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• Do You Need To Pay For Word On Mac
• Do You Have To Pay For Microsoft Word On Mac
• Do I Have To Pay For Microsoft Word On Mac
• Do You Need Microsoft Office On Mac

Jun 11, 2019  For the subscription model, Microsoft Office 365 for Mac, you pay a month-by-month or yearly fee. And as new versions are introduced, you automatically get them as part of your subscription. Office 365 for Home costs $99.99 a year or $9.99 a month. Don't Pay For Word, Microsoft Office 2016 For Mac Is Free For Download Now. Macbook users all know the pinch they felt from having to buy that pricey Microsoft Office suite. But as Microsoft works to release its Office 2016, they are offering you a peek — free of charge. This is the first time Microsoft Office suite has had a new release since 2011.

Office 365 is the best option for anyone who needs access to the full range of apps and perks on multiple devices. And, you can share an account with up to six people. Also, it's the only option that offers continuity of updates and upgrades with a low cost of ownership. However, there are monthly or yearly costs, and over time, you may end up paying for features that you'll never use.

Pros

• All apps access
• Multiple people can use across multiple devices
• Free upgrades
• Customer support
• Windows 10, 8.x, 7, and macOS support

Cons

• Monthly or yearly subscription
• Limited functionality if service issues
• New changes may be overwhelming
• Paying for unnecessary features

If you only need the basic features on a single PC, Office 2019 is probably all you need, as it allows you to access the must-have apps, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, with all the necessary functionalities. However, paying upfront can be pricey, you have to pay again for upgrades, and you don't get extra perks.

Pros

• Popular apps access
• No monthly payments
• Security updates
• Traditional experience
• Windows 10 and macOS support

Cons

• One device per license
• Limited set of features
• Limited to Windows 10 and macOS
• No upgrades
• No customer support

If you're planning to upgrade, or you're new to Microsoft Office, you probably noticed that now you have two options: Office 2019 and Office 365. If you're a little confused about which one to choose, you're not alone. Although both products give you access to the same apps with the latest core features, some significant differences come down to the cost of ownership and list of features (and to be clear, Office 2019 isn't a replacement for Office 365).

Office 2019

Source: Windows Central

Office 2019 is the name that Microsoft is using for the standalone version of its popular suite of office apps. It doesn't require a monthly subscription, meaning that once you go through the one-time purchase, you own the copy forever.

Using this option (also known as the 'perpetual' or 'on-premises' version of Office), you can install the apps on one computer, and you'll get security updates. But you won't be able to upgrade to a follow-up version. This means that you can keep using the version that you purchased for its life-cycle (usually five years) and beyond (without updates), but if you want to access the new features and tools, you'll need to pay full price again.

Also, even though Office 2019 comes with apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook with more improvements than the older version, it only ships with a subset of features and without many of the perks available with an Office 365 subscription. For example, with the 2019 version, you won't find cloud and AI features, along with benefits such as 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage and free monthly credits to make calls to landlines using Skype.

Who should buy Office 2019

Although anyone can purchase Office 2019, this version has been designed for commercial customers with volume licenses in mind who aren't yet ready to transition to a cloud-based version of Office and happen to have specific requirements to use the suite of apps on-premise.

Although anyone can purchase Office 2019, this version has been designed for certain commercial customers.

Do You Need To Pay For Word On Mac

If you're a regular consumer, this is still (somewhat) a good option if you prefer a more traditional experience. If you plan to install the suite on a single device, don't depend on new features, or you're not ready to start using cloud-based applications, then it's also a solid choice.

Additionally, while you're getting a license for one PC or Mac going down the one-time purchase route, you can install the Office apps on all your mobile devices, but you'll only get some basic features.

Office 2019 comes in two flavors, including 'Office Home & Student 2019' and 'Office Home & Business 2019,' and they're typically priced at $150 and $250 per device, respectively. Office Home & Student 2019 comes with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, while Office Home & Business 2019 includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote.

Also, consider that unlike previous perpetual versions, Office 2019 is only supported on devices running Windows 10 or the three most recent versions of macOS. If you must use the most up-to-date version of Office, and you're still on Windows 8.1 or Windows 7, you have to purchase an Office 365 subscription.

Office 365 features

Source: Windows Central

Office 365 is the name that Microsoft uses for its subscription plan service that offers the same apps available with Office 2019, but with even more apps, features, tools, and other benefits.

Using this option, you'll be paying a monthly or yearly subscription fee giving you access to apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, Access, and others across your devices (PC, Mac, tablet, and phone) as long as only six devices are accessing the account at a time. Also, depending on your subscription plan, you can share the account with up to five additional people for a total of six people with one subscription.

Perhaps one of the best parts about getting a subscription plan is that you never have to worry about new versions. When you're using Office 365, you'll always be running the most up-to-date version of the apps that Microsoft has to offer. This unlocks regular security updates, improvements, and, more importantly, access to the latest features and tools as soon as they become available.

