The Bottom Line
Microsoft 365 is the best set of productivity apps for serious office work, seamlessly blending the power, speed, and security of desktop-based apps with the convenience of online and mobile platforms.
Pros
- The most powerful, feature-rich office suite
- Smooth collaboration features
- Distraction-free focus view in Word
- Convenient automated features in Excel
- Regular updates with added features
- Includes access to web and mobile versions
Cons
- Outlook’s new version lacks essential features from the old version
- Word’s automation features are intrusive and hard to control
- Some features are deeply hidden in obscure menus
How Much Does Microsoft 365 Cost?
Unlike rival suites, Microsoft 365 has native apps for every important platform except Linux. The full suite runs as a set of subscription-based desktop apps in Windows and macOS, with free mobile versions on iOS and Android and free web-based versions for any browser, making the suite available via the web for any platform, including Linux. Subscriptions include an email account. A one-person subscription, Microsoft 365 Personal, costs $69.99 per year for use in Windows, macOS, phones, and tablets, signed in to five devices at once. The more economical Microsoft 365 Family costs $99.99 for up to six people, with up to 5 devices each signed in simultaneously. Business users can choose from various plans, starting with Microsoft 365 Business Basic for $6 per user per month, with web and mobile apps but no desktop software. From there, it goes up to Microsoft 365 Business Premium, which includes desktop software, at $22 per user per month.
Microsoft 365 is a fast-evolving suite, with updates every two or three weeks, often with newly added features that change the interface in ways that may take some getting used to. (Free online-only suite Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides also has frequent updates but with less radical changes than Microsoft’s.)
For this reason, corporate IT managers and anyone who dislikes software-by-subscription will prefer the non-subscription “perpetual-license” version that Microsoft packages for Windows and the Mac as Office Home & Student 2021 ($149.99) or the high-powered Office Professional 2021 ($439.99) and Office Professional Plus 2021, available for corporate and educational use under volume-license plans.