Microsoft 365 is an incredibly popular subscription for both personal and business users. But since it’s a subscription, you need to pay each month to receive access to the apps and services it includes. While it’s not advertised as heavily by Microsoft, it is possible to purchase Office, no subscription required.
Purchasing Office is a more affordable way to get access to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and that’s especially true on Cyber Monday. Right now, you can get Microsoft Office Home & Student for $100 through Newegg. You can also save an additional $5 when you use the promo code BFDBY2A2528 at checkout, bringing the price down to $95.
There are also discounts on Microsoft Office Home & Business ($220 down from $250) and Office Professional ($430 down from $440).
With so many versions of Office and Microsoft 365 available, it can get a bit tricky to keep things straight. Microsoft has a handy chart (opens in new tab) that compares Microsoft 365 Family, Microsoft 365 Personal, and Office Home & Student 2021.
| Header Cell – Column 0 | Microsoft 365 Family | Microsoft 365 Personal | Office home & Student 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of users | 1-6 | 1 | 1 PC or Mac |
| Number of accounts | 1-6 | 1 | 1 PC or Mac |
| Access to latest updates | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Multiple devices and platforms | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Ongoing technical support | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Word, Excel, PowerPoint | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Microsoft Editor | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Microsoft Defender | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Clipchamp | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Cloud storage | Up to 6 TB (1 TB per person) | 1 TB | ❌ |
| Microsoft Family Safety | ✅ | No | ❌ |
| Outlook | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Microsoft Team | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| OneNote | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Access (PC only) | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Publisher (PC only) | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Microsoft Forms | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Skype | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
As illustrated by the chart above, the one-time purchase of Office gets you a lot less than a Microsoft 365 subscription. But if you only use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, all those extra features are just that, extra. If you only need the basic Office suite of applications, Microsoft Office is a much more affordable way to get them, especially so on Cyber Monday.
