While no one doubts that Microsoft 365 has more to offer than Office 2021, one of the main concerns, when it comes to the comparison of the two, is what is the cost-effectiveness of these two platforms.
You see, comparing the total value between these two platforms is almost like comparing whether you’ll get more by buying a Bugatti or Toyota Prius. The performance comparison is more than obviously in favor of the more expensive car, but can you afford it, and what are you going to use it for? If you just need it for a short urban commute or a grocery run, a Prius that you can afford is more than good enough.
With that in mind, here’s a brief comparison of the long-term expenses of Microsoft 365 when measured against Office 2021.
- One-time purchase vs. subscription
The most compelling thing about Office 2021 is the fact that you can make a one-time purchase and be done with it. This old-school format of buying licenses, even if it means just making a bigger payment. The thing is that, after a one-time purchase, you own the software and get to use it for a countless number of hours.
On paper, a one-time purchase will always pay itself off.
Let’s say that you’re getting the smallest possible 2021 license (Office Home & Student). In this scenario, you’re making a one-time payment of $150, and that’s it. You get to use the platform every hour of every day for the rest of your life without having to give a single dollar to Microsoft.
Sure, it’s twice as much as paying for a year of Microsoft 365 Personal ($70 per year or $7 if you choose to pay monthly), but this also means that after two years, you’re saving a substantial amount of money.
- Users and devices
The biggest problem, however, comes in the form of devices that you’re using these software eon and the umber accounts you have available.
For instance, with Office Home & Student 2021, you get permission to use it on one computer. This is always the case with Office 2021, regardless if what you’ve taken:
- Home & Student
- Home & Business
- Office Professional
This is a major bottleneck that you shouldn’t overlook, but it’s also a system that made a lot of sense in a pre-cloud era.
When you get Microsoft 365 personal, you get one account (one user), but you can use your license on multiple devices. The way in which Microsoft manages this is that you cannot use it on different software simultaneously.
This is a major bottleneck for everyone who works across different platforms, and the only way to handle it with Office 2021 would be to get more than one license or uninstall it on your main device. In this scenario, going with Office 365 would be a no-brainer.
On the other hand, you can also go with Microsoft 365 Family. Here, you pay $100 per year (or $10 per month if you choose to pay monthly), and you get six different users. In other words, you pay just $30 dollars more per year (which is roughly 40% more), and you get six times the number of users (600% more users).
- The software you get with the license
Now, if we disregard the total cost and the number of users that can use the platform simultaneously, let’s address the elephant in the room. Each of these licenses has a similar but different set of software. Now, if you’re just interested in using Word and Excel, you’re set no matter which platform you pick.
In fact, this is probably one of the biggest concerns when paying for Microsoft 365. A lot of people choose it because they’ve heard that it provides more value (which is true in most cases) but then end up using just one or two of its apps. As always, cost-effectiveness needs to be approached from the perspective of individual user and their needs.
The basic is Office Home & Student 2021, which provides you with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. These are the four basic Microsoft apps that are used by the majority of users.
With Microsoft 365 Personal, you get these four tools: Outlook, OneDrive, and Teams. From the get-go, it’s clear that this platform is better suited for use in a modern business environment. This is especially the case in hybrid and remote work environments, where Teams is used almost as much as Zoom, and you need a premium email service.
With Microsoft 365 Family, on top of all the tools in the 365 Personal package, you also get Family Safety. This is a feature that allows parents to control their kid’s screen use, filter content, limit games, and enable location sharing. In cases where you want to watch out for online purchases, you even get a feature to limit spending.
- Picking the right platform for business
If you’re running a small business or an enterprise, everything is different.
Generally speaking, here, the comparison is outright ridiculous. Office Home & Business package is like the basic 2021 package; it’s just more expensive. If you also want to get Access, Outlook, Publisher, and Teams, you pay a whopping $440 per month, which is just preposterous. The thing is that you pay this PER USER.
With Microsoft 365 Apps for Business, you pay just $8.25 per user per month for up to 300 users. You get everything we listed in the Office Professional 2021 license.
With 365, you also have the option to pick a plan, which means that depending on the toolset you want, you can pay anywhere from $6 per month to $22 per month.
Wrap up
At the end of the day, if you work from a single computer and mainly use Word and Excel, there’s no reason to go for 365. In any other case, and especially if you’re running a business, going with Microsoft 365 is a no-brainer. Just make sure that you understand the long-term costs of each of these platforms but don’t overvalue the importance of getting a one-time purchase.
