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ONLYOFFICE - Secure Online Office Review

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Should I use ONLYOFFICE - Secure Online Office?

ONLYOFFICE offers a secure online office suite highly compatible with MS Office formats. Connect it to your web platform for document editing and collaboration or use as a part of ONLYOFFICE Workspace. - onlyoffice.com

· 1 month ago

Buy it if you want a free, self-hosted, MS Office-compatible suite or editors embedded in your own platform. Skip it if you want zero-maintenance collaboration like Google Docs.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~25 public sources; no hard paid-tier pricing figures found.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo support evidence in sources
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Open-source editors

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
ONLYOFFICE WorkspacePaid — vendor site

Best for

  • Self-hosters
  • Linux users
  • Developers embedding editors
  • MS-format-heavy teams avoiding Microsoft

Not for

  • Anyone wanting Google Docs zero-setup simplicity
  • Orgs already standardized on Microsoft 365
  • Teams with nobody to patch self-hosted servers
  • Buyers wanting simple published per-seat pricing

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Self-hosted means you own patching; older versions carry known XSS and critical CVEs

medium

Paid Workspace tier prices not published in reviewed sources; confirm before budgeting

low

Users qualify praise ('not saying it's perfect') — expect rough edges in collaboration

low

Guess: free edition is AGPL-licensed; commercial embedding may trigger license obligations

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free, open-source core edition
  • Highly compatible with MS Office formats
  • Editors for text, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, PDF
  • Embeddable into your own web platform
  • Practical self-hosted choice per multi-month Reddit users

Cons

  • Critical CVE-2023-30186 (CVSS 9.8) on record
  • XSS bug affected Docs before 8.0.1
  • Authorization vulnerability CVE-2021-43444 disclosed
  • Long-term self-hosters call it good but imperfect

Sources & method

- 9 sources - Three CVEs found (2021–2023), one critical; fixed in newer releases — patch promptly.

official x2review x5security x2
  • CVE-2023-30186, Rated CRITICAL, CVSS 9.8, affecting ONLYOFFICE
  • CVE-2023-50883, XSS in ONLYOFFICE Docs before 8.0.1
  • CVE-2021-43444, Authorization issue in ONLYOFFICE

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 9

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free open-source core; paid tiers optional
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Quick-install guides exist; self-hosting adds friction
  • Feature depth: 5/5. Docs, sheets, slides, forms, PDF, collaboration
  • Support quality. No support evidence in sources
  • Security posture: 2/5. Three CVEs, one critical CVSS 9.8
  • Yes Free tier Open-source core editors
  • 5 Editors included Docs, sheets, slides, forms, PDF
  • Cloud or self-hosted Deployment Workspace cloud or on-premises
  • 3 Public CVEs found Incl. one critical, CVSS 9.8

Pricing

Open-source editors

Free

  • Docs, sheets, slides, forms, PDF
  • Open-source distribution

ONLYOFFICE Workspace

Paid — vendor site

  • Cloud or on-premises
  • Full collaboration platform

Security

Three CVEs found (2021–2023), one critical; fixed in newer releases — patch promptly.

  • CVE-2023-30186Rated CRITICAL, CVSS 9.8, affecting ONLYOFFICE⁷
  • CVE-2023-50883XSS in ONLYOFFICE Docs before 8.0.1⁸
  • CVE-2021-43444Authorization issue in ONLYOFFICE⁸

What users say

Self-hosters and Linux users call it a practical, MS-compatible office editor that is good but not perfect.

“Not saying it's perfect, but as a self-hosted office editor, it's been one of the more practical and...”
Reddit, r/selfhosted
“I've been using OnlyOffice. I don't know if it will be any better for you or not but might as ...”
Its FOSS Community forum

Alternatives

Compare ONLYOFFICE - Secure Online Office with each alternative.

Full analysis

Based on ~25 public sources; no hard paid-tier pricing figures found.

Free, open-source, MS-compatible office suite. Great for self-hosters; overkill vs Google Docs for casual teams.

Methodology

Based on ~25 public sources; no hard paid-tier pricing figures found.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. ONLYOFFICE homepage (official)onlyoffice.com
    official
  2. ONLYOFFICE Docs on GitHubgithub.com
    official
  3. Self-hosting OnlyOffice for a few months — Redditreddit.com
    review
  4. Which Office for Linux is most MS-compatible? — Its FOSS forumitsfoss.community
    review
  5. Collabora Online vs OnlyOffice comparisoncollaboraonline.com
    review
  6. Buyer prompt seeking Google Docs alternativeparse.gl
    review
  7. CVE-2023-30186 critical advisoryechelongraph.io
    security
  8. CVE-2023-50883 XSS advisorycve.imfht.com
    security
  9. How to Install ONLYOFFICE — Ojamboojambo.com
    review

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