Subscription plan

Office 365

One-time buy

Office 2019

Office 365 is a subscription-based service that brings you the most current Office apps (now 2019) for a yearly or monthly price. Home, Personal, and University plans are available, and 1TB of OneDrive storage is included for each user.

Pros

1TB OneDrive storage included
60 Skype call minutes included
Home version includes apps for up to six users
Multiple plans to choose from
Receive all future Office updates

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Office 2019, available in Home and Student, Home and Business, and Professional packages, is a one-time purchase that brings you the Office 2019 apps as they are, without any updates to future generations of the software.

Pros

One-time purchase
Multiple plans to choose from
60 days of Microsoft support included

Cons

No OneDrive storage included
Will not receive new apps when released
No Skype minutes included

While you'll get the core Office apps you love with either Office 365 or Office 2019, there are quite a few differences between the two options. With a subscription to Office 365, you will pay more for years of service, but you do get quite a few more features, including OneDrive storage and Skype minutes. If you'd rather buy once and stick with a set of apps and don't mind the lack of OneDrive storage and, in some cases, fewer apps, Office 2019 is likely a better choice.

Office 365 vs. Office 2019: Quick-reference table

Let's break down some of the major differences between Office products to help you decide which is best for you.

Office 365	Office 2019
Price	Personal:$70/year or $7/month Home:$100/year or $10/month University:$80 (4 years)	Home & Student:$150 Home & Business:$250 Professional:$440
Users	Personal: 1 Home: Up to 6 University: 1	1
Apps	Word Excel PowerPoint OneNote Outlook Access Publisher	Home & Student: Word Excel PowerPoint Outlook Home & Business: Word Excel PowerPoint Outlook Professional: Word Excel PowerPoint Outlook Publisher Access
Devices	PC Mac Tablet Phone	Home & Student: PC or Mac Home & Business: PC or Mac Professional: PC
Skype minutes	60 monthly	None
OneDrive storage	1TB per user	None

Apps and pricing

Office 365, whether Personal, Home, or University, is a subscription-based service. If you choose to pay on a yearly basis, you essentially get a discount that works out to two free months per year. If you choose to pay on a monthly basis you'll pay a bit more by the end of the year, but you'll also have the ability to back out of your subscription at the end of any month.

The monthly subscription plan is, therefore, better for students who only need Office for a few months out of the year, and a yearly subscription is great for anyone working from home. Students and teachers enrolled or working at certain schools might even be eligible for a free subscription to Office 365 Education.

If you're a university student, there's also the option of buying a four-year subscription to Office 365 University. It costs about $80 for an entire four years of access, but only if you meet the requirements (you're enrolled in university). This is an excellent deal and one that's taken advantage of by many students, though keep in mind after the four years are up you will have to repurchase a plan in order to get access.

An Office 365 plan ensures you'll always have the latest apps and some extra features, but you can pay once and own Office 2019 forever.

Office 2019 is more of a classic buy-once deal. This is better for those of you who want to purchase an item once and have it forever. If you only want Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, Office Home & Student 2019 is worth look a look.

Keep in mind, though, that Office 2019 only receives security and bug updates and does not get any of the major new features coming in the future. If you buy an Office 365 subscription today and keep it going until, say, 2022, you'll basically have Office 2022. If you buy Office 2019 today and keep it until 2022, you'll still have the same old Office 2019 apps without any new features.

As for access to apps, if you want the full suite, you have to go with either Office 365 or Office Professional 2019. As you can see in the table above, buying an Office Professional 2019 plan, which has the same apps as Office 365 but doesn't have the same cloud storage or multiple device functionality, will set you back about $440. For the same apps, 1TB of OneDrive storage, and the ability to install the apps on a PC, a tablet, and a phone, you only pay about $70 for a year with Office 365 Personal.

Bottom line? If you can't be bothered with subscriptions and you want to buy one version of Office and stick with it for years without receiving anything other than security and bug updates, go with a version of Office 2019 that suits you best. However, if you want to always have the latest software with all the latest features — including OneDrive storage, Skype minutes, and multiple-device compatibility — Office 365 should be your first choice.

Multiple devices

One of the best aspects of Office 365 is the ability to use it on multiple devices. If you have a household of people who all use different operating systems and devices, you probably want to go with a subscription to Office 365 Home, which is good for six users across PC or Mac, tablet, and phone. Office 365 Personal and University are meant for a single user, though the apps can still be used across devices for ultimate convenience.

One of the best aspects of Office 365 is the ability to use it on multiple devices.

All versions of Office 2019 can only be installed on one PC or Mac (except for Professional which is limited to PC). This is fine for those who mainly do their work at a desk, but the price can add up quickly if you have more than one PC that needs Office apps.

Keep in mind that there are versions of Office apps available for Windows 10 Mobile, Android and iOS, which you can get for free regardless of any subscriptions or previous purchases. The Office 365 mobile apps have more features than the free apps, though, so if you're someone who does a lot of work from a mobile device, you'll no doubt want to spring for the subscription.

Overall, if you're someone who loves working across multiple devices, or if you want Office apps installed on several devices for multiple users, Office 365 is the way to go. If you have one PC or Mac and don't plan on expanding anytime, Office 2019 is still an option.

Connectivity

Although Office 365 is subscription-based, after the initial download and install you don't need to be connected to the internet to use the Office apps. You do, however, need to be connected if you want to save files to OneDrive unless you sync your files to your desktop using the OneDrive app. In that case, you can save to OneDrive while offline, and things will sync whenever you next connect to

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