1. The 2026 office suite landscape — OSS / SaaS / regional / collaboration

The 2026 office suite market is nothing like the era when "Word, Excel, PowerPoint" was the entire conversation. Cloud, collaboration, AI, and regional standards have all tangled together, and there is no single right answer.

Zooming out, the landscape splits into four categories.

- Desktop OSS — LibreOffice 24.8, OnlyOffice Desktop, FreeOffice, AbiWord, Calligra, Apache OpenOffice

- SaaS / cloud — Google Workspace + Gemini, Microsoft 365 + Copilot, Zoho Workplace, OnlyOffice Cloud, Collabora Online

- Regional champions — Korea's HanCom Office (HanGeul / HanCell / HanShow), Polaris Office, Japan's Ichitaro + ATOK, China's WPS Office, Apple iWork

- Collaboration / newcomers — Notion AI, Coda, Stackby, Airtable, and the (sunset) Quip

Two things changed the most going into 2026. First, AI became a "must-have" inside office suites. Microsoft Copilot for Office became the defining differentiator of Microsoft 365, and Google followed the same path with Gemini for Workspace. Second, the geopolitical fault line deepened. The Russian-origin OnlyOffice and China's Kingsoft WPS Office are now flagged for risk review in US, EU, Korean and Japanese government and public-sector spaces, while at the same time gaining share in India, Southeast Asia, and Africa on price.

Another big change is the sunset of Salesforce Quip. In 2024 Salesforce announced Quip's phased end-of-life, and the "collaboration document" market consolidated around Notion, Coda, and Microsoft Loop.

This guide walks through every one of those tools as of May 2026. It is written for individuals, IT decision-makers, public-sector procurement teams, and anyone doing client work where document compatibility is a hard requirement.

2. LibreOffice 24.8 — The TDF standard

LibreOffice is the OSS office suite maintained by The Document Foundation (TDF). After forking from OpenOffice.org in 2010 it became the de facto OSS office standard.

LibreOffice 24.8 shipped in August 2024. The sudden jump to "24.8" is because TDF switched to Calendar Versioning (CalVer). Releases used to be 6.x, 7.x — now they follow "year.month". 2025 brought 25.2 and 25.8, and 2026 brought 26.2.

LibreOffice components:

- Writer — word processor (Microsoft Word alternative)

- Calc — spreadsheet (Excel alternative)

- Impress — presentation (PowerPoint alternative)

- Draw — vector graphics / diagrams

- Base — database (Access alternative)

- Math — formula editor

Highlights from 2024 to 2026:

- Big improvements in DOCX / XLSX / PPTX compatibility — especially PowerPoint SmartArt and charts

- Skia rendering backend by default — visible speedup

- Vulkan acceleration (experimental)

- Proper dark mode

- Tighter WebDAV / Nextcloud / ownCloud integration

- ODF 1.4 compliance

Installation is free across macOS, Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD.

macOS (Homebrew)

brew install --cask libreoffice

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt install libreoffice

Arch

sudo pacman -S libreoffice-fresh

LibreOffice strengths:

- Completely free, no ads, no telemetry

- The canonical implementation of ODF (Open Document Format)

- EU / German / French government and public-sector standard

- Best OSS option for Microsoft Office compatibility

- Headless mode (`soffice --headless`) for server-side PDF conversion

LibreOffice limits:

- No real-time collaboration (which is why Collabora Online exists separately)

- Almost no AI features (LocalAI / Ollama integration is via third-party extensions)

- UI feels awkward compared to Microsoft Office for many users

- Mobile clients are separate (Collabora Office app)

When to use LibreOffice:

- Individuals, schools, non-profits who need a free office suite

- EU, German, French government and public sector (by policy)

- Server-side document conversion pipelines

- Companies trying to cut Microsoft Office license costs

3. OnlyOffice 8.x — Cloud-friendly

OnlyOffice is built by Ascensio System SIA, headquartered in Latvia. The team has Russian and Latvian roots and moved its HQ to Latvia (EU) after 2014. Because of that background, US, Korean, and Japanese government adoption sometimes triggers a risk review.

