6 Best Free Office & Productivity Software for Windows in 2026

Word processors, spreadsheets, presentations and note-taking apps that read and write the formats you already use. Every program below runs on Windows.

Free office & productivity programs for Windows

LibreOffice

Open Source
by The Document Foundation

The leading free office suite — a genuine Microsoft Office alternative.

  • Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Base and Math
  • Reads and writes .docx, .xlsx and .pptx
  • No subscription, no account, no ads
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Apache OpenOffice

Open Source
by Apache Software Foundation

The original open-source office suite.

  • Full word processor, spreadsheet and presentation apps
  • Opens legacy OpenOffice and Microsoft formats
  • Apache Software Foundation project
WindowsmacOSLinux
by Ascensio System SIA

The office suite with the closest Microsoft Office compatibility.

  • Native .docx, .xlsx and .pptx handling
  • Ribbon interface familiar to Office users
  • Works offline; optional cloud collaboration
WindowsmacOSLinux

WPS Office

Free tier
by Kingsoft

Polished, lightweight office suite with a strong mobile version.

  • Writer, Spreadsheets and Presentation
  • Strong Microsoft Office compatibility
  • Excellent Android and iOS apps
WindowsmacOSLinuxAndroidiOS

Obsidian

Free
by Obsidian

Linked note-taking over plain Markdown files you own.

  • Plain Markdown files stored locally
  • Bidirectional links and graph view
  • Large community plugin ecosystem
WindowsmacOSLinuxAndroidiOS

Joplin

Open Source
by Joplin

Open-source encrypted notebook with flexible sync.

  • End-to-end encrypted synchronisation
  • Sync via Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud or WebDAV
  • Markdown notes with attachments
WindowsmacOSLinuxAndroidiOS

Choosing office & productivity software on Windows

All 6 programs listed here have a native Windows build — this is not a list of software that merely "might work" through a compatibility layer. 4 are open source.

Since every option is free, testing two or three on your own files is usually faster and more reliable than reading further comparisons. LibreOffice is the most widely adopted of these and a reasonable starting point.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free office & productivity software for Windows?

LibreOffice the leading free office suite — a genuine Microsoft Office alternative. Apache OpenOffice and ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors are the other most common picks.

Are these really free on Windows?

Yes. Each is labelled with its licence — open source, free, or free tier — so you know exactly what you are getting before you download.

Where do the downloads come from?

The publisher's own website, every time. We host no installers, which is the single most effective protection against the bundled adware that plagues software download portals.

See also