LibreOffice
Free, open-source office suite with word processor, spreadsheet, presentation and database apps.
Commenters use it as a free, local office suite for everyday work, often on Linux,12345 and report exchanging files with MS Office users with few problems.678 The most common complaint is a clunky, dated-looking interface,91011 and some say Calc and file sharing fall short for Excel-heavy workplaces.121314
Why people recommend it
Real daily work · 3
Long-time users rely on Writer and Calc for business, legal, accounting and personal finance tasks.
“It is my real office suite I use for real work and real business accounting tasks.”
“I am very grateful for LibreOffice. Writer and Calc got me through college”
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“I use it as my day tool as a lawyer, I use writer and calc alongside office tools”
Linux desktop · 3
It is the go-to office suite when moving to or living on Linux.
“And it works really well. I can use it and exchange documents with people using Word without problem”
“I installed LibreOffice on my parents' PC last month”
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“I found LibreOffice and Ubuntu.”
Free and private · 3
Valued as free, subscription-free and fully local, with no AI features or data exfiltration.
“That's why I switched to LibreOffice, no "AI" crap and full local and respecting privacy.”
“now I see a big new use case for people wanting to avoid LLM integrations/data exfiltration. I wish them much success!”
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“May I recommend Libre Office? [0] For casual/home use, it should meet needs. Free, no subscription.”
Office compatibility · 3
Users report exchanging documents with MS Office users for years with few problems.
“We have been using LibreOffice in our company for 20+ years, exchanging files with customers and vendors who use MS Office in all its versions during this time. We never had a problem…”
“And it works really well. I can use it and exchange documents with people using Word without problem”
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“they open just fine in LibreOffice with formatting and everything preserved”
Classic menu UI · 3
Some prefer its traditional menubar layout over Microsoft's ribbon.
“I love LibreOffice very much as the last bastion of sanity in classic document suites”
“And it works really well. I can use it and exchange documents with people using Word without problem”
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“LibreOffice has UI plugins that arrange everything in a standard Office pre-365 layout. I've been using it for years and I can't recall a single time I've ran into any issues.”
Own Mac dialogs · 2
Mac users like that it can replace macOS's native save dialog with its own.
“I use LibreOffice on Mac mostly because it allows me to use their dialogs”
“I am in LibreOffice, which lets me disable the native save as dialog box and use the works as expected LibreOffice one.”
Caveats and dissent
Dated, clunky UI · 3
Several find the interface clunky, confusing or old-looking.
“Libreoffice just feels so clunky and Java-ish to use.”
“It looks ancient, worse than office apps from 20 years ago.”
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“LibreOffice's menus are a confusing maze (even when switched into the more ribbon-like mode).”
Excel gap · 3
Calc differs from Excel, and Excel-specific files and macros can be a dealbreaker.
“Libre office spreadsheets are terrible when compared to Excel.”
“It is my real office suite I use for real work and real business accounting tasks.”
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“LibreOffice has UI plugins that arrange everything in a standard Office pre-365 layout. I've been using it for years and I can't recall a single time I've ran into any issues.”
Collaboration · 3
Shared editing and document sharing lag behind Microsoft's integrated tools.
“LibreOffice and Collabora don't seem to be there yet.”
“LibreOffice and Collarbora don't seem to be there yet”
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“I use it as my day tool as a lawyer, I use writer and calc alongside office tools”
Heavy and slow · 2
Some see it as a slow behemoth compared with lighter suites like OnlyOffice.
“I don't like any of the libreoffice/openoffice behemoths.”
“Probably faster than LibreOffice if it's still like the last time I used it”
Styles and typesetting · 1
One user found getting styles and formatting right painful for typesetting.
“it being a pain to get the styles and formatting right”
Retraining cost · 1
One business avoids it because of the cost of retraining staff used to Microsoft Office.
