Back in the late ’90s and early 2000s, Microsoft Office was the king of the business world. It crushed competitors like WordPerfect Office and Lotus SmartSuite, with no real challengers in sight. Then Google showed up with Google Docs and Spreadsheets — a pair of online tools for word processing and spreadsheets that let people work together in real time. Over time, these became part of Google Apps, later G Suite, and now Google Workspace, grabbing a sizeable chunk of the market.
We’ve also got open-source options like LibreOffice and newer players like MobiOffice (formerly OfficeSuite) with a solid user base. But even with all these choices, Microsoft Office is still the best office suite out there. Here are a few reasons why.
Microsoft has moved its focus from the one-time purchase of Office software to Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), a subscription-based service. I’ll be talking about Microsoft 365 in this article.
8 reasons LibreOffice isn't a better office suite than Microsoft Office
Even though LibreOffice is a suitable alternative to Microsoft 365's office suite for many, there are several reasons to reconsider switching to it
5 It gets regular updates
With added features
Microsoft Office is a fast-evolving suite with updates every two or three weeks. These updates introduce new tools, performance improvements, and security enhancements to keep users productive and secure. Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, the online-only suite, also receive frequent updates but with fewer radical changes compared to Microsoft’s.
4 Best security and management tools
Something businesses would appreciate
Businesses will care more about this, but Microsoft Office makes managing the suite easy and keeps your data safe. The admin center has a more straightforward view than Google Workspace, making it much easier to handle tasks like adding or editing users, changing licenses, paying bills, and installing Office on devices. On top of that, Microsoft Office offers better admin security, stronger mobile management, and more controls. It keeps your data secure with enterprise-grade protection and has a central security hub for managing user permissions and safeguards.
3 Office apps are just better
Word and Excel, in particular
Many office suites, like Google Workspace and LibreOffice, offer similar apps to Office, but Microsoft’s productivity apps are the best at what they do, bar none. These apps are suitable for everyone, from students and freelancers to large enterprises.
Take Word, for instance. It is one of the most feature-rich word processors out there. It has an excellent set of pre-built templates, so you can get writing fast. It also has superior features for editing and marking up documents for review by others. Live collaboration is the only area where the competition, specifically Google Docs, has an edge.
Similarly, Excel outshines apps like Google Sheets and LibreOffice Calc with its extensive collection of templates. There are over 90 templates just for different budgets. Excel also provides a much broader selection of chart types, ranging from popular ones like column, line, pie, bar, and area to more advanced options like radar, surface, and histogram.
2 The AI features are by far the best
Nothing comes close
Google Workspace and Microsoft Office are currently the only office suites offering AI features. Google has Gemini, and Microsoft provides Copilot, though full versions of these tools are not included as standard features. Microsoft’s Power Automate uses AI to help users build workflows with natural language prompts, while Microsoft Editor offers text prediction, spelling, and grammar checking in Word and Outlook.
Office’s generative AI features make tasks significantly more manageable. In PowerPoint, the Copilot and Designer tools allow you to create entire presentations with AI. In Excel, Copilot simplifies complex tasks like building formulas, creating pivot tables, and applying conditional formatting to highlight key data.
1 Online apps are pretty good
Not as good as Google Workspace apps though
I’ll admit that the web versions of Microsoft Office apps are not the best out there. Google Workspace has them beat in quite a few areas. That said, Microsoft’s web apps are still solid and offer almost everything you get with Google’s apps, making a strong case for Microsoft Office as the best productivity suite. For example, you get features like dark mode (though not in PowerPoint or Excel), which Google Workspace apps do not have.
Another big win for online Office apps is their endless selection of templates. Google has some decent options, but it is not even close compared to Microsoft. These web apps also have some features you will not find in Google Workspace. One standout is the Immersive Reader, which lets you read or listen to documents, making it super helpful for accessibility. PowerPoint also has tools like Presenter Coach to help you practice your presentation.
Don’t shy away from alternatives
While Microsoft Office is a top choice, plenty of other great options exist. There are many reasons to consider these alternatives, whether it's to avoid Microsoft products, find something cheaper, or even get a fully free option. Whatever you need, there’s an alternative for everyone in our list of the best Office alternatives.
6 reasons why OnlyOffice is a great Microsoft Office alternative
Is it time to stop paying for Microsoft Office?