OnlyOffice vs LibreOffice: Which Free Office Suite Is Better?

OnlyOffice and LibreOffice are the two strongest free, open-source office suites you can install on a Windows, Mac or Linux computer today. Both let you write documents, build spreadsheets and create slide decks without paying a cent, and both open and save Microsoft Office files. Yet they are built on very different ideas: LibreOffice is a mature, feature-packed desktop suite rooted in the open-document standard, while OnlyOffice is a newer, collaboration-first suite that treats Microsoft’s formats as its home ground. This guide compares them point by point so you can pick the one that fits how you actually work.

OnlyOffice vs LibreOffice at a glance

If you only read one section, here it is. LibreOffice gives you the widest set of tools and the deepest compatibility with the OpenDocument standard, all completely free with no paid tier. OnlyOffice gives you a modern tabbed interface, closer fidelity with Microsoft Office files, and real-time co-editing built in from the start. Neither is objectively “better” — the right answer depends on whether you value a rich offline toolbox or smooth collaboration and Microsoft-format accuracy.

What is LibreOffice?

LibreOffice is a free office suite developed by The Document Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in Berlin, Germany. It began in 2010 as a community fork of OpenOffice.org and has been the more actively developed of the two ever since. The current release line is LibreOffice 26.8, with a more conservative “still” branch (26.2.6) aimed at businesses that prefer fewer changes. The software is published under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, which means it is free to use, share and modify for any purpose, including commercial work.

LibreOffice bundles six applications rather than the usual three or four. Writer is the word processor, Calc the spreadsheet tool, and Impress the presentation editor. On top of those you also get Draw (a vector-graphics and diagramming tool), Base (a database front end comparable to Microsoft Access) and Math (an editor for scientific formulae). Its native file formats are the OpenDocument formats — .odt, .ods and .odp — but it reads and writes Microsoft’s .docx, .xlsx and .pptx as well. If you want the background on how LibreOffice relates to its ancestor, see our guide to LibreOffice versus OpenOffice.

What is OnlyOffice?

OnlyOffice is a free office suite developed by Ascensio System SIA, a company based in Riga, Latvia, with roots going back to 2009. The free desktop app is called ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors; the current version is 9.4, released in May 2026 under the GNU Affero General Public License v3 (AGPLv3). Like LibreOffice it runs fully offline, so you do not need an account or an internet connection to write a document.

OnlyOffice takes a different design approach. Instead of separate program windows, it puts a document editor, spreadsheet editor, presentation editor and PDF/form editor behind a single tabbed window with a Microsoft-style ribbon across the top. Its defining trait is that Office Open XML — .docx, .xlsx and .pptx — is its native format, so a Word or Excel file is handled as a first-class citizen rather than converted. OpenDocument files open too, but Microsoft’s formats are where OnlyOffice is most at home.

File format compatibility: ODF vs Microsoft Office

File compatibility is the single biggest practical difference between the two suites. OnlyOffice was engineered around Microsoft’s Office Open XML formats, so a complex .docx or .xlsx created in Microsoft 365 usually opens in OnlyOffice with layout, fonts and formulae closely preserved. That makes it a comfortable choice if you trade files daily with people who use Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

LibreOffice defaults to the OpenDocument standard (ODF), an open, vendor-neutral format overseen by an international standards body. It still opens and saves Microsoft formats competently, and its compatibility has improved markedly in recent releases, but very heavily formatted Microsoft files can occasionally shift slightly on import. If you mostly work in ODF, or you want a format that no single company controls, LibreOffice is the natural home. To understand the format itself, read our explainer on ODT files and office suites, and for spreadsheets our guide to the ODS file format.

The practical takeaway: if Microsoft-format fidelity is your top priority, OnlyOffice has the edge; if open standards and long-term format independence matter more, LibreOffice leads.

Applications and features compared

Both suites cover the everyday trio of writing, numbers and slides, but the depth and the extra tools differ.

Word processing: Writer vs Document Editor

LibreOffice Writer is an exceptionally deep word processor with advanced styles, a master-document feature for long works, mail merge, footnotes, bibliographies and strong PDF export. OnlyOffice’s Document Editor matches the essentials and adds smoother live collaboration, with the clean ribbon layout many people find familiar from Microsoft Word. For dense academic or technical documents Writer’s toolset is broader; for shared drafting OnlyOffice feels quicker.

