ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors: when to install it, and when not to
ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors is a free, open-source office suite whose documents, spreadsheets and presentations are closest in fidelity to Microsoft Office…
The short version
ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors: Choose this over LibreOffice if you exchange files with Word users all day: its rendering of .docx formatting is noticeably closer to Microsoft's. Fewer features, better fidelity.
| Licence / price | Free · Open source |
|---|---|
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Category | Documents & Notes — 8 programs |
| Official download | https://www.onlyoffice.com/download-desktop.aspx ↗ |
What it is for
ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors is a free, open-source office suite whose documents, spreadsheets and presentations are closest in fidelity to Microsoft Office formats, including collaborative features if you pair it with a server. For anyone who must open complex .docx or .xlsx files without paying, it is the most compatible free option.
When to pick something else
The interface is less polished than LibreOffice, and without the collaboration server you only get the local editor. Very large spreadsheets can lag, and the ecosystem of templates and extensions is smaller than the older suites.
How it compares in Documents & Notes
These are the alternatives we would consider for the same job. The notes are the same ones used on the main list, so there is no separate ranking hiding on this page.
| Program | Licence / price | Platforms | Why it is on the list |
|---|---|---|---|
| LibreOffice Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | A complete office suite with no account, no telemetry and no ribbon. Opens and saves .docx and .xlsx reliably enough for everyday work. Install it even if you own Microsoft Office, as a second opinion on stubborn files. |
| Sumatra PDF Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows | Opens PDFs in under a second, remembers where you stopped reading, and has exactly no upsell. It also reads epub, mobi and cbz. There is nothing to configure, which is the whole appeal. |
| PDF24 Creator Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Closed source | Windows | The offline alternative to those 'free online PDF tools' that quietly upload your contracts to a stranger's server. Merge, split, compress, OCR, all on your own machine. |
| Calibre Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | An entire e-book library manager: converts between formats, fixes metadata, and can send books straight to most e-readers over USB or email. Deeply unglamorous, extremely capable. |
| Obsidian Publisher's site ↗ | Free for personal use | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS | Notes stored as plain Markdown files in a folder you own, linked together into a graph. Nothing is locked in a proprietary database, so you can walk away with everything at any time. |
| Joplin Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS | Markdown notes that sync end-to-end encrypted through a folder, Dropbox or your own Nextcloud, with web clipping and no subscription. Pick it over Obsidian if sync is the priority. |
| Zotero Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | One click in the browser saves a paper, its PDF and its citation data together. Then it formats your bibliography in any style you name. If you write anything with references, this is not optional. |
Practical notes
- Use it when fidelity to Office formatting matters more than feature breadth.
- Point it at a Nextcloud or ONLYOFFICE server for real-time co-editing.
- Keep LibreOffice installed as a fallback for odd legacy formats.
Questions people ask
Is ONLYOFFICE open source?
The desktop editors are open source; the collaboration server has open and commercial tiers.
Better than LibreOffice?
Closer to Microsoft's look and feel; LibreOffice is broader in features and extensions.
Does it open password-protected files?
Yes, including many Office-protected documents, though some ciphers differ.
Where it appears in our guides
- This tool is covered in its category explainer.
See the full Documents & Notes explainer for the other 7 programs in this category.
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