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What are the best office suites for Linux?

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The Best 1 of 11 OptionsWhy?

11 Options ConsideredPricePlatformsSpreadsheets
The Best
LibreOffice
Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD, NetBSDYes
ONLYOFFICE
Web-based, Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Android Yes
WPS Office
Windows; OSX; LinuxYes
Google Drive
Windows; OSX; LinuxYes
Calligra
Windows; OSX; LinuxYes
See Full List
The Best

LibreOffice

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Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Comprehensive suite of applications

•••
LibreOffice includes applications for word-processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and database management.
Jiří Doubravský
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Free and open source

•••
LibreOffice is available for free with code available here. It's licensed under LGPL v3 with new contributions dual-licensed under MPL.
Jiří Doubravský
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Cross-platform

•••
All major operating systems are supported, including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux (Arch, Fedora, Mandriva, Debian, Ubuntu, Suse).
Jiří Doubravský
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Multilingual

•••
It is available in more than 110 languages.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Font embedding support

•••
Font embedding ensures that the document will display correctly whether or not the target machine has that specific font installed.
Jiří Doubravský
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Portable version

•••
LibreOffice offers a version of the suite that does not require installation. It can be kept on a thumb stick to ensure that you have an office suite on whichever machine you choose to use.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

LibreOffice can take from OpenOffice, but not the other way around

•••
Due to licensing each office suite uses, only a one-way transfer of code is possible, offering more long-term potential for LibreOffice over OpenOffice.
Jiří Doubravský
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Encryption support

•••
LibreOffice allows encrypting and password-locking files.
raist356
Top Pro

High compatibility with MS Office

•••
Possible to use in corporations.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Presentations can have 3D models embeded within them

•••
Impress supports 3D models in gITF format.
Ricardo Rodrigues
Top Pro

Ribbon design

•••
Since 5.3, LibreOffice offers a Ribbon design view (similar to Microsoft Office). http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/02/how-to-enable-libreoffice-ribbon-notebook-bar
Ricardo Rodrigues
Top Con

No good video editing for presentations

•••
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

Track Changes needs to be improved

•••
Collaborating on a single document is difficult. Track Changes makes the document hard to read as both edited and deleted text is displayed, it's not possible to print comments, tracked differences between document versions are sub-optimal and there's no system for accepting/rejecting chang...
Phillip Smith
Top Con

No Android version

•••
EarnestQuangeio
Top Con

Ribbon is experimental

•••
Yoshiyuki
Iwan Kelaiah
Top Con

Libreoffice Base Requires Java

•••
If you need to use Base, it requires Java.
See 10 more Pros & ConsSee 14 more Pros & Cons
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10 Other Options Considered

ONLYOFFICE

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Chloe Montanez
VigorousIshtarDeela
Top Pro

Compatibility with MS Office formats

•••
Highly compatible with .docx, .xlsx, .pptx as well as with .odf.
Tatiana Kochedykova
Top Pro

Free and Open Source

•••
ONLYOFFICE is distributed under AGPL v.3 license with the source code available on GitHub.
Endi Sukaj
Tatiana Kochedykova
Top Pro

Can be used as a web app

•••
ONLYOFFICE offers a web-based office suite that can be deployed on your own server using various deployment options, including Docker script and virtual machines with the software pre-installed.
Endi Sukaj
Tatiana Kochedykova
Top Pro

Available as a desktop application

•••
ONLYOFFICE offers desktop applications for Linux, Windows, and Mac that can be connected to the web-based solution for document sharing and collaboration.
Chloe Montanez
calin ioan banciu
Top Pro

Free and open source

•••
Keeps the format and opens specific excel from MS Office better than the competition.
Chloe Montanez
VigorousIshtarDeela
Top Pro

Has a portable version

•••
ONLYOFFICE portable works on almost every Linux distribution.
Omega9
Top Pro

Available for Windows, Linux, and Mac

•••
Chloe Montanez
Kristaps
MeticulousPsamathe
Top Con

Wrong architecture

•••
Not available as a desktop application in 32 bit in Linux. 64 bit only. That might be fine for your brand new machine you've set up with 64 bit but not for older machines that typically run Linux.
See 6 more ProsSee 6 more Pros

WPS Office

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Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Excellent Microsoft Office compatibility

•••
WPS has the best compatibility with MS Office files of all major office suites that support Linux.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Ribbon-like UI

