Buy Word on its own: Word, Excel, Outlook without suite

Can you buy Word, Excel or Outlook individually? Yes. Microsoft also offers the programs of Office 2024 as standalone applications, each as a one-time purchase for one device. That pays off if you really need only one program. As soon as you use two or more, a suite is usually the better choice: Office Home 2024 includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, Office Home & Business 2024 additionally Outlook.

Quick decision

Only Word for letters and documents: Word 2024 on its own or the free LibreOffice.
Only Excel for spreadsheets and analyses: Excel 2024 on its own.
Only Outlook, because Word and Excel are already there: Outlook 2024 on its own.
Access for an existing database: Access 2024 on its own; Access is not included in Home and Home & Business.
Two or more programs: compare the sum of the individual prices with the suite. The current prices are on the product pages.

Standalone program or suite: what is included where

Program	Individually as version 2024	Office Home 2024	Office Home & Business 2024	Office Professional Plus 2024
Word	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Excel	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PowerPoint	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
OneNote	–	Yes	Yes	Yes
Outlook	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Access (Windows only)	Yes	No	No	Yes
Publisher	No, for the last time as version 2021	No	No	No

Microsoft lists the standalone applications of Office 2024 with the same system requirements and the same support as the suites: Windows 11 or one of the three most recent versions of macOS, 4 GB of memory, updates until October 9, 2029. A standalone program is also a one-time purchase for one device and receives no new features. All editions are shown in detail in the
comparison of the Office 2024 editions.

When a standalone program makes sense

You need exactly one program. If you only maintain spreadsheets, you need neither Outlook nor PowerPoint. A standalone program keeps the installation lean.

You are adding to an existing suite. Office Home 2024 runs on the computer, and now Outlook is to be added. Instead of changing the suite, you buy Outlook 2024 on its own. The same applies to Access alongside Home or Home & Business.

Make sure the bit version is the same. All Office programs on one device must have the same architecture, i.e. all 32-bit or all 64-bit. More on this under
Office 32-bit or 64-bit.

Stay with one version if possible. Only mix programs from different release years if it is necessary, for example Publisher 2021 alongside Office 2024.

When the suite is the better choice

You use Word and Excel regularly. Office Home 2024 comes with both, plus PowerPoint and OneNote.
You need Word, Excel and Outlook. That is exactly the scope of Office Home & Business 2024.
You do not yet know what you will need. A suite cannot later be “assembled” from standalone programs without buying several times.

Free alternatives

Calculated honestly, many people do not need a purchased standalone program:

Instead of Word and Excel: LibreOffice includes word processing and spreadsheets, opens and saves Word and Excel files and costs nothing. With complex templates and macros there may be differences.
Instead of Outlook: Thunderbird manages email, calendar and contacts in one app and is open source.

Microsoft programs are the safe choice if your environment requires them: your employer’s templates, Excel macros, an Exchange mailbox in Outlook.

Special case: Publisher

Publisher is no longer included in Office 2024. Microsoft has discontinued the program; support for Publisher 2021 ended on October 13, 2026. Version 2021 can still be used, but is no longer maintained. Microsoft recommends converting existing Publisher files to another format, for example saving them as PDF, and creating new templates in Word or PowerPoint. Only buy Publisher 2021 if you still have to edit existing files.

Typical cases

Club treasurer. He keeps membership lists and the accounts in spreadsheets, nothing more. Excel 2024 on its own is enough; for simple lists LibreOffice is sufficient too.

Author. She writes manuscripts and delivers them to the publisher in Word format. Word 2024 on its own fits if she needs neither spreadsheets nor presentations.

Office with Office Home 2024. One workstation is to look after the shared mailbox in future. Outlook 2024 on its own complements the existing installation.

Small company with an Access application. Customer management runs in Access. Access 2024 on its own is enough alongside Office Home & Business 2024; if you are buying new anyway, compare with Office Professional Plus 2024.

Standalone programs at VivaKeys

For comparison, the suites: Office Home 2024 and
Office Home & Business 2024. All standalone applications, including older versions, are in the
Office standalone programs category. How a program is installed and activated is stated on the respective product page and in the delivery email.

Frequently asked questions

Can you buy Word on its own, without the whole Office suite? Yes. Word 2024 is available as a standalone application, as a one-time purchase for one device and without a subscription.

Is Outlook included in Office 2024 Home? No. Office Home 2024 includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Outlook belongs to Office Home & Business 2024 or is bought individually.

Which is cheaper: Word and Excel individually or Office Home 2024? That depends on the current prices. Besides Word and Excel, Office Home 2024 also includes PowerPoint and OneNote; compare the sum of the two standalone programs with the suite price on the product pages.

Can I install a standalone program in addition to an existing Office? Yes, if both have the same bit version. The easiest way is to stay with the same version.

Can a program bought individually be used on another PC? A one-time purchase covers one device. How Microsoft describes the move is covered in
Transferring an Office license to another PC.

Sources

Checked on 2026-11-10 against the publisher’s information:

Buying Word, Excel and Outlook individually: when it pays off