Ends Today: Snag a $30 Microsoft Office 2021 Lifetime License – CNET [CNET]

Deal of the day: Act now and avoid paying monthly fees for Microsoft’s Office apps.

If you’re looking for productivity tools, it’s difficult to match the Microsoft Office suite of apps. Office is the industry standard when it comes to word processing, spreadsheets, mail and more — and it’s used by businesses, schools and individuals around the world, making it an essential part of most people’s lives at one time or another. You’ve probably used Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook before, but Office apps aren’t always included with computer purchases, and getting access on your own can carry a hefty price tag. 

There is a barebones freebie version of Office out there, but assuming that basic version of Office won’t work for you (see below), your options essentially come down to paying a rolling monthly or yearly fee for a Microsoft 365 subscription or opting instead for a one-time Office license with the full panoply of apps, which typically costs as much as $430. But until June 1, StackSocial is offering a Microsoft Office 2021 license for just $30. That’s around 86% off its usual price. Better yet, this license, which is available for either Windows or Mac, is a one-time purchase that grants you unlimited access with no recurring charges. 

StackSocial’s deal is a great bargain when compared with the online Microsoft 365 subscription suite that starts at $7 a month or $70 a year for individuals. There’s a free online version of Microsoft Office that you can use as well, but it isn’t nearly as feature complete. (Separately — and notably — Apple users should note that Outlook is now a free app for the Mac.)

Now, a deal this good comes with some caveats. First, this key is good only for a single computer, so you won’t be able to install it on various machines in your home, and if your current computer happens to die, you could run into a snag when trying to transfer it. Likewise, you’re passing up on other benefits you’d get as a 365 subscriber. You won’t get any OneDrive Cloud Storage, nor will you get the fancy new cloud-based AI features like Microsoft Copilot. And while the apps should continue to work as long as your computer does, Microsoft’s support for this version of Office ends on Oct. 13, 2026. 

To that last point: Though this is listed as a “lifetime license” — that is, the lifetime of the computer you installed it on — it’s worth noting there’s always a risk that Microsoft could terminate the license. But versions of Stack’s deal have been running for more than a year — the one we bought in early 2022, for instance, still works fine. At this cost, it takes a little over four months for you to get a full return on the investment compared with buying the subscription, so the risk factor isn’t super high here.