TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Read&Write vs. LibreOffice vs. Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Read&Write

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/ARead&Write is a literacy support tool that helps individuals of all abilities read, write, and express themselves with confidence. For education and the workplace, its assistive features include text-to-speech, word prediction, and research tools for users with diverse learning needs.N/A

    LibreOffice

    Score9 out of 10
    N/ALibreOffice is a free and open-source Office Suite from The Document Foundation, presented as the successor to OpenOffice.org. The suite includes Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector graphics and flowcharts), Base (databases), and Math (formula editing).

    $0

    free and open source under the Mozilla Public License v2.0

    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Office 2016 is the familiar suite of Office products including applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for use on a single PC or Mac. The 2016 is no longer available for sale from Microsoft, and support is at an end since 2020.N/A
    Pricing
    Read&WriteLibreOfficeMicrosoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Read&WriteLibreOfficeMicrosoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    YesNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesYesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Read&WriteLibreOfficeMicrosoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    Considered Multiple Products
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    No answer on this topic
    The Document Foundation
    Chose LibreOffice
    Microsoft Office 2016 is the premium option for word processing, but in my line of work the content is more important than the presentation. I am mostly content to work in Google Docs unless working with documents of a sensitive nature. Then I use LibreOffice.
    Incentivized
    Chose LibreOffice
    LibreOffice's biggest advantage over MS Office is its gratuity, but its cleaner interface and the fact that it is naturally multiplatform are also important features.
    As for Apache OpenOffice, the time that this suite "was in the hands" of Oracle caused development delays (even …
    Incentivized
    Chose LibreOffice
    I selected LibreOffice due to cost. While we need an office software suite, we don't need the sophistication of MS Office. We used the basics of MS Office. We couldn't justify the expense when we only use a faction of the functionality.
    Incentivized
    Chose LibreOffice
    It is very similar to MSOffice with an added factor of being more user-friendly and more open source.
    Incentivized
    Chose LibreOffice
    In the past, I tried Microsoft and Word Perfect. I was compelled to purchase a new version almost every time there was an upgrade so I could utilize the improved features either as a creator or a user. LibreOffice has a regular and consistent free update cycle. Templates and …
    Incentivized
    Chose LibreOffice
    In my view, Microsoft office products are very much user-friendly and well documented. However, these products are very expensive where the LibreOffice is free of cost. Also if you have a Linux platform, the best office product will be the LibreOffice. Although LibreOffice is …
    Incentivized
    Chose LibreOffice
    As noted previously, LibreOffice blows Google Docs (G Suite) out of the water in terms of singular application quality, and comes close but misses the mark as a drop-in replacement to Microsoft Office. We currently are evaluating the latest release of LibreOffice to see if we …
    Incentivized
    Chose LibreOffice
    Again, it is both free and functional. What more could anyone want?
    Incentivized
    Chose LibreOffice
    I choose LibreOffice because it's open source, free, low cost and multi-platform. It's the perfect office suite if you use Linux, there's no bettter choice. Also by reducing license costs, company could spend money on more important stuff. Also there's a lot of documentation …
    Incentivized
    Chose LibreOffice
    Mainly CSV and other formats compatibility, when compared to MS alternative, it's faster than cloud-based solutions (Google Docs, Zoho), I don't have to wait for MS Office to look at what I have in the cloud before saving something, its interface is better than MS Office, for …
    Incentivized
    Chose LibreOffice
    The online docs - people often found [them] confusing and limited in what they do. LO was preferred to those though they lack the real-time collaboration features in the other documents.
    Users preferred Office 2016 though support was going to go away for it so we investigated …
    Incentivized
    Discontinued Products
    Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    LibreOffice is a free software suite that fills some holes left in Microsoft Office, e.g., a "Draw" program that allows for easy creation of charts & diagrams. LibreOffice will save files in Microsoft formats, but sometimes the formatting is off when opened in Microsoft's suite;…
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    While the other products are fine in and of themselves (particularly LibreOffice) they lack the polish, cohesion, and ubiquitous nature of Microsoft Office, specifically the appearance of Office 2016. Each Office application makes common tasks far easier for the common user …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    The key differences between Microsoft Office and LibreOffice are the user interface and the quality of the services. The ribbon UI in Microsoft office makes it easier to navigate through the features.
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    In terms of Layout, functionality, versatility, I believe that Microsoft Office, is in general, the standard to follow. Nonetheless, depending on the requirements, LibreOffice and Google Drive may provide the tools and functionality needed for many users. Furthermore, the …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    There are free alternatives to MS Office 2016. The problem is most of the people are hire are rather familiar and use Office. That means most of the time it's the way to work on files. I used Libre when working on MacOS, and compatibility for simple files was okay. But even …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    There are a lot of alternatives to MS office 2016 such as Google Suite, LibreOffice or Zoho. Among them, the closest competitor to MS Office is the Google Suite. Each of the G suite products such as Docs, Sheets or Slides are free when used separately. But, using them …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    LibreOffice is always one step behind Office productivity tools. If needed, many powerful shortcuts or add-ins are unavailable. The price is right for LibreOffice, but the product is not the same fit as Office.
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    Microsoft Office is more powerful than all its competitors. It is also perhaps most expensive. However its feature set is vast: much higher than other similar products. The other benefit is that it is very popular in the industry. It is used by many of our clients as well.
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    We selected Microsoft Office 2016 due to its ease of use. It is also compatible with our client, Microsoft Operating systems. The common user interface across all the applications in Microsoft Office 2016 makes it easy (and familiar) to perform everyday tasks. It is also very …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    MS Office 2016 offers far more features than its alternatives. The ability to write complex scripts using VBA in MS Excel and MS Access can increase work productivity manyfold. Other MS Office 2016 like products don't offer such features.

