Office suites are bought three ways: a per-user cloud subscription, a per-computer desktop licence, or a server you run yourself.
This guide ranks twelve suites on the effort of the first ninety days, the invoice once storage and add-ons are included, how files leave, and whether you can run the suite without a partner.
Vendors can pay for visibility on this page. It never changes what an entry
says about a product, including the criticism, and we earn nothing when you click through to a
vendor. How that works.
In short
What office suites software does
An office suite bundles a word processor, a spreadsheet and a presentation editor, sold as desktop software, a browser service or a self-hosted server, and exchanging files in shared formats.
In this order: setup effort, what it really costs, how your data comes back out, whether
you can leave, and who each office suite is built for. One rule sits on top of those tests:
Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. Why those five, and why there is no
score out of ten, is on the how we work page.
Optional Apple Creator Studio subscription for premium content; 1-month trial
—
Mac-based teams that share documents among Apple devices and want a browser fallback
Mixed fleets with Windows or Linux desktop computers
Country is where the vendor is headquartered or contracts from, which is a
different question from where your data is hosted. Where the two tell different stories, the
entry says so.
German desktop suite with DOCX, XLSX and PPTX as native formats
Ranked #1 of 12 in Best Office Suites in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
SoftMaker answers the first ninety days simply: a 30-day trial, then a subscription for one or twelve months. The yearly price covers five computers in one household or one computer in a company, and company volume licences start at five computers.
Documents stay in DOCX, XLSX and PPTX, so exit is easy. The cost is in headcount, because every machine needs a licence, and shared editing is missing.
What stands out
Desktop
Native DOCX
Per-computer licence
Where it costs you
The company licence is counted per computer, so cost rises with every desk
The pages describe comments in the document, not simultaneous editing in a browser
Right for
Offices wanting local DOCX editing from a German vendor, without a cloud account
Wrong for
Teams that co-edit one file live from several places
GermanySubscription for one or twelve months, published; 30-day trial
Browser editors from Riga, as cloud or on your own server
Ranked #2 of 12 in Best Office Suites in 2026.
Free tierSelf-hostablePublished pricingEurope
ONLYOFFICE lets a team try the cloud on a free tier, then pay only for admins on the Business plan, with unlimited users and guests. That suits agencies sharing files with many clients.
The same editors can be installed on your own server, where the community edition is AGPL and the enterprise edition is quoted by simultaneous connections. Storage grows by 250 GB per admin, extra storage is billed per GB.
What stands out
Self-hosted
AGPL core
Admin-based pricing
Where it costs you
Startup tier is capped at twelve rooms and 2 GB of file storage
Self-hosted enterprise licences are counted by simultaneous connections and need a quote
Right for
Small organisations that want browser editing and either cloud or their own server
Wrong for
Buyers who want one published price for a self-hosted server
LatviaFree cloud tier; Business priced per admin, published; self-hosted option
Six-application desktop suite published by a German charitable foundation
Ranked #3 of 12 in Best Office Suites in 2026.
Free tierOpen sourcePublished pricingEurope
LibreOffice has the shortest procurement path in this list: download, install, no licence key, no account. The foundation states the suite is free and private, with no forced AI. Exit is the strongest here because it is open source and uses open formats.
What it does not bundle is storage, mail or live co-editing, so you assemble those from other products, and the imprint tells visitors the contact addresses do not provide support.
What stands out
Open source
Desktop
Foundation-run
Where it costs you
The six tools are desktop programs, with no browser editing from the same vendor
The imprint says its contact addresses do not provide support, so help comes through documentation and forums
Right for
Organisations that want a no-cost, open-source office suite with no vendor account
Wrong for
Teams that expect shared documents and cloud storage in one product
GermanyFree of charge, open source, no licence fee
Self-hosted workspace with Euro-Office or Collabora as the editor
Ranked #4 of 12 in Best Office Suites in 2026.
Open sourceSelf-hostablePublished pricingEurope
Nextcloud is the choice when files must stay on infrastructure you control, with the server released under the AGPL licence. Enterprise subscriptions start at 100 users and the office suite components, Euro-Office, Collabora Online and Thinkfree Office, are optional extras at additional cost.
The company behind it is Nextcloud GmbH in Stuttgart. Budget for the people who patch, back up and tune it, because the software does not run itself.
What stands out
Self-hosted
Open source
Euro-Office
Where it costs you
You are now running a storage service
Performance depends entirely on your hosting
Right for
An organisation that must keep files on its own infrastructure
Wrong for
A team with no operations capacity
GermanyEnterprise subscription per user per year, published from 100 users; editor is an optional extra
End-to-end encrypted documents and spreadsheets inside Proton Drive
Ranked #5 of 12 in Best Office Suites in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
Proton Docs is part of Proton Drive, so the first step is a free account with 5 GB, and documents are encrypted end to end. Collaborators can be invited by email or link without a Proton account, with comments, suggestions and live cursors.