OnlyOffice's biggest strength is DOCX / XLSX / PPTX compatibility. Unlike LibreOffice it treats OOXML (Microsoft's format) as the first-class citizen, so opening a Word file rarely shows layout breakage.

OnlyOffice 8.x highlights:

- Docs / Sheets / Slides with concurrent editing (similar to Google Docs)

- Forms — electronic forms with signatures

- Desktop (Windows / macOS / Linux), mobile, and web

- DocSpace — a collaboration workspace SaaS

- Integrates with Nextcloud, ownCloud, Seafile, SharePoint

- AI integration — ChatGPT, Mistral, Together AI via plugins

Three install options:

- Docs Community (OSS, GPL) — self-hosted, free

- Docs Enterprise — licensed, self-hosted

- DocSpace Cloud — Ascensio's SaaS

OnlyOffice Docs Community via Docker

docker run -i -t -d \

-p 80:80 \

--restart=always \

onlyoffice/documentserver

When to use OnlyOffice:

- DOCX / XLSX compatibility with Microsoft 365 is the most important factor

- You self-host Nextcloud and need a collaborative editor on top

- You need a Google Docs replacement as an SMB internal tool

When to avoid:

- Government, public sector, defense, or finance environments where Russian/EU-origin tools trigger heavy procurement risk reviews

- Environments where AI must be first-class (Microsoft 365 is stronger)

4. Collabora Online — LibreOffice's commercial backer

Collabora is a UK-based open-source consulting company and one of LibreOffice's biggest code contributors. Collabora Online is their "LibreOffice in the browser" — essentially the browser version of LibreOffice.

Where Collabora Online sits:

- Built on the LibreOffice OSS codebase

- Multi-user concurrent editing (OT-based, similar to CRDT)

- Self-hostable (Docker one-liner)

- Integrates with Nextcloud, ownCloud, Moodle, Mattermost, Mautic, Microsoft SharePoint

- Mobile and tablet support

Collabora Online's biggest strength is that it keeps the canonical ODF implementation and LibreOffice's compatibility profile, while adding real-time collaboration.

Pricing splits into tiers:

- Collabora Online Development Edition (CODE) — free for dev and evaluation

- Collabora Online Business / Enterprise — annual per-user subscription

Run a CODE demo via Docker

docker run -t -d -p 9980:9980 \

-e "domain=cloud\\.example\\.com" \

--restart always \

--cap-add MKNOD \

collabora/code

The "Nextcloud + Collabora Online" combo is a common choice for EU, German, French, and Swiss government and public sector as a Microsoft 365 alternative. Germany's BMI (Federal Ministry of the Interior) Phoenix Suite project and France's Bluedigit are well-known examples.

5. WPS Office (Kingsoft) — 1.4B+ users

WPS Office is built by Chinese vendor Kingsoft. "WPS" originally stood for "Writer, Presentation, Spreadsheets" but is now treated as a brand name.

WPS Office's position:

- Over 1.4 billion users worldwide (Kingsoft self-reported, 2024)

- The de facto standard in mainland China — government and public sector adopt it under the indigenization policy

- Strong in Southeast Asia, India, and Latin America as a free option

- One of the most common mobile (Android / iOS) office apps in the world

WPS Office components:

- WPS Writer — Word alternative

- WPS Spreadsheets — Excel alternative

- WPS Presentation — PowerPoint alternative

- WPS PDF — PDF editor with signatures

- WPS Cloud — Kingsoft's cloud storage

2024 to 2026 changes:

- "WPS AI" assistant integration (own model plus external LLMs)

- DOCX / XLSX / PPTX compatibility now rivals LibreOffice

- Official macOS and Linux clients

- Multilingual UI (Korean, Japanese, English, more)

