Free Alternatives to MS Office and Adobe for Home & Students

You do not need to pay for Microsoft Office or Adobe to write a letter, make a school project or edit a photo. Many good programs are free. Some are open source, which means anyone can check the code and nobody charges you for it. This guide explains what each one does, who it suits, and where to download it safely.

Golden rule: download only from the official website given in the “Official links” list below. Fake sites often copy these names to spread malware.

Office suites: free replacements for Word, Excel and PowerPoint

LibreOffice

What it does: Writer (like Word), Calc (like Excel), Impress (like PowerPoint) and Draw (diagrams and simple layouts).
Works on: Windows, macOS and Linux. It works fully offline.
Good for: homes, students, teachers and small offices that want a complete office suite on the computer.
Keep in mind: it opens and saves Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. Very complex files may shift a little in layout. To share with MS Office users, choose File > Save As and pick the Word (.docx) or Excel (.xlsx) format.

ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors

What it does: documents, spreadsheets, presentations, fillable forms and basic PDF editing in one app with tabs.
Works on: Windows, macOS and Linux. There are also free mobile apps for Android and iPhone.
Good for: people who want a screen that looks close to MS Office, and who exchange many .docx, .xlsx and .pptx files.
Keep in mind: the desktop app is free. The company also sells paid online plans for businesses. You do not need them for home use.

Google Docs, Sheets and Slides

What it does: write, make spreadsheets and presentations inside your web browser. Files are saved to Google Drive automatically.
Works on: any computer with a browser, plus Android and iPhone apps. You need a free Google account (the same one you use for Gmail).
Good for: students doing group projects, because several people can edit the same file at once. Good for older or low-cost computers too.
Keep in mind: it mainly needs internet. Offline mode exists but must be turned on first. You can open and edit Word files directly.

PDF tools: free replacements for Adobe Acrobat

PDF24 Creator

What it does: merge, split, compress, rotate and convert PDFs. It can turn Word files and images into PDF, add a PDF printer, and read text from scanned pages (OCR).
Works on: Windows only. The maker says it is free for private and business use.
Good for: shrinking a PDF to meet the size limit on a government or exam form, or joining scanned pages into one file.
Keep in mind: the desktop version works offline, so your files stay on your computer. PDF24 also has online tools that upload your file to their server. For Aadhaar, PAN, bank or medical papers, use the offline desktop version.

Sumatra PDF

What it does: a small, fast reader for PDF files. It also opens eBook formats such as ePub.
Works on: Windows 7 to 11. A “portable” version runs from a pen drive without installing.
Good for: old or slow computers, and anyone who only needs to read and print PDFs.
Keep in mind: it is a reader only. It cannot edit PDFs. Use PDF24 for that.

Graphics tools: free replacements for Photoshop and Illustrator

GIMP

What it does: photo editing. Crop, resize, remove spots, adjust colour, work with layers.
Works on: Windows, macOS and Linux.
Good for: editing photos, resizing a passport-size photo for an online form, making simple posters.
Keep in mind: menus are different from Photoshop, so expect a few days of learning. The GIMP team says it has no app on Apple’s Mac App Store. Any GIMP listing there is from a third party.

Inkscape

What it does: vector drawing. Vector images stay sharp at any size.
Works on: Windows, macOS and Linux.
Good for: logos, banners, certificates, diagrams for school projects, and designs for printing or laser cutting.
Keep in mind: it is a drawing tool, not a photo editor. Use GIMP for photos.

Krita

What it does: digital painting and drawing, with many brushes. Good with a drawing tablet.
Works on: Windows, macOS, Linux and Android tablets. It does not support iPad or iPhone.
Good for: art students, comic and illustration hobbyists.
Keep in mind: Krita is free from its own website. Versions on Steam, the Microsoft Store and some other stores are paid. That money supports the project, but you do not have to pay to use Krita.

Which one should you pick?

Basic letters, CVs, school work: LibreOffice or Google Docs.
Many files shared with MS Office users: ONLYOFFICE.
Group projects: Google Docs.
Compress or merge PDFs for forms: PDF24 Creator.
Only reading PDFs on a slow PC: Sumatra PDF.
Photos: GIMP. Logos and posters: Inkscape. Drawing and painting: Krita.

Common mistakes

Downloading from a “free download” site instead of the official website. These sites may add unwanted programs.
Clicking the first result in a search engine without checking. It may be a paid advertisement for a fake site.
Using “cracked” or pirated MS Office or Adobe. It is illegal and a common way malware gets in. The free tools above do the job legally.
Paying someone for software that is free. LibreOffice, GIMP, Inkscape and Krita cost nothing from their official sites.
Uploading private documents to online PDF websites. Use an offline tool for sensitive papers.
Saving only in LibreOffice’s own format and then sending it to someone who uses MS Office. Save as .docx or .pdf when sharing.
Never updating. Install updates from the official website or from inside the program.

Official links

Last checked: November 2026