OnlyOffice vs LibreOffice

OnlyOffice and LibreOffice are both open-source office suites with different centres. OnlyOffice, from Ascensio System SIA in Riga, builds online editors for co-editing, a DocSpace cloud and free desktop apps under the AGPL 3.0. LibreOffice, from The Document Foundation, a charitable foundation in Berlin, is a free desktop suite under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 with ODF as its native format.

Editor Sebastiaan Smits

Published Last reviewed How we review

Choose OnlyOffice if

several people must edit the same file at once, you want editors embedded in Nextcloud, ownCloud or Confluence through official connectors, or you want a hosted cloud as well as desktop apps.

Read the OnlyOffice review

Choose LibreOffice if

you want a complete desktop suite with no licence fee at any scale, native ODF files, six applications including Base and Math, and a non-profit foundation behind the project.

Read the LibreOffice review

OnlyOffice and LibreOffice side by side

 OnlyOfficeLibreOffice
Company Ascensio System SIA The Document Foundation
Headquarters Riga, Latvia Berlin, Germany
Founded 2009 2010
Jurisdiction EU (Latvia) EU (Germany), non-profit foundation
Where the data sits EU, or self-hosted Runs entirely on your own machine
Pricing Free desktop and self-hosted Community / DocSpace Business $20 per admin per month Free and open source
Entry-level list price (vendor site, checked 30 September 2026) DocSpace Business: $20 per admin per month (limited-time offer, shown reduced from $30); Docs Enterprise on-premises from $1,500 Free (open source); no paid plan from The Document Foundation, which points businesses to partner enterprise versions
Free tier or trial Free desktop editors Free
Certifications and checks Open source GDPR (no data leaves the device)
Source code Open source (AGPL 3.0) Open source (MPL 2.0 / LGPL)
Usually replaces Microsoft 365, Google Docs Microsoft 365, Google Docs
Position in our Office Suites guide #1 of 11 #4 of 11

Both are listed in our European Office Suites guide. The table is built from the same directory data as those entries, except the list price, which is quoted from each vendor's own pricing page (see Sources below); how we check it is described in the editorial process.

Where OnlyOffice and LibreOffice differ

Across the five points below, OnlyOffice has the edge on 2 points, LibreOffice on 1 point and 2 are a tie. A count like that is a summary, not a verdict: the point that matters to you may be the one the other product wins.

File formats

LibreOffice natively implements ODF up to version 1.3 and handles DOCX, XLSX and PPTX through the same common engine. OnlyOffice describes its editors as highly compatible with both Microsoft Office and OpenDocument formats, and opens DOCX, XLSX and PPTX alongside ODT, ODS and ODP. Teams standardised on ODF lean to LibreOffice; those exchanging mostly Microsoft files should test OnlyOffice with their own documents.

No clear winner on this point.

Working together in real time

OnlyOffice lists character- and paragraph-level co-editing, track changes, comments and mentions, a built-in chat and calls through Jitsi or Rainbow. The Document Foundation distributes LibreOffice as desktop software; cloud and browser versions built on LibreOffice Technology are released by other organisations under their own brand names. For a team co-authoring documents, OnlyOffice covers this within one vendor's product.

Edge: OnlyOffice

Cost and limits

LibreOffice can run on one computer or more than 10,000 without licence fees. OnlyOffice's desktop editors, mobile apps and Startup cloud plan are free, and its GitHub page recommends the free Community Edition for up to 20 users; DocSpace Business is listed at $20 per admin a month, reduced from $30, and Docs Enterprise from $1,500. For a guaranteed zero licence line at any scale, LibreOffice is simpler.

Edge: LibreOffice

Professional support

OnlyOffice sells support itself, in levels with 5, 10 or 20 requests and first responses within 48, 24 or 12 working hours. The Document Foundation states that it does not provide technical support and recommends LibreOffice Enterprise versions from ecosystem partners for schools and large organisations, with SLAs and custom features. Buyers wanting licence and support from one company get that from OnlyOffice.

Edge: OnlyOffice

Who stands behind it

LibreOffice is a project of The Document Foundation, a charitable foundation under German law in Berlin, and descends from OpenOffice.org. OnlyOffice belongs to Ascensio System SIA, a Latvian company that is a subsidiary of OnlyOffice Capital Group Pte. Ltd. in Singapore, with offices from Riga to Dallas and Shanghai. Buyers who weigh governance can choose between a foundation and a commercial group.

No clear winner on this point.

When neither OnlyOffice nor LibreOffice fits

If documents must stay unreadable to the server while people co-edit them, look at CryptPad, an open-source collaborative suite with end-to-end encryption. If you want files, calendar and calls around the editor on your own server, Nextcloud is the platform to consider.

OnlyOffice vs LibreOffice: questions

Both open and save DOCX. OnlyOffice describes its editors as highly compatible with Microsoft Office formats, and LibreOffice processes DOCX, XLSX and PPTX through the engine it also uses for ODF. Neither vendor publishes an independent fidelity test, so open your most complex real document in both before deciding.

LibreOffice is free for any number of computers under the Mozilla Public License 2.0. OnlyOffice is AGPL 3.0 open source with free desktop editors, mobile apps and a free Startup cloud plan, and a free Community Edition recommended for up to 20 users; paid DocSpace and Docs Enterprise plans cover larger teams.

Yes. LibreOffice is installed and runs on your own computer. OnlyOffice says its free Desktop Editors for Windows, Linux and macOS let you work offline, and its server products can be self-hosted. Real-time co-editing needs a server in both cases: OnlyOffice's own, or a LibreOffice-based cloud product from another organisation.

OnlyOffice is owned by Ascensio System SIA in Riga, a subsidiary of OnlyOffice Capital Group Pte. Ltd. in Singapore; its founder and CEO is Lev Bannov. LibreOffice is published by The Document Foundation, a charitable foundation under German law based in Berlin, and developed by a worldwide community of contributors.

Sources

Facts, prices and plan details on this page were checked on the vendors' own websites on . Prices and plans change; the vendor's current page is authoritative.

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