WPS Office risks and concerns:

- Headquartered in China, so US, Korean, and Japanese government adoption faces scrutiny

- The free version still shows ads (even in 2026, some surfaces)

- Telemetry policy is shaped by China's cybersecurity law

- Banned on government devices in several US states (similar trajectory to TikTok)

When to use WPS Office:

- Individual users who want a free office suite with a more familiar UI than LibreOffice

- Quickly editing DOCX / XLSX on mobile

- Markets where end users already know WPS (Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa)

When to avoid:

- US government, defense, Korean and Japanese public sector

- Environments with security policies that flag Chinese telemetry

6. FreeOffice (SoftMaker) — German free + Pro

FreeOffice is built by SoftMaker GmbH in Germany — a venerable vendor making word processors since 1987. They ship "TextMaker", "PlanMaker", and "SoftMaker Presentations" both as a free edition (FreeOffice) and a paid edition (SoftMaker Office NX).

FreeOffice strengths:

- 100% free (personal, commercial, and education all allowed)

- Very high Microsoft Office compatibility, with a similar UI

- Lightweight — installs and launches faster than LibreOffice

- Windows, macOS, Linux, Android support

- No ads, telemetry is explicitly opt-in

FreeOffice limits:

- Macros and automation (Basic / Python) are weak

- The free version drops some PDF editing features

- No database (Base-equivalent) module

The paid SoftMaker Office NX adds macros, advanced PDF, dictionaries, and more.

When to use FreeOffice:

- You want a lightweight free office suite where Microsoft Office compatibility still matters

- Schools and individuals who care about a familiar UI

- Linux desktop users who find LibreOffice too heavy

Well known in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and used alongside LibreOffice in some education IT environments.

7. AbiWord / Calligra Suite / Apache OpenOffice — Other OSS

These three used to be major OSS office options but have become much less common by 2026. They still matter in specific niches.

AbiWord:

- A lightweight word processor that started in 1998

- C++ plus GTK

- Very light — works on old PCs and Raspberry Pi

- Has not seen significant updates since around 2021

- Word processor only (no spreadsheet or presentation)

When to use: opening Word files quickly on a very old PC.

Calligra Suite (KDE):

- The KDE community's office suite

- Includes Words, Sheets, Stage, Plan, Karbon, Krita, and more

- The successor to KOffice

- Active development since 2024 / 2025 is concentrated on the KDE Frameworks 6 migration

- Compatibility lags behind LibreOffice

When to use: KDE-first users who value integration with KDE tooling more than practical compatibility.

Apache OpenOffice:

- The successor to OpenOffice.org (same root as LibreOffice)

- After moving to Apache Software Foundation, development stalled

- Very few releases in 2024 / 2025 — effectively in maintenance mode

- Only occasional security patches

When to use: almost never. LibreOffice is better in every dimension.

8. iWork (Apple) — Pages / Numbers / Keynote

iWork is Apple's office suite. Pages (word processor), Numbers (spreadsheet), and Keynote (presentation) are all free for users on macOS, iPadOS, iOS, and iCloud Web.

iWork strengths:

- Completely free for Mac / iPad / iPhone users, pre-installed

- Best-in-class design and typography

- Keynote is the executives' and designers' favorite presentation tool

- Real-time collaboration via iCloud

- Tight Apple Pencil, Touch ID, and Face ID integration

iWork limits:

- Mac / iOS / Web only — no native Windows or Linux app (iCloud Web is the only option)

- Some layout breakage when exporting DOCX / XLSX / PPTX

- Hard to adopt in environments where corporate IT is standardized on Microsoft 365

- Weak macros and automation (Numbers gets only AppleScript / Shortcuts)

When to use iWork:

- Individuals, designers, executives — especially Keynote for presentations

- Mac users wanting a free office suite for daily work

- Work that stays entirely inside the Apple ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, Mac)

Keynote is especially strong. Transitions and animations feel smoother than PowerPoint, and "Magic Move" is more reliable than PowerPoint's "Morph". After Steve Jobs' 2007 iPhone keynote it became the de facto standard for design-driven presentations.