    MS Office 2016 offers cloud storage in …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    Well, first of all Microsoft Office is a prestigious product against the rivals.Secondly, it is regularly being patched or updated against security risks. Third, has more features than the rivals. Has wider usage in the business world/market when compared to open office …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    Not as robust and feature filled as office 2016. Also missing a mail client like outlook that can be integrated with exchange. have not used any further applications besides this.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    156 Answers
    92%
    Would buy again
    12 Answers
    93%
    Would buy again
    50 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    120 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    12 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    47 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    154 Answers
    92%
    Happy with the feature set
    12 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    52 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    95%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    86 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    10 Answers
    98%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    40 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    91%
    Implementation went as expected
    104 Answers
    92%
    Implementation went as expected
    12 Answers
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    41 Answers
    Features
    Read&WriteLibreOfficeMicrosoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    Writing and Proofreading
    Comparison of Writing and Proofreading features of Read&Write and LibreOffice and Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    Feature
    Read&Write
    7.0
    158 Ratings
    8% below category average
    LibreOffice
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Spelling and grammar check6.7137 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Machine translation6.2113 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrations7.0118 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Browser extension7.6141 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Speech-to-Text7.6142 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Picture Dictionary7.1125 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dictionary7.1138 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Highlighters7.5142 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Audio maker5.8107 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Read&WriteLibreOfficeMicrosoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Google Workspace
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Google Workspace
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Ginger Business
    Score7.9 out of 10
    Google Workspace
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Google Workspace
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Ginger Business
    Score7.9 out of 10
    Microsoft 365 Business Premium
    Score9 out of 10
    Microsoft 365 Business Premium
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Read&WriteLibreOfficeMicrosoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.5
    (162 ratings)
    9.0
    (33 ratings)
    7.5
    (64 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.1
    (15 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    5.0
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    8.1
    (10 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (5 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.7
    (5 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.9
    (43 ratings)
    7.3
    (6 ratings)
    8.0
    (45 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.2
    (6 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    5.5
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    7.6
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.4
    (5 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Professional Services
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.5
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.5
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Read&WriteLibreOfficeMicrosoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    Read&Write is especially well-suited to supporting students with reading accommodations during independent work, content-area instruction, and written-response tasks. In my 5th-grade classroom, one of the most effective scenarios is during science and social studies lessons, where students are expected to read complex informational texts independently. There can also be occasional challenges when websites, PDFs, or testing platforms are not fully compatible with all Read&Write features.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Document Foundation
    If you're working with numbers, LibreOffice doesn't get in your way and try to make changes as it sees fit, forcing you to repeatedly go back and undo processes you didn't want, didn't ask for, and that have no place in the document you are trying to produce. All I want to do is assemble the data, process it for the task at hand, and then print it for distribution. LibreOffice allows me to do that.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    I'd recommend [Microsoft] Office2016 for any business that has more than a couple of users, as the software is very scalable from just a small business to a large enterprise corporation. I don't know of any case where it might not be appropriate, as even home users and students use the software suite as well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    • Creates vocabulary lists for students that include symbols, definitions, and space to add additional notes or images (a staff favorite)
    • Intuitive word prediction that supports spelling, grammar, and reduces the number of keystrokes needed
    • Text-to-speech on any digital text using the regular reader or screenshot reader, making almost any content accessible
