Apache OpenOffice vs. Microsoft 365 Business Premium

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Apache OpenOffice
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Apache OpenOffice is a free open source office suite that includes six applications: Writer (word processor), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (diagramming and graphics), Base (database), and Math (formulas).N/A
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
An integrated solution, designed for small or medium-sized businesses, bringing together the productivity of Microsoft Office with advanced security capabilities to help safeguard data from external threats and help protect against data leaks. With Microsoft 365 Business Premium, users can empower employees to be productive anywhere on any device. Get more done with AI built into the Office apps. Work better together with a hub for teamwork bringing your tools and people together in one place.…N/A
Pricing
Apache OpenOfficeMicrosoft 365 Business Premium
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Apache OpenOfficeMicrosoft 365 Business Premium
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Apache OpenOfficeMicrosoft 365 Business Premium
Considered Both Products
Apache OpenOffice
Chose Apache OpenOffice
Apache OpenOffice is less intense on our computer systems and saves us a ton of financial resources. Since our document creation and editing needs are typical of a small business and not very complex, Apache OpenOffice is sufficient for us. We think that almost any smaller to …
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Chose Microsoft 365 Business Premium

The alternative solutions do not contain all of the features of Microsoft 365 Business Premium. They cover only the Office application requirements.

Chose Microsoft 365 Business Premium
The honest truth is that Microsoft 365 doesn't have any real competition. Apple's office applications are attractive and simple, and OpenOffice is great because it's free, but neither suite offers the power, compatibility, scalability and ease of use that 365 does. The …
Chose Microsoft 365 Business Premium
In general, Office 365 provides a wonderful experience compared to the alternative. The main competitor - Google's G-Suite - provides a very similar feature set, but an interface that is far less clean and intuitive; it is, however, less expensive overall. The feature set of …
Chose Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Both have similar interfaces, but in terms of functionality Office 365 obviously is the best. Also Office 365 lets you add more options and have a bigger catalogue of templates and resources to make the documents faster than we thought, actually there is a store where you can …
Chose Microsoft 365 Business Premium
I have used both OpenOffice, Google Drive and Docs. I prefer Microsoft 365 for multiple reasons. The first one is compatibility. That is a major issue if you use OpenOffice. Opening files that others send you and sending files to others has given me problems when I use …
Chose Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Frankly, there's no comparison. 365 has more features, better synergy between products, and straight up works. They are always working on new features or a better way to use existing products. And there are new products that come out from time to time with our subscription. …
Chose Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Microsoft is more universally accepted, which makes it easier for us to work with our clients.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Apache OpenOfficeMicrosoft 365 Business Premium
Small Businesses
Google Workspace
Google Workspace
Score 9.1 out of 10
Google Workspace
Google Workspace
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Google Workspace
Google Workspace
Score 9.1 out of 10
Google Workspace
Google Workspace
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Score 8.8 out of 10
Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Apache OpenOfficeMicrosoft 365 Business Premium
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(19 ratings)
8.2
(96 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(3 ratings)
8.2
(45 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(41 ratings)
Support Rating
5.0
(2 ratings)
9.4
(9 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
6.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Apache OpenOfficeMicrosoft 365 Business Premium
Likelihood to Recommend
Apache
In my opinion, Apache OpenOffice is best suited for writing, editing and proofreading texts in any language. You can also download additional language packages that really take up little space in your PC's storage. Of course, Apache OpenOffice is comprehensive of spreadsheet-/drawing-/database-related softwares and so on, but I primarily use it for writing and editing my own texts. I don't see any scenarios where it is less appropriate, at least so far.
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Microsoft
Well-Suited Scenarios:Collaborative Work Environment:Scenario: Your organization relies heavily on collaboration, and you need a platform that integrates email, chat, document sharing, and online meetings seamlessly.Usage: Microsoft 365 Business Premium provides tools like Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive, fostering a collaborative work environment.Professional Communication:Scenario: Your business requires professional email communication with a custom domain, and you need advanced email security features.Usage: Microsoft 365 includes Exchange Online for business-class email, with features like anti-malware and anti-spam protection.Document Management and Sharing:Scenario: You have a need for centralized document storage, version control, and secure sharing within and outside the organization.Usage: OneDrive for Business and SharePoint allow for secure document storage, versioning, and controlled access to files.
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Pros
Apache
  • The number one strength of OpenOffice is the flexibility it gives. We can open any file type, save any file type - it's pretty much invincible. Even if we're going to work on this in a different program, just being able to open some of these ancient files that we get from local city governments is a huge win for us.
  • It's also administrator friendly - I'll use it a lot on the road because the licensing is so much easier to deal with than trying to check out a license from a server or make sure that everybody has internet connectivity.
  • It just looks pretty! It's legitimately a quality product, the layout looks good, it's not nearly as pushy as "other suites," and for the money it's the best!
