ONLYOFFICE vs Craft: Why the Established Microsoft 365 Alternative Won

XDA Developers writer Yash Patel spent time with two Microsoft 365 alternatives and kept only one. The first was the AI-assisted Craft App Suite. The second was the long-running open-source office suite ONLYOFFICE. His verdict is that the "boring" established option won. The reasons for that verdict matter more than the winner.

What the writer tested​

Patel says he has used Microsoft 365 since school and through his professional life. He tried three Craft apps: WordCraft (a Word alternative), GridCraft (an Excel alternative) and DeckCraft (a PowerPoint alternative).

His Craft tests were simple:

• WordCraft: He made a document, added headings, formatted text and tried basic editing.
• GridCraft: He entered data and used basic formulas.
• DeckCraft: He built a simple presentation and tried slide layouts and text formatting.

He found the experience surprisingly polished and the interfaces familiar. He also noted that the suite has both desktop and browser versions.

The ONLYOFFICE testing was more compatibility-oriented, using existing Microsoft Office files:

• DOCX: He adjusted margins, fonts and headings, and inserted tables and images.
• XLSX: He tested SUM and IF formulas, sorting, filters and cell formatting.
• Presentation: He tried layouts, images and transitions, ran the slideshow, then saved and reopened the files to check that the formatting survived.

He concluded that ONLYOFFICE felt more mature and dependable, with a broader ecosystem for online editing and collaboration. He described Craft as ambitious but still evolving.

Why "still evolving" is the key phrase​

The article doesn't give a development status for Craft. Other reporting does, and it supports Patel's caution.

• Tom's Hardware reported that ArtCraft developer Brandon Thomas announced the three apps, created with Claude, and shared them on GitHub for free download.
• XenoSpectrum cited a public roadmap dated October 7. It put WordCraft and GridCraft at pre-alpha, aiming for first alpha releases, and described DeckCraft as in early development.
• The same outlet reported that WordCraft has implemented commands for 354 of the 405 items in Microsoft Word's ribbon and menus, about 87%. It stressed that this figure is not a document-compatibility rate.
• Maccus relayed the projects' own readiness estimates. They were about 60% for WordCraft, about 50% for GridCraft and about 55% for DeckCraft.

Maccus also listed specific limits that matter for anyone moving real work over:

• GridCraft drops VBA code when it opens a workbook.
• WordCraft keeps the macros in a .docm file but doesn't run them.
• WordCraft refuses password-protected documents.
• GridCraft opens an encrypted workbook but saves it without the password.

That last point has a practical consequence. A protected payroll spreadsheet could come back unprotected after a round trip. None of this appears in Patel's article, which says nothing about macros or protected files. His simple tasks would not have exposed these gaps.

In fairness to the project, the developers are open about its state. Tom's Hardware reported that WordCraft reads and writes DOCX, GridCraft uses XLSX as its native format, and DeckCraft opens and saves PPTX. A feature list is still not proof that real-world files survive intact.

What ONLYOFFICE offers​

ONLYOFFICE's own documentation describes Desktop Editors as an office suite that works with locally stored documents without a constant internet connection. The details below come from that documentation.

• Formats: It can create, view and edit DOCX, ODT, XLSX, ODS, CSV, PPTX, ODP and others. It can also create forms and fill PDF forms.
• Platforms: The desktop app runs on Windows, Linux and macOS.
• Editions: There is a Community version under AGPL v.3 and an Enterprise version. Both include the same editing, formatting and collaboration tools. The Enterprise version ships with an AI Tools add-on, and Community users can install it separately.
• Collaboration needs a cloud: Collaborative editing, reviewing (text documents only), commenting and built-in chat require connecting to a cloud service, and that needs an internet connection.
• Supported clouds: The list includes ONLYOFFICE, Box, Dropbox, Nextcloud, ownCloud, Odoo, Moodle, Infomaniak kDrive, Liferay and Seafile.
• Online-only features: Mail Merge in the Document Editor is available only after connecting to the cloud.

This matters because Patel praises the "ecosystem for online editing and collaboration." For a typical user, that ecosystem means choosing and connecting a service. It doesn't come bundled the way OneDrive and SharePoint do with Microsoft 365.

Analysis: what the test does and doesn't prove​

Patel's experiment is a reasonable first-impressions test. It has limits.

• Small sample: He lists no file sizes, fonts, templates, version numbers or formula complexity. SUM and IF are the easy end of spreadsheet work.
• Subjective verdict: Phrases like "more mature" and "more practical" are his judgment, not benchmarks.
• Narrow scope: He tested document editing. He didn't test email, storage, identity and device management, or the other services in a Microsoft 365 subscription. Replacing the apps isn't the same as replacing the subscription.
• Round-tripping: He checked that formatting held after reopening in the same app. The harder test is opening the file in Microsoft Word or Excel on a colleague's machine.
• Vendor claims: ONLYOFFICE's marketing claims high accuracy for Microsoft formats. That is the vendor's statement, not independent evidence.

His conclusion still holds up. A tool that looks impressive in the first hour and a tool you can trust with a deadline file are different things. For software you depend on, he lists the factors that matter: stability, ongoing development, support and ecosystem.

A sensible way to trial an alternative​

1. Copy, don't move. Work on duplicates of real files and leave the originals alone.
2. Pick representative files. Include one with complex tables or tracked changes, one with real formulas and filters, and one slide deck with transitions and custom fonts.
3. Check what you depend on. Look for macros, password protection, embedded objects, charts and special fonts.
4. Save, reopen and compare. Reopen the file in the alternative app, then in Microsoft Office or whatever your recipients use.
5. Decide on the whole bundle. Before cancelling a subscription, list the non-app services you use, such as cloud storage, email and admin tools.

Bottom line​

Patel's pick of ONLYOFFICE over Craft makes sense. The established suite has a documented feature set and cross-platform support, and it has a long track record. Craft is promising, but its own roadmap labels it early-stage, and independent reporting points to gaps with macros and protected files. Neither tool is proven as a complete Microsoft 365 replacement, and one writer's afternoon of testing doesn't change that. Test your own files before you cancel anything.