LibreOffice or OnlyOffice: which open source office suite?

LibreOffice and OnlyOffice play on the same team: two open source suites, able to replace Google Docs as well as Microsoft Office. But they don’t play the same position. LibreOffice is a classic desktop program, complete, working offline on your files. OnlyOffice bets on fidelity to Microsoft file formats and online teamwork. Hesitating between LibreOffice and Google Docs instead? That match is covered in another comparison. Here, we settle the contest between the two open source suites.

The match in one table

Criterion	LibreOffice	OnlyOffice
Price	Free and open source	Free desktop editors, paid cloud and server
Way of working	Desktop program, offline	Online (cloud or self-hosted), with desktop editors
Microsoft file formats	Good compatibility, a few layout shifts	Opens and saves natively in .docx/.xlsx
Real-time collaboration	Limited	Works well
What’s in the suite	Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Base	Documents, spreadsheets, presentations
Source code	Open	Open (community version)

What LibreOffice does better

Completeness, first. Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Base: five tools installed on your machine, no subscription and no account. The suite is mature, stable, available on Windows, macOS and Linux. It is maintained by The Document Foundation, a worldwide community, and its native format is ODF, an open standard.

Offline work, next. Your documents remain files on your disk, readable without a connection and without a server. For everyday desktop work, it’s the most direct replacement for Microsoft Office. For years, I kept Microsoft Office out of habit more than choice. The day I checked everything point by point, the open source suite held up.

What OnlyOffice does better

Microsoft files, no contest. OnlyOffice opens and saves natively in Office formats, and its fidelity beats LibreOffice’s on complex Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents. If your files go back and forth with people who stayed on Office, it’s a real comfort.

Real-time collaboration, too. It works well, in the cloud or hosted on your own server, and the suite integrates with Nextcloud as well as kDrive. The interface is modern. Two limits to know: the model is open-core, with paid features, and the suite offers less offline capability than LibreOffice.

Verdict

Choose LibreOffice if you’re after a classic, complete desktop suite, with files that belong to you. It’s the simplest choice for working alone day to day, and my default recommendation in this category.

Choose OnlyOffice if you genuinely share documents with others, or if your Word and Excel files must come back intact from every exchange. Otherwise, it won’t bring you much more: for an individual workstation, LibreOffice is more than enough.

Nothing stops you from combining the two: LibreOffice day to day, OnlyOffice when a document is worked on as a team. To get your documents out of Google before switching tools, follow the guide to leaving Google Docs. The detailed profiles: LibreOffice and OnlyOffice, and all the office suite alternatives.