The trade-off is scope: only documents and spreadsheets are shown, so a deck needs another tool, and the real price depends on moving to a paid Drive or business plan.
What stands out
Encrypted
Docs and Sheets
Swiss company
Where it costs you
The pages show documents and spreadsheets, with no presentation editor
Business plans and Workspace bundles are sold separately from the personal Drive tiers
Right for
Privacy-sensitive teams drafting documents and spreadsheets together with external guests
Wrong for
Teams that need slide decks and desktop-grade layout
SwitzerlandFree plan with 5 GB; paid Drive tiers published
LibreOffice-based online editor sold per user for servers you operate
Ranked #6 of 12 in Best Office Suites in 2026.
Free tierSelf-hostablePublished pricingEurope
Collabora Online is an editor to embed, not a finished workplace. The vendor lists file-sharing, learning and business platforms as the places it fits, and says partners handle integration, migration and hosting.
A free development edition exists for testing and home use. Business is priced per user per month up to 99 users, so a small team can model costs, but you still need a server or a partner.
What stands out
Self-hosted
LibreOffice-based
Per-user pricing
Where it costs you
Sold for servers you operate, with no vendor-hosted option on the pricing page
Business tier stops at 99 users, then pricing becomes a negotiated Enterprise deal
Right for
Organisations adding editing to an existing file platform with a partner
Wrong for
Small teams wanting a ready-to-use cloud suite with mail and storage
United KingdomFree development edition; Business per user per month, published; self-hosted
Long-running desktop suite under the Apache 2.0 licence
Ranked #7 of 12 in Best Office Suites in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Apache OpenOffice costs nothing and carries the Apache 2.0 licence, so setup is a download and exit is easy because it stores data in open formats. The weakness is pace.
The blog lists 4.1.14 in February 2023, 4.1.15 in December 2023, 4.1.16 in November 2025 and 4.1.17 in October 2026. A buyer who values quick fixes should compare that cadence with LibreOffice's before standardising.
What stands out
Apache 2.0
Desktop
Foundation project
Where it costs you
Releases are infrequent: the gap between 4.1.15 and 4.1.16 was almost two years
The pages describe a downloadable desktop suite and mention no hosted or live co-editing service
Right for
Machines or users already on OpenOffice who need a no-cost desktop suite
Wrong for
Teams that need frequent updates or shared editing
Subscription bundle of Office apps, email, Teams and SharePoint, sold in tiers
Ranked #8 of 12 in Best Office Suites in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Microsoft 365 is the reference every other suite is measured against for file formats, and Microsoft's own service table shows the split that decides the price: Basic is web only, Standard adds desktop apps, and Apps for business drops Exchange, SharePoint and Teams.
Plan names and bundles change often, so check the cap of 300 Business users and the add-ons you need before multiplying a list price.
What stands out
Subscription
Desktop and web
Bundle
Where it costs you
Business Basic has the Office apps for the web only, with desktop apps starting at Standard
Business plans are limited to 300 users, then another plan family applies
Right for
Organisations that need desktop Office apps and Microsoft services in one subscription
Wrong for
Buyers who want to avoid a single vendor for files and mail
United StatesPer-user subscription tiers; Business plans capped at 300 users
Docs, Sheets and Slides sold per user with Gmail and Drive
Ranked #9 of 12 in Best Office Suites in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Gmail's filtering is the benchmark the rest of this page is measured against, and nobody needs training to use it. The cost is dependency: mail brings documents, documents bring storage tiers, and the pooled storage model turns a small archive problem into a per-user upgrade across the whole company.
Export through the admin Data Export tool is complete and free, if slow at up to two weeks,, which is more than several rivals manage, but re-establishing mail flow elsewhere still takes a weekend and careful DNS work.
What stands out
14-day trial
Per-user tiers
Pooled storage
Where it costs you
Entry tier storage forces an upgrade sooner than the price suggests
American jurisdiction applies wherever the data is stored
Right for
Companies that want zero training cost and the best spam filter
Wrong for
Organisations with a strict European data sovereignty requirement
United StatesPer-user tiers, published; 14-day trial
Mail, file storage and Writer, Sheet, Show in one per-user bundle
Ranked #10 of 12 in Best Office Suites in 2026.
Pricing on requestAsia-Pacific
The Zoho Workplace product list names Mail, WorkDrive, Writer, Sheet, Show, Cliq and Meeting, so setup is one tenant instead of several products. The 15-day trial of the highest edition needs no credit card.
