So long as we look at productivity software, Microsoft Office is a close second to being king. But their subscription cost can be expensive, especially for students, home users or small businesses. This has led to the creation of great free alternatives like WPS Office, one of the better known of these popular. How do you know if a WPS Download is a good choice compared to suites like LibreOffice and Google Workspace? After some careful analysis we find that WPS Office is quite a feature-rich and user-friendly platform; only some of its shortcomings are apparent.
A Familiar Interface Eases the Transition
One of the biggest benefits you’ll notice after a WPS Download is how much it likes the Microsoft Office ribbon interface. If you are moving from Microsoft’s whole suite, this drastically reduces the learning curve. The tabs, toolbars and icons that you see in the Writer, Presentation and Sheets applications are all very familiar to you. In contrast, suites like LibreOffice have a far more advanced in-built feature set but use a very old school toolbar which can feel old and require retraining. This design philosophy makes WPS Office really very accessible for those who need an easy-to-use replacement without having to retrain on basic functions.
Robust Features for the Power User
Beyond the intuitive, user-friendly design, WPS Office provides a lot of features comparable to the pay version of that software. It offers well-rounded support for a wide variety of file formats, including fully compatible support for the more recent Microsoft Office file formats, such as DOCX, PPTX and XLSX, meaning documents created inside of MS Office will open smoothly without major problem with formatting. WPS also offers something all its other alternative platforms don’t: a built-in PDF editor unfortunately this feature is often another premium subscription service that you need to buy separately and the library of templates for resumes, presentations, and budgets.
The Cloud Integration and Mobility Question
Where WPS Office starts to suffer is in cloud integration and collaboration. WPS currently has its own WPS Cloud service for save and sync documents, but it is not as easy and widely used as Google Workspace, the all-in-one collaboration suite intended to be used by teams (and that’s pretty much what Google makes it! ). Similar to that, WPS’s mobile apps are decent, but it’s not the kind of experience you’ll get when you’re editing a document with other people at once. It’s much easier to do it in Google Docs or Sheets. For solo users, this may not be a problem, but for teams, it’s one thing to consider before doing your WPS Download.
Performance and the Intrusive Ad Model
This is a pretty common complaint about the free version of WPS office, its performance and advertising. It appears to be fairly lightweight when first started, it doesn’t take long to ‘launch’ and has an integrated banner ad and occasional pop-up asking you to upgrade to the premium edition for a one-off fee. Some people don’t mind these ads, and some people hate them. When faced with the similarity between LibreOffice, which is totally free and open source and has none of these ads, it seems like a more pure, distraction-free experience. It really comes down to personal preference, are you willing to accept some advertisement in exchange for a much modern (and Microsoft-like) look and feel?
How WPS Download Stacks Against LibreOffice
However I have to draw a direct comparison with LibreOffice. LibreOffice is a long-standing, community driven project famous for its sheer power and steadfast commitment to free, open source software. It is a great choice if you have a strong preference for software freedom and require sophisticated features for complex document processing or data manipulation. One downside to the user interface of LibreOffice is that it can be more difficult to use for new users. A WPS Download provides more of an experience and familiarity so it is more appropriate for users that want an all-out, seamless transition from the industry standard.
The Verdict on Compatibility
To anyone who works in a Microsoft centric company, file compatibility matters greatly. WPS Office pretty much rocks in that regard, because documents, spreadsheets and presentations you create in MS Office will generally open correctly (and preserve formatting, charts and other advanced elements much better than some other free alternatives). This is one of the main reasons WPS was created as a great product.
Considering the Premium Upgrade
The free version of WPS Office is really very powerful, but the company also offers a paid version. That version essentially removes all the ads, allows you to edit PDF files in a much more advanced way, and allows for an extra 10GB of cloud storage space. To the vast majority of home and student users, the free version is great enough. There’s still the push to purchase a paid version, but what is locked away behind that paywall isn’t as important as the basic editing features you’re given to fully edit once you download the WPS Download.
Conclusion
So is a WPS Download worth it? Well, for one user profile, yes. If you are an individual user, a student or a small business owner looking for a free office suite that is nearly identical to, and performs as well as, Microsoft Office, then WPS Office might be for you. It has the familiar interface, is compatible with a wide range of file formats, and does so with plenty of features like a PDF editor built in. If all you’re doing is real-time online collaboration, however, Google Workspace is still better.
