SoftMaker FreeOffice Review

An in-depth look at a free alternative to MS Office

by
Stacy Fisher
Stacy is a freelancer with over 18 years experience writing about technology and personal finance. She has published hundreds of articles and co-authored a book.
our editorial process
Stacy Fisher
Updated on December 02, 2020

SoftMaker FreeOffice is a free office suite that includes a spreadsheet, word processor, and presentation program, making it a suitable free Microsoft Office alternative. 

The application that most resembles Word is called TextMaker, while Presentations and PlanMaker can be used as alternatives to PowerPoint and Excel, respectively.

FreeOffice requires Windows 7 or newer, macOS 10.10 or newer, or Linux (32-bit or 64-bit).

Screenshot of SoftMaker FreeOffice PlanMaker with an open spreadsheet
What We Like

  • Supports spell check in all three programs.

  • Can install select programs (e.g., just TextMaker).

  • Opens and saves to popular file types found in other office programs.

  • Completely free for both personal and commercial use.

What We Don't Like

  • Took two attempts to install correctly.

  • PlanMaker doesn't support auto spell check.

FreeOffice File Formats

FreeOffice fully supports some file types, meaning that it can both open and save back to the format. Some are only acceptable when opening the file, and others are supported only when saving the document.

TextMaker:

  • Open and save to: DOC, DOCX, DOT, DOTX, HTML, ODT, PSW, PWD, RTF, TMD, TMDX, TMV, TMVX, TXT
  • Open: DOCM, DOTM, HTM, OTT, SXW, WPD, WRI, XHTML
  • Save to: EPUB, PDF

PlanMaker:

  • Open and save to: CSV, DBF, DIF, PMDX, PMV, PMVX, RTF, SLK, TXT, XLS, XLSM, XLSX, XLT, XLTM, XLTX
  • Open: ODS, OTS, PMW, PRN, SDC
  • Save to: HTM, PDF, PMD, TMD

Presentation:

  • Open and save to: POT, POTX, PPS, PPSX, PPT, PPTX, PRD, PRDX, PPSX, PRV, PRVX
  • Open: POTM, PPSM, PPTM, PRS
  • Save to: PDF, PTF

Note that popular formats found in Microsoft Office programs, such as DOCX, PPTX, and XLSX, are fully supported in FreeOffice.

Program Features

Here are some of the features found across the three parts of this office suite:

  • Insert tables, pictures, text, lines, and shapes.
  • Use dozens of formulas related to finance, date and time, statistics, math, databases, and more.
  • Use one tool in Presentations to replace a specific font with a different one.
  • Generate a table of contents and create a footnote in TextMaker.
  • Create slideshow animations by picking from categories like motions, complex, and transformations.
  • Reference external sources in PlanMaker.
  • Change a document's page margins, orientation, and size.
  • Adjust an object's line thickness, color, and style in Presentations.
  • Tinker with really specific options, such as whether to automatically capitalize a sentence's first letter, auto-correct when two uppercase letters are accidentally typed together, use smart quotes, or format URLs as hyperlinks.
  • Set up automatic saving as frequently as every 1 minute.
  • When exporting to PDF, choose to save the whole document, only a selection, or specific worksheets (in PlanMaker). You can also define the shape quality, JPEG compression level, and encryption.

FreeOffice vs. Microsoft Office

While Microsoft Office is more expensive than SoftMaker FreeOffice (since it's free), don't assume MS Office is a better choice. Evaluate your needs and compare them to each suite's features to see which is right for you.

Both suites deliver sound core office programs (spreadsheet, presentation maker, and word processor). Most of the acceptable file types are interchangeable and the corresponding programs share similar features. MS Office boasts an email client, communications platform, and note-taking software, as well.

Take a look at the individual features of each suite before deciding what's right for your needs.

FreeOffice is 100% free to use, while Microsoft Office is not. However, a free trial of Microsoft Office is available if you'd like to try it for a month at no cost.

Final Thoughts

Unlike some other free office suites, FreeOffice can automatically identify spelling mistakes in Presentations and TextMaker (manual spell check works in PlanMaker).

SoftMaker FreeOffice can open a wide variety of file formats, even the new ones created by MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Each program's interface is easy to use, and the product offers a wide range of tools and functions that make it a sound, usable office suite.

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