I've been using Office 365 Home Plan (the one with 5 users) for the past 2 years. It includes the following:
- Latest Microsoft Office Suite (with Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Onenote, Access, Publisher)
- 60 minutes of Skype calls per month
- 1TB of Space on Onedrive.
The pricetag is $99.99 for a year or $9.99 per month (if you get the annual subscription you get 2 months of free service).
For the reader in a hurry:
Cons:
- If you cancel the service, you won't have access to the Office Suite.
- You can't install an older Office version.
- 5 computer devices limit (for all 5 users, not per user!)
Pros:
- 1TB of space on Onedrive (per user)
- You can create expiring links on Onedrive
- Office is closely integrated with Onedrive
- Regular updates on office products
- 1 hour of phone calls per month via skype
- Office for Phones and Tablets!
Although I added it as a "Pro" in the list, you can already get Office apps on Android and iOS for free if your device is a phone. So if you are using Office mainly on your phone, it isn't worth the money (unless you need the 1TB space on Onedrive).
If you like to buy your software and not LEASE it, like with the subscription, Microsoft offers a basic version of Office with only Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Be prepared to throw extra money if you need Access or Outlook (although you can always use Thunderbird or one of the other free email suites). It costs $149.99 from the Microsoft Store and you get to keep it forever.
You can also use the free online versions of Word, Excel and Powerpoint, which are also tied to Onedrive and your Microsoft Account.
If you don't need the 1TB of space on Onedrive and you can cope with the browser-based online versions of Office, the pricetag is not worth it though. I understand that it is a huge software suite, but $9.99 for a month, may seem "not much" but...
The Verdict
As I already said, the basic version of Office costs $149.99. For example, for 2 computers, that's $299.98. In 30 months you will break even! If you have 5 PCs though, that's a whole different story, and the subscription is better for you.
Everything comes down to what you need.
If you are a non-regular user of Office, consider using LibreOffice or Kingsoft's WPS Office.
If you can handle the limitations of online Microsoft Office, you are better there.
Otherwise, just get a subscription! If you need a one-PC subscription, it will cost you $69.99/year or $6.99/month
One final thought: What will happen if Microsoft decides to discontinue the Office 365 program? Chances of this happening are pretty slim, but it's worth the time to think about it.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments, I'll try to reply as soon as possible!
I prefer Microsoft Office over LibreOffice any day. The thing is, I only need the Excel functionality once in a blue moon. Most of the time I use Google Docs. And when that doesn't suffice, I try to endure the huge mess that LibreOffice is.
So I'm not willing to pay Microsoft for the 4 times a year when I could have used Excel instead of LibreOffice Calc.
On the other hand, usually my work laptop has an Office license. ;)
Why "huge mess"? I mean, I understand that LibreOffice Calc doesn't have all the functionality of Excel. What errors have you encountered?
To be honest, I'm using Excel once in a blue moon and mainly using it for adjusting pricetables at my work. LibreOffice Calc also does the work perfectly, so I have no complains on this. Erm... "Had no complains", as I have a 365 subscription on my personal laptop, so I no longer use LibreOffice.
I'm not talking about errors per se. Working with LibreOffice feels to me like the devs never use it themselves.
Maybe it's because I'm used to Excel and so I expect LibreOffice to work in a similar way, but it's just full of small annoyances that really slow you down.
Next time I use it, I'll try to remember to document a list of "bugs".
Great content!
Thanks for sharing!@dimitrisp