Microsoft Office is one of the world’s most popular office suites, providing applications that allow you to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations and databases, as well as manage e-mail. Depending on the version you choose, it may include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, and Access. Additional services, such as OneDrive cloud storage, are also included in certain packages. Let’s take a look at how much Microsoft Office will cost depending on your needs.
If you want to get Microsoft Office for freeUse Office.com.
You can’t get the best Microsoft Office experience without the company’s premium, feature-rich desktop applications and included services. However, if you want a free option, you can turn to Office.com. Online applications contain more limited versions of Microsoft Word for writing documents, Excel for spreadsheets and PowerPoint for presentations. For more advanced applications, such as Publisher or Access, there’s no online access – except you’re limited to the free OneDrive storage tier.
While you can get by with the free version, some users will find the Web version to be limited in features. Read more about the full-featured Mac and PC versions of Office, as well as their mobile counterparts for iOS and Android, below.
Get Office for free as a student
Are you currently a student? If you have a valid school email address, you can get a completely free version of Microsoft Office 365. The package, known as Office 365 Education, includes Word for creating documents, Excel for spreadsheets, PowerPoint for presentations and OneNote for taking notes. Students also get free access to Microsoft Teams for easy collaboration with other students on projects. As Microsoft says, “It’s not a trial – so get started today.”
If you use Microsoft Office at home
One-time purchase options
If you need Microsoft Office but don’t want to bother with a subscription, you can purchase the software for a one-time fee. Office Home & Student 2019 is a great option for those who need the software for personal or student use. If you only need access to the 2019 versions of Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, a one-time fee of $150 might be the best deal for you. However, this fee only covers one person and one PC or Mac computer, so keep that in mind.
If you prefer to pay for Microsoft Office outright but need Outlook as part of the package, Microsoft offers Office Home & Business 2019 for $250. This version of Office includes desktop versions of Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint 2019 for a single PC or Mac.
Subscription service options.
If you need additional software from the Office suite or prefer to pay for an ongoing subscription, you can choose Microsoft 365. Billed as recurring monthly or annual payments, this subscription will provide you with a continually updated version of Office as well as a complete package that (PC-only) adds programs such as Access for databases and Publisher for layout and page design – Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook are also included. Microsoft 365 users additionally get versions of the Office apps for Android and iOS, as well as cloud storage through Microsoft’s OneDrive service.
If you choose Microsoft 365, you can choose one of two editions and pay monthly or annually. The Microsoft 365 Personal edition provides 1TB of cloud storage and a single-person license — that will cost you $7 a month or $70 a year. If you need more licenses and cloud storage, Microsoft 365 Family can be used by six users (great for families) and includes 6TB of cloud storage. Microsoft 365 Family costs $10 per month or $100 per year.
If you use Microsoft Office at work
One-time purchase option.
If you’re planning to use Microsoft Office at work, you might want to look into the features that Business Edition offers. As mentioned earlier, Office Home & Business 2019 is a one-time purchase option that includes Microsoft Word for writing documents, Excel for spreadsheets, PowerPoint for presentations and Outlook for email. The Office Home & Business edition is only compatible with PC and Mac computers and does not include mobile software for iOS or Android. In addition, no cloud storage services are provided. The cost of this option is $250.
Subscription service options
Most businesses will opt for Microsoft 365’s “For Business” subscription service line, which allows for ongoing updates to the Office suite, includes additional software and provides mobile apps for Android and iOS devices. For just $5 per user per month (when billed annually), businesses can access Microsoft 365 Business Basic. This Office option includes only Web and mobile versions of the apps – nothing for Mac or PC. However, Microsoft 365 Business Basic includes web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook. In addition, subscribers to this service level can count on access to the following secure cloud services: Teams, Exchange, OneDrive and SharePoint.
The Microsoft 365 Apps service tier costs $8.25 per user per month for an annual subscription and includes Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher and Access (the latter two included for PCs only); it also provides 1TB of cloud storage through OneDrive.
If you want additional services from Microsoft, you can choose Microsoft 365 Business Standard, which includes the aforementioned software in addition to Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint and Teams. Designed for businesses that rely on teamwork, Microsoft Teams and SharePoint together provide online meetings and video, peer-to-peer chat and file sharing services. The Exchange component allows businesses to host and manage company e-mail accounts. Microsoft 365 Business Standard costs $12.50 per user per month and requires an annual commitment.
Finally, the most expensive tier is Microsoft 365 Business Premium. You’ll get access to the same Office applications as the previous two tiers, plus six secure cloud services: Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, Intune and Azure Information Protection. Intune will give you the ability to “remotely wipe company data from lost or stolen devices.” Azure Information Protection is a cloud-based security feature that will help secure and protect sensitive documents. This level of service costs $20 per user per month with an annual commitment.
If you use Microsoft for enterprise
Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans, designed for large organizations, provide Office applications as well as advanced security and device management features. There are three plans to choose from: Microsoft 365 F3, Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5.
Microsoft 365 F3 costs $8 per user per month with an annual commitment. This tier includes Web and mobile app access only. This tier has its own limitations, but it includes full access to device and application management services such as Windows Enterprise, Intune and Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
Microsoft 365 E3 costs $32 per user per month on an annual billing basis and includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Publisher and Access. However, Publisher and Access can only be accessed on a PC. This tier also includes access to Web versions and mobile apps. You will also get access to Outlook, Exchange, and Bookings. This package provides some, but not all, of the benefits of meetings and voice communications, including access to Teams without phone calls.
Microsoft 365 E5 costs $57 per user per month with an annual commitment and includes the same full access to installed, Web and mobile versions of Office applications, as well as Outlook, Exchange and Bookings. This plan adds more meeting and voice services options than the E3 plan, providing the full range, including Teams, audio calls and the phone system. There’s even access to Microsoft Information Protection services, including Data Loss Prevention, Azure Information Protection P1 and P2, and Cloud Application Protection.
If you’re interested in discussing additional options related to the various Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans, you’re best advised to contact Microsoft sales.
