OnlyOffice for Mac: The free Microsoft 365 alternative you're looking for

All-in-one software for viewing and editing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

- BY MAHMOUD ITANI

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office), Google Docs, and Apple's free iWork (which includes Pages, Keynote and Numbers) are arguably the three most popular productivity suites for Mac users. Microsoft's option is perceived as the industry standard by many, and educational institutions tend to rely on its services. Google Docs, albeit web-based, has similarly been adopted by the masses due to its free offering and ease of real-time collaboration. iWork, although not as practical, also provides free and reliable tools for those in the Apple bubble. But what if none of these suites suit you?

Fortunately, there are plenty of alternatives, including free and opensource software (FOSS) with solid reputations. OnlyOffice is one of them, replicating the Microsoft 365 (fave.co/4hjyDMZ) experience—sans the subscription fees. Is it any good, though?

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

OnlyOffice is available for free on macOS, iPadOS, iOS, Windows, Android, and Linux. For this review, I installed version 8.3.2 of the app—the latest at the time of writing—on a MacBook Air M2 running macOS 15 Sequoia 15.4 (fave.co/3JCjJlw). While some App Store reviews suggest the iPhone and iPad clients suffer from irritating bugs, like random crashes, the Mac experience has generally been very stable on my end. In fact, I struggled to find a single issue with this app.

Upon launching OnlyOffice, you'll be greeted by a clean, ad-free screen showcasing its main sections. You can create a document (.docx), spreadsheet (.xlsx), presentation (.pptx), or PDF file from scratch or pick from the existing templates. Some templates are available for offline use while the rest require an active internet connection to download when creating a new file. These let you quickly compose an invoice, calendar, checklist, proposal, and so on.