iWork is an office suite of applications created by Apple Inc. for its macOS and iOS operating systems, and also available cross-platform through the iCloud website. It includes Keynote, a presentation program; the word processing and desktop publishing application Pages; and the spreadsheet application Numbers.
In this manner, what is the Mac version of Excel?
That would be equivalent. Otherwise, there are a few spreadsheet apps for Mac, including Numbers from Apple’s iWork office suite, LibreOffice (free and open source), and others. Excel is a spreadsheet, and exists in a Mac version (in fact, the Mac version predates the Windows version).
Can you open an Excel spreadsheet on a Mac?
Macs do not have a native program for opening XLS files, although spreadsheet software programs made for the Mac can handle XLS files, including Apple’s IWork Numbers, a Mac version of Microsoft Excel and OpenOffice’s Spreadsheet. You must purchase Numbers and Excel to use them on the Mac; OpenOffice is a free program.
How do you make a spreadsheet on a Mac?
Create a New Spreadsheet
- Step 1: Launch Numbers. Click Numbers. Click the Numbers icon in the Dock.
- Step 2: Choose a Template. Select a template. Select a template from the list and then click Choose.
- Step 3: Compose. You are now ready to insert data.
Write Your Answer
Apple iWork includes Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iPhoto, Garage Band, iCloud and iMovie. These apps are effectively the equivalent of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive and then some. The iWork suite includes apps that Microsoft Office doesn’t even have and it’s free on new iPads.Mar 30, 2014 read more
Im new to the Apple word and have just purchased an MacBook Pro. Im slowly finding my way around however i am missing Microsoft word. Does anyone have any good suggestions for the Apple equivalent. read more
Apple Pages is the closest thing they have to MS Word, which is a component of iWork.It’s not as «feature packed» as Word, but for most things it gets the job done. read more
Hello. I’m just making the switch to mac. What is the mac equivalent to MS Word? Also MS Office, Publisher, Excel, and Paint? I’m sick and tired of viruses and crashing on windows, so I really don’t want to put windows programs on my macs. Thanks, Mike
macbook white 2.0ghz, 2gig, wireless mighty mouse Mac OS X (10.4.8) ibook 500, ibook 366
Posted on Oct 15, 2006 11:00 AM
The Mac Business Unit at Microsoft have written numerous version of Office for Mac (Apple Store — $399). These are actually pretty good (better than the Windows versions IMHO) although Mac users only get Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Entourage (our version of Outlook) (No Publisher, Visio, Paint, Access). These aren’t windows programmes but full blown Mac programmes. If you regularly work with people who use Office on PCs this may be your best bet. Don’t buy the Pro version — this only adds the PC Emulator VirtualPC and as a MacBook owner BootCamp is the better option if you ever come over all funny again and feel the need to go back to the dark side.
As Thomas states NeoOffice is a free version that is largely compatible with Office files but it is a little rough around the edges (but at free versus $400)you may wish to tolerate that.
AppleWorks (From the Apple Store Online $79) is an excellent programme that used to be bundled with (mostly consumer) Macs it included Drawing, Painting, Word Processor, Database, Spreadsheet and Presentation components and was very useful although it used odd file formats so converting to send to PC users (or even other Mac users) was more of a challenge. iWorks is a more modern suite and is Universal (Apple Works is PowerPC chip only so will work in emulation on your MacBook — shouldn’t be a problem though. iWorks (From Apple Online $79)only includes Pages (Word Processing) and Keynote (Presentation). So if you’re after a whole package you’re out of luck with Apple branded software.
mrtotes
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Posted on Oct 15, 2006 4:05 PM
Although there are ways to use Microsoft Office For Free on a Mac which includes Microsoft Word, we’ve looked at the best free and paid Microsoft Word alternatives for Mac of 2023.
Limited Offer: You can currently get 85% off a Microsoft Office For Mac Home & Business Lifetime License for $49.99 (normally $349.99) or 89% off 2 Lifetime Licenses for $74.99 (normally $698.00– sold out) for a limited period.
All of these apps can open and edit both DOC and DOCX files – the standard format now used in MS Word that is included in Microsoft Office For Mac which is currently being rebranded Microsoft 365.
These word processors provide a significant saving on MS Word and in some case like are not only free, but even better in our opinion.
In fact, you’ll find many of these word processing software for Mac are free to use or open source so they don’t cost a cent.
