Once you’ve handed over your hard-earned money you can use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook and OneDrive on your PC or Mac, on your mobile device or online. The Family product offers tremendous value. The former costs $69.99 or £59.99 per year and the latter ups the fee to$99.99 or £79.99. Microsoft 365’s Home product is available in Personal and Family plans. That said, you undoubtedly get far more from Microsoft 365 if you’re willing to spend a little cash. There’s certainly lots to like about the free versions of Microsoft 365, which delivers capable everyday functionality across a wide range of apps. You don’t have the option to download and install the apps on your PC, either.

You only get a smaller library of templates and fonts, and you must be connected to the web to use the free versions of these tools. In productivity tools, many features are either absent or more limited, like spelling and grammar checking. Unsurprisingly, you’ll find usage limits across most of Microsoft 365’s free apps. You can use OneNote for sketches and scribbles and there’s a handy to-do list app. Free users also use Skype and Teams – albeit with tighter limits on the number of people you can include in voice and video calls. You don’t have to be on a PC or Mac to use those web-based apps, either – free users can also enjoy the mobile versions of these tools on Android and iOS.Įlsewhere, Microsoft 365’s free version grants its users 15GB of email space alongside Calendar (opens in new tab) integrations. Even on the free tier you’re able to use real-time collaboration (opens in new tab) to get work done with colleagues and peers. You’re able to use these tools to create, edit and share documents (opens in new tab).

Open up Word, Excel or any of Microsoft’s productivity apps and you’ll see a familiar interface with solid functionality.

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