Microsoft urges Office users to upgrade to 365 — or face doom

Microsoft is urging Office 2016 and 2019 customers to upgrade to Microsoft 365 before support ends Oct. 14, but analysts said viable alternatives are available outside Microsoft’s walled garden.

“Continuing to use unsupported software can expose your organization to security vulnerabilities, compliance risks, and operational disruptions,” the company warned in a blog post.

Microsoft 365 is the cloud-based version of Microsoft Office, which also includes Teams, Copilot and web-based collaborative features. It is available only by subscription, with prices starting at $9.99 a month, or $99.99 a year for the Personal edition.

The alternative, a standalone desktop version of Microsoft Office, doesn’t have the AI and collaboration features, nor does it have Copilot or Teams. Users looking to replace Office 2016 or 2019 could also opt for the convenience of a one-time purchase of Office 2024, which costs $149. 

Microsoft in the blog post talked only about upgrading to M365, which never expires. Office 2024 support ends in October 2029.

Analysts said enterprise customers might find upgrading to Microsoft 365 worthwhile for its generative AI (genAI) tools, collaborative features and security. Or, depending on enterprise AI and productivity needs, they could jump ship for rivals such as Google Workspace. 

For enterprise customers worried about data privacy in the cloud, the desktop edition of Office or free open-source alternatives such as LibreOffice might be more attractive. The $149 price of Office 2024 might also be cheaper than Microsoft 365 in the long run, analysts said.

Microsoft wants to move customers to Microsoft 365 subscription services, said Jason Wong, vice president at Gartner for on app design and development.

“This makes support easier and lowers the cost of products for Microsoft, while at the same time it opens up many up-sell and cross-sell opportunities such as security products, the Power Platform tools, and of course M365 Copilot,” Wong said.

Basic Microsoft 365 editions for home users or business users don’t include Teams. But users can get features that include Intune, Defender, Clipchamp and Loop at higher subscription prices.

For those who only need Microsoft Office apps that include PowerPoint and Word, the standalone option could be attractive, especially if they already use something like Google or Zoho for mail, calendar, and document storage, said Irwin Lazar, principal analyst at Metrigy.

“For those wishing to take advantage of AI, an upgrade to M365 is a requirement. I expect that for [small and mid-sized businesses], Microsoft now offering M365 without Teams at a lower price could prove attractive,” Lazar said. 

Metrigy in a recent study noted that about 25% of Microsoft customers were evaluating the unbundled option. The study, Employee Experience Optimization: 2025, was published in November.

“Google’s recent price increases for Workspace are likely to help Microsoft, especially for SMBs, though Google includes Gemini AI now with Workspace,” Lazar said.

Enterprises would see value in moving from legacy on-prem, disconnected apps to Microsoft 365 though at this point those were probably Lotus or legacy on-prem Exchange/Sharepoint customers.  “The savings is likely to be minimal if customers are already using cloud-based services for document, email, and calendar,” Lazar said.

Some organizations are resisting the push to the cloud — primarily European-based companies with stricter data requirements and regulations. “Cost also plays a factor in staying on-premise, but typically organizations realize they won’t be getting the latest features and capabilities, like generative AI and Copilot, if they choose this path,” Wong said. 

Gartner sees clients evaluating rival suites to see what life looks like outside of the Microsoft ecosystem. “It typically comes down to familiarity of products and features for the workers, and the overall security and cost of ownership for IT to consider whether to switch or not,” Wong said.

Microsoft, for its part, painted a doomsday scenario to get users to upgrade to Microsoft 365 if they don’t quit Office 2016 or 2019 by the time support expires. 

“You may have started noticing limitations,” the company wrote. “Your apps are stuck on your desktop, limiting productivity anytime you’re away from your office. You can’t easily access your files or collaborate when working remotely or traveling, creating unnecessary friction for your team. Perhaps you’ve seen your company’s IT expenses creep upwards as you’ve added separate solutions for email, file storage, and virtual meetings.”