LibreOffice

Why we looked at LibreOffice alternatives

LibreOffice is the reflex answer whenever someone asks for a free Microsoft Office replacement, and for good reason. It reads and writes almost every format that ever mattered, it runs the same way on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and it costs nothing. The problems start once you hand a .docx back to a Microsoft 365 user and they open it to shifted headers, broken tables, and a font substitution nobody asked for. Add the toolbar that still looks like 2011 and the lack of built-in real-time editing, and it makes sense that plenty of teams keep asking for LibreOffice alternatives on desktop.

We spent a week installing, opening the same test documents, and pushing files back and forth with a Microsoft 365 tenant. This article covers seven desktop LibreOffice alternatives that hold up in real work, with honest notes on where each one still falls short.

Quick comparison

App Best for Free tier Paid starts at Standout feature
OnlyOffice Desktop Editors Highest Microsoft file fidelity in an open source suite Full desktop editors, free forever Around 20 USD/user/mo for cloud workspace Ships the same rendering engine as its browser version
WPS Office Familiar Microsoft look with the smallest install Ad-supported free tier About 3 USD/mo yearly for WPS Premium Ribbon UI that mirrors Office almost tab for tab
SoftMaker FreeOffice Clean commercial-grade suite without a subscription Free desktop version Around 40 USD one time for SoftMaker Office Native .docx, .xlsx, .pptx as the default save format
Collabora Office Teams that want LibreOffice with proper co-editing Community desktop build Around 25 USD/user/year for supported version Real-time collaboration through a self hosted server
Apache OpenOffice Users who want the plainest, most familiar 2000s layout Fully free No paid tier Long release history and predictable behavior
Microsoft 365 People who cannot afford any format drift at all 1 month trial 7 USD/mo for Personal The one suite every recipient can open perfectly
Google Workspace Small teams that live in a browser Free with a Google account 6 USD/user/mo for Business Starter Real-time editing with anyone who has a link

Why people leave LibreOffice

We pulled the recurring complaints from Reddit’s r/libreoffice and r/opensource, the AskUbuntu threads, and the LibreOffice Ask forum. Five reasons keep coming up.

  1. Microsoft format drift. A .docx with headers, footnotes, or track changes usually opens fine, but the moment it goes back through Word the formatting shifts. Charts embedded from Excel are the worst offenders.
  2. The UI still feels stuck. LibreOffice added the optional Notebookbar years ago, but out of the box new users still land on the toolbar layout from a decade ago. Younger colleagues open it, stare, and ask where the ribbon is.
  3. No native real-time co-editing. LibreOffice needs a companion server (Collabora, Nextcloud) for multi-cursor editing. If you compare that to opening a Google Doc and pasting a link, the friction is real.
  4. Mac performance and polish. On Apple Silicon the app runs, but it does not feel native, and PDF export of complex documents can produce oversized files.
  5. Missing polish in Calc for large sheets. Spreadsheets past 200k rows slow down noticeably, and pivot tables lack a few conveniences Excel users take for granted.

The alternatives

OnlyOffice Desktop Editors, best overall Microsoft compatibility

OnlyOffice makes a strong case as the LibreOffice alternative for anyone who lives inside .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx. It uses those Microsoft formats as its native ones instead of ODF, so round trips through Word or Excel almost never introduce drift. The interface is a proper ribbon, close enough to Microsoft’s that team members switch without a training session.

Where it falls short: The suite includes Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentations, but there is no equivalent of LibreOffice Draw or Base. If you use those, you will need to keep LibreOffice around.

Pricing:

Migrating from LibreOffice: Copy your files and open them. There is no import step because OnlyOffice reads .odt, .ods, and .odp natively. A mid-size folder of a few hundred documents takes minutes to move over.

Download: OnlyOffice for Windows, macOS, Linux

Bottom line: Pick OnlyOffice if you exchange Microsoft files with people who do not use your suite. Skip it if Draw and Base are part of your workflow.

WPS Office, closest to the Microsoft ribbon

WPS Office is a LibreOffice alternative that people install and immediately recognize. The layout, the icon set, the way charts open, all of it sits about one screen away from Office 2019. That familiarity matters when the person opening your file is a coworker on a locked-down Windows machine who will not touch anything unfamiliar.

Where it falls short: The free tier shows ads inside the app, and cloud features nudge you toward a paid subscription. The interface, while friendly, does not scale as cleanly on Linux as on Windows.

Pricing:

Migrating from LibreOffice: WPS opens ODF files, but it prefers Microsoft formats. Batch converting .odt to .docx before switching keeps things clean.

Download: WPS Office for Windows · WPS Office for macOS · WPS Office for Linux

Bottom line: Pick WPS if you send files to Office users daily and want them to open without surprises. Skip it if in-app ads bother you.

SoftMaker FreeOffice, no-subscription commercial polish

SoftMaker FreeOffice is the free cut of a paid German office suite that has been around since the 1990s. Compared to LibreOffice, the interface feels finished, exports to Microsoft formats are reliable, and startup time on older hardware is noticeably faster.

Where it falls short: The free version cannot save in .docx or .xlsx without a login prompt for the paid edition. Some macros and pivot options are also gated behind SoftMaker Office.

Pricing:

Migrating from LibreOffice: Native ODF support means a straight file copy works. Recreate any BASIC macros you had in Calc, they do not carry over.

Download: SoftMaker FreeOffice for Windows, macOS, Linux

Bottom line: Pick FreeOffice if you want a finished-feeling suite and do not need .docx as a default save format. If you do, the one-time paid version is still cheaper long term than a Microsoft 365 seat.

