Which Microsoft 365 al­tern­at­ive fits your business?

Even though Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) impresses with its features and func­tion­al­ity, some busi­nesses are looking for suitable al­tern­at­ives—either because the sub­scrip­tion model is not feasible for them, the feature set is too extensive, or the costs are too high. We have reviewed the various Microsoft 365 al­tern­at­ives on the market for you and present the best options.

Important features a Microsoft 365 al­tern­at­ive should have

The extensive feature set of Microsoft 365 remains a key advantage for many users and is one of the main reasons why Microsoft Office ap­plic­a­tions continue to be the standard in most companies. For an al­tern­at­ive to Microsoft 365 to be a viable option, it needs to provide many of the functions as­so­ci­ated with the market leader.

The role of Exchange servers

Data exchange is a critical factor in modern busi­nesses, and col­lab­or­at­ive work on documents and processes is becoming ever more important. In this context, high avail­ab­il­ity and a de­pend­able version history are es­pe­cially relevant. Many or­gan­isa­tions continue to rely on Microsoft Office, often alongside a hosted Microsoft Exchange Server, as only a few al­tern­at­ives — such as Google Workspace or the OX App Suite — provide com­par­able cap­ab­il­it­ies. When con­sid­er­ing an al­tern­at­ive to Microsoft 365, it is therefore vital to pay attention to this aspect. Companies that rely heavily on Exchange may otherwise be forced to implement complex and time-consuming work­arounds.

Accepting file formats

Another central aspect to consider is file format com­pat­ib­il­ity. A viable al­tern­at­ive to Microsoft 365 must be able to create files that users with the Microsoft Office package can open, and also process files created within it. Since Microsoft 365 remains widely used in the business world, it is not always practical to provide every document solely as a uni­ver­sally readable PDF. For those who want to col­lab­or­ate on documents with business partners, partner companies, or customers, in­teg­rat­ing the ap­pro­pri­ate file formats is essential. Only­Of­fice, for example, offers par­tic­u­larly high com­pat­ib­il­ity with Microsoft formats (including DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX) without loss of format­ting. This is the only way to ensure seamless data exchange across different programs. Al­tern­at­ives to Microsoft 365 that do not offer this level of com­pat­ib­il­ity were therefore not included in the direct com­par­is­on.

Taking the GDPR into account

Another important point for busi­nesses is the General Data Pro­tec­tion Reg­u­la­tion (GDPR) and its con­sid­er­a­tion within programs. Microsoft 365 already took a pi­on­eer­ing role here, im­press­ing with its con­sist­ent and exemplary im­ple­ment­a­tion. Solutions like Only­Of­fice (in self-hosting) or the OX App Suite (European provider) now meet GDPR re­quire­ments sometimes more strictly than Microsoft or Google. This has the immense advantage that, as a business owner, you have to worry less about this issue. GDPR aspects can be prob­lem­at­ic with some al­tern­at­ives, es­pe­cially the free ones. Data pro­tec­tion should never be neglected when con­sid­er­ing Microsoft 365 al­tern­at­ives.

Overview of al­tern­at­ives to Microsoft 365

We’ve put together an overview of the leading al­tern­at­ives to Microsoft 365. While there are certainly many other options on the market, here we focus on the most widely used and popular solutions.

Cost legend: + = low ++ = medium +++ = high

Only­Of­fice

Only­Of­fice offers a modern open-source al­tern­at­ive to Microsoft 365. The tool is par­tic­u­larly strong when combined with Nextcloud or as a self-hosted solution for privacy-focused companies. With high format com­pat­ib­il­ity and granular user man­age­ment, the platform is also suitable for pro­fes­sion­al teams.

Ad­vant­ages

Besides the seamless use of Microsoft Office file formats, Only­Of­fice impresses with an intuitive user interface and extensive options for real-time col­lab­or­a­tion. Companies that value data sov­er­eignty par­tic­u­larly benefit from the option to operate the solution in their own data centre, thereby main­tain­ing full control over sensitive data. Ad­di­tion­ally, Only­Of­fice’s modular structure allows for flexible in­teg­ra­tion into existing IT in­fra­struc­tures and is fully GDPR-compliant when self-hosting.

Dis­ad­vant­ages

Despite its many strengths, Only­Of­fice also has some lim­it­a­tions. The func­tion­al­ity of in­di­vidu­al modules (e.g., present­a­tions or spread­sheets) is not as advanced as in Microsoft 365, es­pe­cially with complex formulas, macros, or diagrams. Even though real-time editing works reliably, per­form­ance can decline when large files are edited sim­ul­tan­eously—par­tic­u­larly in self-hosted setups without adequate server resources.

Google Workspace

Google Workspace is the pro­fes­sion­al version of the Google Apps available for free to private users. Google Workspace combines a wide range of features and is enhanced by the power of Google’s ar­chi­tec­ture. Therefore, companies that already rely heavily on many Google services in­creas­ingly choose this solution.

Ad­vant­ages

In addition to seamless handling of Office file formats, this Microsoft 365 al­tern­at­ive offers the benefit of un­res­tric­ted access to all Google services from anywhere. Pri­or­it­ised support and a broad service portfolio round out the offering. Real-time col­lab­or­a­tion is fully supported, and with unlimited online storage available, the solution is also highly scalable.