Spreadsheets: Calc vs Spreadsheet Editor

LibreOffice Calc supports a vast library of functions, pivot tables, scenarios and macros, and the 26.8 release added modern array and text functions such as CHOOSECOLS, HSTACK, TEXTSPLIT and TOCOL. OnlyOffice’s Spreadsheet Editor is strong on Excel compatibility and co-editing, and recent versions added a dark mode for sheets. Power users with intricate workbooks may prefer Calc’s breadth; teams sharing budgets often prefer OnlyOffice’s collaboration.

Presentations: Impress vs Presentation Editor

LibreOffice Impress offers a full set of animations, master slides and the ability to export to multiple formats. OnlyOffice’s Presentation Editor opens and saves .pptx with high fidelity and, in version 9.4, added 25 new design themes and 20 grouped slide transitions. Impress wins on flexibility and templates; OnlyOffice wins on PowerPoint accuracy.

Extra tools: Draw, Base, Math, PDF and forms

This is where LibreOffice pulls clearly ahead on sheer scope: it includes Draw for diagrams, Base for databases and Math for equations — applications OnlyOffice simply does not offer. OnlyOffice counters with a dedicated PDF editor and a capable form-building tool that lets you create fillable documents and, in recent versions, assign and track recipients. If you need a database or a formula editor, only LibreOffice can do it out of the box.

Head-to-head comparison

The table below summarises the main differences so you can scan them quickly. Both suites are free to download and run offline on all three major desktop platforms.

Collaboration and cloud

Real-time collaboration is OnlyOffice’s signature strength. Multiple people can edit the same document at once, with changes appearing live, comments, tracked changes and a chat panel — the kind of experience usually associated with Google Docs or Microsoft 365. This works through OnlyOffice’s own cloud service, ONLYOFFICE DocSpace, or a self-hosted document server you run yourself, and it also plugs into platforms such as Nextcloud and ownCloud.

LibreOffice is fundamentally a single-user desktop suite. It has no built-in live co-editing on the desktop; real-time collaboration comes from Collabora Online, a separate server-based product built on LibreOffice technology, which organisations host themselves or buy as a service. In short, if seamless team editing is central to your work, OnlyOffice delivers it with far less setup. If you work solo or send files back and forth, LibreOffice is perfectly adequate. For a wider look at cloud-first options, compare Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

Interface and ease of use

OnlyOffice presents a single modern window with a coloured ribbon and tabs, closely echoing the look of recent Microsoft Office versions. People migrating from Word or Excel usually feel at home immediately. LibreOffice opens each application in its own window and defaults to a classic menu-and-toolbar layout; however, it also offers an optional “Tabbed” interface (under View, User Interface) that mimics a ribbon, plus several other layouts. Neither is hard to learn, but OnlyOffice feels more contemporary out of the box, while LibreOffice is more configurable once you explore its settings.

Platforms, system requirements and installation

Both suites run on Windows (including ARM64), macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon) and Linux, and both offer mobile apps for Android and iOS. OnlyOffice Desktop Editors is also available through the Microsoft Store for one-click installation on Windows, alongside the direct download from its website. LibreOffice is downloaded from The Document Foundation and ships as standard installers and Linux packages.

System requirements are modest for both. A computer with a reasonably modern processor, around 4 GB of RAM (8 GB is comfortable) and a couple of gigabytes of free disk space will run either suite smoothly. Installation is the familiar routine: download the installer for your operating system, run it and accept the defaults. If you want to see how a comparable install works step by step, our guide to downloading OpenOffice walks through the same kind of process.

Pricing: what is genuinely free

Both desktop suites are completely free, with no feature locked behind a payment and no licence fee for personal or business use. The difference is in the paid extras that sit around them.

LibreOffice has no paid tier at all. The Document Foundation funds development through donations, and commercial support or a long-term-support build is available from certified ecosystem partners if a business wants it — but the suite you download is the full suite.

