Last Chance: Snag Microsoft Office for a $30 One-Time Fee – CNET [CNET]

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Nix recurring monthly fees with this limited time offer and get a lifetime license to Microsoft Office 2021 at 86% less than its usual price.

Adrian Marlow Contributor

Adrian is a deals and updates writer on the Commerce team at CNET. With a love of books, entertainment, travel, tabletop games and, yes, even fandom, they can often be found at concerts, RenFest, Dragon Con or at home binge-watching everything from new hits to classics. After graduating from Kennesaw State with a B.A. in English and Professional Writing, Adrian had a short gig in casting, followed by a long stint teaching English lit, theater and film. Adrian enjoys sharing insights and favorite finds with their readers.

If you’re looking for productivity tools, the Microsoft Office suite of apps remains the industry-standard. The programs are used across businesses, schools and individuals in countries all over the world. And for most of us, these apps have become an essential part of using a computer, especially for those that use word processing, spreadsheets and mail often. You’ve probably used Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook before, but if you’re purchasing your own computer, Office apps aren’t always included — and trying to get access on your own can carry a hefty price. 

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 for a limited time, StackSocial is offering a Microsoft Office 2021 license for just $30 as part of its Deal Days sale, which is offering huge savings on a variety of digital and physical products alike right now. That means you’ll save over 85% off the usual price of Microsoft Office. 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. Just be sure you make your purchase before the deal expires July 14.

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.

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