Is a Microsoft 365 Subscription Worth It? 

Do the math.

I'm sick and tired of subscription services. $9.95 for this,$99.95 for that, auto-renewal for whatever. I'm done. No more riding the treadmill for me. As a matter of principle, I stopped subscription services over five years ago, save for internet services. Folks, make a statement. Go with LibreOffice etc. Stop being on the hook.

Unbelievable how this gentleman without a single cut off explains in a totally satisfying way the entire topic, just want to congratulate you and say thanks a lot Sr.

I'm still using office 2007, no issues. 😊

MS 365 all in one subscription with 1 TB storage and apps ranging from simple to do list apps to office to notetaking to video editor to access to stock photos, PowerPoint automatic design ideas and in future co-pilot is definitely one value for money subscription worth paying for.

Great points, thanks for the straightforward video

Two questions: 1) How does Microsoft know that you are permitted to use Word, Excel, etc? When you start one of the applications, does your computer contact a Microsoft permission server? If yes, then what happens when you do not have internet service, but you want to edit a spreadsheet? 2) What happens to all of your documents, if you decide to not renew your subscription? Will Word, Excel, etc refuse to run? Will Word, Excel, etc, start, but refuse to open documents? Will Word, Excel, etc, documents become read-only? By the way, on my daily-driver computer, I am using Office from 2007 (purchased this i7 box in 2006). I need nothing more than standard use of the apps that came with Office back then. There are several other apps that come with all of the subscription services that Office 2007 does not have. Also, the apps I already have do not have many features offered in the current versions. And none of that matters to me. And I am pretty sure that my version does not phone home with my activity. I wouldn't mind learning Exchange, Publisher, Intune, Azure Information Protection, Editor, Clipchamp, and OneNote... for free, or for a one time charge of, perhaps, $29.99. But not for what Microsoft is charging. For folks that will make use of those applications, then more power to them. But I do not think that most people need most of the apps in the subscription, and I don't think that most people need all of the bells and whistles that are in the most updated versions. I am not knocking those versions. They are probably slick, with power features. I just think that 99%+ of people never use more than 10% of the features (especially for Excel, which you can learn, forever).

You helped me decide on getting the subscription, I just bought a base model MacBook and I'll be needing more cloud storage. Thanks!

I am new to Microsoft 365 from the stand alone version. On the stand alone version, I would get occasional software updates to download. Does Microsoft 365 automatically update your software with updates, or do you need to do anything manually to update it?

I have four PCs and decided to start paying the 365 subscription 3 years ago. At the moment it is quite convenient. My personal experience with LibreOffice was awful.

I get so confused because I pay for the subscription for personal use but also have 365or my job. Many times I find myself flipping between my personal 365 and my work's 365 on my cell phone(iphone). Any suggestions for how to organize having multiple accounts?

Just upgraded to 365 a couple of months ago. Satisfied so far. Particularly like having all my docs on OneDrive, and switched from Evernote (using since 2012) to OneNote, which has a much nicer interface.

I've used Office 2010 for years and only a year ago bought a used retail license of Office 2021 Professional Plus for 30 EUR. No issues so far. So you can get Office 2021 much cheaper! So to me it's clear that I will never subscribe to MS 365, unless I really want that 1 TB of OneDrive space. It's a good deal on it's own, but MS probably scans every piece of data you upload to OneDrive and recently it was even announced that the data on your windows PC might be scanned from MS. But I agree that it's a pretty good deal, 1 TB cloud storage for that price is worth it on it's own and you also get all the new features in Word, Excel etc. (altough who really needs those). But unless I need the cloud storage, I will stick to Office 2021.

Office 2007 still best for me❤

Anyone thinking of going to alternatives to MS Office, should try file compatibility testing against the MS Office applications and decide which alternative if any is the desired one.

The best thing is the terabyte one drive space. I prefer to keep my files on a server than on my own computer which can break down and backs ups area hassle. The days of local files are coming to an end.

i have one pay every october for it mine is up for up to 5 devices also just to say libre office is free for those that dont wanna pay for office suite it can read word a dn office files as well

Great information. Thank you. I just wanted to check before purchasing Microsoft 365.

Since retiring, I find the Google Docs suite of apps to service my needs well. (Yeah, I bought into the whole Google ecosystem.)