9. Google Workspace + Gemini for Workspace

Google Workspace bundles Google Docs / Sheets / Slides / Drive / Gmail / Meet / Calendar into a SaaS. It was renamed from G Suite in 2020, and during 2024 and 2025 Gemini for Workspace launched as a first-class AI feature.

Google Workspace components (2026):

- Docs / Sheets / Slides — documents, spreadsheets, presentations

- Drive — cloud storage (15 GB to 5 TB+)

- Gmail — email

- Meet — video conferencing

- Chat — messaging

- Calendar — scheduling

- Forms — surveys

- Sites — lightweight websites

- Keep — notes

Gemini for Workspace features:

- Auto-drafting, summarization, and tone shifting in Docs

- "Help me write" in Gmail — drafting and replies

- Natural language to formulas and charts in Sheets

- Auto image generation and slide drafts in Slides

- Real-time captions and meeting notes in Meet

- Side panel — Gemini accessible across every app

Pricing (refer to the official page for current exact figures):

- Business Starter — per user per month, cheapest tier

- Business Standard — 2 TB Drive

- Business Plus — 5 TB Drive plus Vault

- Enterprise — unlimited

- Gemini is now bundled into every plan (it was a separate add-on before 2025 consolidation)

Google Workspace strengths:

- Real-time collaboration de facto standard — concurrent editing, comments, suggestions

- Cheap or free for schools (Google Workspace for Education)

- Korean, Japanese, and Chinese search and translation are strong

- Gmail's spam filtering, search, and label system are the business-email baseline

Google Workspace limits:

- Offline work is weaker than Microsoft 365

- Macros and advanced automation use Apps Script (JavaScript) — not as mature as Excel VBA

- Hard to adopt in some government, public, and defense environments

- Word and PowerPoint still win on design precision and complex layouts

10. Microsoft 365 + Copilot for Office

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is still the #1 office market leader in 2026. During 2024 and 2025 Microsoft 365 Copilot shipped as a full product and set the new standard for AI inside an office suite.

Microsoft 365 components (2026):

- Word — word processor

- Excel — spreadsheet

- PowerPoint — presentation

- Outlook — email and calendar

- OneNote — notes

- Teams — messaging, video, collaboration

- OneDrive — cloud storage

- SharePoint — intranet and document management

- Loop — collaboration workspace (Notion / Coda competitor)

- Planner / Project / To Do — task management

- Power BI / Power Apps / Power Automate — data and automation

Microsoft 365 Copilot features:

- Auto-drafting, summaries, tone shifting in Word

- Excel's "Analyze data" — natural language questions to charts and insights

- Auto slide generation, designer, speaker notes in PowerPoint

- Email summarization and auto-replies in Outlook

- Auto meeting notes and conversation summaries in Teams

- Copilot Studio — customize Copilot with your own company data

- Microsoft 365 Chat — AI that searches across your company's documents and email

Pricing splits between consumer and business.

Consumer:

- Microsoft 365 Personal — monthly

- Microsoft 365 Family — up to 6 family members

Business:

- Microsoft 365 Business Basic / Standard / Premium

- Microsoft 365 Apps for business (apps only)

- Microsoft 365 E3 / E5 (enterprise)

Copilot is a separate add-on per user. It was widely seen as expensive at launch in 2024, but pricing adjustments in 2025 accelerated adoption.

