Since Softmaker Office Standard 2021 is available free, an interesting question is whether it is worth paying $20 to upgrade to the Professional 2024 version. What do you get by upgrading from 2021 to 2024 plus from Standard to Professional?
The second question is, what is the difference between Standard 2021 and the current version of FreeOffice (2024).
@Joseph said:
Since Softmaker Office Standard 2021 is available free, an interesting question is whether it is worth paying $20 to upgrade to the Professional 2024 version. What do you get by upgrading from 2021 to 2024 plus from Standard to Professional?
The second question is, what is the difference between Standard 2021 and the current version of FreeOffice (2024).
I think SM2021 will continue to work for Win11, so no need to upgrade for now imho. Free Office 2024 is likely also good. You could probably also ask them via support. I'm sure Sales will mention some good reasons to upgrade.
@Joseph said:
Since Softmaker Office Standard 2021 is available free, an interesting question is whether it is worth paying $20 to upgrade to the Professional 2024 version. What do you get by upgrading from 2021 to 2024 plus from Standard to Professional?
The second question is, what is the difference between Standard 2021 and the current version of FreeOffice (2024).
Another approach could be: What features are you missing in SM2021 or FO2024, and are they included in SM2024? A quick Google search sounded like only SM NX (the sub version) has remarkably new features while SM2024 is just more recent with few optimizations. FO2024 might also be just sufficient.
@Joseph said:
Since Softmaker Office Standard 2021 is available free, an interesting question is whether it is worth paying $20 to upgrade to the Professional 2024 version. What do you get by upgrading from 2021 to 2024 plus from Standard to Professional?
The second question is, what is the difference between Standard 2021 and the current version of FreeOffice (2024).
Another approach could be: What features are you missing in SM2021 or FO2024, and are they included in SM2024? A quick Google search sounded like only SM NX (the sub version) has remarkably new features while SM2024 is just more recent with few optimizations. FO2024 might also be just sufficient.
That's true. Though, if both SM2021 and FO2024 are both free, from the best I can tell SM2021 is much more feature rich than FO2024.
@Joseph said:
Since Softmaker Office Standard 2021 is available free, an interesting question is whether it is worth paying $20 to upgrade to the Professional 2024 version. What do you get by upgrading from 2021 to 2024 plus from Standard to Professional?
The second question is, what is the difference between Standard 2021 and the current version of FreeOffice (2024).
Another approach could be: What features are you missing in SM2021 or FO2024, and are they included in SM2024? A quick Google search sounded like only SM NX (the sub version) has remarkably new features while SM2024 is just more recent with few optimizations. FO2024 might also be just sufficient.
That's true. Though, if both SM2021 and FO2024 are both free, from the best I can tell SM2021 is much more feature rich than FO2024.
Yup, I'd probably also use that one. Upgrade could make sense if you need more devices than are included in the free license.
@Joseph said:
Since Softmaker Office Standard 2021 is available free, an interesting question is whether it is worth paying $20 to upgrade to the Professional 2024 version. What do you get by upgrading from 2021 to 2024 plus from Standard to Professional?
The second question is, what is the difference between Standard 2021 and the current version of FreeOffice (2024).
Another approach could be: What features are you missing in SM2021 or FO2024, and are they included in SM2024? A quick Google search sounded like only SM NX (the sub version) has remarkably new features while SM2024 is just more recent with few optimizations. FO2024 might also be just sufficient.
That's true. Though, if both SM2021 and FO2024 are both free, from the best I can tell SM2021 is much more feature rich than FO2024.
Yup, I'd probably also use that one. Upgrade could make sense if you need more devices than are included in the free license.
You can place as many orders as you need for additional no cost licenses of SM2021.
Nextcloud, Ionos and other partners are developing an open-source office suite under the project name „Euro-Office“ as an alternative to the market-dominant Microsoft Office. The software is scheduled to be released in a first stable version in the summer. Ionos and Nextcloud announced this jointly in Berlin on Friday. „The product is intended for the entire market, from small businesses to the public sector,’“said Ionos CEO Achim Weiß.