The price depends on the tier, because the document editors are absent from the mail-only plans, and storage is a team pool at small sizes. Add-on storage and signature credits are bought separately.
What stands out
Bundle
Per-user tiers
Mail included
Where it costs you
Writer, Sheet and Show come only with Standard and Professional, not with Mail Lite or Mail Premium
Enterprise pricing requires contacting sales, and some listed items are available only in certain regions
Right for
Small teams wanting mail, files and documents from one vendor on a per-user bill
Wrong for
Teams that want to run the suite on their own servers
IndiaPer-user tiers, annual or monthly billing; 15-day trial
Desktop and mobile suite with a free download and a paid tier
Ranked #11 of 12 in Best Office Suites in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingAsia-Pacific
WPS Office offers Writer, Spreadsheet, Presentation and PDF in one app, with a free download and cloud documents with real-time co-editing.
The pricing page lists 1 GB and 20 GB of cloud storage columns, and claims full compatibility with Microsoft file formats, so test that claim on your own files. The risk for a company is governance: the contracting party is in Singapore and the pricing page is built around single users.
What stands out
Free plan
Desktop and mobile
AI limits
Where it costs you
The pricing comparison lists one user per column, so it reads as an individual product
AI features are limited per day, even on Pro+
Right for
Individuals who want a free download with Microsoft formats on desktop and phone
Wrong for
Organisations that need admin controls and published team pricing
SingaporeFree download; paid Pro+ tier adds AI features
Pages, Numbers and Keynote from Apple, with Pages in the browser
Ranked #12 of 12 in Best Office Suites in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Pages is documented for Mac, iPad and iPhone, and Pages for iCloud lets you create or edit documents in a web browser. Real-time collaboration and export to Word are listed.
The setup cost is low on Apple hardware and high elsewhere. Premium content and new AI features belong to Apple Creator Studio, a subscription with a one-month trial, so a team budget needs that line.
What stands out
Apple devices
Browser version
Real-time sharing
Where it costs you
The guides cover Mac, iPad and iPhone, with a browser version as the only route on other machines
Premium content and AI features need a paid Apple Creator Studio subscription
Right for
Mac-based teams that share documents among Apple devices and want a browser fallback
Wrong for
Mixed fleets with Windows or Linux desktop computers
United StatesOptional Apple Creator Studio subscription for premium content; 1-month trial
An office suite bundles a word processor, a spreadsheet and a presentation editor, sold as desktop software, a browser service or a self-hosted server, and exchanging files in shared formats. The differences that matter are rarely in the feature list, so this is
the order we would work through them.
01
Decide whether you need a published price
9 of the 12 tools here publish what they cost; the other 3 quote per organisation. The ones you can compare without a sales call: SoftMaker Office, ONLYOFFICE, LibreOffice, Nextcloud, Proton Docs, Collabora Online, Apache OpenOffice, Google Workspace, WPS Office.
02
Decide how much the jurisdiction matters
These 12 vendors are established in 7 countries across 3 regions (Europe 6, North America 4, Asia-Pacific 2). That decides whose disclosure law applies to what the vendor holds, wherever the servers are.
03
Consider whether you want the source
2 of these are open source: LibreOffice, Nextcloud. Hosting one yourself trades a subscription for maintenance.
Per user, per admin or per computer: how office suite licences are counted
The same ten staff cost different amounts depending on what the vendor counts. Google Workspace bills per user per month and caps Starter, Standard and Plus at 300 users. ONLYOFFICE Business bills only admins, with users and guests free. SoftMaker Office counts computers, so a company pays for each machine and volume licences start at five.
Nextcloud enterprise plans start at 100 users, and Collabora Online Business runs per user up to 99. A small agency with one admin and many clients gains from ONLYOFFICE, a hot-desking office gains from per-user pricing, and a fixed workstation room gains from per-computer licences. Ask each vendor what happens to the invoice when staff change, not only when headcount grows.
List admins, regular editors, occasional guests and shared computers separately.
Ask whether the licence follows the person or sits on a machine.
Check the user cap and the point where the plan becomes a quote.
Desktop apps or browser only: where Microsoft 365 Business Basic stops
Plan names hide the split between apps installed on a laptop and apps in a browser tab. Microsoft's service table lists Microsoft 365 Apps for the web in every Business plan but desktop client apps only from Business Standard, and Apps for business has the desktop apps without Exchange, SharePoint or Teams.
Apple documents Pages for iCloud for editing in a browser, with Mac, iPad and iPhone guides for the desktop side. Proton Docs shows documents and spreadsheets, not slides. Desktop suites such as SoftMaker Office and LibreOffice run locally. The question is which files your clients send you and who must open them offline.
Test your own largest spreadsheet in the browser editor before buying.