Dis­ad­vant­ages

As an American cor­por­a­tion, Google is subject to the Cloud Act and must grant US au­thor­it­ies access to its users’ data. Since data use and sharing on the European side are subject to the GDPR, companies need to set up an ad­di­tion­al data pro­cessing agreement with the US company.

When it comes to Google Workspace, there are hardly any dis­ad­vant­ages in its use. However, those who are skeptical of Google and the security of Google Drive and have not yet worked with the various solutions might be better served by another Microsoft 365 al­tern­at­ive.

Lib­reOf­fice

Lib­reOf­fice was ori­gin­ally created as a fork of Open­Of­fice and is therefore built on the same ar­chi­tec­ture. However, the de­vel­op­ment team found Open­Of­fice’s min­im­al­ist approach too limiting, which led them to re­in­tro­duce many practical features in Lib­reOf­fice. Par­tic­u­larly for freel­an­cers, this free al­tern­at­ive to Microsoft 365 can be a solid and reliable choice.

Ad­vant­ages

Due to its sim­il­ar­ity to Microsoft 365, the program is highly beginner-friendly and easy to use. Common file formats are supported, allowing you to read, edit, and save Office documents. The straight­for­ward user interface and un­com­plic­ated func­tion­al­ity also reduce memory usage, making the program par­tic­u­larly appealing on weaker hardware.

Dis­ad­vant­ages

Lib­reOf­fice was developed with a focus on in­di­vidu­al users, offering busi­nesses only a limited portfolio of options. Es­pe­cially, group work and the con­veni­ent exchange of files in real-time are only partially feasible with this Microsoft 365 al­tern­at­ive. While specific features can be in­teg­rated, they typically need to be self-developed—requiring technical know-how and po­ten­tially being complex or prone to errors.

OX App Suite

The OX App Suite, by contrast, delivers many of the features users expect right out of the box. It also fully meets modern privacy re­quire­ments. In addition, the intuitive menu nav­ig­a­tion and extensive func­tion­al­ity make it easy to handle virtually all Office Suite tasks con­veni­ently and ef­fi­ciently with the OX App Suite.

Ad­vant­ages

The OX App Suite primarily impresses with its extensive func­tion­al­ity, which is on par with Microsoft 365. Ad­di­tion­ally, the program offers not only a com­pre­hens­ive Office in­teg­ra­tion with all file formats but also an in­tel­li­gent email solution, including online storage and suitable email addresses for your business.

Dis­ad­vant­ages

When using the OX App Suite as a Microsoft 365 al­tern­at­ive, you will need to adapt to a different operating en­vir­on­ment. At first, this involves a no­tice­able ad­just­ment across the various programs and in­ter­faces. However, once the trans­ition is complete, the change is unlikely to be regretted.

iWork for iCloud

iWork for iCloud is Apple’s own al­tern­at­ive to Microsoft 365. This solution is mainly suited for companies that already operate within an Apple-based in­fra­struc­ture, enabling them to use the programs more seam­lessly. For busi­nesses relying on the Microsoft ecosystem without Apple devices, the benefits are limited. Although iCloud apps can be accessed via Windows browsers, func­tion­al­ity is re­stric­ted, and usage on Android devices is not of­fi­cially supported. However, where the right devices are in place, iWork can be a strong Microsoft 365 al­tern­at­ive, im­press­ing users with its features and cap­ab­il­it­ies.

Ad­vant­ages

This free solution is perfect for all Apple en­thu­si­asts: It is fully com­pat­ible with iOS and usable without re­stric­tions on all Apple devices, whether it’s a MacBook, iMac, iPad, or iPhone. Col­lab­or­at­ive work, such as sim­ul­tan­eous document editing by different users, is also possible.

Dis­ad­vant­ages

The use of iWork for iCloud is primarily be­ne­fi­cial for companies with an existing Apple in­fra­struc­ture. Although this al­tern­at­ive to Microsoft 365 can be utilised on Windows PCs via the web versions of Apple programs Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, its func­tion­al­ity is sig­ni­fic­antly limited. The full value of iCloud is realised mainly in con­junc­tion with the Apple operating system. On many tablets and smart­phones (for example, Android devices), the use of iWork for iCloud is currently limited or not possible at all.

Every Microsoft 365 al­tern­at­ive offers its own ad­vant­ages and dis­ad­vant­ages

Choosing an al­tern­at­ive to Microsoft 365 often means be­ne­fit­ing from the unique strengths of each system. This can be an advantage for companies when the range of tools in Microsoft Office is either too extensive or does not align with their specific needs. It is also important to factor in GDPR com­pli­ance to ensure long-term benefits from the solution you select.

Since al­tern­at­ives to Microsoft 365 are generally used over many years, it is worth taking the time to carefully evaluate all pros and cons. Solutions such as Google Workspace or the OX App Suite can serve as effective re­place­ments in a pro­fes­sion­al en­vir­on­ment. However, if your entire in­fra­struc­ture — including Exchange servers — is already built around Microsoft Office, the decision to switch should be made with caution. In some cases, it may be more practical to remain with the market leader and continue be­ne­fit­ing from its extensive features and con­sist­ent update policies.