Nextcloud and Ionos justify the decision for the Only-Office fork with its more modern architecture and code base compared to LibreOffice and its browser variant Collabora. „Libre Office is 35 years old and no longer the most innovative and fluid,“ said Nextcloud CEO Frank Karlitschek. „You can also notice that in the browser.“ However, they want to continue working with Collabora and possibly incorporate Collabora components into Euro-Office.
The two partners are not starting from scratch, but have forked the components of OnlyOffice available as open-source code and want to build on them. In the summer, the software is then intended to replace the previous office component Collabora in Nextcloud and the Ionos Nextcloud Workspace. A ‘technical preview’ is already available on GitHub.
OnlyOffice has roots in Russia. However, this does not pose a security risk for Euro-Office, Ionos and Nextcloud emphasized. The partners have checked the open-source code. According to their own statements, they have rebuilt components that were not available as open source. „We can vouch for our version,“ said Karlitschek. Weiß stressed: „Anyone can check it themselves.“
Nextcloud, Ionos and other partners are developing an open-source office suite under the project name „Euro-Office“ as an alternative to the market-dominant Microsoft Office. The software is scheduled to be released in a first stable version in the summer. Ionos and Nextcloud announced this jointly in Berlin on Friday. „The product is intended for the entire market, from small businesses to the public sector,’“said Ionos CEO Achim Weiß.
Nextcloud and Ionos justify the decision for the Only-Office fork with its more modern architecture and code base compared to LibreOffice and its browser variant Collabora. „Libre Office is 35 years old and no longer the most innovative and fluid,“ said Nextcloud CEO Frank Karlitschek. „You can also notice that in the browser.“ However, they want to continue working with Collabora and possibly incorporate Collabora components into Euro-Office.
The two partners are not starting from scratch, but have forked the components of OnlyOffice available as open-source code and want to build on them. In the summer, the software is then intended to replace the previous office component Collabora in Nextcloud and the Ionos Nextcloud Workspace. A ‘technical preview’ is already available on GitHub.
OnlyOffice has roots in Russia. However, this does not pose a security risk for Euro-Office, Ionos and Nextcloud emphasized. The partners have checked the open-source code. According to their own statements, they have rebuilt components that were not available as open source. „We can vouch for our version,“ said Karlitschek. Weiß stressed: „Anyone can check it themselves.“
@euronodes said:
We use OnlyOffice, bc of great integration with Nextcloud for shared docs
ONLYOFFICE recently discontinued their relationship with Nextcloud. Nextcloud is moving towards supporting Euro-Office, which is a fork of ONLYOFFICE and expected to be released this summer.
@euronodes said:
We use OnlyOffice, bc of great integration with Nextcloud for shared docs
ONLYOFFICE recently discontinued their relationship with Nextcloud. Nextcloud is moving towards supporting Euro-Office, which is a fork of ONLYOFFICE and expected to be released this summer.
Of course.. those pesky russkie devyelopyery. I know its Latvian on paper but majority of devs are still in RU.
Why cant we simply have nice things.
And why do I have this gut feeling that we will be buying support packages from them even more to have the actual OG product with dedicated devs, not managed by commissars...
How the turn tables.
VPS Lisbon&Prague €3.72: 2vCores/4GB/100GB (ZFS SSD or Ceph HA) - Max.oversell 3:1, no CPU cap - Xeon Gold only -https://euronodes.com AS199053
@Joseph said:
Coupon Code o21x24 will get you Softmaker Office 2024 for $9.99 on their website.
Where's the coupon code field hidden?
Edit: All I found was the possibility to provide it like this: https://shop.softmaker.com/?couponcode=o21x24
This does give USD 10'ish price for Softmaker Office 2024 Standard Upgrade … But not sure if that will work unless you have something else than FreeOffice to upgrade from …
@Joseph said:
Coupon Code o21x24 will get you Softmaker Office 2024 for $9.99 on their website.
