LinuxAlternative
EN
English Français Español Deutsch Português

Office: Windows programs and their Linux alternatives

If you’re used to the Microsoft Office suite, LibreOffice is the most comprehensive replacement on Linux. It covers Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and even Visio‑style diagrams with LibreOffice Draw. For PDF reading you can use Evince or the older Adobe Reader, and for project planning OpenProj or Planner will give you a good start.

Beyond the core office tools, Linux offers a solid set of finance and diagramming apps. GnuCash can replace Quicken for budgeting, Dia and TaskJuggler help with project scheduling, and PDFedit lets you tweak PDFs without a heavyweight editor.

20 Windows programs

NotionNotion is a web-based productivity tool for notes, databases, and project management, often sought for its…Microsoft Office WordMicrosoft Word is the industry-standard word processor for creating, editing, and formatting professional…Microsoft Office ExcelMicrosoft Excel is a spreadsheet application used for data analysis, calculations, and visualization, part of…Microsoft OfficeMicrosoft Office is a proprietary suite for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations, widely used in…Microsoft Office PowerPointPowerPoint is the standard for creating slide-based presentations, widely used in business and education for…Microsoft VisioMicrosoft Visio is a diagramming tool for flowcharts, org charts and technical drawings, available as a…Adobe Digital EditionsAdobe Digital Editions is a DRM‑protected e‑book reader for EPUB and PDF files.Foxit PDF EditorFoxit PDF Editor is a commercial Windows app for creating, editing, and signing PDFs.Sumatra PDFSumatra PDF is a lightweight, open‑source viewer for PDFs and many other document formats on Windows.Adobe ReaderAdobe Acrobat Reader is a free PDF viewer that lets users open, print and annotate PDFs.QuickBooksQuickBooks is a Windows‑only accounting tool for small businesses, offering invoicing, payroll and reporting.Intuit QuickenQuicken is proprietary personal finance software for budgeting, account tracking, and investment management…Adobe AcrobatAdobe Acrobat is a commercial PDF tool for creating, editing, and managing documents.ABBYY eFormFillerABBYY eFormFiller is a Windows tool for filling, managing, and processing electronic forms, often used in…DiaDia is a free, open-source tool for creating flowcharts, network maps, and UML diagrams with a simple…FastTrack ScheduleFastTrack Schedule is a commercial project management tool for Windows and Mac that handles planning…Foxit ReaderFoxit Reader is a lightweight, freemium PDF viewer for Windows that supports viewing, annotating, and…GrammarlyGrammarly is a cloud-based English writing assistant for grammar, tone, and clarity, now with AI features.Microsoft ProjectMicrosoft Project is a commercial tool for scheduling, resource allocation, and budget tracking in project…Microsoft To DoMicrosoft To Do is a cloud-synced task manager for organizing personal and work tasks across devices.

Top Linux apps in Office

ObsidianObsidian is a markdown‑based knowledge‑base app that stores notes as plain‑text files in a local folder.FlatpakLibreOfficeLibreOffice is a free, open‑source office suite with Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Base and Math.Open sourceFreeFlatpakLibreOffice CalcLibreOffice Calc is a free spreadsheet program that replaces Microsoft Excel on Linux.Open sourceFreeFlatpakLibreOffice ImpressLibreOffice Impress is a free, open‑source presentation program that replaces Microsoft PowerPoint.Open sourceFreeFlatpakLibreOffice WriterLibreOffice Writer is a free, open-source word processor and part of the LibreOffice office suite.Open sourceFreeFlatpakLibreOffice DrawLibreOffice Draw is a free vector graphics and diagramming tool for creating flowcharts, technical drawings…Open sourceFreeFlatpakLogseqLogseq is a local‑first, non‑linear knowledge base tool that stores notes as plain text Markdown or Org files.Open sourceFreeFlatpakOkularOkular is a universal document viewer for KDE that handles PDF, EPUB, and comics with annotation support.Open sourceFreeFlatpakFoliateFoliate is a lightweight, GNOME‑centric e‑book reader that supports EPUB, MOBI, Kindle, FB2, CBZ, and PDF…Open sourceFreeFlatpakFree Download ManagerFree Download Manager is a cross‑platform download accelerator and organizer for Linux, Windows, and macOS.FreeFlatpakcalibreCalibre is a free, open‑source e‑book manager that catalogs, converts, edits, and serves books across devices.Open sourceFreeFlatpakXournal++A cross-platform, open-source note-taking app for handwriting, PDF annotation, and whiteboarding with stylus…Open sourceFreeFlatpak

Practical tips

  • 1. Install the *libreoffice* package group to get Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, and Base in one go. 2. Use the *evince* package for quick PDF viewing; it supports annotations and form filling. 3. For Visio files, try the *dia* tool or export to SVG and open in Inkscape. 4. Keep your system updated with the distro’s package manager so you always have the latest security patches.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a separate PDF editor on Linux?

If you only need to view or annotate PDFs, Evince is enough. For editing existing PDF content, PDFedit or LibreOffice Draw can be used, but they are not as full‑featured as commercial editors.

Can LibreOffice open my old Word documents?

Yes, LibreOffice can open .doc and .docx files with good fidelity, though complex formatting may sometimes shift slightly.

Is there a Linux alternative to Microsoft Project?

OpenProj and Planner are the closest open‑source replacements. They support Gantt charts and basic resource management, but they lack some of the advanced features of Project.