Microsoft 365 strengths:

- The de facto standard — almost every company uses Word, Excel, PowerPoint as the baseline

- 30 years of VBA macro ecosystem

- Teams is the #1 business messenger and video conferencing tool

- Excellent stability and performance of desktop apps

- Copilot can search across your documents, mail, and meetings

Microsoft 365 limits:

- One of the most expensive options

- Licensing is complex — corporate IT teams routinely get it wrong

- Some EU governments are evaluating alternatives under "digital sovereignty"

- Telemetry and privacy considerations require evaluation in sensitive environments

11. Zoho Workplace

Zoho is a SaaS company headquartered in Chennai, India. Best known for CRM, Zoho also runs Zoho Workplace, a full-stack office and collaboration suite.

Zoho Workplace components:

- Writer — word

- Sheet — spreadsheet

- Show — presentation

- Mail — business email

- Cliq — messaging (Slack-like)

- Meeting — video conferencing

- WorkDrive — cloud storage

- Connect — internal social

- Notebook — notes

Where Zoho sits:

- Cheaper than Google Workspace or Microsoft 365

- Strong in India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America

- Emphasizes "data sovereignty" — favored by orgs avoiding US or Chinese clouds

- Zia AI — Zoho's own AI assistant (not as good as Microsoft Copilot but solid)

Pricing is per user per month with multiple tiers, often less than half of Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.

When to use Zoho Workplace:

- Cost-sensitive SMBs

- Companies with HQ or offices in India, Southeast Asia, or the Middle East

- Political or regulatory environments where adopting Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace is hard

12. Korea — HanCom Office (HanGeul / HanCell / HanShow), Polaris Office

Korea's office market is one of the most distinctive in the world. Microsoft Office leads in absolute share, but HanCom Office is the de facto government, public sector, and school standard, while Polaris Office holds mobile and cloud.

HanCom Office 2024 — Korea's standard:

- HanGeul — word processor, using .hwp / .hwpx

- HanCell — spreadsheet

- HanShow — presentation

- HanWord — a HanGeul variant optimized for DOCX compatibility

- HanCom Office NEO — older version, still used by some agencies

The .hwp (Hangul Word Processor) format is the Korean government and public-sector standard, and almost every administrative document is .hwp. In 2017 .hwpx (the Open Document-based standard) was designated as KS X 6101, and the share of .hwpx in government deliverables has grown.

HanCom Office strengths:

- Best-in-class for Korean particles (조사), hanja, distinctive table layouts, footnotes, indexes

- Korean government, public sector, and school standard

- Most accurate Korean spell checker, dictionary, and index

- "HanCom Assistant" — AI integration (own LLM plus external connectors)

HanCom Office limits:

- Global compatibility — .hwp does not travel well outside Korea

- Limited macOS and Linux support (a HanGeul for macOS build exists)

- Pricing close to Microsoft Office levels

- Mobile and web collaboration sits in separate products (HanCom Docs and Polaris)

Polaris Office (originally Infraware, now under HanCom) — Korea's mobile office:

- Built in 2009 by Infraware; took off in the 2010s as the default Android office app

- Consolidated under HanCom corporate in the 2020s

- Strong DOCX / XLSX / PPTX compatibility

- Cloud collaboration with concurrent editing

- Cross-platform (mobile, web, desktop)

When to use HanCom Office:

- Korean government, public sector, schools, legal, accounting (.hwp is the standard)

- Korean corporate administration, HR, general affairs

- Korean-language typography (조사, hanja, complex tables) in publishing and academia

When to use Polaris Office:

- Korean users editing DOCX / XLSX on mobile

- Environments without a HanCom Office license that still need to open .hwp (Polaris supports .hwp)

13. Japan — Ichitaro + ATOK IME

Japan's office market shares some quirks with Korea's. Microsoft Office leads overall, but JustSystems' Ichitaro has been the Japanese word processor standard for 30+ years, and ATOK is the dominant Japanese IME in business environments.

JustSystems Ichitaro:

- The Japanese word processor standard since 1985

- Best at Japanese typography (vertical writing, ruby furigana, traditional typesetting)

- The .jtd / .jtdc formats — standard in Japanese government, public, publishing, and legal

- New version every February (Ichitaro 2026, etc.)