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Document Foundation
    • Tools like speeling, grammar, and thesaurus are super fast and intuitive
    • Read-only content can be created by adding a section and password
    • The right-click menus are very intuitive and change on the fly with what is needed depending on the content and situation
    • Documents can be saved natively as *.docx or *.xlsx
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Data manipulation. Excel takes the raw data we receive and allows us to digest it in ways that are useful to our business processes.
    • Communication. Outlook serves as our primary means of communication and setting up appointments.
    • Documentation. Word is the default standard when it comes to using a word processor and we are no different in this regard. Nearly every user has to use the application on a regular basis in order to accomplish their work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    • I would like to use the practice reading aloud tool more, but the kids that I work with have a hard time understanding the concept. I think that, while there are a lot of tools available, sometimes they are hard for younger students to understand.
    • The hover to read function is nice as well, but my students struggle with the fact that if you move the mouse once it starts reading it will start all over in a new area. It's not as smooth as I would like it to be.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Document Foundation
    • It doesn't provide all the functions it should with a paid subscription.
    • There are features that are only available with Premium and I have premium and they are still not available.
    • Paying for the premium version doesn't provide additional services than free version
    • Customer service is nonresponsive and has been nonresponsive for years even prior to COVID.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Office 2016 professional edition can be priced for a single user license, it would be nice to see a drop in the pricing.
    • Office 2016 home edition is a better price but does not include outlook 2016, so it is not a good fit for the workplace environments.
    • Office 2016 can run slowly on older systems, so you need to make sure you have a machine that is 4 years old or less for it to run smoothly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    I'm just really impressed with the software and the access it gives to learners who are used to coming up against barriers in education. It's a quick-fix for a learner - something they can access usefully and productively with very little training. I also love that learners can access Read&Write on their devices at home - that really is a game changer.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Document Foundation
    We use it consistently and have a lot of documents in the OpenDocument format so it will be necessary to use LibreOffice or a compatible product such as Openoffice in the future to be able to open these files. Because the license fee for Libreoffice is zero it is not very costly to keep using it - the costs are mostly for keeping it installed on the office PCs and regularly updated, and solving employee issues with the user support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    We believe that office 2016 offers the best value when it comes to features included out of the box. The software is used in its entirety by our organization and is easily supported by our staff of IT technicians. Users find this software to be easy to learn and easy to use with minimal learning curve.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    I am giving this an 9. Not a perfect score because working on PDFs is better but not yet as easy as I need for it to be. Working with many students who have executive function challenges, I need a smooth simplistic access method. We are not quite there yet for writing on PDFs. Overall the toolbar on Read&Write is super easy to access and I love that the suite includes several tools on the toolbar providing a solution to many accessibility challenges.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Document Foundation
    For all of the reasons in the foregoing evaluation. Its menus are clean, intuitive and straightforward. Any function I need to use can be accessed via keystrokes, without having to stop, move my hand to the mouse, deal with it, and then get back to the keyboard to proceed. It helps me keep my mind on my work and not worry about dealing with the mouse all the time.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    It's fairly easy to use, but the automatic formatting or capturing of formatting when pasting is wonky - especially when there are outlines or other bullets/numbered lists. Fixing and sizing up tables can be annoying, and there are sometimes formatting issues that we just absolutely cannot fix for some reason
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    Seems to be available when Internet is working.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Document Foundation
    Libreoffice is a desktop app not requiring any server part so it is always available when the PC is working normally. Installing it on another machine if one PC fails is very quick and easy. This is a non-issue.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    there are issues with the dictation not running smoothly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Document Foundation
    For big/imported tables or text documents with images loaded from the internet it is sometimes getting very slow, RAM and CPU intensive, and sometimes even hangs due to some memory leaks or other bugs. This is a long-term problem and is still not resolved perfectly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    The support team at Texthelp is excellent. They're all super helpful and open to feedback and new ideas. Still, more importantly, they are ultimately fully committed to aligning with us and ensuring they help us provide the best education possible. Furthermore, they're open to new features and always communicate this incredibly well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Document Foundation
