You don't have to give up the convenience of Microsoft 365 if you ditch your subscription. There is a free, self-hosted alternative that can run on a Raspberry Pi instead.
Why avoid Microsoft and Microsoft Word
Despite the fact that Windows and Microsoft Office are mainstays of consumer PCs across the world, I've made a serious effort to switch to free, open-source alternatives whenever possible.
Consider the cost factor alone. A Microsoft Office suite subscription will cost you nearly $100 per year, and that is for an individual. If you're buying for a family, you'll need to cough up $130 per year.
If you're a professional that has to use Excel day in and day out, or if you're someone that relies on Word's advanced typesetting and Word processing features for your work, then that is a minor cost compared to the benefit. However, if you're a basic home user, that is a pretty big expense. I started searching for less expensive (or free) alternatives when I realized I'd spent nearly $800 on my Microsoft 365 subscription over the years, and I only rarely opened the apps.
Searching for Word replacements
In the last 18 months or so, I've tried dozens of different apps, and some of them have been quite good. For example, if you only need something that runs on one PC, then ONLYOFFICE is very compelling , especially because the user interface is so similar to Word's interface. You feel right at home almost immediately. As an added bonus, ONLYOFFICE, comes packaged with alternatives to Excel and PowerPoint built in as well, which makes the transition very easy.
However, while you can set up and host a cloud service with ONLYOFFICE, it requires a bit more work than I would like, and it isn't super easy to collaborate like you can using Word on the Web or Google Docs, so I went looking for something else.
Self-hosting Nextcloud is privacy-forward and cost-effective.
Nextcloud is designed to be an all-in-one replacement for Microsoft Office, and comes with essential cloud services built-in.
It is free for home use, which means the total cost for me will just be whatever the cost of electricity works out to. Additionally, because it is fully local, it solves the privacy problem that I'd had with Microsoft. Nothing ever leaves my local server unless I want it to.
Because I'm on the hook for the cost of electricity, I wanted to try something smaller and lower-power than a repurposed desktop PC: a Raspberry Pi. They're tiny, low-power, and if you need to, you can easily pick one up and take it with you somewhere.
Fortunately, there is an open-source project—helpfully named NextcloudPi —that aims to make getting Nextcloud running on a Pi as easy as possible.
Setting up NextcloudPi on a Rapsberry Pi
Getting started with NextcloudPi is as easy as it gets. First, head over to GitHub and download the NextcloudPi image for the Raspberry Pi.
Once it has been downloaded, extract the ZIP file anywhere on your PC, and launch Raspberry Pi Imager. On the second tab, select "Custom Image" towards the bottom and then follow the recommended setup instructions.
Then, put the microSD card in your Raspberry Pi and turn it on. After it handles setup, you'll be able to access the Web interface at https://nextcloudpi.localfrom any device on your network. The first page will provide you with a default password that you must save.
After you click Activate, you'll be prompted to go through the first run wizard. I'd recommend doing it if you've never used it before. Once there, click your profile icon in the upper-right corner and select "Apps." Then scroll down and click "Download and enable" under Collabora Online - Built-in CDE Server (ARM64) and Nextcloud Office.
It may take a few minutes to download and configure itself, so be sure to keep your Pi plugged in and powered on. When everything is done, you'll be able to create and edit documents from the Files menu.
NextcloudPi worked well
I fired up my Nextcloud Pi server on my Raspberry Pi about a week ago so that I'd have time to put it through its paces. I've been pleasantly surprised by the results.
Nextcloud is famously a bit heavy, which can result in noticeable latency when compared to an application running on your local PC. However, I haven't run into any major issues since I've been using it. Sometimes, loading a large document takes a second, but there isn't noticeable latency when I'm writing, which is the most important thing.
Additionally, I enjoyed the fact that Nextcloud is accessible from all devices on the network more than I expected. I soon found myself accessing it from my phone and laptop, neither of which I had planned on. If I were looking for something as a replacement for an entire family, Nextcloud is worth checking out.
The Nextcloud Pi server worked well as-is, but there is room for improvement. If you can, you should run your PI using an SSD attached to the USB port instead of a microSD card, since it'll be both faster and more reliable.