•••
WPS is the only Linux office suit to offer a Ribbon-like UI for better ease of use. Although, if you wish to keep using a classic drop-down menu style UI, you can.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Tabbed interface

•••
Instead of open up a new instance of the program for each document, WPS opens each document as a separate tab, allowing for easy switching between them.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Cross-platform desktop and mobile

•••
Available on Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Multilingual

•••
WPS Office is available in more than 40 languages.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Free version

•••
WPS comes in three flavors: Free, Standard ($49.95) and Professional ($69.95).
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Integrated backups

•••
WPS will automatically save your document over time to prevent data loss.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Encryption support

•••
WPS allows you to encrypt and password-lock files.
WhiteLilac
Phillip Smith
Top Pro

Smooth integration with many different cloud services at the same time

•••
WPS integrates with multiple cloud service's at once such as Dropbox, One Drive, Google Drive and more.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

Lacks ODF support

•••
WPS Office does not support importing or exporting OpenDocument Format, the default file format of LibreOffice and OpenOffice.
Francisco
MethodicalMithras
Top Con

Has too many ads

•••
Ricardo Rodrigues
Top Con

Video editing isn't very good in presentations

•••
Kristaps
ResponsiblePatecatl
Top Con

No equation editor in Linux

•••
Equation editor for Linux has been "under development" for several years with no real additional info from the developers. Safe to say it's just not going to happen. No equation editor is a deal breaker for some, which is a shame. Otherwise this office suite performs very well.
thermoplastics
Rodrigo Alonso Daza Jiménez
Top Con

No hyphenaton, no help or real forum

•••
Lack of hyphenation in Writer is a terrible mistake. Reading the few forums about it will let you know that it breaks the words without rules and without hyphens in any language. The question was stated in 2013 and still doesn't have an answer. Their help system practically doesn't exist, e...
Chloe Montanez
Ricardo Rodrigues
Top Con

Installing can be a hassle

•••
A .deb file is offered, but missing fonts can be a problem.
Iwan Kelaiah
Top Con

Default font styles are not pretty

•••
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

Only the basic office tools

•••
WPS has software for word-processing, spreadsheets and presentations. No tools for database management, note-taking, graphics, etc.
See 15 more Pros & ConsSee 15 more Pros & Cons

Google Drive

Add Video or Image
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Real-time file sharing & collaborative editing

•••
Google account holders and non-holders can be set to access and/or collaborate on files/folders in real-time. Additionally, you can find files you've shared not only by filename but by person you've shared the files with.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Simple

•••
Google Drive offers only basic functionality for each of its office components and as such is easy to use.
Bryan
oli g.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

15GB of free storage

•••
This space is shared across Drive, Gmail & Picasa, but Google Docs documents, Google Slides presentations, Google Sheets spreadsheets, Google Drawings and Google Forms do not count for this.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Revision control

•••
By clicking Ctrl + Alt + G in Windows or Command + Alt + Shift + G is OS X you can access previous version of the file.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Integrates with other Google services

•••
For example, you can use search to search through both Drive and Gmail.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Cloud based

•••
Google Drive is cloud-based, meaning there's no installation required and all your files are automatically synced between every device you use.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Extended functionality via apps

•••
Third party Drive applications running in Chrome can add functionality such as image/video editing, project management, flowchart creation, etc.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Cheap

•••
$1.99 per 100GB, for up to 16TB.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Can translate text from within a document

•••
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

No Linux desktop app

•••
Google Drive on Linux is accessible only via web.
xs
Top Con

All data belongs to Google unless you purchase pro accounts

•••
According to their EUA.
Thomas Singer
Top Con

Cloud based

•••
Not every wants to depend on the mercy of the cloud provider.
Kristaps
ResponsiblePatecatl
Top Con

No avaiable equation editors for presentations

•••
A way to add or edit equations in Slides is consistently a top requested feature, but little or no attention has been given to it by google.
Chloe Montanez
oli g.
Cleberson Carlos Xavier de Albuquerque
Top Con

Doesn't have good integration with ODF or MS-format files

•••
oli g.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

Not a lot of advanced functionality compared to alternatives

•••
Missing features in Google Docs are: Automatic numbering of chapters Image caption
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

Can’t password protect publicly shared folders

•••
See 14 more Pros & ConsSee 14 more Pros & Cons

Calligra

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Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Huge list of efficient and capable office components

•••
Calligra consists of 9 tools. In addition to word-processing, spreadsheet and presentation software, it includes tools for project management, sketching/painting, database management, vector graphics, diagramming and brainstorming.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Calligra offers cutting edge applications for artists to work on 2D drawings and illustrations