You also get cloud features, such as real-time collaboration and AI features, to help boost your productivity at home, school, work, and across devices. Also, as part of the bundle, everyone gets 1TB of OneDrive storage (up to 6TB in total when using the Home subscription), Skype minutes to make calls to landlines, and you can contact the support line with any question you may have.

If you need even more storage, in addition to the already 1TB of cloud storage, subscribers can also purchase up to an additional 1TB of OneDrive storage on 200GB increments for an extra $1.99 per month, doubling the total storage up to 2TB (1TB already included with bundled and 1TB additional subscription) in their account for $9.99. This option is only available for Office 365 'Home' and 'Personal' subscribers. However, if you're sharing the account using a Home subscription with other people, only the primary account holder can access the separate full terabyte.

Similar to Office 2019, you can install Office 365 on your mobile devices, but unlike the perpetual version, you'll get access to the complete array of features.

Who should buy Office 365

If you need access to the suite of apps, Office 365 is perhaps your best choice, as it's the only option that ensures continuity of updates and upgrades at a low cost. Also, you get access to all the apps, which you can install on all your devices, including on devices running Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, and macOS. (Office 2019 only allows you to use apps on a single computer running Windows 10.)

If you need access to the suite of apps, Office 365 is perhaps your best choice.

The subscription service comes with different plans. If you're the only person using the apps and services, you can purchase the 'Office 365 Personal' plan for $70 a year, which gives you access to the software suite, alongside 1TB of OneDrive storage and Skype minutes.

However, if you're planning to share the account with family members or roommates, you should select the 'Office 365 Home' plan for $100 a year, which allows you to share the apps and benefits with up to six people. Plus, everyone gets their Skype minutes and 1TB of OneDrive storage.

If you choose to buy into a subscription plan, you should purchase the yearly subscription as you'll be spending more money paying the monthly fee.

Microsoft even has a free subscription plan for students and teachers using a valid school email address. Using this service, you'll get access to Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams, and other school tools for free.

Although Windows 7 has reached the end of support, Microsoft will continue to offer security updates for Office apps until January 2023, but you won't receive new features. Once you upgrade to Windows 10, support will resume with regular security patches, new features, and improvements.

Important: Microsoft is expected to replace Office 365 Personal and Home with the new Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans, which will include even more new features and services, such as Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Family Safety, for the same price. If you purchase the one of the currently available subscriptions right now, you'll be switched automatically to the new plans after April 21, 2020.

So, which should you buy?

Ultimately, it'll depend on your requirements. However, if you'll be using the apps for a long time, purchasing an Office 365 subscription is perhaps your best option, because you get full access to all the apps and perks with low cost of ownership.

Subscription-based

Office 365

Stay productive with the latest features

Office 365 gives you full access to all the apps and perks, such as 1TB OneDrive and Skype minutes. You can also install Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and other apps on up to six devices, and depending on the subscription, you can share the account with up to six people.

One-time purchase

Office 2019

Pay once and forget it.

Office 2019 comes with all the popular apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, with enough features to get the work done.

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Since its initial release nearly 30 years ago, Microsoft Office has become one of the world’s most popular productivity suites. With programs like Word and Excel for Mac, it’s no wonder that the MS Office suite is a must-download on any computer.

Microsoft Office for Mac 2019 includes the most modern versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, and OneNote. These apps are all available for download at the Mac App Store. Alternatively, with Office 365 for Mac, you can work online or offline and collaborate with others in real time, which is especially useful for any kind of team work.

Get a perfect alternative for MS tools on Mac

Try Setapp, an all-in-one toolkit that covers apps substituting Microsoft’s Visio, Project, and Publisher. All in a single spot on your Mac.

If you’ve been asking yourself questions like “what is Office 365 for Mac” and “how much is Microsoft Office?” — the guide below will help dispel your confusion. Besides, do you know how you can download Microsoft Office?

How To Download And Install MS Office For Mac

As mentioned above, Microsoft Office suite and all of its apps — Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, OneNote, and OneDrive — are now available at the Mac App Store. This makes it easier than ever to get the most current versions of MS Office for Mac (note that you’ll need an Office 365 subscription to use these apps). There is also a Microsoft Office trial available that allows you to use Office 365 free for one month.

To buy Microsoft Office outright, visit office.com. At the Office home page, select Install Office. Then follow the instructions for the installer file that has been downloaded to your computer.

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System requirements to download Microsoft Office

Before downloading Office for Mac, make sure you have the fitting system requirements that allow for the best experience with Microsoft apps. For example, Microsoft Office suite always supports the latest three versions of macOS. Currently, it’s 10.14, 10.13, and 10.12.

As new versions of macOS are released, Microsoft shifts its support to the newest ones. While your Office apps might still work on older unsupported versions of macOS, you won’t be able to get security or feature updates.

