Microsoft Office 2021 for Mac offered at half-price as one-time purchase gains popularity

A limited-time promotion reduces the cost of Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac to $99.97, offering a perpetual licence for users seeking an alternative to subscription-based Office 365.

A one-off purchase of Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac is being promoted at $99.97, below its listed $219 price, according to Macworld. The bundle includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams Basic and OneNote as full desktop apps, rather than a subscription tied to Microsoft 365.

The licence is linked to a Microsoft account, so it can be carried across to a new Mac, although the code itself is installed on one computer. Macworld says updates are included, and Microsoft’s support rules for Office for Mac confirm that the suite is supported on the three most recent versions of macOS. At present, that means Sonoma, Sequoia and Tahoe.

There are a few practical limits. Buyers are told to redeem the code within seven days of purchase, and the software runs natively on macOS rather than through a virtual machine such as Parallels. That distinction matters for users who rely on Windows emulation or mixed desktop environments.

For individuals and small businesses that prefer to avoid recurring software fees, the appeal is straightforward: pay once, install locally and keep using the same core Office tools for as long as the Mac remains supported. Similar one-time licensing offers from other retailers also point to steady demand for perpetual Office licences among users who do not want a subscription model.