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Microsoft
  • Work in sync in different departments.
  • Being able to work from any device or computer. It is a very noble tool in different devices.
  • The work between the different programs (Word, Excel, Notes) that it offers is extremely light and good.
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Cons
Apache
  • There seem to be issues using this app in Windows 10. It worked fine when we used it on Windows 7, but after we upgraded the network with NEW Win 10 computers, it takes a very long time to process commands.
  • It will not allow any upgrades.
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Microsoft
  • The only thing that is a bit cumbersome is that it doesn't seem that you can save files directly to programs like one drive if you aren't using a Microsoft program to generate the document. An example of this would be if I am working in a PDF in our PDF Program I have to first save it to my desktop and then drag it into one drive. I end up with duplicates and that can sometimes make it hard to remember which is the most up-to-date.
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Likelihood to Renew
Apache
It is a cheap alternative; however, with Microsoft 365 licenses also dropping significantly, we might opt to go in that direction to maintain uniformity.
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Microsoft
It is part of the organisation now. It provides and rich feature set and requires a relatively low amount of administration.
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Usability
Apache
It is so easy to use and produces quality work comparable to its paid competitor, Microsoft Office. I highly recommend this free software to any who need to make the switch to powerful and free Office software.
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Microsoft
The basic apps are straightforward and easy to use, especially since they have been around so long. I'm referring to the basic apps like Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, etc. Other features such as Microsoft Teams and Sharepoint Sites, Sharepoint Lists, Sharepoint Groups, etc. all require a higher level of knowledge to both implement and use properly
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Performance
Apache
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
In the last 5 years, Microsoft has come a long way. The performance of the products has become more and more user-friendly and it seems that the feedback provided by the user community is being listened to and worked on. The processes are very fast and seamless. There are negligible errors and doesn't slow the systems down.
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Support Rating
Apache
Is there really support? There is a user forum but I do not see much developer input. Support options are limited. The most recent (Sept 2019) version of the product seems to have issues operating under Windows 10, yet there are few recent comments in the community forum, most comments are regarding older versions.
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Microsoft
As mentioned elsewhere in the review, Microsoft has historically paid attention to community feedback and issues, but timeliness can improve, and so can the addressing of long-standing issues about which many users have said "I have this issue too!" but no official solution exists. For issues that do have a solution, however, the solution is usually not difficult to find, and the explanation of features on Microsoft's website can mitigate many problems.
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Implementation Rating
Apache
We found that it is possible to use Open Office to accomplish everything we need. Some tasks required searching for steps on Google.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Apache
Apache OpenOffice is less intense on our computer systems and saves us a ton of financial resources. Since our document creation and editing needs are typical of a small business and not very complex, Apache OpenOffice is sufficient for us. We think that almost any smaller to medium sized business would feel the same way if they don't have a need to make or edit complex documents.
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Microsoft
Before migrating to Microsoft 365 Business Premium, we possessed an in-house exchange server. Therefore, it was difficult for us to look at alternatives to Microsoft for a solution – we did look at the Google Suite of products, but the transition for us seemed less cumbersome to stay with Microsoft from a staff and administrative perspective. While the G Suite does offer us many outstanding products and services, we also didn’t feel that Gmail is up-to-par as a corporate solution the way Exchange/Outlook/OWA are – this alone was also a driving force for our end-users, as there was minimal transition for them to move from an on-premise solution to an off-premise solution. The additional features of SharePoint, Teams, Project, and so many other applications within Microsoft 365 also helped us make a strong case to stay with Microsoft and expand what we were using. The end-user and mobile protections of InTune have also put us at ease when issuing laptops and mobile phones to an almost fully-remote end-user base.
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Return on Investment
Apache
  • Moving to OpenOffice will save the company the cost of 500+ of Microsoft Office licenses in our company.
  • Because it is cross-platform, we could also save 500+ of Microsoft Windows licenses if we move everyone to Linux.
  • On the negative side, the lack of online collaboration and browser support may be an issue when you use clouds like Box, Workboard etc.
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Microsoft
  • Teams has streamlined our chats within each department so its easy to help out each other when problems or issues arise as well as having chat conversations in real time instead of the slower email option. This is especially handy when peopel are not working in the same space and cannot use a phone.
  • All of our major communications, are done through Outlook email keeping everyone on the same page of issues within our organization or updates coming out for example
  • Excel provides a simple system for creating our schedules, Tracking customer issues, project boards etc. having all these readily available minimizes time spent looking for information and grants more time for customer interaction and increasing service and sales.
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ScreenShots