

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. Students and staff can access a free version. 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. Use Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more for free on the web Office is now Microsoft 365 Sign in Sign up for free Want Microsoft 365 See plans and pricing Anywhere access Whether you’re at work or on the go, create your best work on your favorite browser. Office 365 is a smaller package of cloud and software applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. 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. 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. You won't get any OneDrive Cloud Storage, nor will you get the fancy new cloud-based AI features like Microsoft Copilot.

Likewise, you're passing up on other benefits you'd get as a 365 subscriber. 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.

Now, a deal this good comes with some caveats.