I feel they are pushing their own narrative without really having any evidence. We use Microsoft at work because we would either use Microsoft or Google for email. The email service is critical to the choice. We can’t run our own reliably and other vendors just don’t interoperate the same way. Microsoft Office simply isn’t that expensive and it’s very easy to hire people who know how to use it and are comfortable wit
Often compared with
5 moved from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice
2 moved from LibreOffice to OnlyOfficeMicrosoft Excel7 comments mention both
1 moved from Microsoft Excel to LibreOfficeOpenOffice3 comments mention both
1 moved from OpenOffice to LibreOffice
1 moved from LaTeX to LibreOffice
Who recommends it in their own words
From the makers not counted in the ranking
“At The Document Foundation we are always interested in helping deployments.”
Threads where it came up
- LibreOffice breaks download records after declaring it has no AI features 5 mentions
- LibreOffice 26.8 Released with Many Nice Improvements 4 mentions
- LibreOffice and the Art of Overreacting 4 mentions
- The New Collabora Office for Desktop 4 mentions
- Microsoft Teams is a red flag 2 mentions
- Open-source Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word replications 2 mentions
Data: libreoffice.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 43
“I've installed Linux+LibreOffice on a spare machine at work that I use occasionally, to keep from tearing my hair out.”
“LibreOffice and Collabora don't seem to be there yet.”
“LibreOffice and Collarbora don't seem to be there yet”
“And it works really well. I can use it and exchange documents with people using Word without problem”
“We have been using LibreOffice in our company for 20+ years, exchanging files with customers and vendors who use MS Office in all its versions during this time. We never had a problem…”
“Libre Office is available and I'm switching to Linux anyway”
“scrolls at a fixed slow pace while the button is held in LibreOffice”
“Gimp and LibreOffice are alternatives to adobe/office. Yet most people prefer the paid options.”
“Between Libreoffice and Google Docs, I haven't touched MS365 products in almost a decade now.”
“I switched to LibreOffice just recently”
“I installed LibreOffice on my parents' PC last month”
“Been using libreoffice for years.”
“It is my real office suite I use for real work and real business accounting tasks.”
“It's a great project that doesn't get enough love.”
“LibreOffice has UI plugins that arrange everything in a standard Office pre-365 layout. I've been using it for years and I can't recall a single time I've ran into any issues.”
“put as many free software as I can (Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, VLC, Gimp...)”
“in the end libre was the only thing even somewhat functional”
“it being a pain to get the styles and formatting right”
“now I see a big new use case for people wanting to avoid LLM integrations/data exfiltration. I wish them much success!”
“I am very grateful for LibreOffice. Writer and Calc got me through college”
“I use it as my day tool as a lawyer, I use writer and calc alongside office tools”
“I love LO and I appreciate the love they are giving to Arabic speakers”
“Let's just take one: LibreOffice.”
“Most of the stuff I use is free and excellent.”
“LibreOffice's menus are a confusing maze (even when switched into the more ribbon-like mode).”
I feel they are pushing their own narrative without really having any evidence. We use Microsoft at work because we would either use Microsoft or Google for email. The email service is critical to the choice. We can’t run our own reliably and other vendors just don’t interoperate the same way. Microsoft Office simply isn’t that expensive and it’s very easy to hire people who know how to use it and are comfortable wit
“rasterize the docx file with LibreOffice and take another screenshot”
“Ones I actually use.”
“Office suite: LibreOffice”
“I used to have a Latex resume and switched to LibreOffice several years ago. It gives me more than enough precise control over layout and styling, with less effort”
“I have been a happy exclusive only user of OO/LibeOffice since 2004”
“Been using LibreOffice for years. Everyone should.”
“I use LibreOffice on Mac mostly because it allows me to use their dialogs”
“I am in LibreOffice, which lets me disable the native save as dialog box and use the works as expected LibreOffice one.”
“i recommend you orient to it, for future proofing.”
“I use and promote Libreoffice instead of cloud SaaS and M$ religiously and have been doing so for decades.”
“LibeOffice as a replacement for Office365 only shows that the site authors does not know what is Office365.”
“I donated - it's valuable software and I love it very much.”
“i use libreoffice largely for spreadsheets and just open the spreadsheet program directly”
“Libreoffice just feels so clunky and Java-ish to use.”
“It looks ancient, worse than office apps from 20 years ago.”
“Libre office spreadsheets are terrible when compared to Excel.”
“May I recommend Libre Office? [0] For casual/home use, it should meet needs. Free, no subscription.”