Office 2019 is sold as a one-time purchase, which means you pay a single, up-front cost to get Office apps for one computer. Microsoft 365 is a subscription service that ensures you always have the most up-to-date modern productivity tools from Microsoft. What is the difference between Microsoft Office and Office 365? There are a number of different office suites, including commercial and free and open source versions. A typical office suite includes word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database software. Office suite software is a collection of commonly used applications. What is Microsoft Office suite and how it works?