Free for All: Using Office OnlineĪlthough web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote have been available for a while, Microsoft only recently drew attention to them as a dedicated product tier known as Office Online. It’s called Office Online and it’s the first stop on our Office pricing tour. Nevertheless-in keeping with their dedication to backward compatibility-Microsoft have continued to make traditional licenses available for purchase as well.īest of all, in an effort to compete with iWork and Google Docs, Microsoft have made a surprisingly robust version of Office available for free. Today, Microsoft has managed to establish Office 365 as the default option for buying their productivity suite, and they have created a diverse portfolio of plan options to cater to nearly every possible use case. Instead of paying a one-time fee for a permanent license to use the software, users were asked to look at Office as a service, one that commanded a monthly or yearly fee for ongoing access, updates, and enhancements.

Microsoft was among the first on this bandwagon, with Office 365 being unveiled as a subscription-based offering of the familiar suite as early as 2010. This system is a natural reaction to the developing tech world, but it has been controversial for consumers, mainly because it disrupts the status quo of licensing and is a confusing paradigm shift for those used to the traditional model of software “ownership”. RentingĬhances are you’re familiar with the recent trend in software sales of offering products for a monthly payment rather than a single license fee.

This tutorial will help you choose the best for your needs and will give you a better understanding of how Microsoft has structured its most popular software offering's pricing.

The only problem with being this ubiquitous is that there are a ton of options for getting a Microsoft Office license. This bread-and-butter category is rife with options, and while many of them are both capable and competitive, the fact is that Microsoft’s well-known Office suite remains the de facto standard, and is a requirement in many workplaces.

How much does office 365 cost