Microsoft Word remains the standard way to create and share text documents, whether you’re in a corporate or educational organisation. In recent years, it’s definitely had its iron-clad grip loosened by the likes of Google Docs, but in many instances Word is the preferred or expected software to use. There’s only one problem with that: it’s not free. So, if you don’t want to add another monthly bill to your account, how can you still use the software without shelling out? Here’s how to get Microsoft Word on your Mac for free, plus the various paid versions and some useful alternatives.
How to use Microsoft Word for free on the web
Microsoft offers completely free versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, all of which you access online at its Microsoft 365 hub. You’ll need a Microsoft account, but these are free and you may find that you already have a Hotmail or Outlook account that you created a while back. If you don’t, they only take a few minutes to create.
Once this is done, you’re free to access the various apps and use them in your browser. This used to be called Office.com but Microsoft now calls it Microsoft 365 to keep it in line with its other productivity software.
Read our review of Microsoft Word 2024 for Mac, plus everything you need to know about Microsoft Office for Mac vs Microsoft 365.
It’s true that you don’t get the full suite of tools that the paid versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint possess, and you have to save documents to OneDrive, but if you just need a word processor that can accurately create and handle .docx file types, this is a handy way to get it for free.
Get Microsoft Word for free for one month
You can run Word, Excel, PowerPoint and all the apps Microsoft offers in the Microsoft 365 bundle for one month for free thanks to Microsoft’s 30-day free trial.
When you set up the trial you will need to add your payment information, so If you don’t want to pay anything you could set a reminder for yourself to cancel before your subscription starts. If you miss that date your subscription can be canceled by turning off recurring billing.
Best deals right now!
U.S.
The Digital License shop is offering Microsoft Office 2024 with lifetime licenses for Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint for $49 for Mac users (it’s cheaper on the PC).
PCWorld’s Software Store has 20% off Microsoft Office Home 2024. Get it for $119.99 (usually $149.99).
U.K.
Groupon has a deal where you can get lifetime access to Microsoft Office Standard 2024 Mac for £29 – that’s 85% off and includes lifetime licenses for Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.
Wowcher has the same deal. Get Office Standard 2024 for £29. It includes lifetime licenses for Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.
How to get the paid version of Microsoft Word for less
If you need the full range of tools that Word has to offer, not to mention the ability to work offline and save files into other folders or online storage services, then you’ll need to pay. There are two routes open to you: one-off payment, or a subscription.
We already pay for plenty of things each month, so the idea of adding another bill to the list might not appeal. Thankfully, you don’t have to, as Microsoft still offers a one-and-done approach to buying Word. It’s not cheap, though, as buying the app outright will set you back $179.99 / £159.99, although there are no more payments afterwards.
But there’s an even cheaper way to get Microsoft Word for one payment and you actually get Excel and PowerPoint too! You can get a lifetime license for Office Home 2024 that includes all three apps for $149.99 / £119.99.
However, the best option, especially if you really want to save money and only need Word temporarily, is to sign up for the Microsoft 365 subscription for a month or so and then cancel. Microsoft 365 costs $99.99 a year or $9.99 a month / £84.99 a year or £8.49 a month – sign up for the monthly deal if you want the flexibility to cancel in a few months time.
With Microsoft 365 you not only get Word, but also Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook and 1TB of OneDrive storage. Microsoft keeps you on the latest version of the apps at all times, so you never need to deal with outdated software or miss out on new features. Another benefit is that you can use the Office apps on up to five devices, including an iPhone and iPad (if you buy the lifetime licenses its only for use on one Mac).
If you want more accounts, there’s the Microsoft 365 Family tier which allows 2-6 people to use the service and boosts the storage up to 6TB. This costs $129.99 / £104.99 per annum or $12.99/£10.49 per month.
To see how the subscription version compares to the bought one, take a look at our Microsoft 365 vs Office 2024 buying guide.
Should you get Office 2021?
We’ve noticed a few stockists still selling Microsoft Office for Mac 2021, so you might find this on sale for less than Office 2024.
Do bear in mind when buying this older version of Office that Microsoft has said it will no longer support it after October 2026.
Watch out for scams and hacks
Microsoft
It takes about 30 seconds to find videos on YouTube that will show you how to download, install and get Word (plus all the other MS Office software) up and running on your Mac for nothing. If the instructions are similar to the ones in this article, then you should be fine, but many of the ones we’ve seen require some sort of serial code-cracking program to be bought and downloaded to your machine. While this might seem like a victimless crime to some–Microsoft is a multi-billion-dollar company while the user is just a single person with no money–the real victim is most likely to be you.
It’s true that some hackers are benevolent, wanting only to free the information so that anyone can use it, but sadly others are most definitely not. Downloading and installing things like this on your Mac is one of the easiest ways to contract malware or spyware software that can cause havoc with your data. That’s aside from the fact that you’re contravening copyright, which is rather naughty.
Our advice would be to keep well away from these ‘free’ routes to Word.
Free alternatives to Microsoft Word
Unless you specifically need Microsoft Word, you’ll find that there are plenty of great word processors out there that won’t cost you a penny. Any new Mac will come with a free copy of Apple’s Pages software, which is a hugely powerful tool for creating and editing documents, and also works well with its iOS/iPadOS counterpart app.
Google Docs is a perennial favourite as the web-based software is free and easy to use. You won’t find incredibly advanced features like those on the full-blown Microsoft Word, but for most people it’s all they’ll ever need.
LibreOffice Writer is another one that’s always worth checking out. The open-source software is completely free and yet offers a complete solution for those who want the functionality of MS Word. Yes, it’s not quite the smooth and aesthetically pleasing experience of its inspiration, but you can get so much done on Writer that you won’t care.
For a roundup of other options, check out our Best Mac word processor roundup.
