Office Editions: Difference Between Standard, Home & Business, and Professional Plus
Standard, Home & Business or Professional Plus? Which programs are included in each and when the surcharge is really worth it.
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Short answer: Home & Business includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. Professional Plus adds Access and Publisher. If you don't build databases and don't do typesetting, you don't need Professional Plus.
Which programs are included in each?
| Program | Standard | Home & Business | Professional Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Word, Excel, PowerPoint | yes | yes | yes |
| Outlook | yes | yes | yes |
| OneNote | no | yes | yes |
| Publisher | no | no | yes |
| Access | no | no | yes |
What do I need Access for?
Access is a database system for structured data sets – customer management, inventory lists, order management. If your data currently resides in Excel spreadsheets with thousands of rows and multiple people access it simultaneously, Access is the next logical step.
If you're reading the sentence "I'm not sure if I need Access" and wondering, you probably don't.
What do I need Publisher for?
Publisher is a simple layout program for flyers, brochures, and newsletters. For occasional design work, Word or an online tool is usually sufficient nowadays.
And what about Standard?
Office Standard is aimed at businesses that need Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook but can do without OneNote. It is the leanest business edition and accordingly more affordable.
"We had bought Professional Plus for the whole team - in the end, almost no one used Access." An office manager reports how his company, after an inventory, switched to the more affordable Home & Business edition for the next order and saved noticeably.
Which edition is right for me?
- Standard – small businesses with classic office routines
- Home & Business – freelancers, home office, small teams; the most purchased edition
- Professional Plus – businesses with database or layout needs
All three editions are perpetual licenses and allow commercial use. The extra cost for Professional Plus is only worthwhile if you actually use Access or Publisher.