Where's the coupon code field hidden?
Edit: All I found was the possibility to provide it like this: https://shop.softmaker.com/?couponcode=o21x24
This does give USD 10'ish price for Softmaker Office 2024 Standard Upgrade … But not sure if that will work unless you have something else than FreeOffice to upgrade from …
Yeah, I tried the same:
Upgrade for owners of any version of SoftMaker Office
Not sure that's horribly useful if the reason you don't have 2021 is because it's not free anymore.
"It's a hard life- to be a stick insect." - Karl Pilkington
I do have one licence of Office Home NX, getting renewals at Black Friday etc, it's not very expensive. (Got this as it was the only Excel competitor that I found that both had a nice dark mode for the entire sheet and also works well with Norwegian locale for time, dates, currency etc. So I was looking to get an addition perpetual licence for a colleague at a non-profit.
@Joseph said:
Coupon Code o21x24 will get you Softmaker Office 2024 for $9.99 on their website.
Where's the coupon code field hidden?
Edit: All I found was the possibility to provide it like this: https://shop.softmaker.com/?couponcode=o21x24
This does give USD 10'ish price for Softmaker Office 2024 Standard Upgrade … But not sure if that will work unless you have something else than FreeOffice to upgrade from …
I don't think they particularly enforce that an upgrade purchase to require the user to provide a license from an older version.
But in any event, here's a link for a free license of SoftMaker Office Standard 2018 for Windows. With this license you'd surely qualify for the above $9.99 purchase of Softmaker Office 2024 Standard:
By the way, I'm also seeing on the same page as the $9.99 offer forSoftmaker Office 2024 Standard upgrade an available offer to purchase Softmaker Office 2024 Professional upgrade for $17.95. (The upgrade is also officially good from any older version of Softmaker Office.)
BasicMaker 2024 seems to be missing from the latest copy of 2024. Not sure if there are any other changes. All I see are PlanMaker, TextMaker, and Presentations.
"It's a hard life- to be a stick insect." - Karl Pilkington
@WSS said:
BasicMaker 2024 seems to be missing from the latest copy of 2024. Not sure if there are any other changes. All I see are PlanMaker, TextMaker, and Presentations.
BasicMaker is only included in the Professional version.
@WSS said:
BasicMaker 2024 seems to be missing from the latest copy of 2024. Not sure if there are any other changes. All I see are PlanMaker, TextMaker, and Presentations.
BasicMaker is only included in the Professional version.
@WSS said:
BasicMaker 2024 seems to be missing from the latest copy of 2024. Not sure if there are any other changes. All I see are PlanMaker, TextMaker, and Presentations.
You're using it in Windows, correct? (Because there's no BasicMaker in the Linux versions.)
@Joseph said:
Coupon Code o21x24 will get you Softmaker Office 2024 for $9.99 on their website.
Thanks, I received an email offer yesterday with a specific code and bought the upgrads as well. Though, it said my code was personalised. Same price.
Do you know what prompted Softmaker to send you the personalized offer?
I'm not really sure tbh. I got the 2021 version back then, just like Free Office 2024. So maybe, because I was already a "customer" since the email refers to a discount for loyal customers? You can probably ask them for that deal and say a friend of yours got it.
It was sent via email:
Server resource spikes often stem from lightweight user tools that experience sudden traffic surges driven by real-world academic schedules. For instance, student-focused utilities like https://attendcalc.com/vit-attendance-calculator see massive CPU and memory demand right around exam periods and end-of-term deadlines. If your monitoring only tracks baseline usage, these sudden schedule-driven spikes will catch your VPS off guard. What custom threshold alerts are you setting up to prepare for seasonal traffic bursts on low-end servers?
Bump justification: Expands the original server-level monitoring discussion into real-world application performance, giving members a fresh, actionable angle to share benchmarks, configs, and tool integrations.
