Microsoft Office 365 vs Office 2019 are two versions of Office applications provided by Microsoft. Office 365 is a subscription-based, AI-powered, and cloud-based Office Suite with many extraordinary features. On the other hand, Microsoft Office 2019 comes with a lifetime licensing upon activation with all the useful features. Both Office suites have everything you need to complete your personal, professional, and educational tasks. In this discussion, we will discuss the comparison between these two throughout this. So, let’s start the discussion;

What is the Difference Between Office 365 vs Office 2019?

The Cloud-based software depends on cloud services, which can securely safeguard your work and files with robust security features. At the same time, the on-premises software is the application that must be installed on the device system to run. The best Microsoft Office 365 is an example of a cloud-based application, while the on-premise software is bound to Office 2019 applications. Differences between Office 365 and 2019 rely on purchasing plans, features, and accessibility.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each model. To know about that, you must know the pros and cons of Office 365 vs Office 2019. Have a look at the pros and cons of Office 2019 vs Office 365.

Pros and cons of Microsoft 365/ Office 365

Pros of Microsoft 365/ Office 365:

• Instant access to the latest version of Office
• Robust security features
• Easy collaboration
• Work across multiple devices
• Access your work from anywhere, anytime, with any Office application
• Microsoft Support
• It can be used on several devices

Cons of Microsoft 365/ Office 365:

• Costly periodic purchase
• Not compatible with the bespoke systems.
• Constant changes with updates
• You are only subscribing, not purchasing, the Office applications
• The applications aren’t accessible without internet connections.

Pros and cons of Office 2019

Pros of Office 2019:

• Classic experience
• Once purchased, lasts a lifetime
• The apps are available without internet connections
• Compatible with bespoke systems
• No unnecessary applications

Cons of Office 2019:

• Feature scope reduced
• Limited updates
• Single device per license key
• Limitation in support

Office 365 Subscription vs. One-time Purchase of Office 2019 Feature Comparison

The main difference between Office 365 vs Office 2019 is that one comes with a periodic subscription, while the other comes with a lifetime license. A detailed comparison between an Office 365 subscription and a one-time purchase of a Microsoft Office 2019 lifetime license key is given in the below comparison table;

Compatibility of Microsoft Office 2019 vs 365?

Office 2019 is compatible with all the latest Windows OS and all the recent macOS versions. But it is recommended to use the latest OS for the best experience. The subscription-based Office 365 comes with a periodic subscription and is compatible with all the latest Windows OS versions, servers, and macOS. To know more about the compatibility of Office 2019 and Office 365, you need to know their system requirements.

System Requirements for Microsoft Office 365

Computer and Processor

• Windows OS: 1.6 GHz or faster with a multicore processor.
• macOS: Intel Processor.

Operating Systems

• Windows OS: Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016
• macOS: One of the three most recent macOS versions. When a new major version of macOS is released, the macOS and the previous two versions.

Memory

• Windows OS: 4 GB RAM (64-bit), 2 GB RAM (32-bit).
• macOS: 4 GB RAM.

Hard Disk

• Windows OS: 4 GB of available disk space.
• macOS: 10 GB of available disk space; HFS+ hard disk format (also known as macOS Extended) or APFS Updates may require additional storage over time.

Display

• Windows OS: 1280 x 768 screen resolution (32-bit requires hardware acceleration for 4K and higher)
• macOS: 1280 x 800 screen resolution.

Graphics

• Windows OS: Graphics hardware acceleration requires DirectX 9 or later, with WDDM 2.0 or higher for Windows 10 (or WDDM 1.3 or higher for Windows 10 Fall Creators Update).
• macOS: No graphics requirements. 

Browser

• The current version of Microsoft Edge, Safari, Chrome, or Firefox.

.NET Version

• Windows OS: Some features may require .NET 3.5 or 4.6 or higher to be installed.

Other Requirements

• Internet functionality requires an internet connection, especially while utilizing cloud functionalities.

System Requirements for Microsoft Office 2019

Computer and Processor

• Windows OS: 1.6 GHz or faster, 2-core.
• macOS: Intel processor.

Operating System

• Windows OS: Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 10 LTSC 2021, Windows 10 LTSC 2019, Windows Server 2022, or Windows Server 2019.
• macOS: Office for Mac is supported on the three most recent versions.

Memory

• Windows OS: 4 GB RAM (64-bit), 2 GB RAM (32-bit).
• macOS: 4 GB RAM.

Hard Disk

• Windows OS: A minimum of 4 GB of available disk space.
• macOS: A minimum of 10 GB of available disk space; HFS+ hard disk format (also known as macOS Extended) or APFS.

Display

• Windows OS: 1280 x 768 screen resolution (32-bit requires hardware acceleration for 4K and higher)
• macOS: 1280 x 800 screen resolution.

Graphics

• Windows OS: Graphics hardware acceleration requires DirectX 9 or later, with WDDM 2.0 or higher for Windows 10 (or WDDM 1.3 or higher for Windows 10 Fall Creators Update).
• macOS: No graphics requirements.

Browser

• The current version of Microsoft Edge, Safari, Chrome, or Firefox.

.NET Version

• Windows OS: Some features may require .NET 3.5 or 4.6 or higher to be installed.

Other Requirements

• Internet functionality requires an internet connection, especially while utilizing cloud functionalities.

Battle of The Offices: Office 365 vs Office 2019?

Microsoft Office 365 has many features compared to the Office Suite 2019. But it comes as a subscription-based service, while MS Office 2019 has lifetime licensing. It means that once you have activated the Office application with a product activation or license key, you don’t need to pay any bill further while you have to pay a periodic subscription fee required in Office 365 to continue using the Office applications.

Office 365 does come with many features, but most are not useful for completing professional, personal, and educational tasks. While Office 2019 only comes with useful ones. Moreover, the subscription-based application requires an active and stable internet connection. On the other hand, you can use Office 2019 even without an internet connection.

After reviewing the above facts, we recommend purchasing Office 2019 for personal, family, and educational use. You can also use this for professional use, as you only have to pay once for the Office application of this Office Suite edition. Office 365 will suit you when using the MS 365 apps for enterprise use, where you have much workload with too many workers.

Cost Comparison Between Microsoft 365 and Office 2019

There is a huge difference between the official pricing of Microsoft 365 subscriptions and the Office 2019 license/activation key. Office 365 comes at a comparatively lower price with periodic subscriptions, while the Office 2019 editions come at a high price with lifetime licensing. Have a look at the cost comparison of Office 365 and Office 2019 from below table;

You are already informed that the Microsoft Office 2019 lifetime license key comes at a higher price than the Microsoft 365 subscription services.  But you can purchase it from some product key stores at a lower price. You may find many web stores that claim to deliver genuine product keys at a low price. You must be aware while grabbing your product key at a low price. Msckey is a Microsoft-authorized product key store that delivers genuine product keys at a fraction of the actual price and is committed to backing your purchase with a 30-day money-back or replacement guarantee.

Conclusion

We’ve touched the finishing line, and you’ve already decided which Office Suite to pick. If you choose Office 365, you may encounter issues while using the application without applications, and you have to pay for the subscription after each periodic time. But if you choose to use Office 2019, you must pay once to purchase the license key to use it for a lifetime.