To run Microsoft Office at the moment, you’ll need macOS 10.12 (Sierra), 4 GB RAM and 10 GB of available disk space.

The difference between Office 2019 and Office 365 for Mac

You can still buy Microsoft Office without getting into a subscription. The downside is not getting continuous feature updates, which will in turn be bundled altogether in the following year’s release.

Office 365, on the other hand, is based purely on a subscription model and powered by Microsoft’s cloud service. It frequently receives updates and provides full access to the whole suite of services.

How much is Microsoft Office?

As MS Office for Mac is available in two versions — a one-time payment and subscription — there are two prices. If you want to buy a license for Office Home and Student 2019 for Mac, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, it will cost you $149.99. If you’d like to use Microsoft Office Outlook, you’ll need to purchase the Office Home and Business 2019 for Mac at $249.99.

For the subscription model, Microsoft Office 365 for Mac, you pay a month-by-month or yearly fee. And as new versions are introduced, you automatically get them as part of your subscription. Office 365 for Home costs $99.99 a year or $9.99 a month.

What about MS Office vs. iWork

Apple’s free iWork has a great price advantage over the MS Office suite, but is it better than all the Microsoft’s popular productivity apps?

iWork includes Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, but is generally best suited for smaller businesses or home use. Additionally, if you already use Microsoft Office extensively at home or work, being able to switch between Macs and PCs gives Microsoft Office Suite a big plus.

Microsoft Office is known for having a slight edge for ease-of-use and is packed with more features. The latest version of the suite also looks brand new compared to iWork’s currently outdated version. As Microsoft Office continues to learn the macOS, it continues to grow.

MS Office Touch Bar features

Trackpad and Touch Bar, unique to MacBooks, have made great new features available on Office for Mac.

In Microsoft Word for Mac, you can use the Touch Bar to insert hyperlinks, comments, or photos right in the text editor. It’s especially great when you’re working in Word Focus Mode without access to the controls on the screen.

In Excel for Mac, using the equal sign on your keyboard will launch most recently used commands on the Touch Bar. Then you can select a range of commands or perform specific actions.

In Microsoft Office Outlook, Touch Bar makes recent files appear when you’re composing an email. From here, you can attach relevant files with a single tap. In Outlook’s Today view, you can use the Touch Bar to get a quick look at your daily calendar events or launch a Skype call.

During slideshow presentations in Powerpoint, you can use the Touch Bar to view specific controls. The function integrates slide thumbnails and includes a timer to make moving through your presentation on time a snap.

Great Substitutes For MS Project, Visio, And Publisher

Do You Have To Pay For Microsoft Word On Mac

If you’ve used MS Office tools on Windows before, you may have noticed that some of them aren’t available on Mac, specifically Microsoft Project, Visio, and Publisher.

The good news is you can easily substitute lacking MS Office apps with Setapp.

Take care of your publishing needs

With Microsoft Publisher for Mac currently unavailable, you need an app that is easy to use but, at the same time, delivers professional results when you’re looking to put together greeting cards or self-publish a magazine. Enter Swift Publisher.

Swift Publisher has a robust set of design tools that allow you to apply gradients, draw freehand shapes, and control different aspects of your design layout at once. The app also features an extensive graphic library with over 2,000 pieces of clip art and 100 image masks.

Make publishing easy with Swift Publisher’s support for exports to a variety of digital formats, including social media. You’ll find that quickly Microsoft Publisher for Mac will become a thing of the past.

The best alternative to Microsoft Visio

With the need to create flowcharts, diagrams, and organizational tables for your projects, you may miss Microsoft Visio. Fear not. You can easily brainstorm and create long-term plans with iThoughtsX instead. Even better, you’ll never lose important information with its built-in cloud integration.

iThoughtsX lets you visualize an idea, track to-dos along with deadlines, and check on the team's progress. You don’t have to interrupt your workflow at all, as this app supports multiple file formats that can store your ideas in .rtf, .txt, Microsoft Word (.docx), .csv, MindGenius (.mgmx), MindNode (.mindnode), .opml, and more.

Plan projects with Merlin Project Express

Merlin Project Express will help you plan both home and professional projects. It’s a great solution for managing budgets and resources available for any endeavour.

Do I Have To Pay For Microsoft Word On Mac

Just like Microsoft Project for Mac, Merlin Project Express lets you create tasks, manage dependencies, and track progress with ease. You can also come up with project templates to streamline your workflow, set daily goals, and visualize the timeline. Consolidate all information in one place with project info at hand by attaching emails, images, costs, and notes.

Do You Need Microsoft Office On Mac

Best of all, three substitute apps: Swift Publisher, iThoughtsX, and Merlin Project Express are available on Setapp, a platform of more than 150 Mac apps and utilities that you can use at home and work to improve all aspects of interacting with your Mac. Get yourself a perfect complement to your Microsoft Office suite purchase and try Setapp free for seven days. Working smart doesn’t have to feel like a trade-off.