rate. No figure is published.

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime license for Docs Enterprise

  Docs Enterprise can be bought with a lifetime license instead of a 1-year one. The version bought keeps working, but free updates end with the support period chosen, 1 or 3 years.