•••
Calligra includes Krita, a sketching and painting application, and Karbon, a vector drawing application. Both offer end-to-end solutions. Krita is also available as a standalone program.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Unified design language

•••
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

Subpar compatibility

•••
See 2 more ProsSee 2 more Pros

Abiword + Gnumeric

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Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Lightweight

•••
Both AbiWord & Gnumeric are designed with low resource consumption in mind. As such they are great applications for older computers.
Jiří Doubravský
Top Pro

Free and open-source

•••
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Multilingual

•••
Over 30 languages are supported.
Esteban Richmond Salazar
Top Pro

Collaborative editing

•••
Abiword is able to edit online collaborative documents.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Great import/export features

•••
Ryan
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

AbiWord has a dated aesthetic

•••
The interface hasn't had a facelift since it's inception in 1998.
Laura Kyle
Esteban Richmond Salazar
Top Con

Default format is only readable with Gnumeric

•••
Gnumeric is able to read/write a lot of file formats including ODS, XLS, XLSX, but it's default .gnumeric format is only readable with Gnumeric.
See 5 more Pros & ConsSee 5 more Pros & Cons

Apache OpenOffice

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Jiří Doubravský
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Free and open source

•••
Licensed under Apache License.
Jiří Doubravský
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Cross-platform

•••
OpenOffice is available on Windows, Mac OS, and *nix systems.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Comprehensive suite of applications

•••
Apache OpenOffice includes applications for word-processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and database management.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Multilingual

•••
OpenOffice is available in 170+ languages.
Monika
WhiteLilac
IndependentSopdu
Top Con

Dead project

•••
The project looks dead. They can't close even serious security vulnerabilities. You might want to use Libreoffice instead.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

Documentation is lacking

•••
OpenOffice documentation is incomplete and language is highly technical.
See 4 more Pros & ConsSee 4 more Pros & Cons

Zoho Docs

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Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Comprehensive, business-oriented suite of applications

•••
Zoho contains both free and paid versions of tools for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, note-taking, wikis, customer relationship management, project management, invoicing.
Ryan
pixel8ed
Top Pro

No installation required

•••
While Zoho Docs offers native applications for desktop and mobile, you can choose to use the webapp which doesn't require you to download anything and can be accessed from anywhere where there's an Internet connection and a modern web browser.
Ryan
pixel8ed
Top Pro

Allows for real-time collaboration

•••
Multiple people can work on the same document at the same time.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Reasonable MS Office compatibility

•••
pixel8ed
Top Pro

Page numbers in table of contents

•••
Ryan
Top Con

Can get expensive quickly

•••
Zoho Docs has 2 paid plans - $5/user/month and $8/user/month that add additional functionality and increase the storage limit. Compared to standalone purchases, the subscription fees can quickly rack up, especially since they are on a per user basis.
See 4 more ProsSee 4 more Pros

SoftMaker Office

Add Video or Image
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Great interoperability with Microsoft Office

•••
SoftMaker office can open doc(x), xls(x), and ppt(x) files without messing up formatting.
Andris Pelcbergs
Arsenios Noor
Top Pro

Has a free version

•••
A free version, called SoftMaker FreeOffice, is available. FreeOffice is a stripped down version of SoftMaker Office, with less features, templates and interface polish, but it still is feature-packed and with the same excellent import and export filters that enable opening/saving Microsoft Office...
Paolo
Coolioz
Top Pro

EPUB export included

•••
You can create high-quality e-books in EPUB format easily.
Coolioz
Top Pro

Free technical support

•••
If you face any issues, you can always use the technical support by developer SoftMaker, it's free.
Paolo
FerventPatecatl
Top Con

It's not Microsoft Office and it never will be

•••
Use SoftMaker Office only if you want basic MS Office-like features. Once you delve deeper into the software the omissions become glaringly obvious.
See 3 more ProsSee 3 more Pros

Open365

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HilariousAchuguayo
Top Pro

OpenSource

•••
HilariousAchuguayo
Top Con

Too new / green to use

•••
Work has just started on this. Needs development. Not a true replacement suite yet.