    Support is not officially offered. However, you can find answers to any usage questions or trouble-shooting online easily, typically starting with a Google search. (I believe that all forums / tips for OpenOffice apply equally to LibreOffice, and vice versa.) While Microsoft Office, for example, officially includes support, I find that typically you end up going to a Google search in any case. So, this is not really a downside. However, in all these cases, you end up doing a lot of figuring things out for yourself.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    I am an MS feedback hub participant and they certainly don't pay enough attention to several bugs several people raise it in the portal. For the enterprise, it seems to me based on my prior experience that yes, they have a dedicated team to support operations. For mid to small companies or single users, it has been a struggle. So, you are pretty much with MS Blogs and others.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    It was easy to learn to use
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Document Foundation
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    It took a solid 2 weeks for R&W to work on our students chromebooks even after reaching out to tech support. The toolbar was greyed out and not accessible to students. Took a long time before tech support helped us solve this problem.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Document Foundation
    Generally easy to perform, issues are how to ensure regular automatic updates on Mac OS X. Fortunatly we have only a few machines with OS X run by management and we can do these updates manually occasionally. Windows updates are quite easy with the support of third party software such as Ninite or Chocolatey, and Linux updates are super-easy thanks to the package manager (apt-get).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    We are still learning how to use Equatio. I am not a mathematician and therefore I am finding understanding it a bit more difficult. Once I understand how to use it I will be able to cascade it down. My hope is that it will be as useful as Read & Write
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Document Foundation
    I think it is fair to say this:
    • If you are looking for a well-rounded, GNU-licensed product that will encompass word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and database then LibreOffice is probably all you need.
    • For online collaboration, links with cloud storage, and more robust support, Microsoft Office 365 and Google Docs are probably what you or your organization needs.
    • LibreOffice is at its best for regular document creation and spreadsheet management. It is more cumbersome when it comes to fonts but also when it comes to linkages with cloud-based services. It is there, but you need some more computer knowledge to make it work.
    • There are other free alternatives, most notably Apache Open Office, which is also a very good alternative if you do not like LibreOffice.
    Having said that, I honestly think off-line computers or laptops used off-site can certainly benefit from having LibreOffice installed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    We use Microsoft Office 2016 because at the time it was the best tool for us, but now with full attention to cloud products, we may be thinking of migrating our solution to a cloud service.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    The pricing is reasonable. A lower tier with just screen reading and basic functions would be nice, but not a deal-breaker.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Document Foundation
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    The product can be used on as many devices at once as needed
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Document Foundation
    With more users using it in the company there are more cases when a simultaneous editing of the same document is needed and this feature is lacking in Libreoffice even though the files concerned are shared and synced by some solution (we use ownCloud). Google Docs or MS Office365 via Sharepoint/Onedrive offer a better function for this.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Everway (formerly Texthelp and n2y)
    • We are early to deploying Read&Write but hope to see increased test scores
    • We are early to deploying Read&Write but hope to see decreases in student behaviors triggered by challenging ELA assignments
    • We are early to deploying Read&Write but hope to see improvements in student self perception as a result of increased ELA success
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Document Foundation
    • I am able to quickly create and edit word processing documents and spreadsheets which are for all intents and purposes equivalent to documents I could create and edit in other tools such as Microsoft Office and Google Docs/Sheets.
    • Lack of an online portal for sharing documents necessitates the use of Google Sheets for automation/integration. Ideal would be an all-in-one solution.
    • Having open-source software that provides common functionality eliminates the need for expensive licenses.
    • Lack of dedicated support is negligible. Most issues can be resolved using online search.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Microsoft Office 2016 saves me a lot of time daily. I have functions and macros set up that calculate and show me a lot of things just from a couple of my inputs. This would take full days sometimes if not for that.
    • Apart from time, it saves me money, I manage data in Excel, I don't have to buy software specifically for that.
    • Sooner or later my company will have to switch to new edition, which will hurt revenues because of a subscription model.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Read&Write Screenshots

    Screenshot of the translatorScreenshot of the text-to-speech functionalityScreenshot of the Similar Word CheckerScreenshot of Screen MaskingScreenshot of a scanScreenshot of the PDF Reader