Microsoft Office 2024 will be available without subscription
Microsoft has announced that the next subscription-free version of its Office suite will launch later this year. A commercial preview of Office LTSC 2024 will be available from next month, with a full launch scheduled for later in the year.
The Office Long-Term Servicing Channel is supported for five years, and it holds great appeal for the many businesses that are not keen on the idea of software subscriptions. There will also be a consumer-focused version of the suite, Office 2024, available via a traditional "one-time purchase" model.
Microsoft reveals pricing details for Office 2021
We may be in the tail end of 2021, but Microsoft is on the verge of releasing the latest edition of the non-subscription version of its office suite bearing this year in its name. Microsoft Office 2021 is due for release on October 5, the same day as Windows 11, and will be available for Windows and macOS.
If you want Office without a subscription, you will have to be willing to pay upfront for Office 2021. Microsoft has now revealed that pricing starts at $150, but you could pay much more than this.
Microsoft is launching Office 2021 on the same day as Windows 11 for subscription haters
While Microsoft would prefer that anyone in the market for office software paid for an Office 365 / Microsoft 365 subscription, the company is well-aware that "some customers aren't ready to move to the cloud".
More specifically, some customers do not want to pay a subscription to use software, and this is precisely why the subscription-free Office 2021 exists. Microsoft has just made the Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) version available for commercial users, but the consumer version is due to launch on October 5, the same day as Windows 11.