OpenOffice or LibreOffice are popular as free Office alternatives because they provide useful and compatible standard applications for text creation, spreadsheets and presentations, and some have attractive additional features. However, LibreOffice and OpenOffice lack features for team communication, email clients or cloud storage.
For free office software, everyone also has more choices. Next, let’s take a look at LibreOffice and OpenOffice, which free office suite is the best?
Quick overview: Libre Office vs OpenOffice
Similarities Between LibreOffice and OpenOffice
| advantage | shortcoming |
|---|---|
| ✔ Dedicated applications for text creation (WRITE), spreadsheets (CALC) and presentations (IMPRESS). | ✘ Synchronous file editing not integrated |
| ✔ Open from and save to common Microsoft file types such as .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx. | ✘ No cloud storage solution |
| ✔ Applications for drawings (DRAW) and databases (BASE) | ✘ No solution for team communication |
| ✔ Standard format for good compatibility with other office applications | ✘ Partially incompatible with more complex formats |
| ✔ Free for Windows, macOS and Linux | ✘ No integrated email client |
Differences between LibreOffice and OpenOffice
| LibreOffice | OpenOffice | |
|---|---|---|
| User Interface | More closely aligned with Microsoft Office applications | Align more closely with Google Office applications |
| Additional features | ✔ Create diagrams (diagrams) ✔ More presentation templates ✔ More additional features in the option to write programs ✔ More import and export functions ✔ Better compatibility with more complex formats | ✘ Fewer additional features than LibreOffice ✘ Less compatible with more complex formats |
| Speed, Stability and Security | ✔ Slightly faster 64-bit version available Regular updates with new features ✘ Many additional features at the expense of stability | ✔ Runs more stable even on older or less powerful computers ✘ Only available in 32-bit version ✘ Very few updates and barely any new features |
| Teamwork and language settings | ✔ Jointly edit files from other apps ✘ Teamwork requires its own server | ✔ Multiple language versions can be installed ✘ Shared editing of unintegrated files |
| Applicability (recommended) | Also suitable for small companies | More suitable for home users |
OpenOffice vs. LibreOffice: Who's Original?
It all started with OpenOffice. The application originated as a business office product of the German company Star Division. The company launched StarOffice 3 in 1995, an office solution for Windows, OS/0.2 and Mac. Star Division was acquired by Sun Microsystems of California in 1999, the same year Sun StarOffice 5.2 was released. This was the predecessor to OpenOffice: a year later, the source code for StarOffice was released so that developers could see it and use it for their purposes.
In this way, OpenOffice.org was born, and the spread of free software followed. OpenOffice is an open source application because it uses open source code, which is reflected in the name. This means that users can make their own adjustments or use parts of the OpenOffice code to achieve their own purposes by accessing the source code.
Ten years after OpenOffice, Sun Microsystems was acquired by Oracle, and Oracle discontinued the "StarOffice" product, which was later renamed Oracle Open Office. Commercial versions of office solutions disappeared. OpenOffice is renamed Apache OpenOffice.org.
Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems also marked the beginning of LibreOffice. The American company Oracle was for profit, so some developers left, and they formed their own foundation called "The Document Foundation", which has since continued their vision of the OpenOffice project under the name LibreOffice. According to the foundation's analysis, there were about 200 million LibreOffice users worldwide in 2018, many of them Linux users.
Main uses of LibreOffice and OpenOffice
The origin or transition of developers from OpenOffice to LibreOffice is also reflected in the scope of the main programs of these two packages. The two products are very similar, and in both cases, they are available for users of Windows, macOS, and Linux. Both products offer a total office suite of applications, as is known from other vendors such as Microsoft's Office solutions including Word and Excel. LibreOffice and OpenOffice are included separately.
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Writing: creating and editing text
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Tables: Manage tables and set calculation methods
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Presentation: designing and presenting presentations
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Drawing: Create Drawings
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Data: Manage Databases
Users who have used Microsoft Office before will find their way in both applications immediately. The two apps are very similar, with very similar user experience and functionality. For example, text formatting in WRITE is very similar to Microsoft's market leader, Word. Similar to the structure of Excel, LibreOffice or other applications of OpenOffice also provide a series of functions that users are already familiar with.
Notes
It is simple to open and edit files generated in MS Office programs with one of these two open source programs and share them with other users. However, for more complex formatting, such as in text or with special animations used in PowerPoint, the free applications reach their limits. This also sometimes causes the file not to be displayed correctly, so editing work is limited.
When studying or working in an electronic office environment, there are four main areas of daily tasks: text authoring, spreadsheets, presentation design, and email. Wondering if free office alternatives LibreOffice and OpenOffice can keep up with the competition?
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With the free app, texts can be created and formatted in a familiar way, insertions can be made, and even comments and trackable revisions can be provided for sent texts.
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The functionality of the spreadsheet application is similar to what MS users are familiar with. Apart from simple formulas, pivot functions or graphs, bars or pies that are automatically embedded in the chart are also part of the game.
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For presentation creation, there is a useful template wizard that uses different specifications as the basis for creating templates when creating new presentations – similar to master slides in PowerPoint. PowerPoint users will notice that the open source version is limited when it comes to embedding multimedia content such as video or music, or that the range of features doesn't keep up with the paid product. Nonetheless, IMPRESS can be used to create professional presentations and companies can use it to accurately describe their products, processes or services.
LibreOffice vs. OpenOffice: What Are the Similarities?
As can be seen from the list of major applications, the application packages of the two office suites are almost identical. The same goes for the fact that neither software package has an email client like Microsoft's well-known Outlook. Here, you can rely on Outlook alternatives like Thunderbird or SeaMonkey to be able to send emails outside of creating documents.