Some are standalone word processors and others are part of alternatives to Microsoft Office for Mac.
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Quick Navigation
- Is There A Free Version of Microsoft Word For Mac?
- 1. Pages
- 2. Mellel
- 3. Write 2
- 4. Nisus Writer Pro
- 5. Google Docs
- 6. Bean
- 7. Growly Write
- 8. OmmWriter
- 9. OpenOffice
- 10. NeoOffice
Is There A Free Version of Microsoft Word For Mac?
There is no free version of Microsoft Word For Mac although there are a few workarounds to use Microsoft Office for Mac for free which includes Microsoft Word.
Note that Microsoft Office is currently being rebranded as Microsoft 365 but still includes Microsoft Word although you can still make a one off purchase of Microsoft Office For Mac.
The closest thing to a free version of Word For Mac is Apple Pages, which can be downloaded for free from the Mac App Store.
Pages is also part of Apple iWork which is Apple’s alternative to Microsoft Office For Mac and includes Apple Numbers for spreadsheets and Apple Keynote for presentations.
Here then are the best word processors for Mac that are excellent alternatives to Microsoft Word for Mac in order of ranking.
1. Pages
Pages is Apple’s free answer to Microsoft Word and over the years it has become a very competitive alternative.
Although Pages was originally part of the iWork suite, Apple now allows you to download it for free from the Mac App Store.
Even better, for those that have upgraded to OS X 10.10 Yosemite, Pages is free too as Apple has made the entire iWork suite free for Yosemite users.
As you would expect from an Apple product, Pages is extremely slick with some fantastic looking templates that make your work and documents look really professional.
If you’ve got an iCloud account, you can also share Pages documents to it and continue editing on your iPad via iCloud.com.
In an effort to work on all platforms and appeal to all users though, Pages has had to sacrifice certain features on Mac and it sometimes feels a bit “lightweight” and less professional than Word.
Pages also takes some adapting to if you’re only used to using Word. Menus are laid out differently and the “logic” behind it is slightly different to Word but when you get used to it, it’s amazingly easy to use with very smart results.
You can read our full review of Pages for more.
2. Mellel
Mellel is a powerful word processor that focuses on scholars and those doing technical writing.
However, it’s a very suitable Word alternative, especially if you need multilingual support as Mellel supports Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and Syriac.
Some users feel Mellel is more tailored for professional writers than Word for Mac which tries to cater for everyone. Mellel is very responsive and fast and makes referencing and creating a table of contents for large documents easy.
Although Mellel saves documents in its own format, you can save it in .docx, pdf, rtf and most other formats.
There’s also a Lite version of Mellel which lacks some of the more powerful Word-like features of the full version but is still an excellent lightweight alternative to Word.
3. Write 2
Write 2 is an extremely lightweight and slick Word alternative for Mac that looks particularly good on Retina displays and makes writing a pleasure.
It doesn’t claim to be a full alternative to Word but it does provide all of the essential functionality in a more Mac like interface.
It’s easy to use and if you only need to perform simple word processing, it’s an excellent option for writing. It’s also integrated with iCloud so you can work wherever you are.
4. Nisus Writer Pro
Nisus Writer has been around for over 20 years and many faithful users prefer it to Microsoft Word.
Nisus Writer Pro is suitable for all types of writing but is particularly good for essays and technical writing as it supports cross referencing, line numbering, table of contents etc.
It’s not exactly cheap at $65.00 but it’s a very straightforward, slick and functional word processor that offers much of what Microsoft Word does.
5. Google Docs
If you want a very simple and free online alternative to Word without having to install or download anything, then Google Docs is your solution.
Google Docs is now quite a powerful suite and the word processor does much of what Word can do.
It’s obviously more limited than MS Word in some areas but if you want a hassle free solution for simple opening and editing of DOCX documents and editing them on any device, Google Docs is perfect.
Google Docs isn’t very good when it comes to adding images and annotations and if your documents are confidential, it’s maybe not the best solution as they are stored on Google’s servers.
6. Bean
Bean is probably the most popular free alternative to Word on Mac.
Bean is an excellent free word processor that can open Word documents, save documents in Word format and generally do most of the things you can do in Word.
Of course, it’s nowhere near as slick or powerful but it’s a very accomplished word processor for free.
Bean works with macOS 11 Big Sur and there are older versions available for download for older versions of macOS.
7. Growly Write
Growly Write is a relatively new free alternative to Word. It’s made by the same developers that created one of the best OneNote for Mac alternatives available, Growly Notes.