I keep LibreOffice and OnlyOffice installed as well and every once in a while only one of the three displays an office document properly... most of the time that's LibreOffice.
I have the 2021 version from the offer, I've used it a decent bit on my work laptop. It's not bad, and I would love to buy an upgrade to the 2024 or 2026 versions, but not the subscription. The excel equivalent, planmaker, seems to be the best imo.
It works really well on my Chromebook. Happy to have a decent office software on Chromebook via Linux container. LibreOffice/Open Office was always a bit laggy.
There used to be a cheap upgrade for the 2024 release option. Might want to look for that. I grabbed the free 2018 for Windows, upgraded to 2021, and then 2024.
"It's a hard life- to be a stick insect." - Karl Pilkington
@WSS said:
There used to be a cheap upgrade for the 2024 release option. Might want to look for that. I grabbed the free 2018 for Windows, upgraded to 2021, and then 2024.
I did the same, used the earlier mentioned code(s), but at least the o21x24 (or something like that) did not work now ... So, back then I got a couple of licences for non-profits I help.
I run a Black Friday SoftMaker Home NX licence myself (got it before the 2024 version came out, and PlanMaker NX was way ahead of 2021, well I mainly got it because it had a working/nice dark mode, which even Excel doesn't) ... I might jump to 2024/2026 instead of NX when the next renewal is due ...
@WSS said:
There used to be a cheap upgrade for the 2024 release option. Might want to look for that. I grabbed the free 2018 for Windows, upgraded to 2021, and then 2024.
I did the same, used the earlier mentioned code(s), but at least the o21x24 (or something like that) did not work now ... So, back then I got a couple of licences for non-profits I help.
I run a Black Friday SoftMaker Home NX licence myself (got it before the 2024 version came out, and PlanMaker NX was way ahead of 2021, well I mainly got it because it had a working/nice dark mode, which even Excel doesn't) ... I might jump to 2024/2026 instead of NX when the next renewal is due ...
Fair enough. I feel like these days subscriptions just keep stacking up, so I am happy whenever I don't need one.
@ascicode said:
Is it a full license, or a 12 month subscription? Today you never know.
SoftMaker wants you to get the subscription version, which they label NX, but they provide classic version/licencing as well, which is labeled with the release year.
Comments
Since you can get a free
Since Softmaker Office Standard 2021 is available free, an interesting question is whether it is worth paying $20 to upgrade to the Professional 2024 version. What do you get by upgrading from 2021 to 2024 plus from Standard to Professional?
The second question is, what is the difference between Standard 2021 and the current version of FreeOffice (2024).
I think SM2021 will continue to work for Win11, so no need to upgrade for now imho. Free Office 2024 is likely also good. You could probably also ask them via support. I'm sure Sales will mention some good reasons to upgrade.
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
Another approach could be: What features are you missing in SM2021 or FO2024, and are they included in SM2024? A quick Google search sounded like only SM NX (the sub version) has remarkably new features while SM2024 is just more recent with few optimizations. FO2024 might also be just sufficient.
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
That's true. Though, if both SM2021 and FO2024 are both free, from the best I can tell SM2021 is much more feature rich than FO2024.
Yup, I'd probably also use that one. Upgrade could make sense if you need more devices than are included in the free license.
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
You can place as many orders as you need for additional no cost licenses of SM2021.
More: https://www.heise.de/en/news/Microsoft-alternative-Nextcloud-and-Ionos-develop-open-source-Euro-Office-11228123.html
How is this better than what OnlyOffice already offers?
OnlyOffice roots, I understand, are in Latvia, not Russia.
@Joseph this is btw the "Upgrade" Link from 2021 to 2024: https://www.softmaker.com/en/softmaker-office-2024-whatsnew
To me the upgrade is not worth it. All features that may be nice are locked to NX/Sub version.
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
https://dms-solutions.co/blog/dms-solutions-stops-doing-business-with-onlyoffice-due-to-onlyoffice-close-ties-with-russia/
https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyFromEU/comments/1j7zlf2/onlyoffice_is_obfuscating_its_russian_ownership/
We'll see once they finish it, but for one thing, they got rid of parts that aren't open source.
