How to Get Microsoft 365 for Free in 2026

Short answer: Microsoft's free tier has no desktop apps, but two official routes cost nothing, and a one-month trial delays the bill. A free Microsoft account opens the web versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint with 5 GB of storage. Educators and students with an eligible education email get Office 365 A1 for free. A one-month trial of Family, Personal or Premium renews unless cancelled. Without one of those routes, Personal costs $99.99 a year or $9.99 a month as of October 2026.

Toolradar data: Toolradar tracks 2,684 productivity tools (subcategories included) as of October 25, 2026, and 63% of them are free, freemium or open source. Microsoft's free tier is narrower than that average suggests: it covers the web apps and nothing installed on a PC or Mac.

The search phrase suggests desktop Word and Excel without a monthly bill. Microsoft's pages allow less than that. Each route below states what it includes and its terms, then gives a view on who should pay. The same question for Claude is answered in our Claude Pro guide, and other guides sit in the learning hub.

The free routes at a glance

Microsoft 365 for the web

Microsoft's free apps page offers "Get free access to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint using Microsoft 365 for the web," and it lists "5 GB of cloud storage" alongside the apps. The support page on free and paid apps sets the boundary: "As a Free user, only the free web versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are available to you." The same page says that to reach the apps in a browser, "all you need to do is to sign in to Microsoft365.com with a Microsoft account …"

This route fits a student drafting essays, a freelancer sending spreadsheets, or a household keeping a simple budget. It works as long as the files fit inside the free allowance and nobody needs installed software. Skip it if your work depends on desktop programs or on more storage than the free allowance. Web apps are a good fit for documents you write and share, and a weak fit for anything that needs a local install.

Mobile apps and the 10.1-inch line

Microsoft's support page states: "Basic editing only on tablets or phones under 10.1 inches." Read plainly, that covers phones and tablets below that screen size. The page does not say what free users get on larger tablets, so the browser version from the section above is the route to check there.

Check your screen size before you rely on the mobile apps. A 12-inch tablet, for example, sits outside the line, and the browser is the free route on that device. The screen-size limit applies to the mobile apps, not to the browser.

Education: Office 365 A1 and the college offer

Microsoft's education page says: "Educators and students with an eligible education email address can get Office 365 A1 for free." The page also carries a separate promotion: "For a limited time, use your college email and get 12 months of Microsoft 365 Premium on us." Microsoft's home page lists Premium at $199.99 a year as of October 2026, so the promotion equals a full year at that yearly price for anyone it applies to.

If you have an eligible education email, start here before you pay for anything. Use the school address you already receive, because the eligibility rule is tied to that email. A college email is the route to the Premium promotion, and Microsoft describes that offer as limited-time, so do not wait on it.

The one-month trial

Microsoft's trial page advertises a "1-month free trial" for Family, and the Personal card reads "Try free for 1 month." The trial terms say the subscription renews, "unless cancelled in Microsoft account." A free month stays free if you cancel before the paid plan starts, so write down the end date the day you sign up.

The trial is a good test for a household that wants Family anyway. It is a poor test for someone whose work the browser apps already cover, because the web route is free and has no renewal to manage.

Family: a cost split, not a free plan

Microsoft's home page lists Family for "1 to 6 people (AI for subscription owner only)." The AI features stay with the owner, and the price covers the plan, not each person. Split the yearly $129.99 between two people and each pays $65.00 a year (rounded to the cent). Two people on Family pay less each than one person pays for Personal, and the next section gives the figures.

Storage is changing on this plan. Microsoft's support page states that starting October 8, 2026, all new (including expired and repurchased) Microsoft 365 Family and Premium subscribers get 2 TB of pooled OneDrive storage. Existing Family and Premium subscribers get the same from May 2, 2027, when their subscriptions renew. Pooled storage means one allowance shared by everyone on the plan, which matters if two people both store large photo libraries.

What Microsoft 365 costs in 2026

Prices come from Microsoft's home page, in US dollars, as of October 2026:

The Family price covers the whole plan for up to six people. Yearly billing saves money on both paid plans. Twelve monthly payments would cost $119.88 for Personal and $155.88 for Family so the yearly prices save $19.89 and $25.89. Premium adds to Family and costs $199.99 a year. Toolradar's Microsoft 365 pricing page lists business plans priced per user, from $6 a user a month, and does not list Personal or Family.

