The short answer. Microsoft Office is the compatibility baseline: whatever else you use, the file will eventually be opened in Word, Excel or PowerPoint by someone. OnlyOffice and SoftMaker Office aim at that compatibility explicitly, which is a different promise from LibreOffice’s open format with an Office export. WPS is the cross-platform suite with its own take on the same formats. Pages, Numbers and Keynote are the Apple suite: better-looking documents and a lossy path to Office formats, which is fine for a document you control and risky for one you send. The dividing question is who opens the file next, because a document that stays inside one suite is a different problem from one that has to survive a round trip.
This guide covers 8 office suites for macOS. Every fact below is drawn from the same verified records that back each app’s own page. The recommendations are our editorial judgment, not payment.
Quick comparison
| App | What it is | Pricing | Licence | Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keynote | productivity app | Free | not published | — |
| LibreOffice | productivity app | Open source | not published | 26.8.0 |
| Microsoft Office | productivity app | not published | not published | 16.113.26092714 |
| Numbers | productivity app | Free | not published | — |
| OnlyOffice | productivity app | Open source | AGPL-3.0 | 9.4.0 |
| Pages | productivity app | Free | not published | — |
| SoftMaker Office | productivity app | not published | not published | — |
| WPS | productivity app | Free | not published | — |
What actually decides this
- Who opens the file next. A document that stays in one suite can use that suite’s features freely. One that goes to a client has to survive a round trip through Office. The second constraint rules out most of the interesting features.
- How the compatibility is achieved. A suite that implements the Office formats and one that imports and exports them are different. The first keeps the layout; the second approximates it. The approximation is usually good until a table or a footnote.
- What the collaboration story is. Comments, tracked changes and simultaneous editing are the features that matter for a document with more than one author. A suite with no tracked changes is a personal tool.
- What the offline story is. A desktop suite works on a plane. A web-first suite does not. The licence model usually follows: a subscription for the cloud version, a one-off for the local one.
- Whether the file format is open. An open format can be read by other tools in ten years. A proprietary one cannot be guaranteed. For anything archival, this is the decision that outlives the suite.
- What it costs over five years. A subscription and a one-off licence are not comparable at the point of purchase. Over the life of a document, the difference is often larger than the feature difference.
Our picks
- Microsoft Office — Its record describes Office designed for Mac, which is the compatibility baseline case. Choose it when the file will be opened by someone else in Office.
- OnlyOffice — Its record describes a suite with document, spreadsheet and presentation editors, which is the open-compatible case. Choose it when you want Office compatibility from an open-source suite.
- SoftMaker Office — Its record describes aiming for full compatibility with Office documents, which is the compatibility-first case. Choose it when full compatibility is the requirement and the price matters.
- LibreOffice — Its record describes free, open-source office software used daily by a large community, which is the open-format case. Choose it when you want an open format and a large community.
- WPS — Its record describes a cross-platform office suite, which is the alternative case. Choose it when you want a cross-platform suite with its own interface.
- Pages — Its record describes documents that stand apart, which is the design-first case. Choose it when the document stays in the Apple ecosystem and should look good.
The apps
Keynote
Keynote is a productivity app for macOS. Build stunning presentations. It is free.
Full profile and verified facts for Keynote →
LibreOffice
LibreOffice is a productivity app for macOS. Free, open-source office software used and tested daily by a large community. It is open source.
What it does. LibreOffice is a free office suite.
LibreOffice is listed with current version 26.8.0.
Full profile and verified facts for LibreOffice →
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a productivity app for macOS. Unmistakably Office, designed for Mac. Its pricing is not published.
Microsoft Office is listed with current version 16.113.26092714.
Full profile and verified facts for Microsoft Office →
Numbers
Numbers is a productivity app for macOS. Create impressive spreadsheets. It is free.
Full profile and verified facts for Numbers →
OnlyOffice
OnlyOffice is a productivity app for macOS. Office suite with document, spreadsheet, and presentation editors. It is released under AGPL-3.0.
What it does. ONLYOFFICE Document Editor. ONLYOFFICE Spreadsheet Editor. ONLYOFFICE Presentation Editor. ONLYOFFICE Form Creator.
OnlyOffice is listed with current version 9.4.0.
Full profile and verified facts for OnlyOffice →
Pages
Pages is a productivity app for macOS. Documents that stand apart. It is free.
Full profile and verified facts for Pages →
SoftMaker Office
SoftMaker Office is a productivity app for macOS. A complete office suite that aims for full compatibility with Microsoft Office documents. Its pricing is not published.
What it does. SoftMaker Office, the German GDPR-compliant alternative to Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android.
Full profile and verified facts for SoftMaker Office →
WPS
WPS is a productivity app for macOS. Is a cross-platform office software suite. It is free.
What it does. Download WPS Office for Mac, a free office suite to view, edit and share Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF. Free alternative to Microsoft Office for Mac.
Full profile and verified facts for WPS →
How to choose
- Free of charge. Keynote, Numbers, Pages and WPS — no payment is required.
- No licence fee, source available. LibreOffice and OnlyOffice — the source can be read and, under the terms of each licence, reused.
- Pricing not published in our data. Microsoft Office and SoftMaker Office — check the developer’s own site before assuming anything about cost.
Open source: LibreOffice and OnlyOffice (2 of 8).
Common mistakes
- Sending a Pages document to someone who only has Office and calling it a PDF later.
- Assuming an open-source suite opens a complex Office file with the layout intact.
- Choosing a suite by feature list and discovering the tracked-changes support is partial.
- Storing an archive in a format only one vendor can read.
How this guide was put together
Each app’s facts come from its own record: the developer’s own pages and repository, the App Store listing where one exists, and the documentation, each with a source grade and an access date. Where a fact rests on the developer’s own statement rather than on something we verified independently, the sentence says so. Where our data has no value for something, the guide says “not published” instead of guessing.
A price appears here only where the record carries one from a stated source; the guide never estimates one, and it records the pricing model alongside so the two can be read together. Prices change and vary by region, so each app links to its own page for the current detail.
The facts and the recommendations are kept apart on purpose. Everything in the app entries, the comparison table and the answers above is composed from the records. The short answer, the criteria and the picks are our editorial judgment: they reflect what we would choose and why, and they are not paid for. Where we make a recommendation we name the condition it applies under, because we do not call anything “the best” without explaining the criteria.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose between these office suites?
There is no single answer — it depends on what you need. This guide covers 8 office suites: Keynote, LibreOffice, Microsoft Office, Numbers, OnlyOffice, Pages, SoftMaker Office and WPS. They differ mainly in pricing model, licence and the trade-offs each one carries. Pick by the trade-off you care about rather than by rank.
Are these office suites free?
Pricing across this group: free (Keynote, Numbers, Pages and WPS), open source (LibreOffice and OnlyOffice) and not published (Microsoft Office and SoftMaker Office). Where we list pricing as not published, the developer does not state a model we could verify — check their own site before assuming anything about cost. We quote a price only where the record carries one from a stated source, and we never estimate one. Prices change and vary by region and by store, so always check the developer’s own page for the current figure.
Which of these office suites are open source?
LibreOffice (not published) and OnlyOffice (AGPL-3.0) are open source.
Do these office suites support Apple Silicon?
Our data does not carry an explicit Apple Silicon statement for any app in this group, so we do not claim one. The absence of a statement is not the same as the absence of support.
How do I choose between them?
Start with how you pay: the guide groups these apps by pricing model, because the budget is the constraint most people actually have. Then check the trade-offs listed for each app: the limitations are the part that decides most people’s choice, because they describe what the app will not do for you.
