Microsoft 365 vs. Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft 365
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is a Microsoft Cloud subscription service that includes Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access). The software can be installed across multiple devices and ensures that users always have the most up-to-date version of the included Office applications.
$5
Per User Per Month
Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft 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 Office 2016 package is a one-time purchase. The applications are not automatically updated; to get the latest version, you must purchase Office again when the new version becomes available. The 2016 is no longer available for sale, and support is planned to end in 2020.N/A
Pricing
Microsoft 365Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Editions & Modules
Business Basic
$5.00
Per User Per Month
Individual
$5.84
*Per Month
Business - Apps
$8.25
Per User Per Month
Enterprise - F3
$10.00
Per User Per Month
Business Standard
$12.50
Per User Per Month
Business Premium
$20.00
Per User Per Month
Enterprise - E3
$32.00
Per User Per Month
Enterprise - E5
$57.00
Per User Per Month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft 365Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details*When billed annually.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft 365Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Considered Both Products
Microsoft 365
Chose Microsoft 365
Microsoft Office 365 is more complete than Microsoft Office 2016. It is cloud-based, and this is a great advantage. Furthermore, now updates and upgrades are automatic and can be scheduled or accepted, really saving time compared to Office 2016.
Chose Microsoft 365
No comparison, we can do more with Microsoft 365 and we are more efficient. The pricing model is very fair. We don't have to worry about updating the software on each machine, the updates are handled by Microsoft directly and the Microsoft 365 programs seem much more stable and …
Chose Microsoft 365
We had been using Microsoft Office for a long time, but moving to Microsoft 365 [(formerly Office 365)] was a game changer because it is a cloud based system. Having the ability to access your email, files, or whatever you need wherever you are from any device is what really …
Chose Microsoft 365
In our company we have both Office 365 and regular Office 2016. We are transitioning more to 365 for the ease of managing the licensing. We don't have to keep license cards or numbers stored anywhere because 365 uses your microsoft login which you are using anyway.
Compared to …
Chose Microsoft 365
We were looking to stay in the Microsoft Office 365 family, so it was either the cloud or a current desktop version. Ultimately the lower startup cost of refreshing all licenses at once, it was decided by the board to go with the new subscription-based Microsoft Office 365. At …
Chose Microsoft 365
Microsoft Office 365 simply drives through the cloud platform allowing to set a huge variety of options that can be set from custom to standard software in a single package or just to set an specific range of options enabled to the end users, and given the chance to the company …
Chose Microsoft 365
Microsoft Office 365 is the easiest to access on the go and is always up to date. It is also affordable given all of the features it offers. Being able to use most of Microsoft's products for one price is convenient and allows our organization to store and sort information over …
Chose Microsoft 365
Having all of the offerings and services in one easy to use administrative interface makes administration of our Microsoft suite of applications much easier. We are not able to get that same integration with separated applications. Gmail is not very intuitive if you're coming …
Chose Microsoft 365
Google Apps made famous real-time collaborative editing in Google Docs. Now that Office 365 offers Word Online, there is no competition. Google Apps have always been "Microsoft Office-Lite" products, giving very basic functionality. With Office Online apps, it's hard not to see …
Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
For certain situations there is a benefit to the "standalone" package of Office 2106, vs. a subscription-based product like Office 365. Especially in the case where there are shared computers, or computers that are used as a kiosk, Microsoft Office 2016 would be one of the few …
Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
We have not tried to use an alternate. Office is the way to go.
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.
Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Microsoft Office provides the complete package. Everyone else is just a piece to the puzzle. Sure Microsoft Office costs more, but they give you all the software you need to have in one package. I don't want or need to find replacements for 5 different purposes.
Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Microsoft Office 365 brings the same tools of Office 2016, but renewed. Office 2016 was sold for a one time, up front fee, on the other hand, Microsoft Office 365 is the new way Microsoft wants you to buy Office, you pay a monthly or yearly fee and get access to its latest …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Microsoft 365Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
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 8.9 out of 10
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft 365Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(237 ratings)
7.3
(64 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.5
(6 ratings)
5.0
(3 ratings)
Usability
8.4
(6 ratings)
7.0
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(54 ratings)
8.0
(45 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft 365Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Microsoft 365 is well-suited for:Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs): Microsoft 365 offers a cost-effective solution for SMBs to access a suite of essential productivity tools without the need for extensive IT infrastructure. It provides a wide range of applications, allowing teams to collaborate, communicate, and manage documents efficiently.Remote Work and Collaboration: Microsoft 365's cloud-based nature makes it ideal for remote work scenarios. With tools like Microsoft Teams, employees can easily communicate, hold video conferences, and collaborate on projects in real-time, regardless of their location.Microsoft 365 may be less appropriate for:Organizations with Specific Software Requirements: Some organizations may have specialized software needs that are not met by Microsoft 365. In such cases, they may require industry-specific software or custom solutions.Limited Internet Connectivity: Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based platform, which means a stable internet connection is essential for optimal functionality. Organizations with poor internet connectivity might face challenges using the cloud-based applications effectively.
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Microsoft
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.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • keeps me extremely organized. It is so easy to link calendars, emails, and documents.
  • keeps me well connected. It is so easy to send a quick message on teams or send an email to a group (for example, my particular team within the company).
  • easy to use. Everything is straightforward, making it easy to find an answer to a question. There is even a search option to figure out how to do something within Microsoft.
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Microsoft
  • 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.
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Cons
Microsoft
  • Microsoft 365 really needs to work on protection part. In complex environment it is not reliable as compared to its competitors like Proofpoint. There are many instances where it fails to perform effectively.
  • In SharePoint Online the versioning feature of the document needs to be improved by Microsoft. Sometimes when we have to roll back to the previous version it does not work as expected.
  • In Teams messaging and app permission policies can be improved. There are some settings where we have to add a lot of things manually.
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Microsoft
  • 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.
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
There are many features of Office that we cannot replicate in any other tool. Plus people know it already. It's not going away anytime soon.
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Microsoft
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.
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Usability
Microsoft
The interface of the different tools (this suite has MANY different tools) is usually simple to use and intuitive, and you can always re-arrange and add or remove the task you use most frequently from the menus and task bars.
Each tool / product includes a lot of features that may require a more intensive learning, but usually Office 365 tools are simple to learn from scratch, adding more knowledge as you required more advanced features
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Microsoft
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
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Support Rating
Microsoft
Over the past 8 years of using Microsoft 365, I have noticed that they change vendors often. This always leads to a poor experience in the beginning, then levels out after some time for the company to get things worked out. As a customer, it is really frustrating because I don't have time when something isn't working to have them "look into my issue" and get back with me. They have even closed a ticket I specifically told them to keep open. Your applications are only as good as the support.
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Microsoft
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.
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Implementation Rating
Microsoft
Everything works and I use it all the time.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
Google Sheets is better for sharing and collaborative editing. Versioning of the same file is also one of Google Sheets strong points.
Microsoft 365 is better for working with local files. It is much easier to store the file in multiple places and backup multiple versions in multiple places.
LibreOffice is free but the usage is much counter intuitive than Microsoft Office. OpenOffice is worse when it comes to UI.
Microsoft Excel's performance with larger files is much better. When opening huge files, excel loads it asynchronously and I can start working right away.
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Microsoft
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.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Positively, it has increased productivity and efficiency in creating templates and being able to systemize some of the protocols we are working on putting into place.
  • It has been a positive as well as most individuals and companies that we associate with also use MicroSoft 365 and therefore there is no need to have formats change in our documents when they open them up using another type of program.
  • Getting work done quickly.... One and Done!!!
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Microsoft
  • 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.
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