Confirm which plan carries the desktop apps, not just the web apps.
Check whether presentations are supported, not only documents and sheets.
Self-hosted editors: Collabora Online, ONLYOFFICE and Nextcloud
A server you run replaces a monthly fee with your own operating time. Collabora Online is sold on premise per user, and its partners handle hosting and migration. ONLYOFFICE publishes an AGPL community edition and sells enterprise licences by simultaneous connections on a quote.
Nextcloud Hub 26 Spring offers Euro-Office and Collabora Online side by side, and Euro-Office is based on the ONLYOFFICE AGPL codebase, so the editor choice is also a choice about compatibility with Microsoft formats or with ODF. Count the hours for updates, backups and a second person who can restore the server. If nobody on staff can do that, the partner fee is part of the price, and so is the downtime while someone learns the restore procedure.
Name the person who patches and restores the server.
Ask which edition carries long-term support and the response times.
Test your DOCX files in each editor, not just a demo file.
Free suites: LibreOffice, Apache OpenOffice and WPS Office compared
Three products cost nothing to start, and they differ in what that buys. LibreOffice is published by a charitable foundation and ships six tools, with a version 26.8 on its front page. Apache OpenOffice is under the Apache 2.0 licence, and its release list shows a gap of almost two years before 4.1.16.
WPS Office has a free plan with 1 GB of cloud storage, against 20 GB on its paid tier, and daily-limited AI tools. All three read Microsoft formats, but only the vendor can tell you how a complex file looks after a round trip. Run the files that matter before a rollout, and decide who gives support inside your organisation.
Check the release date of the last version before you standardise.
Open your ten most complicated files and save them back.
Decide who answers staff questions inside your organisation.
What goes wrong most often when buying office suites software
Comparing a list price per user without checking whether the desktop apps, mail and enough storage are in that tier.
Choosing a self-hosted editor and forgetting that updates and restores become your own job or a partner's.
Standardising on a desktop suite and then discovering that clients expect live co-editing in a browser.
Treating Proton Docs, WPS Office or Apple iWork as a drop-in replacement for Microsoft 365 without testing your largest files.
07
Frequently asked questions
8 answers
What is the best office suites in 2026?
SoftMaker Office leads our ranking of 12. SoftMaker Software GmbH sells TextMaker, PlanMaker and Presentations as a local suite for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android, with no forced cloud connection.
Documents open in Microsoft formats without conversion. The licence is counted per computer, so a company pays for each machine, and collaboration is limited to comments inside a document rather than shared editing in a browser.
Which office suites publish their pricing?
9 of the 12, with the pricing model each one publishes:
SoftMaker Office: Subscription for one or twelve months, published; 30-day trial.
ONLYOFFICE: Free cloud tier; Business priced per admin, published; self-hosted option.
LibreOffice: Free of charge, open source, no licence fee.
Nextcloud: Enterprise subscription per user per year, published from 100 users; editor is an optional extra.
Proton Docs: Free plan with 5 GB; paid Drive tiers published.
Collabora Online: Free development edition; Business per user per month, published; self-hosted.
Apache OpenOffice: Free download, no licence fees.
Google Workspace: Per-user tiers, published; 14-day trial.
WPS Office: Free download; paid Pro+ tier adds AI features.
The other 3 quote per organisation.
Is there a free office suite?
ONLYOFFICE, LibreOffice, Proton Docs, Collabora Online, Apache OpenOffice, WPS Office offer a free tier or a free self-hosted edition.
Where are these office suite vendors established?
In 7 countries across 3 regions: Europe 6, North America 4, Asia-Pacific 2.
SoftMaker Office: Germany.
ONLYOFFICE: Latvia.
LibreOffice: Germany.
Nextcloud: Germany.
Proton Docs: Switzerland.
Collabora Online: United Kingdom.
Apache OpenOffice: United States.
Microsoft 365: United States.
Google Workspace: United States.
Zoho Workplace: India.
WPS Office: Singapore.
Apple iWork: United States.
Which office suites are open source?
LibreOffice, Nextcloud.
Which office suites can you host yourself?
ONLYOFFICE, Nextcloud, Collabora Online. The other 9 are hosted by the vendor only.
What should you use instead of SoftMaker Office?
ONLYOFFICE and LibreOffice are the next two on this page. ONLYOFFICE is for small organisations that want browser editing and either cloud or their own server; LibreOffice is for Organisations that want a no-cost, open-source office suite with no vendor account.
Who should not buy SoftMaker Office?
Teams that co-edit one file live from several places. The company licence is counted per computer, so cost rises with every desk.
If your office suites product belongs among these 12, tell us what it does and who it is for. Inclusion is an editorial call; what a listing is and is not is set out under software advice.
