European Alternatives to Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office / Microsoft 365 is the dominant office productivity suite. Cloud documents in OneDrive are stored on Microsoft's US servers and subject to US CLOUD Act jurisdiction.
Why Switch from Microsoft Office?
- ⚠Microsoft 365 cloud documents stored on US servers under CLOUD Act
- ⚠Extensive telemetry collection from all Office applications
- ⚠Expensive subscription: €7-22/user/month for Microsoft 365
- ⚠AI features (Copilot) use your documents to train models
2 European Alternatives
Sorted by privacy score
LibreOffice
Free & open-source office suite. The community-driven standard.
| Tool | Score | Privacy | Pricing | OSS | EU Data | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Free & open-source office suite. The community-driven standard. High Trust | 88 | 96 | Free | ✓ | ✓ | 🇩🇪 | |
Open-source office suite with full MS Office compatibility. Self-hosted option. Verified | 86 | 85 | Freemium | ✓ | ✓ | 🇱🇻 |
Open-source office suite with full MS Office compatibility. Self-hosted option.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best European alternatives to Microsoft Office?
LibreOffice (Germany) is the comprehensive open-source office suite — fully compatible with .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx formats. OnlyOffice (Latvia) offers excellent MS Office compatibility with self-hosting. Collabora Online (UK) enables collaborative editing from a browser.
Is LibreOffice compatible with Microsoft Office files?
LibreOffice has excellent compatibility with .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx formats. Simple and moderately complex documents open with high fidelity. Very complex files using advanced MS Office features may need minor formatting adjustment.
Is LibreOffice free?
Yes — LibreOffice is entirely free and open-source, developed by The Document Foundation in Berlin. There are no subscription fees, no per-user costs, and no feature restrictions.
Can I collaborate on documents in LibreOffice?
LibreOffice has a basic Track Changes feature. For real-time collaboration, Collabora Online or OnlyOffice provides a browser-based experience similar to Google Docs, hosted on your own infrastructure.