Saw on facebook… onlyoffice planning to send a “cease and desist” type notification to Euro Office for violating AGPL…
Edit: it is Euro office, not office.eu. Euro office is Nextcloud+IONOS. Updated original post
https://www.onlyoffice.com/blog/2026/03/onlyoffice-flags-license-violations-in-euro-office-project-by-nextcloud-and-ionos
blog archives
Lol
Isn't https://cryptpad.fr already a GDPR friendly EU fork of OnlyOffice?
https://cryptpad.org/
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
WPS cant save some formats.
It is done - apparently - Onlyoffice ends partnership with Nextcloud and accuses the Euro Office of being just repackaged Onlyoffice code:
https://www.onlyoffice.com/blog/2026/03/partnership-with-nextcloud-suspended
Edit, the Euro Office announcement by Nextcloud:
https://nextcloud.com/blog/press_releases/industry-initiative-launches-euro-office-as-true-sovereign-office-suite/
TL/DR
"Evil Russian" software gets repackaged into Made in Germany boxes, using USA's AI and heavily-exploited Pakistani workers. LOL.
🔧 BikeGremlin guides & resources
Isn't the idea of open source exactly mean anyone can repackage other open source code and fork it?
Which USA AI is being used here? (And which Pakistani workers?)
Softmaker recently revoked the coupon (at this link) for a free copy of Softmaker Office 2021:
https://shop.softmaker.com/?couponcode=officefree
Sad
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
FreeOffice is still an excellent free option and not that much different than the full Softmaker Office.
We use OnlyOffice, bc of great integration with Nextcloud for shared docs
VPS Lisbon&Prague €3.72: 2vCores/4GB/100GB (ZFS SSD or Ceph HA) - Max.oversell 3:1, no CPU cap - Xeon Gold only -https://euronodes.com AS199053
ONLYOFFICE recently discontinued their relationship with Nextcloud. Nextcloud is moving towards supporting Euro-Office, which is a fork of ONLYOFFICE and expected to be released this summer.
Of course.. those pesky russkie devyelopyery. I know its Latvian on paper but majority of devs are still in RU.
Why cant we simply have nice things.
And why do I have this gut feeling that we will be buying support packages from them even more to have the actual OG product with dedicated devs, not managed by commissars...
How the turn tables.
VPS Lisbon&Prague €3.72: 2vCores/4GB/100GB (ZFS SSD or Ceph HA) - Max.oversell 3:1, no CPU cap - Xeon Gold only -https://euronodes.com AS199053
Coupon Code o21x24 will get you Softmaker Office 2024 for $9.99 on their website.
Where's the coupon code field hidden?
Edit: All I found was the possibility to provide it like this:
https://shop.softmaker.com/?couponcode=o21x24This does give USD 10'ish price for Softmaker Office 2024 Standard Upgrade … But not sure if that will work unless you have something else than FreeOffice to upgrade from …
Yeah, I tried the same:
Not sure that's horribly useful if the reason you don't have 2021 is because it's not free anymore.
"It's a hard life- to be a stick insect." - Karl Pilkington
I do have one licence of Office Home NX, getting renewals at Black Friday etc, it's not very expensive. (Got this as it was the only Excel competitor that I found that both had a nice dark mode for the entire sheet and also works well with Norwegian locale for time, dates, currency etc. So I was looking to get an addition perpetual licence for a colleague at a non-profit.
I don't think they particularly enforce that an upgrade purchase to require the user to provide a license from an older version.
But in any event, here's a link for a free license of SoftMaker Office Standard 2018 for Windows. With this license you'd surely qualify for the above $9.99 purchase of Softmaker Office 2024 Standard:
https://shop.softmaker.com/?selection=ofw18stdd&&couponcode=free2018
By the way, I'm also seeing on the same page as the $9.99 offer forSoftmaker Office 2024 Standard upgrade an available offer to purchase Softmaker Office 2024 Professional upgrade for $17.95. (The upgrade is also officially good from any older version of Softmaker Office.)