- Ichitaro Pro — advanced edition for publishing and editorial professionals

ATOK (Advanced Technology Of Kana-kanji transfer):

- JustSystems' Japanese IME

- More accurate Japanese conversion, learning, and dictionary than the built-in IMEs on macOS or Windows

- macOS, Windows, Android, iOS support

- ATOK Passport subscription — syncs across all devices

- The de facto standard among business users, publishers, and writers

The Japanese government direction:

- Japanese government has been moving toward OOXML (DOCX) as the official document format throughout the 2020s

- But publishing, academia, and legal still rely on Ichitaro's .jtd as the standard

- Digital Agency (established 2021) is consolidating government docs into PDF / DOCX

When to use Ichitaro:

- Tricky Japanese typography for publishing and academia

- Japanese government, public sector, legal, and judicial environments

- Documents using vertical writing, ruby, or heavy kanji conversion

When to use ATOK:

- Heavy Japanese writers, editors, journalists, translators

- Business users who find the built-in macOS or Windows IMEs inaccurate

- Anyone wanting ATOK Passport to sync personalization across devices

General business documents still favor Microsoft Word / Excel / PowerPoint, but in publishing, academic, and legal Japanese typography the Ichitaro + ATOK combo remains strong.

14. Newcomers — Notion AI / Coda / Stackby

The definition of "office suite" as "Word + Excel + PowerPoint" is over. From the late 2010s onward a new category — "collaboration workspaces" — emerged and is now mature by 2026.

Notion (+ Notion AI):

- US startup Notion Labs

- Combines docs, databases, wikis, and task management on one canvas

- Block-based editor — assemble like Lego

- Notion AI — auto-drafting, summarization, translation, Q&A

- Official Korean and Japanese UI

- Dominant in startups, design studios, and content companies

Pricing: Free / Plus / Business / Enterprise (per user per month).

Coda:

- US startup founded by former Google employees

- The premise: "build an app inside a doc"

- Stronger databases and automation than Notion

- Packs — integrations with Slack, Figma, Jira, more

- Coda AI is built in

Stackby:

- Indian startup, an Airtable alternative

- "Spreadsheet + database + API" combination

- 50+ API connectors — Twitter, YouTube, Google Analytics, and more

- Cheaper than Airtable

Airtable (a different category but constantly compared):

- The de facto spreadsheet + database hybrid

- More precise data modeling than Notion or Coda

- Airtable AI is built in

When to use newcomers:

- Internal wikis, project tracking, content calendars — Notion

- Data-driven workflows and automation — Coda or Airtable

- API-heavy databases — Stackby or Airtable

These tools do not replace Microsoft Word or Excel; they complement them. A common split is Notion for wikis and project tracking, PowerPoint for quarterly reports, and Excel for financial models.

15. Quip (Salesforce, 2024 sunset)

Quip was once a serious contender in collaboration documents. Founded in 2012 by Bret Taylor (former Facebook CTO and FriendFeed founder) and Kevin Gibbs, it was acquired by Salesforce in 2016.

Quip's position (2016 to 2024):

- A collaboration document tool integrated with Salesforce CRM

- Combined chat, documents, and spreadsheets in a single surface

- Steadily lost ground as Slack dominated the messaging side

Salesforce's 2024 sunset decision:

- In 2024 Salesforce announced Quip's phased end-of-life

- Stopped new signups and license additions

- Existing customers are migrating to Slack or other Salesforce collaboration products

This consolidates the "collaboration document" market. Notion, Coda, and Microsoft Loop are the survivors, while Quip, Dropbox Paper, and some Atlassian Confluence features are being absorbed or shut down.

Migration options for former Quip users:

- Salesforce-recommended Slack migration

- Notion — the most common destination

- Coda — when databases and automation matter

- Microsoft Loop — for Microsoft 365 shops

16. ODT vs OOXML — The format wars

The compatibility problem in office suites ultimately comes down to "which file format is the standard?". Two camps dominate.