Collabora Office, LibreOffice with proper co-editing

Collabora Office is the enterprise-supported build of LibreOffice, maintained by the same team that contributes many of its upstream fixes. The reason to consider it as a LibreOffice alternative is Collabora Online, the browser edition that plugs into Nextcloud, ownCloud, or a standalone deployment and gives you real multi-cursor editing.

Where it falls short: The desktop app looks and feels almost identical to community LibreOffice, so if the UI was the reason you were leaving, this does not fix it. Collaboration also requires you to run or subscribe to a server, which raises the setup bar.

Pricing:

Migrating from LibreOffice: Zero effort. Files are already in the right format.

Download: Collabora Office desktop builds

Bottom line: Pick Collabora if your team is on LibreOffice and just needs real-time editing without moving to Google or Microsoft. Skip it if you have no place to host the server.

Apache OpenOffice, the classic that keeps running

Apache OpenOffice is the older cousin that LibreOffice was forked from in 2010. Development is slower today, but the app is stable, familiar, and boots into a layout that anyone who used Office in the 2000s will recognize.

Where it falls short: Releases are infrequent, and format support has not kept pace with LibreOffice. Complex .docx files that LibreOffice handles will sometimes stumble in OpenOffice.

Pricing:

Migrating from LibreOffice: Direct, since both use ODF. Any newer LibreOffice features you used (like the Notebookbar or advanced pivot table options) will not appear in OpenOffice.

Download: Apache OpenOffice for Windows, macOS, Linux

Bottom line: Pick OpenOffice if you want something quieter and more predictable than LibreOffice. Skip it if you actively use recent Word or Excel features.

Microsoft 365, the reference build

If you spend your day sending files back to Microsoft 365 users, the safest LibreOffice alternative is the suite everyone else already runs. Compatibility is not a factor, since Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are the reference implementations.

Where it falls short: It costs money every month, and on Linux you have to use the browser-based apps rather than a native install. Offline features are limited without a paid seat.

Pricing:

Migrating from LibreOffice: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint open .odt, .ods, and .odp. Save-as to Microsoft formats once, and the rest of your workflow is unchanged.

Download: Microsoft 365 for Windows and macOS

Bottom line: Pick Microsoft 365 if a broken layout in a client-facing document would cost you real money. Skip it if formatting drift is annoying but not expensive.

Google Workspace, the browser-native option

Google Workspace is the LibreOffice alternative when the real problem is not the suite itself, it is that your files live on one laptop and the rest of your team lives in a browser. Docs, Sheets, and Slides run in any modern browser on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and the collaboration model is what people actually think of when they ask for real-time editing.

Where it falls short: No true offline mode without setup, no equivalent of Draw or Base, and formatting fidelity for very complex Microsoft files can still slip. Also, everything you write lives on Google’s servers.

Pricing:

Migrating from LibreOffice: Upload .odt, .ods, .odp files to Google Drive and open them, they convert on the fly. Save your originals somewhere else first, since edits will happen inside Google’s format.

Download: Google Workspace for browsers

Bottom line: Pick Google Workspace if the collaboration story matters more than owning your files locally. Skip it if you want everything offline and out of the cloud.

How to choose

If you are leaving LibreOffice because Word documents come back mangled, install OnlyOffice Desktop Editors first. Ninety percent of the format drift complaints go away because the app uses .docx as its native format.

If your team is a small business on Windows and cost matters, WPS Office in its free tier is the fastest onboarding path. The UI looks enough like Office that new hires open it and start working.

If you want a cleaner-feeling free suite without ads and without a subscription, install SoftMaker FreeOffice. Pay the one-time fee later if you need .docx as a default save format.

If the reason you were looking around is the lack of real-time editing, look at Collabora Online (paired with Nextcloud or a self-hosted server) or move to Google Workspace. Collabora keeps your files on your infrastructure. Google trades that for the smoothest collaboration on the planet.

Stay on LibreOffice if you rarely swap files with Microsoft users, you like ODF as your default format, and you never needed real-time co-editing in the first place. It is still the best free suite for a solo desktop workflow.

FAQ

What is the best free alternative to LibreOffice?

For most people it is OnlyOffice Desktop Editors, because it is free, runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and uses Microsoft formats natively so files travel cleanly. WPS Office is a close second if you want a UI that mirrors Microsoft Office almost exactly, and SoftMaker FreeOffice is worth trying if you prefer a finished commercial feel without a subscription.

Is OnlyOffice better than LibreOffice?

For anyone who exchanges .docx and .xlsx files with Microsoft users, yes. OnlyOffice preserves formatting more reliably because it uses those formats as its native storage. LibreOffice remains the better pick if you work mostly in ODF, want Draw and Base, or need a suite that ships with your Linux distribution by default.

Do LibreOffice files open in Microsoft Word?

Yes. Word can open .odt documents directly from any recent version. Formatting usually holds up for plain text and lists, but complex layouts with embedded charts or custom styles can shift. Saving from LibreOffice as .docx before sending reduces surprises.

Which office suite is closest to Microsoft Office?

WPS Office is the closest visually, with a ribbon that mirrors Microsoft’s layout. OnlyOffice is the closest in behavior, because it treats .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx as its native formats and rounds files back through Word and Excel without drift.

Is there a LibreOffice alternative with real-time collaboration?

Yes, in two shapes. Collabora Online, running against a Nextcloud or standalone server, gives you multi-cursor editing on documents that stay under your control. Google Workspace is the ready-made option if you accept storing files on Google’s infrastructure.

Is LibreOffice still worth using in 2026?

Yes, if you work locally, prefer open source, and rarely need pixel-perfect Microsoft compatibility. It is the strongest free desktop suite for a solo workflow. Teams that exchange files with Microsoft users daily or need co-editing usually find the alternatives above a better fit.