In terms of compatibility with other programs, both applications perform well. Both LibreOffice and OpenOffice can also open and save files in widely used Microsoft Office formats.
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Text-based file in DOCX format (Microsoft Word)
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Number table in XLSX format (Microsoft Excel)
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Presentations in PPTX format (Microsoft PowerPoint)
Apart from that, the programs of these two office solutions already offer the fields of application known from Google Workspace or MS Office, which are almost identical. The design of the software packages in the two programs is also fairly similar in terms of icon arrangement and user-friendliness – LibreOffice is somewhat more akin to MS Office, while OpenOffice looks more like Google Docs. However, this has no effect on the operation of the program.
This means that collaboration with clients, institutions or other users using different office systems is possible in both LibreOffice and OpenOffice.
Differences: Does LibreOffice or OpenOffice have more features?
Although the features of these two office solutions are very similar, there are some differences when comparing OpenOffice and LibreOffice.
Additional features:
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In addition to the described applications such as CALC or WRITE, LibreOffice includes another application especially suitable for data visualization. CHARTS is for all users who regularly want to make professional graphics in the form of histograms and other representations. (03/2021)
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In terms of design templates for the presentation tool IMPRESS, LibreOffice has taken the lead. While both editions offer a large selection of slideshows, LibreOffice's selection is even larger than OpenOffice's. (03/2021)
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As already described, these two solutions sometimes run into problems when they want to access Microsoft file formats that are quite different from the usual ones. LibreOffice has been proven to handle complex formatting better. (06/2020 and 02/2021)
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LibreOffice provides more or easier ways to format text or data; for example, CALC allows table cells to be color coded by clicking. Users are also more likely to find other useful features in LibreOffice, such as word counts or watermarks for PDF files. (09/2018)
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OpenOffice's more limited feature set is reflected in a similar way. LibreOffice supports more import and export functions. (02/2021)
Speed, Stability and Security
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There is no 64-bit version in OpenOffice. Unlike LibreOffce, OpenOffice only offers a 32-bit variant. Since the 64-bit version is usually a little faster, LibreOffice has the edge here. (06/2020)
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There are more developers working on LibreOffice, which means updates are released regularly and bugs are fixed faster. For example, version 7 (major release) of August 2020 improves compatibility with MS Office formats such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. In 2021, smaller updates followed, the most recent being 7.1.3, which brought over 100 bug fixes, including greater compatibility with MS Office file formats DOCX, XLSX and PPTX.
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However, these innovations affect the stability of LibreOffice. OpenOffice has an advantage here because its Office programs run more stably on older computers. (02/2021)
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This is also due to the lower memory consumption of OpenOffice – LibreOffice needs more available resources here. (06/2021)
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In the case of OpenOffice, although the last update was in 2021, it was an update to version 4.1.10, which was just a maintenance release. This means that no new features have been added in this update. When it comes to security, regular updates are important, and this is where LibreOffice excels. (06/2021)
Team work and language settings
OpenOffice doesn't offer a solution for teams looking to work together on files and documents. With LibreOffice, the process is much more complicated than with other vendors. To use online editing, an application must first be installed on a dedicated server. Only then can team members use the features of collaborative work in their web browsers. (02/2021)
LibreOffice users must commit to the first selected language after startup, while OpenOffice users can load additional language packs to later tailor their applications to their needs. (03/2021)
Personal needs determine whether LibreOffice or OpenOffice is best for you
With Libre Office and OpenOffice, you get a true MS Office replacement that mirrors the basic functionality of Microsoft 365. With it, you can edit text, design presentations, and create tables in your daily workspace.
Formatting is handled effortlessly by the WRITE program, and the CALC application is also on par with Excel for editing tables. These features are good enough for most processing requirements, so when you need to consider a large number of licenses, the free solution is ideal.
Your final choice of OpenOffice or LibreOffice depends on your personal preference and the system you work on.
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Are you looking for the latest software that regularly receives (security) updates and is constantly further developed in terms of functionality? Well LibreOffice, together with its better compatibility with Microsoft products, covers all the requirements of free software.
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On the other hand, is it more necessary to use a stable and performant office package that also runs smoothly on older systems? Then OpenOffice is the application of choice.
Important: Only LibreOffice offers users the possibility to work on files together. However, this is only achievable with extra effort, as additional resources in the form of servers must be available to do so. (02/2021)
Considerations
The company checks whether the two proposed alternatives are ideal for the job, taking into account the interaction between the client and the company, for example, which office suites are used and to what extent. If formatting plays an important role in day-to-day business, this might mean LibreOffice is a better fit, eg. For private users, LibreOffice and OpenOffice are equally good as free office alternatives.
Business-friendly alternatives to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
If you're lacking in things like a powerful email client, collaboration options within a single file, and cloud services, neither LibreOffice nor OpenOffice will get you covered.
In this case, other applications are required, such as Microsoft 365, which not only gives users access to familiar programs such as Word or Excel, but also to OneDrive, an online storage that allows access to files anywhere – the desktop or move. Of course, Outlook is also part of the Office 365 package, a comprehensive email program.
Tip
In addition to extensive cloud storage and a dedicated email client, Microsoft 365 also gives you Microsoft Teams, an easy-to-use web conferencing tool that lets you set up video meetings and presentations no matter where you are. Ideal for teams in different locations.
Or take a look at Google Workspace, which gives each team member their own massive online storage space and allows cross-team collaboration with real-time file synchronization.
Both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace include regular security updates and consistent customer service, making everyday business use easier and more secure.
For businesses in particular, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer valuable features such as extensive cloud storage, integrated email solutions, and the ability to work on files and documents quickly and easily as a team – no management required Task.