Are you trying to decide if you should buy Office for Mac as part of an Office 365 subscription or as a stand-alone product? While cost is one important consideration it is not the only one. I’d like to point out a few other considerations that I think you should keep in mind as you make your decision. It is important to know that regardless of whether you buy Office as a stand-alone product or as part of Office 365, you get the ability to download and install Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc on your Mac. Microsoft offers a web-based version of these applications.The online versions are only available if you have an Office 365 subscription. The online versions are cleverly named Word Online, Excel Online, etc. Frankly, I don’t believe I’ve ever used them so I can’t comment on how similar or dissimilar they are from the full desktop versions. Office 365 subscribers get access to new versions of Office when they are released, which is typically about every 3 or 4 years. For example, Microsoft made the following Mac versions of Office: Office 2011, Office 2016 and they released Office 2019 in September 2018.
Home and Student vs Home and Business
Jan 06, 2018 Office 365 Home can be installed on 5 PC's, Macs or tablets while Office 365 Personal is for 1 PC or Mac or tablet. You just need to log into your My Office Account and use the Microsoft account associated with your Office 365 subscription. The latest version of Office software available for the Mac is 'Office for Mac 2016', which was first launched as part of Office 365 in July 2015 under the 365 cloud-based subscription model, and then as a standalone product in September. At the enterprise level, Microsoft has made it simple for Mac.
First you need to determine if you want to buy the Home and Student version or the Home and Business version. While these names may be slightly confusing, the primary difference for Mac users is that the Home and Business version includes Microsoft’s email application, Outlook. If you’re a business customer or if you use Outlook then you should buy the Home and Business version. Both versions include Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.
Office on iPad or iPhone
Do you want to use Office apps on your iPhone or iPad to edit documents? Microsoft lets you download and install Word, Excel and Powerpoint, for free, on your iOS device. However, this free version only lets you open and view Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. If you want to edit files then you need to have an Office 365 subscription.
OneDrive
Do you use Microsoft’s OneDrive to store and/or share documents with others? If so, it probably makes more sense to get an Office 365 subscription since Microsoft provides 1TB of storage space per user as part of the subscription. Microsoft does offer stand-alone OneDrive accounts. As of the end of 2018, a free OneDrive account comes with 5 GB of storage and a paid account comes with 50 GB of storage space.
Price
Prices vary over time. I plan to update the prices in this article from time to time, but please always check exact prices in case the prices listed below aren’t current.
If you want to buy Office outright, you can get competitive pricing from Amazon for Office for Mac. When you purchase from Amazon make sure you buy one of the digital download versions which let you download the installer from Microsoft’s web site (which requires you to use a Microsoft account or create one.) For example, current prices for the Home and Student version of Office 2019 for Mac is about $120. This lets you install it on one Mac. It’s not currently possible to buy a multi-user license, such as the 3-packs that Microsoft previously offered.
If you want an Office 365 subscription, buy it directly from Microsoft’s web site. For home use, you will likely pick between Office 365 Personal and Office 365 Home. The Personal plan currently costs $70 per year and lets you install Office on 1 Mac or PC. The Home plan costs $100 per year and lets you install Office on up to 6 Macs or PC.
Currently, Microsoft offers 3 plans for small business customers.
Office 365 Business Essentials for $5/user/month. This plan only provides email accounts for your business. It does not include Word, Excel or Powerpoint.
Office 365 Business for $8.25/user/month. This is the most commonly purchased plan. It includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Office 365 Business Premium for $12.50/user/month. This plan includes Word, Excel and Powerpoint as well as email hosting for your business.
Office 365 subscriptions also include Microsoft’s Intelligent Services
In general, I think that if you need more than 3 licenses for your home or business and you look at the cost of ownership over about 5-6 years then it typically more affordable to buy Office 365 subscriptions.
This article covers frequently asked questions about the availability of Office from the Mac App Store, and the differences between downloading Office apps directly from Microsoft.
Starting in January 2019, the following Office applications are available for download from the Mac App Store: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote*, and OneDrive*.
* These apps were also available from the Mac App Store in previous years.
Microsoft Word For Mac
What version of Office is available from the Mac App Store?
The Office apps available from the Mac App Store provide the very latest version of Office on the Mac. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook require an Office 365 subscription to activate. OneNote and OneDrive do not require an Office 365 subscription, but some premium features may require an Office 365 subscription.
Is this the same as Office 2019?
No. Office 2019 is the one-time purchase, non-subscription product (also known as perpetual). An Office 365 subscription provides always up-to-date versions of Office apps and access to additional premium features and services. The apps available in the Mac App Store are not compatible with Office 2019 licenses.
I currently own Office 2016 for Mac and want to upgrade my version of Office. Should I download Office from the Mac App Store?
If you own the older perpetual release of Office, you can download the new version of the apps from the Mac App Store, and purchase a new Office 365 subscription using the in-app purchase option. In-app purchase offers include Office 365 Home, and Office 365 Personal. Your license from the perpetual release of Office will not work with the app versions from the App Store. Click here to learn about Office 365 subscriptions and pricing.
I already have an Office 365 subscription, and the Office apps are already installed on my Mac. Do I need to do anything?
No. It's likely that you installed Office directly from Microsoft. The Microsoft AutoUpdate app will keep your existing apps up-to-date. The apps in the Mac App Store do not provide functionality beyond what you have today.
If I download Office from the Mac App Store, do I still use Microsoft AutoUpdate to get updates?
Microsoft AutoUpdate is only used to get updates for apps that you download directly from Microsoft. If you download Office from the Mac App Store, then the App Store will provide you with future updates of Office. You may have other Microsoft apps installed on your Mac, and AutoUpdate will continue providing updates just for those apps.
Can I have multiple versions and builds of Office installed on my Mac?
No. Office 365, Office 2019, and Office 2016 use the same application and file names. To see which version of Office you have installed on your Mac, open one of the apps, and look at the License text in the About dialog.
Can I get Office Insider builds from the Mac App Store?
No. The Office apps in the Mac App Store are production releases. Insider builds must be downloaded directly from Microsoft.
How do I cancel my Office 365 free trial that I purchased through the Mac App Store?
To cancel your Office 365 free trial that you purchased through the Mac or iOS App Store, follow the instructions on this page: View, change, or cancel your subscriptions.
This link redirects to the App Store, so please open this link on a Mac, iPad or iPhone.