The billing basis changes the answer. A full year of Personal is cheaper billed yearly than billed monthly, so the yearly plan is the better buy for anyone who will keep the subscription running. A short project of a few months is cheaper on monthly billing, and the monthly plan lets you stop at any renewal.

Microsoft 365 prices: January 2025 capture and October 2026

Two captures of Microsoft's home page print different prices. The first is a Wayback Machine copy from January 1, 2025, which prints each price with its billing period.

Source: Microsoft 365 home page, Wayback Machine copy of January 1, 2025.

Personal's yearly price rose $30 and its monthly price rose $3. Family rose by the same amounts. Basic reads the same in both copies. A guide that quotes the January 2025 Personal price is out of date, and a buyer who budgets from an older article will undercount by $30 a year.

What users report

Three Hacker News comments touch the same split between the free web apps and the paid desktop software. Three dated comments:

• "Web Word is free, like Google Docs is. (Meaning, it costs your credentials and data rather than your money)." Hacker News, March 2, 2022: comment
• "The Microsoft 365 app is free, you don't need a subscription to use many features of the mobile Excel app." Hacker News, June 16, 2023: comment
• "I use LibreOffice instead of Microsoft 365. It is free and can load and save DOCX files. Plus I use LibreOffice in GNU/Linux so it is cross-platform and compatible." Hacker News, January 9, 2025: comment

These are user opinions, not Microsoft's terms, so weigh them as signals. The first comment names the trade-off: the free web version is paid for with your data. The second describes the phone case. The third points to the desktop alternative, which you install on your own computer.

Free alternatives and their limits

Google's plans page states that "All Google accounts come with up to 15 GB of storage, which is included as part of the total storage offered in other Google One plans." That is three times the storage in Microsoft's free web tier, so storage is the one number the two free accounts share directly, and Google's is larger.

The two free accounts do different jobs. Microsoft's free account gives you Word, Excel and PowerPoint in a browser, and Google's gives you more room for files. If you are choosing between them for storage alone, Google's number is the stronger one. If you need Word and Excel files, the Microsoft web apps are the free route Microsoft describes. For the wider field, see Microsoft 365 on Toolradar, Google Workspace on Toolradar, and Google Drive on Toolradar. For other options, see the Microsoft 365 alternatives list. Microsoft's app marketplace is a separate question, covered in the AppSource explainer and the AppSource vs Azure Marketplace comparison.

Who should pay and who should skip

• Skip paying if you hold an eligible education email. Office 365 A1 is free for educators and students with an eligible education email address, and a college email brings the limited-time Premium offer.
• Skip paying if the browser apps cover your work and the free storage holds your files. The free route has no renewal date to track.
• Pay for Personal if you need desktop apps. Microsoft's support page says the desktop versions install on a PC or Mac, and Personal covers one person.
• Pay for Family if two or more people will use it. Two people on Family each pay less than one Personal plan costs, and the storage pool is shared.
• Skip the trial if the web apps already cover you. The renewal wording means a forgotten trial turns into a charge.

For most people without a school email, start with the web apps. Move to Personal the day you need desktop software, and choose Family when a second person is real.

What the free routes leave out

Microsoft's free routes do not include installed Word, Excel or PowerPoint, and the free storage is 5 GB. Basic editing in the mobile apps stops at tablets or phones under 10.1 inches. This guide does not cover shared logins, license keys or cracked installers, because Microsoft offers none of them as a route.

Questions people ask

Is Microsoft 365 free?

Partly. A free Microsoft account gives you the web versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and Microsoft's support page says free users get those web versions. Desktop apps need a paid plan.

Is there a free Microsoft 365 for students?

Yes, if your school gives you an eligible education email. Microsoft's education page says educators and students with that address can get Office 365 A1 for free. A college email also brings 12 months of Microsoft 365 Premium in a limited-time offer.

How much did Microsoft 365 Personal cost before?

Personal's yearly price was $69.99 in the January 1, 2025 archived copy of Microsoft's home page. Microsoft's October 2026 home page prints a yearly price $30 higher than that copy.

Does the one-month trial renew?

Yes, unless you cancel. Microsoft's trial page says the subscription renews "unless cancelled in Microsoft account," so cancel in your account before the trial ends if you do not want the paid plan.

Can a family share one subscription?

Yes, on the Family plan, which covers 1 to 6 people. The AI features stay with the subscription owner. Two people sharing the yearly price pay $65.00 each (rounded to the cent).