Growly Write takes up far less space than Word yet offers many of the same features without being bloated. Growly Write allows you to add pictures, columns, tables and has a clear and easy to use interface.
The format panel on the right puts all of Growly Write’s features and tools at your fingertips and it can also export to PDF.
8. OmmWriter
OmmWriter works on Mac, PC and iPad and is aimed at those that need a simple and soothing Word alternative with no flashy features or distractions.
OmmWriter uses relaxing backgrounds and a simple interface to help you focus on writing. It also has calming audiotracks and keystroke sounds which depending on the person, will either soothe or annoy the hell out of you.
The free version of OmmWriter has 3 backgrounds 3 audio tracks and 3 keystroke sounds. The paid version has more of each and costs a minimum modest donation of $5.11.
If you’re looking for an extremely basic word processor for Mac that focuses just on the writing, OmmWriter is for you.
9. OpenOffice
OpenOffice for Mac is a completely free alternative to Microsoft Office for Mac and the equivalent of Word in OpenOffice for Mac is Writer.
OpenOffice was originally created by Oracle but is now developed by Apache and one of the most widely used MS Office alternatives on Mac.
Writer is probably the closest thing you’ll get to Word for free and opens pretty much any format, including DOCX. OpenOffice is fast, stable and functional and if you need a complete free replacement for MS Office for Mac, it’s a perfect solution.
On the downside, OpenOffice is based on Java which is notoriously problematic and insecure on Mac. If you choose OpenOffice, just make sure you save your work regularly but our advice is avoid anything that requires Java.
NeoOffice (below) offers most of the features of OpenOffice but without the need for Java.
10. NeoOffice
NeoOffice is an adaption of OpenOffice specifically for Mac without using Java and with a much slicker Mac like interface.
As with OpenOffice, the Word for Mac equivalent in NeoOffice is Writer. NeoOffice also has some added functionality compared to OpenOffice such as support for full screen mode, it’s slightly quicker than OpenOffice and it has all-round better integration with OS X.
NeoOffice used to be free but now requires a mandatory $10 donation to activate it which is still a very modest amount when you consider you’re getting an entire Office suite.
It’s fairly easy to leave Windows behind. Just buy a Mac, take a couple of days to settle in, and never look back. But for Microsoft Office users who don’t have a Microsoft 365 subscription, the need to buy Office for Mac again can be a costly hassle.
If you work in a traditional office environment that runs on Excel and Word, you might have to bite the bullet to appease your coworkers. But if you’ve outgrown that world and still need to edit and send Office documents every now and then, you have alternative options.
If you’re not ready to buy Microsoft Office, here are your best free Office and Microsoft Word alternatives for Mac.
1. Google Suite
If you’re going to let go of the Microsoft world and you’re looking for a free word processor for Mac, your best bet is to join the Google alliance. Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are the Mac and Windows equivalents and the three direct alternatives to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint—they’re essentially free Office for your Mac!
There’s no real alternative to Outlook beyond Gmail, and you can get OneNote on Mac for free.
Google’s suite is really good and integrates well with your Google account. You’ll be able to open an Excel file you received via Gmail in Google Sheets, which is essentially just a free version of Excel.
You can easily import Microsoft Office files to work on them, then export them again in Microsoft Office formats to pass them around. And if what you’re doing is fairly basic, with standard fonts and formatting, you can get away with it. The other party will never find out that you’re not using Microsoft Office properly.
In some ways, Google Docs is more powerful than Microsoft Word. There’s an extensive add-on gallery, beautiful templates, superior research tools built-in, and Google search capabilities to boot. All of these amazing features essentially make Google Docs a free version of Word for Mac.
Plus, there’s the advantage of Google’s cloud prowess. Collaborating with multiple users simultaneously in a document is pure joy. It’s a little benefit, but it does wonders for productivity.
The entire suite is free and you get 15GB of storage included. The only problem is that there’s no real desktop app for any of these (though you can work offline on documents in Chrome, using the Offline mode).
The accompanying apps for iPhone and iPad are great too.
Visit: Google Docs | Google Sheets | Google Slides (Free)
2. LibreOffice
LibreOffice is widely recognized as the best open-source alternative to the Microsoft Office suite. This means it’s completely free and available on a host of platforms. It’s by far one of the best Microsoft Office alternatives for Mac.
