Plenty of people only ever open Word, or only Excel. Paying for a whole Office suite, or a Microsoft 365 subscription that renews every year, feels like overkill when you use one app. So can you just buy Word on its own? Or Excel?
Yes. Microsoft makes standalone versions of the main Office apps. They’re just not easy to find on Microsoft’s own store, which pushes the full suites and Microsoft 365. Here’s how standalone Word 2024 and Excel 2024 work, what they cost you over time compared with a subscription, and when a suite is the better deal.
Yes, Word and Excel are sold separately
Alongside the Office suites, Microsoft licenses individual apps such as Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access, Visio and Project as separate products. The 2024 generation is the current one. Each standalone app is:
- A one-time purchase. You pay once, no monthly fee.
- The full desktop app. Same Word or Excel as in the suites, not a web or mobile version.
- Licensed for one PC.
- Supported until 9 October 2029 for the 2024 versions, with security updates until then.
Standalone app vs Office suite vs Microsoft 365
| Word 2024 or Excel 2024 alone | Office 2024 suite | Microsoft 365 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payment | One-time | One-time | Monthly or yearly |
| Apps | Just that one | Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and more | All apps, always the latest |
| Cloud storage | No | No | 1 TB OneDrive |
| Copilot AI features | No | No | Yes, in eligible plans |
| Future versions | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Best for | One app, one PC, no subscription | Several apps, no subscription | Multiple devices, cloud, latest features |
For the full cost comparison over several years, see one-time Office vs Microsoft 365.
Word 2024 on its own
Word 2024 is the full desktop Word: track changes, comments, styles, mail merge, references and citations, PDF export and everything else you know from Word. It opens and saves every .docx and older .doc file.
It suits writers, students who’ve moved past school-provided Microsoft 365, people writing a book or a thesis, and anyone who needs proper Word compatibility for documents sent to them by employers, publishers or courts. If you work on a Mac, there’s Word 2024 for Mac too.
Excel 2024 on its own
Excel 2024 is the most common single app people buy. Microsoft’s Office 2024 announcement highlights faster performance with several workbooks open, new text and array functions, the IMAGE function for putting pictures in cells, and dynamic arrays in charts that update automatically when the data changes. PivotTables, Power Query, XLOOKUP, LET and the full formula library are all there.
Bookkeepers, analysts, small business owners and anyone running their household budget in a spreadsheet fall squarely into the “just Excel” group.
Other apps you can buy separately
- Outlook 2021 for email and calendar.
- Access 2024 for desktop databases. Not sure what that means? Here’s what Access is used for.
- Visio 2024 for diagrams, and Project 2024 for project plans.
- Word 2021, if you need to match an older setup.
Our Office apps page has all of them.
When a suite is the better deal
Standalone apps make sense up to about two. If you need Word, Excel and Outlook, the suite usually costs less than buying them one by one, and you get PowerPoint and OneNote thrown in. Look at Office 2024 Standard or Office 2024 Professional Plus, and our Office 2024 edition comparison if you’re choosing between them.
Free ways to use Word and Excel
To be fair to your wallet, there are free options too:
- Word and Excel for the web are free with a Microsoft account. They handle everyday documents and spreadsheets in a browser, with fewer features than the desktop apps.
- The mobile apps are free on phones and on tablets with screens smaller than 10.1 inches.
If you only open the odd document, start there. If you work in Word or Excel every day, the desktop app is worth paying for once.
Installing a standalone app
Standalone apps download and install the same way as the suites. Your Kymakers email has the official download link, and the step-by-step guides are here: Word 2024 and Excel 2024. If you already have another Office version installed, uninstall it first or make sure both are the same bitness and installation type, otherwise the installer will stop you.
Standalone Word and Excel: FAQ
Can I buy Microsoft Word without a subscription?
Yes. Word 2024 is a one-time purchase for one PC with no monthly fee.
Can I buy just Excel?
Yes. Excel 2024 is sold on its own as a one-time license.
Is standalone Word the same as the Word in Office?
Yes. It’s the same desktop app, just licensed on its own.
Will standalone Word get updates?
It gets security and quality updates until 9 October 2029. It doesn’t upgrade to future versions.
Can I install Word 2024 next to Microsoft 365?
Mixing different versions on one PC usually causes installation conflicts. If you’re moving off Microsoft 365, uninstall it first.
