LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs

Interest in LibreOffice, the open-source alternative to Microsoft Office, is on the rise, with weekly downloads of its software package close to 1 million a week. That’s the highest download number since 2023.

LibreOffice, which runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS, is a standalone desktop office productivity software that is free to use. Downloads have picked up since The Document Foundation, which manages its development, released version 25.2 last week. 

It has emerged as the most popular open-source suite, with alternative versions such as Apache’s OpenOffice losing steam. The last version of OpenOffice was released in 2023.

“We estimate around 200 million [LibreOffice] users, but it’s important to note that we respect users’ privacy and don’t track them, so we can’t say for sure,” said Mike Saunders, an open-source advocate and a deputy to the board of directors at The Document Foundation.

There is still noteworthy interest in LibreOffice as a standalone desktop alternative to paid office productivity suites, said Jason Wong, distinguished vice president and analyst at Gartner. “Usually these are clients seeking to keep their on-premises implementation, given that both Microsoft and Google have focused on their cloud offerings,” Wong said. 

Cost is a factor for evaluating software suites like LibreOffice, Wong said. “The downside is the additional specialized resources and new skills needed to maintain the [software],” he  said.

Downloads of LibreOffice have been steadily climbing with each new version, Saunders said. 

Though LibreOffice has traditionally been a favorite of home users, there’s growing interest in businesses and government, Saunders said. The northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein last year said it would move 30,000 PCs from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice.

“The majority of our users — 85% — are on Windows, followed by macOS and then Linux,” Saunders said. 

Many desktop Linux distributions pre-install LibreOffice, but it’s unclear how many users that represents.

LibreOffice users typically want a straightforward interface, Saunders said. “They don’t want subscriptions, and they don’t want AI being ‘helpful’ by poking its nose into their work — it reminds them of Clippy from the bad old days,” he said. 

There are genuine use cases for generative AI tools, but many users prefer to opt-in to it and choose when and where to enable it. “We have zero plans to put AI into LibreOffice. But we understand the value of some AI tools and are encouraging developers to create … extensions that use AI in a responsible way,” Saunders said. 

Although there are cloud-based versions of OpenOffice, The Document Foundation has focused on the desktop version, Saunders said.LibreOffice downloads on the rise as users look to avoid subscription costs – ComputerworldRead More