Free Apps & Software: Microsoft Office Alternatives

Please note that this software is not officially endorsed nor supported by Kent State University so, as with any free software, use at your own risk. (If you encounter major issues with any software listed on this guide, please let us know at kentstatesms@gmail.com so that we can remove the software link from our list.)

Google Apps like Google Docs, Google Slides and Google Sheets are the most well-known alternatives to Microsoft Office products. For the Kent State Community the Google Apps are even integrated into your Flashline tools. The apps are free to use and both web-based and available in mobile app form.

Another Microsoft Office alternative, Open Office, provides a suite of open source (free) productivity software similar to the tools found in Microsoft Office for word processing, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It also supports many languages and works on most common computers. If you can't afford Microsoft Office definitely give this a try.

Mac users also access to Apple's suite of productivity software to serve as an alternative to Microsoft Office. Pages is for word processing; Numbers is for creating spreadsheets; Keynote is for designing presentations. The software was previously pre-installed on all Macs. Now it is available (hopefully still for free) through the App Store.

For more details on the Apple's software, visit each of their overview pages below.

Kent State offers Microsoft Office for free to all faculty, staff and students. Search for Office 365 in the Kent State's Software Catalog for details.