What a splendid analysis of the various options. I have stuck with the one-time purchase of Office2010 until it became corrupted this week. This video has encouraged me to look more closely at 365. Great presentation.

Microsoft has killed my productivity on Windows 11 by locking down the taskbar. I will never purchase their products again, and if I do, it will only be after they unlock the taskbar. My mouse travel is now double what it was when I was able to move all my taskbars to the top of the screen, incidentally all programs installed on a windows machine have the menu items to control the programs at the top! Microsoft even has disabled our ability to edit the registry to enable the movement to the top of screen for the taskbar. (I downloaded and installed the new full version windows 11 instead of doing an upgrade.) I am certified in multiple Unix and Linux operating systems, and I have three Apple computers here, as well I use all Apple iphones and Ipads, so I do have other options. I have written Microsoft every time I have had to install Windows 11 via their feedback process, that really just goes into a black hole vortex. As of listening to your video (that was very nicely done, btw), I have downloaded and installed LibreOffice on this new install of Windows 11.

Our PC is old and has Linux on it. We use Google's products. Free storage 15 Gb is better than 5Gb of free storage through Microsoft. However, eventually even with 15 Gb, we will need to increase our storage..... I'm not keen on subscription services, however with increasing storage needs, it might become necessary. It's a question of which company you want to sell your soul to! In Australia, Microsoft Family 365 is $137 p.a. and Microsoft Personal 365 is $107 p.a.

Thank You. Just getting my head around it.

Are use the office 365 subscription. I use the transcribe feature in Word for transcribing meetings and audio recordings

I save a copy of any personal/important Word or Excel document in PDF format just in case I no longer have access to Microsoft 365.

Thankful that I've never needed to buy this class of products. For personal use, I lean towards open source. Employers provide whatever is needed for the job.

Yeah I'm very tempted to get 365 but I'd only be getting it for word. And and can't find any info on what the paid version offers over the free one. I found a site (or bing did) that claims the paid version ahs more features and better access to spel check etc. But the online version also spell and grammar checks and it's not clear what other functions they are talking about

If you buy from Target, Microsoft 365 Family is 15 months for $99 so you get a few more months at less price

With a365 subscription do you get full Teams? The personal Teams is lacking in some features and icons on left panel- Call, creating Teams (one can create communities)..MS does not even document these omissions.

I have Office 365 and I don't like it. I transfer files to it and can't find them when I close out and log back in. I want files saved to my computer. Not in the cloud. What version of MS Office works with Windows 11, which I don't care for either. Think twice about buying either of these.

Thank you. Question is: If you can no longer pay for your Microsoft 365 subscription, does Microsoft bar you from using Office and block access to your documents? Hardball reality to the subscription?

I agree ... Great deal, and I've been a MS 365 subscriber for years. Question: is there a way to selectively install parts of the Office package on Windows?? I don't need (and don't want to give drive space to) Access and Publisher. One of my machines has only 64 GB. Thanks!!

In addition to the free alternatives Leo mentioned, the free Google Docs office suite is more than enough for the vast majority of people. I'd say, unless you're heavily invested in the MS ecosystem, there's little reason to go with them nowadays. Also storage-wise, Google offers twice as much space (2 TB) for the same price and allows for sharing it with up to 5 people.

The Microsoft 365 Office apps have collaboration features that the Office 2021 apps don't have. Also, Microsoft 365 apps gets frequently updated with new features whereas Office 2021 does not

I think it is the good option for many people but not worth it if you don't use it a regularly. With all the free options out there including MS office It is very easy to find something free if you need to type up something or need some basic office tool.

I have one question and I am not able to find the answer to it. I am planning to purchase Office 365 just for the sake of cloud storage. The official site says 6TB storage for upto 6 people. Now, if I share this subscription with 5 of my so called family members(6 including me), and equally distribute 1TB among each user, will all 6 of us get a independent id and password? So that our content remains private amongst each other as well? No user can access each others content. Also, if each user can login into 5 devices, does that means 6 users can login into a TOTAL OF 30 DEVICES AT THE SAME TIME?????? Not that this is actually going to happen but there is a possibility that each user might use two devices at the same time, now that makes 12 devices operating at the same time.

When they changed to subscription I switched to open source for free and never looked back. Just as good for most people and zero dollars.

