One-time purchase Microsoft Office 2021 coming to Mac on Oct. 5

Microsoft has announced that the new version of Office — which includes word, Excel, and PowerPoint — will be released for Mac users on Oct. 5.

The Office 2021 suite, available as a one-time purchase, will bring many features previously only available on the Microsoft 365 subscription. That includes Microsoft Teams video calling, real-time document collaboration, and a new user interface. Other additions include new data types, functions, translation and editing features, support for more graphic formats, and overall performance and stability improvements.

"The past year and a half have proven it's more important than ever that our tools provide the flexibility to connect and create together virtually," Microsoft wrote. "This is why in both Microsoft 365 and Office 2021 we're including Microsoft Teams for personal use so you can engage with anyone at any time, whether it's chat, calls, or video. We're also incorporating many of the collaboration features already available to Microsoft 365 subscribers into Office 2021."

Microsoft 365 costs $69.99 per year for individuals, or $6.99 a month, although Microsoft 365 deals are available.

The one-time purchase Office 2021 suite offers an alternative to the subscription model. Customers can buy the Home or Student variants of Office 2021 for a one-time purchase $149.99. Office Home and business 2021 is available for $249.99, which includes additional features and the rights to use the apps for business purposes.

14 Comments

waveparticle 1497 comments · 3 Years

About 3 years ago

Does the license apply to multiple machines I and my family work on?

rob53 3307 comments · 13 Years

waveparticle said:

Does the license apply to multiple machines I and my family work on?

Doubt it, just like Office 365 required a family plan. I also have to wonder how many updates Office 2021 would include for the initial charge. Tell me it's five years worth and it'd be worth it, but tell me only until Office 2022 or 2023 comes out and they charge a high upgrade fee or force you to pay list price again and it's not worth it.

mknelson 1146 comments · 9 Years

rob53 said:

waveparticle said:

Does the license apply to multiple machines I and my family work on?

Doubt it, just like Office 365 required a family plan. I also have to wonder how many updates Office 2021 would include for the initial charge. Tell me it's five years worth and it'd be worth it, but tell me only until Office 2022 or 2023 comes out and they charge a high upgrade fee or force you to pay list price again and it's not worth it.

Based on Office 2019 and 2016 it will be only one installation for one user on one computer per retail box. They will do bug fixes for a certain period after the release of the next version. There is no upgrade price. You just have to buy the new box - which is a fraction of the price of Office X for example.

One weird thing - Microsoft is only adding new features to 365 updates. The retail boxed versions just get bug fixes.

*and to add to the fun, Microsoft is only allowing installs and update on the latest 3 Mac OSes.

rotateleftbyte 1630 comments · 12 Years

mknelson said:

One weird thing - Microsoft is only adding new features to 365 updates. The retail boxed versions just get bug fixes.

Most users never use more than 75% of the features of Office as it stands. IMHO, they (MS) is trying to milk us as much as possible for our $$$ but delivering very little that is of interest to the bulk of users.

I keep one License just so that I can ensure that any docs I produce print properly when sent to others. LibreOffice is getting close but some things are still a work in progress.