Office 365

Add Video or Image
Ryan
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Allows for real-time collaboration

•••
Multiple people can work on the same document at the same time.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Easy to transition from MS Office

•••
Office 365 is laid out the same way with a similar ribbon interface that will be instantly comfortable to long-time Microsoft Office users.
Ryan
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Excellent integration and compatibility with MS Office desktop applications

•••
Ryan
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

No installation required

•••
Ryan
Top Con

Dependant on having an Internet connection

•••
Andris Pelcbergs
Matt Oswald
Top Con

Has only a fraction of Microsoft Office functionality

•••
Office 365 is not a complete replacement for Microsoft Office. The most advanced functionality still can only be found on the desktop.
Bryan
Jesse “JESSEFL8” Afolabi
Top Con

Expensive

•••
$35/user/mo.
See 5 more Pros & ConsSee 5 more Pros & Cons

449 Community Recommendations

Omega9
Jiří Doubravský
0xREDev
AccountKiller12345AccountKiller AccountKiller AccountKiller AccountKiller AccountKiller
oli g.
Christopher Lee Murray
Kyle Ferriter
Fabián Heredia Montiel
Marcin Henrykowski
Phillip Smith
Travis Rigg
+352
Request recommendations from the community
DiplomaticMimir
DiplomaticMimir
Contributor for 16 days
2
Total 
Recs.
0
Total 
Karma
LibreOffice
Recommended 16 days ago
no fully compatible with ms office
See full
chan
chan
Contributor for 7 months
6
Total 
Recs.
360
Total 
Karma
LibreOffice
Recommended 4 months ago
Started with OpenOffice many years ago; switched to LibreOffice because much more development there. I consider myself a slightly advanced user (I didn't need programming so far, but using formulas and pivots a lot; import a lot of CSV files). Because almost everybody else is using MS Office at my workpl...
Pro
 Comprehensive suite of applications
Pro
 Cross-platform
Pro
 Free and open source
Pro
 High compatibility with MS Office
See full
Phillip Smith
Phillip
Contributor for 2 years
29
Total 
Recs.
3.4K
Total 
Karma
LibreOffice
Recommended 4 months ago
Simply the best Linux office suite
Pro
 Comprehensive suite of applications
Pro
 Widely used
Pro
 Multilingual
Pro
 Cross-platform
Pro
 Free and open source
Pro
 Font embedding support
Con
 Track Changes needs to be improved
Pro
 High compatibility with MS Office
Con
 No Android version
See full
Evgenia Gurtowenko
Evgenia
Contributor for 5 months
1
Total 
Recs.
0
Total 
Karma
LibreOffice
Recommended 5 months ago
fine
See full
IndependentSopdu
IndependentSopdu
Contributor for 3 months
1
Total 
Recs.
20
Total 
Karma
Apache OpenOffice
3 months ago
the project looks dead. they cant close even serious security vulnerables. You'd better use Libreoffice instead.
See full
GloriousTriton
GloriousTriton
Contributor for 4 months
1
Total 
Recs.
0
Total 
Karma
SoftMaker Office
Recommended 4 months ago
I have been using SoftMaker since my Wince days. What I like most about it is that I can use an android tablet, Linux box, and if I wanted to a windows pc and get my work done. the software is professional and I can tab my work, unlike LibreOffice which cannot. I can use templates from all the major office s...
Pro
 Great interoperability with Microsoft Office
Pro
 EPUB export included
Pro
 Free technical support
See full
FerventPatecatl
FerventPatecatl
Contributor for 5 months
1
Total 
Recs.
80
Total 
Karma
SoftMaker Office
5 months ago
I have purchased and used two different releases of SoftMaker Office. The office suite is fine for basic functionality and compatibility, but it does not include the macro language that Excel uses. The macro language is very important and is sorely missed once you discover its absence from the suite. For exa...
Pro
 Has a free version
Con
 It's not Microsoft Office and it never will be
See full
Phillip Smith
Phillip
Contributor for 2 years
29
Total 
Recs.
3.4K
Total 
Karma
WPS Office
Recommended a year ago
Cross platform from windows, to iOS, to Linux, to Android, GUI is great looking and easy for people use, this I put on wife and kids computers. I brought the pro version to get rid of ads, worth it.
Pro
 Excellent Microsoft Office compatibility
Pro
 Cross-platform desktop and mobile
Pro
 Integrated backups
Pro
 Tabbed interface
Pro
 Free version
Pro
 Multilingual
Pro
 Encryption support
Con
 Only the basic office tools
Pro
 Smooth integration with many different cloud services at the same time
Con
 No equation editor in Linux
1See full
Currently displaying 8 out of 449 total recommendations.
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