ODF (Open Document Format) camp:

- ISO/IEC 26300 standard

- Managed by OASIS

- Extensions: .odt / .ods / .odp

- The native format for LibreOffice, OnlyOffice, Collabora Online, Calligra, and Apache OpenOffice

- The recommended standard for EU, German, French, Dutch, and UK government

OOXML (Office Open XML) camp:

- ISO/IEC 29500 standard (Microsoft-led)

- Extensions: .docx / .xlsx / .pptx

- The native format for Microsoft Office

- Compatible (read/write) with Google Workspace, iWork, WPS Office, HanCom Office, Notion, and almost every other tool

- The government standard in the US, Japan, Korea, and most other countries

The 2026 reality:

- OOXML is the de facto standard — every tool supports DOCX, XLSX, PPTX

- ODF is the de jure standard — recommended by parts of EU government

- The two formats convert into each other but with losses

- Macros, charts, and table styles lose the most in conversion

Recommendations:

- Files exchanged with the outside world should be DOCX / XLSX / PPTX (OOXML)

- ODT / ODS / ODP if your government or institution mandates ODF internally

- Korean administrative documents stay on .hwp / .hwpx

- Japanese publishing, academic, and legal stay on .jtd

17. Government / public standards — Korean OGI, Japanese OOXML

National government standards heavily shape office suite choice.

Korea:

- Administrative documents — .hwp / .hwpx (HanCom)

- OGI (government-certified electronic documents) — .hwpx standardized as KS X 6101 in 2017

- Government RFPs and public communications are mostly .hwp / .hwpx

- HanCom Office's dominance in the Korean market is anchored in this policy

- That said, diplomacy, trade, and global cooperation documents use DOCX or PDF

Japan:

- Digital Agency (established 2021) is consolidating government docs into OOXML / PDF

- Ichitaro's .jtd / .jtdc is still the standard in publishing, academia, legal, and judicial

- .jtd's overall share is shrinking but remains entrenched in publishing and academia

EU:

- EU recommends ODF as the standard format

- Germany, France, Netherlands, and the UK have adopted LibreOffice / OnlyOffice / Collabora Online in government and public sector

- Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace alternatives are under "digital sovereignty" review

US:

- Federal government uses DOCX / XLSX / PPTX / PDF as the standard

- Some state governments, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and military branches also mandate ODF support (FOIA compliance)

China:

- Government, public sector, and SOEs use WPS Office under the indigenization policy

- UOF (Unified Office Format) is a domestic standard that exists but is rarely used in practice

18. Who should pick what — Individual / company / public / compatibility

Recommendations by situation.

Individuals (personal, students):

- Mac users — iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) is free and best in the Apple ecosystem

- Windows / Linux — LibreOffice (free) or FreeOffice (free)

- Compatibility-first — Microsoft 365 Personal (monthly subscription)

- Mobile-first — WPS Office (has ads) or Polaris Office

- Korean administrative documents — HanCom Office Home edition

Startups / SMBs:

- Cloud and collaboration first — Google Workspace Business Standard

- Microsoft compatibility first — Microsoft 365 Business Standard

- Cost-sensitive — Zoho Workplace

- Self-hosted / data-sovereignty — Nextcloud + Collabora Online or OnlyOffice

Large enterprise:

- Microsoft 365 E3 / E5 + Copilot — the most common choice

- Google Workspace Enterprise + Gemini — for Google-aligned companies

- Korean enterprise — Microsoft 365 + HanCom Office (for .hwp) in parallel

- Japanese enterprise — Microsoft 365 + Ichitaro (publishing, legal) in parallel

Government / public:

- Korea — HanCom Office + Microsoft 365 in parallel

- Japan — Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace + Ichitaro (by domain)

- EU — LibreOffice / OnlyOffice / Collabora Online + Microsoft 365 (dual procurement)