BasicMaker 2024 seems to be missing from the latest copy of 2024. Not sure if there are any other changes. All I see are PlanMaker, TextMaker, and Presentations.
"It's a hard life- to be a stick insect." - Karl Pilkington
BasicMaker is only included in the Professional version.
Claims it was in Standard on Amazon. Also, benefits of standard aren't really stated on the website anymore.
https://www.softmaker.com/en/products/softmaker-office/order-all
This place claims it comes with it:
https://alternative2office.org/office-suite/softmaker-office-standard-vs-softmaker-office-professional-comparison/
Seeing the rundown on a2o, I can't find any reason to pay for group policies, et al.
"It's a hard life- to be a stick insect." - Karl Pilkington
You're using it in Windows, correct? (Because there's no BasicMaker in the Linux versions.)
Thanks, I received an email offer yesterday with a specific code and bought the upgrads as well. Though, it said my code was personalised. Same price.
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
Do you know what prompted Softmaker to send you the personalized offer?
I'm not really sure tbh. I got the 2021 version back then, just like Free Office 2024. So maybe, because I was already a "customer" since the email refers to a discount for loyal customers? You can probably ask them for that deal and say a friend of yours got it.
It was sent via email:
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
Server resource spikes often stem from lightweight user tools that experience sudden traffic surges driven by real-world academic schedules. For instance, student-focused utilities like https://attendcalc.com/vit-attendance-calculator see massive CPU and memory demand right around exam periods and end-of-term deadlines. If your monitoring only tracks baseline usage, these sudden schedule-driven spikes will catch your VPS off guard. What custom threshold alerts are you setting up to prepare for seasonal traffic bursts on low-end servers?
I use Softmaker Office. I think it's pretty good.
I keep LibreOffice and OnlyOffice installed as well and every once in a while only one of the three displays an office document properly... most of the time that's LibreOffice.
I've got a license. Still use OpenOffice more often.
"It's a hard life- to be a stick insect." - Karl Pilkington
If I get a nice coupon for the 2026 Standard or Pro version, I'd switch from the NX/subscription when it expires …
I have the 2021 version from the offer, I've used it a decent bit on my work laptop. It's not bad, and I would love to buy an upgrade to the 2024 or 2026 versions, but not the subscription. The excel equivalent, planmaker, seems to be the best imo.
It works really well on my Chromebook. Happy to have a decent office software on Chromebook via Linux container. LibreOffice/Open Office was always a bit laggy.
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
There used to be a cheap upgrade for the 2024 release option. Might want to look for that. I grabbed the free 2018 for Windows, upgraded to 2021, and then 2024.
"It's a hard life- to be a stick insect." - Karl Pilkington
I did the same, used the earlier mentioned code(s), but at least the o21x24 (or something like that) did not work now ... So, back then I got a couple of licences for non-profits I help.
I run a Black Friday SoftMaker Home NX licence myself (got it before the 2024 version came out, and PlanMaker NX was way ahead of 2021, well I mainly got it because it had a working/nice dark mode, which even Excel doesn't) ... I might jump to 2024/2026 instead of NX when the next renewal is due ...
Fair enough. I feel like these days subscriptions just keep stacking up, so I am happy whenever I don't need one.
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
Everything is sold as a service now. I'm fighting it to the best of my ability so I'm sitting on 2024 and I'll happily die on that hill.
"It's a hard life- to be a stick insect." - Karl Pilkington
I think 2026 is also available, just waiting for a nice discount. I also hate the subscription models ...
Well, ya, they are called that for a reason. If they were free or buy once and use forever, they wont be a "Soft-maker"
Is it a full license, or a 12 month subscription? Today you never know.
SoftMaker wants you to get the subscription version, which they label NX, but they provide classic version/licencing as well, which is labeled with the release year.