OnlyOffice keeps the desktop app free while monetising collaboration and hosting. ONLYOFFICE DocSpace offers a free Startup plan for small teams, with paid plans above it; the Business cloud plan is listed at around US$20 per admin per month (billed with unlimited users and 250 GB of storage per admin). Self-hosted Community server editions are free, while Enterprise server editions are paid. For a solo user wanting only a desktop office suite, both cost nothing.

Security and privacy

Because both suites are open source, their code can be inspected by anyone, which is a genuine security advantage over closed products. Used as offline desktop apps, neither sends your documents anywhere — your files stay on your own device, which is the simplest way to stay on the right side of New Zealand’s Privacy Act 2020 when handling personal information.

The nuance is in the cloud features. LibreOffice has no cloud of its own, so there is nothing to opt out of. OnlyOffice’s desktop editor is equally private offline, but if you connect it to DocSpace or a hosted server your documents travel to that service, so you should check where the data is stored and who can access it. For organisations that want collaboration without handing data to a third party, OnlyOffice’s self-hosting option is a strong privacy argument because you keep everything on infrastructure you control.

How the two compare with other free office suites

OnlyOffice and LibreOffice are not the only free options, and it helps to see them in context. The table below lists the main alternatives with links to their official pages. Cloud suites trade offline power for anywhere-access and effortless sharing, while the two suites in this guide give you a full desktop toolkit you own outright.

If none of the mainstream suites fits, our roundup of free and paid office alternatives covers more options in detail.

Common mistakes people make

A few misunderstandings trip people up when choosing between these suites.

• Thinking OnlyOffice needs a subscription. The desktop editors are free and offline; only the cloud and server products have paid tiers.
• Assuming LibreOffice cannot open Word files. It opens and saves .docx, .xlsx and .pptx — it simply defaults to the open ODF format.
• Expecting pixel-perfect Microsoft fidelity from either. Both are close, and OnlyOffice is closer, but very complex macros or bespoke fonts can still shift.
• Confusing the free and paid OnlyOffice products. ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors, DocSpace and the server editions are different things with different pricing.
• Overlooking LibreOffice’s extra apps. People compare only the big three and miss that LibreOffice also includes Base and Math, which OnlyOffice lacks.

Which free office suite should you choose?

Choose LibreOffice if you want the most complete free toolbox, work largely offline, value the open-document standard, or need a database or formula editor that OnlyOffice does not provide. It is the safest all-round pick for a single user who wants everything in one free package.

Choose OnlyOffice if you exchange Microsoft Office files constantly and want the closest fidelity, prefer a modern ribbon interface, or need real-time collaboration and a self-hostable document server for your team. Many people happily install both, since each is free, and keep LibreOffice for heavy offline editing while using OnlyOffice for Microsoft-format work and shared documents.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is OnlyOffice or LibreOffice completely free?

Both desktop suites are completely free to download and use, with no feature locked behind a payment. LibreOffice has no paid tier at all. OnlyOffice keeps its desktop editors free but charges for its cloud service (DocSpace) and its Enterprise server editions, which are optional.

Which suite is better for opening Microsoft Word and Excel files?

OnlyOffice generally handles Microsoft files more faithfully because Office Open XML (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx) is its native format. LibreOffice also opens and saves these files well, but it defaults to the OpenDocument format and can occasionally shift the layout of very heavily formatted Microsoft documents.

Does LibreOffice have real-time collaboration like OnlyOffice?

Not on the desktop by itself. OnlyOffice has built-in live co-editing through its cloud or a self-hosted server. LibreOffice gains real-time collaboration only through Collabora Online, a separate server-based product built on LibreOffice technology that you host yourself or buy as a service.

Can I run both suites on the same computer?

Yes. OnlyOffice and LibreOffice install independently and do not conflict, so you can keep both and use whichever suits a given task. Because both are free, many people do exactly that.

Are OnlyOffice and LibreOffice safe to use in New Zealand?

Yes. Both are open-source and, when used offline, keep your documents on your own device, which supports Privacy Act 2020 compliance. If you use OnlyOffice’s cloud or a hosted server, check where your data is stored and who can access it before uploading personal or sensitive information.