- US — Microsoft 365 GCC / GCC High (FedRAMP-compliant)

Collaboration / wiki / project tracking:

- Notion (+ AI) — the broadest fit

- Coda — for data-centric workflows

- Airtable / Stackby — database-centric

- Microsoft Loop — for Microsoft 365 shops

- Confluence (Atlassian) — Jira-integrated internal wiki

Compatibility / client / consulting work:

- DOCX / XLSX / PPTX focus — Microsoft 365 or OnlyOffice

- PDF as final deliverable — any tool, just verify PDF conversion fidelity

- Korean clients — secure a HanCom Office license or use Polaris

- Japanese clients — Microsoft Office baseline, with a converter when receiving Ichitaro .jtd

19. References

LibreOffice (TDF)

- LibreOffice official — https://www.libreoffice.org/

- The Document Foundation — https://www.documentfoundation.org/

- LibreOffice 24.8 release notes — https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/24.8

OnlyOffice

- OnlyOffice official — https://www.onlyoffice.com/

- OnlyOffice GitHub — https://github.com/ONLYOFFICE

- DocSpace — https://www.onlyoffice.com/docspace.aspx

Collabora Online

- Collabora Online — https://www.collaboraonline.com/

- Collabora Productivity — https://www.collaboraoffice.com/

- CODE (Development Edition) — https://www.collaboraonline.com/code/

WPS Office (Kingsoft)

- WPS official — https://www.wps.com/

- Kingsoft — https://www.kingsoft.com/

FreeOffice (SoftMaker)

- FreeOffice — https://www.freeoffice.com/

- SoftMaker Office NX — https://www.softmaker.com/en/softmaker-office

Other OSS office

- AbiWord — https://www.abisource.com/

- Calligra Suite — https://calligra.org/

- Apache OpenOffice — https://www.openoffice.org/

iWork (Apple)

- iWork official — https://www.apple.com/iwork/

- Pages — https://www.apple.com/pages/

- Numbers — https://www.apple.com/numbers/

- Keynote — https://www.apple.com/keynote/

Google Workspace

- Google Workspace — https://workspace.google.com/

- Gemini for Workspace — https://workspace.google.com/solutions/ai/

Microsoft 365

- Microsoft 365 — https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365

- Microsoft 365 Copilot — https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/copilot

- Microsoft Loop — https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-loop

Zoho Workplace

- Zoho Workplace — https://www.zoho.com/workplace/

Korea — HanCom / Polaris

- HanCom Office — https://www.hancom.com/

- HanCom Docs — https://hancomdocs.com/

- Polaris Office — https://www.polarisoffice.com/

Japan — JustSystems

- Ichitaro — https://www.justsystems.com/jp/products/ichitaro/

- ATOK — https://www.atok.com/

- JustSystems — https://www.justsystems.com/

Collaboration newcomers

- Notion — https://www.notion.so/

- Notion AI — https://www.notion.so/product/ai

- Coda — https://coda.io/

- Stackby — https://stackby.com/

- Airtable — https://www.airtable.com/

Quip (Salesforce)

- Quip — https://quip.com/

- Salesforce — https://www.salesforce.com/

Format standards

- ODF (OASIS) — https://www.oasis-open.org/standards/

- ODF 1.4 — https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/office/

- OOXML (Ecma-376) — https://www.ecma-international.org/publications-and-standards/standards/ecma-376/

- ISO/IEC 26300 (ODF) — https://www.iso.org/standard/66369.html

- ISO/IEC 29500 (OOXML) — https://www.iso.org/standard/71691.html

- Korea KS X 6101 (.hwpx) — https://standard.go.kr/

Government / public standards

- Korea Ministry of the Interior and Safety — https://www.mois.go.kr/

- Japan Digital Agency — https://www.digital.go.jp/

- EU OSS strategy — https://commission.europa.eu/about-european-commission/departments-and-executive-agencies/informatics/open-source-software-strategy_en