Microsoft keeps Office 2024 as a one-off purchase

Microsoft has confirmed that Office 2024 will be released as a one-off purchase to download, ending speculation that it was set to offer it only as a subscription.

It’s the first one-off edition since Office 2021, and will be available for Windows 10 and 11, as well as macos, in 32bit and 64bit versions.

Microsoft said it will support Office 2024 for five years, adding that it’s “committed” to releasing another version as a one-off (or “one-time”) purchase in the next few years.

The company insisted that it does not “plan to change the price for these products at the time of the release”, suggesting Office 2024 will cost £119.99 (like Office 2021) – though it’s available for only £109.99 on the Computeractive Software Store: www.snipca.com/49816.

Market analysts have long predicted that Microsoft will axe one-off purchases in favour of its more profitable 365 subscription packages. These cost £59.99 a year for one person and £79.99 for up to six people (www.snipca.com/49804).

Although Microsoft is persisting with one-off editions, it’s strongly encouraging users to subscribe. In its blog post announcing Office 2024 (www.snipca.com/49801), it said the product contains “only a subset of the value found in Microsoft 365”.

Subscribing to Microsoft 365 means you’ll get regular updates and security fixes, as well as 1TB-6TB online storage.

If you buy the one-off Office 2024, it should include most changes added to the 365 versions of Word, Powerpoint and Excel since the 2021 version. However, it will be the first edition of Office not to come with Publisher, which Microsoft will stop supporting in October 2026.