If you’re used to the Microsoft Office user interface (pre-Ribbon era), it won’t take you long to adjust to LibreOffice. Unlike Google’s apps, the LibreOffice suite comes with featured-packed offline desktop apps with all the pro features you expect.
To make the deal even sweeter, LibreOffice recently added an online component. So you can sync files from Google Drive or OneDrive and edit them right in LibreOffice (there’s no collaboration feature, though).
LibreOffice also does a good job in regards to formatting when importing Microsoft Office documents. Even complex Excel spreadsheets imported into LibreOffice Calc work as they should.
LibreOffice actually grew out of OpenOffice, which used to be the de facto alternative to Microsoft Office. But OpenOffice hasn’t seen any meaningful updates recently, and its management is considering retiring the project. So we advise you to stay away from OpenOffice. Conversely, LibreOffice’s track record in the recent past has been great.
Download: LibreOffice (Free)
3. iWork Suite
Included with your Mac is the iWork suite: Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. These are Apple’s own alternatives to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Pages, for instance, is one of the best Word alternatives for Mac.
As these are Mac-centric apps, the UI is quite different. Instead of being top-heavy, the options show up in a contextual menu on the side. And you don’t have as many options as the Microsoft Office suite. Since all three apps are now matured, all the basics are covered.
Once you get used to them, they’re actually pleasant to use (something we can’t necessarily say about Microsoft Office). While customization options are limited, everything that’s available is quite polished.
When you create something in Keynote, chances are you’ll end up creating something beautiful. The same goes with Pages—moving text, images, and graphs around is a seamless experience that doesn’t make you want to pull your hair out.
The iWork suite lets you import and export documents in Microsoft Office formats (it will save to the iWork format by default, though). And as long as you don’t use a Mac-specific font, going back-and-forth with Office documents shouldn’t be a big problem.
iWork also has online collaboration options but, frankly, I wouldn’t recommend using them. They’re nowhere near as reliable as Google’s offering.
Download: Pages | Numbers | Keynote (Free)
4. Office Online
When nothing else will do, and you still need a free version of Office for Mac, just open Office.com. It essentially gives you access to Microsoft Office for Mac but it’s free, though with limited features. Office Online is Microsoft’s free and basic Microsoft Office service, which works in any browser.
While the feature set is limited, the basics of document editing, spreadsheet formulas, and presentation options are all covered. You’ll get access to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for free. Just go to the Office link below and then select Sign Up for the Free Version of Office.
Visit: Office Online (Free)
5. Edit Office Documents in Dropbox
Dropbox’s partnership with Microsoft means you can open a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document shared with you on Dropbox. You don’t need an Office 365 license, but you’ll require a free Microsoft account.
Using this option opens your document in Office Online.
Visit: Dropbox (Free, subscription available)
PowerPoint is powerful, but it’s also pretty old-school. If you want to stand out with your presentations, try some more modern online presentation tools:
- Slides: This is my personal favorite for creating beautiful presentations easily. The free account lets you create and present documents online. To export, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid account.
- Prezi: While this service is geared more towards startups, the visual tools offered by Prezi are beyond anything you can get with PowerPoint.
- Canva: Canva is an online image editor, but it has an extensive library of presentation templates. Plus, Canva gives you all the important tools for creating a customized presentation.
7. Embrace Markdown
This is an idea purely out of the left field. If you have given up Windows and are embracing the Mac platform, you must have started appreciating macOS’s simplicity by now. If you want more of that for creating and editing plain text documents, you should try using Markdown.
Markdown is a syntax like HTML, but it’s much simpler. When you use a Markdown app to write, you don’t get lost in dozens of menu options. All the formatting happens using shortcodes. So, for example, to make a word italic, you wrap it with asterisks.
You can create a complex formatted document without ever moving your hands away from the keyboard. Plus, Markdown exports as clean HTML, and you can generate beautiful PDFs using apps like Ulysses.
If Needed, Use Microsoft Office Without Paying for It
Buying the latest version of Microsoft Office will cost you a few hundred dollars (or a subscription to Microsoft 365). Most of the time, the options listed above will suffice for you.
Google Docs works as a great alternative to Word, and the same goes for Sheets and Excel. If you’re looking for offline alternatives, LibreOffice should be more than enough.
But there might be times when you have to use Office for a particular task or for a limited period of time. In this case, you may be able to pick up a cheap Office license, or with some research, you could get Word for Mac for free.