Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices

Is there any reason to use Office nowadays except for being able to open documents sent by institutions where secretaries still use Word/Excel/PPT? (universities, etc.)

Re: Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices

#7

Post by _lvbh » Mon, Dec 08, 2025, 2:04 PM UTC

This feels like a dangerous game they're playing. Yes, there is some lock in, but competitors exist and are better than ever. The new "features" they're justifying this with (Copilot) isn't even something that most people want

Re: Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices

#8

Post by Havoc » Mon, Dec 08, 2025, 2:04 PM UTC

The family plan was already noticeably more expensive this year on Black Friday (roughly +20% over prior year).

Already moved all my usage away from MS…now just need to persuade rest of fam

Re: Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices

#9

Post by zkmon » Mon, Dec 08, 2025, 2:05 PM UTC

While businesses definitely don't need all those features, I guess most use it for compatibility sake - to work with existing files and to collaborate with others who use MS Office.

What's current state of open-source alternatives that can work with the MS file formats?

Re: Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices

#10

Post by mc32 » Mon, Dec 08, 2025, 2:05 PM UTC

_lvbh wrote: post #7

This feels like a dangerous game they're playing. Yes, there is some lock in, but competitors exist and are better than ever. The new "features" they're justifying this with (Copilot) isn't even something that most people want

Google was increasing their pricing too. Also before last year they were charging an extra license for Gemini but then decided to throw it in.