Office Home 2024 for $180 or free? What you give up
Compare Office Home 2024, Office Online and OnlyOffice, then test your own files before deciding whether a Microsoft 365 subscription is worth it.
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Engadget describes a change you may have noticed in your own budget: buying Office has become less of a one-time purchase and more of a subscription decision. Microsoft has added AI features to Microsoft 365 plans, which you cannot opt out of, and raised prices. The question is whether a free office suite will cover your needs - and how to find out before you decide.
What this means for you
If you write reports, letters, simple spreadsheets and presentations, a free alternative will probably be enough, saving you the cost of a subscription. If your files rely on macros, huge spreadsheets with hundreds of thousands of rows or elaborate formatting, test compatibility on a copy before giving up your paid licence. This is a practical decision based on what you use every day, not an ideological one.
What Engadget reports
According to Engadget, Microsoft has promoted subscriptions as the main way to buy Office since Office 2013. A standalone version is still available: Office Home 2024 costs $180 and works on one computer. A Microsoft 365 Family plan gives each member 1 TB of cloud storage, which can make it better value for a larger household. The author says Microsoft has added AI features that users may not want and raised prices without giving them the option to remove those tools.
The $180 price is from the US price list. The source does not give prices for other countries. It also does not say exactly how much subscription prices increased or in which countries.
Two free alternatives
Engadget points to two options. The first is Office Online: sign in with a Microsoft account to use web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, along with Forms, Teams and To Do. These versions have fewer features - advanced tools such as macros and watermarks are missing - but Word has headings, Excel has pivot tables and PowerPoint has transitions. Real-time collaboration is available.
The second option is OnlyOffice, which the author recommends as the best free office suite. It supports documents, spreadsheets, presentations and PDFs, all of which open as tabs in one window. It saves files in standard DOCX and XLSX formats, making it compatible with the main Office applications. Its familiar ribbon interface makes it easy to get started. Documents support tracked changes, signatures, footnotes and tables.
Office vs. free alternatives
| Feature | Microsoft 365 / Office 2024 | Office Online | OnlyOffice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Subscription or $180 one-time | Free | Free |
| Works offline | Yes | No - requires an internet connection | Yes (desktop app) |
| Macros | Yes | No | Not all Word and Excel features are supported; the source does not specify the full extent |
| File formats | DOCX, XLSX and others | Compatible with Office | DOCX, XLSX |
| Large, complex files | Yes | Can struggle | Not specified in the source |
| Included cloud storage | 1 TB per person on the Family plan | 5 GB of free OneDrive storage | Not specified in the source |
Where free office software falls short
Engadget does not suggest that Office Online is trouble-free. You cannot work without an internet connection - files saved for offline use can be opened, but this version of Office is designed as an online tool. It also steers you towards saving files to OneDrive, where the free 5 GB can fill up quickly. The author says the web version struggles with demanding documents, citing a spreadsheet with half a million rows and complex formulas.
This is my opinion, not a fact from the source: the biggest risk when switching may not be missing features, but exchanging files with clients, accountants or government agencies. A spreadsheet with macros or a form with locked formatting could be altered by a free office suite. That is why you should test a copy, not the original.
How to test the alternatives
- List the five files you open most often. Focus on the files you actually use every week, not the ones that look most impressive.
- Copy them into a separate folder. Test only the copies.
- Install OnlyOffice and open each copy. Check that page layouts are intact, formulas produce the same results, and footnotes and tracked changes are still there.
- Upload the same copies to Office Online and check whether your browser slows down. You will notice it quickly with large spreadsheets.
- Test macros separately. If any file uses them, assume they will not work in a free suite and decide whether you can replace them.
- Check your cloud storage. The 5 GB of free OneDrive storage is a limit. If you store photos and archives there, include the cost of extra space in your savings calculation.
- Work with copies for a week before deciding whether to cancel your subscription. Do not do it the other way around.
- If you exchange files with an accountant or government agency, save them as DOCX and XLSX and ask the recipient to confirm they open correctly.
When it makes sense to keep paying
The source points to three situations: you need macros, you work with very large and complex spreadsheets, or your household has enough people that the Family plan’s 1 TB per person is cheaper than buying cloud storage separately. Otherwise, habit may be the main reason to keep paying. Engadget also notes that adding AI features without letting users opt out is another source of frustration - people are paying for something some of them never asked for.
Source
Engadget: Microsoft really doesn’t want you to buy Office - here’s a great free alternative, Ben Stegner, October 17, 2026.
