Apple iWork

Judgement

What it is

Complete system

What it does

Pages, Numbers and Keynote, Apple's free word processor, spreadsheet and presentation apps for Mac, iPad and iPhone, with iCloud collaboration.

Adopt it when

You work on Apple devices and want free, well-designed apps for documents and presentations.

Watch out

File compatibility with Office is imperfect, and Numbers is weak for serious spreadsheet work.

Ready for

Production-ready

Runs as

Desktop app, mobile app and cloud service

What the license allows

Closed source: you use it under the maker's terms and cannot change or resell the code.

Judged on 2026-11-03 from the maker's description and Wikipedia. The license and age lines are worked out directly.

Open-source alternatives to Apple iWork

1. 1
   Etherpad ether

   Etherpad: A modern really-real-time collaborative document editor.

   Complete system Production-ready You want a self-hosted shared notepad for meetings, drafting or public-sector work where authorship and history matter more than rich formatting.

   ★ 19k Apache-2.0 TypeScript Active, pushed today
2. 2
   CryptPad cryptpad

   Collaborative office suite, end-to-end encrypted and open-source.

   Complete system Production-ready Confidentiality is the deciding factor and you want shared documents that even the server operator cannot read, either self-hosted or on cryptpad.fr.

   ★ 8k AGPL-3.0 JavaScript Active, pushed today
3. 3
   DocumentServer ONLYOFFICE

   ONLYOFFICE Docs is a free collaborative online office suite comprising viewers and editors for texts, spreadsheets and presentations, forms and PDF, fully compatible with Office Open XML formats: .docx, .xlsx, .pptx and enabling collaborative editing in real time.

   Complete system Production-ready You want browser-based Office-compatible editing on your own servers.

   ★ 7.1k AGPL-3.0 Shell Active, pushed 7 days ago
4. 4
   Bento nyblnet

   Bento, the office suite that fits in a file

   Complete system Experimental You want a portable, self-contained office tool for simple documents without installing software.

   ★ 5.6k MIT TypeScript Active, pushed today
5. 5
   Core LibreOffice

   Read-only LibreOffice core repo - no pull request (use gerrit instead https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/) - don't download zip, use https://dev-www.libreoffice.org/bundles/ instead

   Complete system Production-ready You want a free desktop office suite or need to build or contribute to LibreOffice; most users should download the release instead.

   ★ 4.6k GPL-3.0 C++ Active, pushed today
6. 6
   Teamtype teamtype

   Peer-to-peer, editor-agnostic collaborative editing of local text files.

   Developer tool Usable You pair-program or co-write across different editors and want shared editing of a whole directory without a central server or account.

   ★ 2k AGPL-3.0 Rust Active, pushed 3 days ago
7. 7
   Sync-in Server Sync-in

   Sync-in · Sovereign platform for file storage, sharing, synchronization, and collaboration.

   Complete system Usable A small organisation wants a lighter Nextcloud alternative focused on files, sharing and document editing on its own servers.

   ★ 2k AGPL-3.0 TypeScript Active, pushed yesterday
8. 8
   Text nextcloud

   📑 Collaborative document editing using Markdown

   Integration Production-ready You run Nextcloud and want shared Markdown notes and documents without adding a full office suite.

   ★ 665 AGPL-3.0 JavaScript Active, pushed today
9. 9
   Tinylittleoffice aboard-io

   A free office suite where your document is inside the link and easy to share. There's no account and nothing saved unless you choose.

   Complete system Experimental You want to share a quick document without accounts or cloud storage.

   ★ 570 MIT TypeScript Active, pushed 2 days ago
10. 10
    Doca workhold

    Doca｜开源文档管理与知识库，支持多人协同编辑、在线文档、Markdown、表格、幻灯片、画布和 AI 助手。Self-hosted document management, knowledge base & real-time collaborative editing for individuals and small teams.

    Complete system Experimental A small Chinese- or English-speaking team wants one self-hosted place for documents, sheets and slides and is willing to ride a fast-moving new project.

    ★ 494 MIT TypeScript Active, pushed today

Every alternative to Apple iWork

Other commercial office suites and document editors

1. 1
   Microsoft 365 Microsoft

   Subscription services offered by Microsoft

   Complete system Production-ready A business of any size that relies on Excel and Office files, Windows PCs or Microsoft identity and security tooling.

   10k readers a month Since 2017 Commercial
2. 2
   Google Workspace Google

   Try Google Workspace's (formerly G Suite) secure collaboration and productivity apps for businesses of all sizes. Includes Gmail, Drive, Meet and more

   Complete system Production-ready A small or mid-size business that works mostly in the browser and values real-time co-editing over desktop Office features.

   4.6k readers a month Since 2006 Commercial
3. 3
   WPS Office Kingsoft

   WPS Office is a free all-in-one office suite for Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files. Write, edit, convert, and collaborate faster with built-in AI across Windows, Mac, and mobile.

   Complete system Production-ready You need a free, Office-compatible suite for personal use on Windows, Mac, Linux or mobile.

   2.7k readers a month Since 1988 Commercial
4. 4
   Zoho Workplace Zoho Corporation

   Zoho Workplace is a productivity and collaboration suite trusted by millions. It brings mail, chat, files, office suite, meetings, and more into one place.

   Complete system Production-ready A small business wants a cheaper alternative to Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, especially if it already uses other Zoho apps.

   Commercial

Under it

Every program, Apple iWork included, runs on a microchip.

How compilers were built, back to punched paper tape