Your video is a great lesson in marketing. And yes, I decided to buy subscription ;)

Just bought a new computer and brought Microsoft Office, just to get Outlook. Can I get the subscription at a reduced price?

My microsoft expired in June 2021 and basically I had no idea that it had because it never stopped me from doing anything until today when I tried to send an Xcel sheet to my daughter? Why is this....

So how do you get the one=time payment version?

I want 365 but do you think its safe? I mean all my excel spreadsheets with my finances and my personal word docs with personal info, are employees looking through that stuff? I mean you are signed into the cloud after all right? If it gets hacked, all your one drive files are exposed right? what are your thoughts?

January 2023 you can get Microsoft 365 basic 1.99$ per month for 100g of storage just perfect for me it buys me time to reduce tons of email and attachments

I wonder if a different question is more pertinent. Does anyone actually need Microsoft Office in any form? It depends on your needs of course, but I have not used Microsoft Office since about 2008, instead I use the WPS versions, which are free - they supply all my needs and will seamlessly replace the MS Office apps that they are designed to. There is no Publisher or Access, so if you need that then the argument may be different.

How is the $100 per year cheaper than 150 or so for 5 to 10 years?!!! Are you a Microsoft employee?

Where can I buy it just once? All I can find is the subscription option 😮

Dear Leo: My machine came pre installed with Office 2016 Pro. Then there is things like Excel Mobile and Office 365App also on the PC. I am able to work on Office 2016 Pro. However when i try opening Excel Mobile it won't let me use the software and it will present a pop up box talking of a MS 365 subscription. When i try opening the Office 365App it gives me an error message. Having multiple same or similar Apps and software can be confusing. Do we uninstall these office apps from the PC before subscribing to a MS365 plan? And if so what is the steps or process to remove these and all traces of them. Also what are the steps of downloading and installing the 365 apps on a PC after subscribing to a plan. I am considering the 365 family plan. Thank you.

So far I paid Microsoft over $600 just to use a program that I used to buy one time only. What do I get from it? Nothing, besides fake once or twice a year updates. I don't use One Drive etc because I like my files to be private. I stopped the yearly $99 a year subscription

I like the free one drive storage

if you only pay for ONE YEAR does MS 365 stop working?

If you buy the subscription, can you use it on Windows and Macs? We have both in the household.

Its too complcated and it goes on the cloud

IS there a voice assistant service that I dont have to pay for? Cortana was free and I just dont want to pay for something that should be free , we dont pay for our gogole assistant on our smart phone so why the hell would I pay for something thats free??? so yea I would love to know what program that I can use so i dont have to pay richie rich microsft who is already rich.....

Thanks for the video. btw $99.99 is $100, not $99. LOL

The subscription is not worth it for most people. Unless you work in enterprise and are dependent on it you don't need it. Also, OneDrive backup absolutely blows.

Subscriptions = profit for MS

No no No we don't need it ! Swich to Linux or Libre office Better product plus less information they collect? So Microsoft can go the hell whish them luck Bon voyage with your overpriced product!

Or you can use Libre Office for free. Sticking with Microsoft, unless you have a real reason, is silly. If you find Libre Office is useful, you can give them a contrbution.

No thanks

I'm don't with the subscription!

The problem is the manipulation factor. My bank want my account, credit cards, mortgage, and many other things to go through them. In that case, changing banks will be difficult because so many things that interlink or cross over will make it FAR easier to stay with that bank. I get very nervous about subscriptions. Even in the 90s, the way they'd have an add for Time/Life music with a tiny box you had to check so that after your initial purchase, you were saying no to being inundated at a greater cost every month for the rest of your life. It just feels deceitful and manipulative to me.

Absolutely not! No way! Never! Shame on you for even suggesting this is a good deal. Office 365 is web based and the real software is not. If I want web based applications I might as well use the Google suite for free.

I really dont wanna pay 1000kr😅

THE ABSOLUTE MOSE USELESS VIDEO I HAVE EVER WATCHED! WHY DO YOU NOT COVER SHARING??? OR VERSION CONTROL?? OR EMAIL FUNCTIONALITY??? THIS IS ONLY TALKING ABOUT OFFICE SOFTWARE!

I guess this guy is getting paid by Microsoft

Lol, i find this video funny, he is saying it is worth it, and he doesn't even know how much buying the product cost.

Microsoft 365 is total failure.