But if you just need to edit an occasional document or use the basic formatting features, you’d rather not spend anything. You can also just buy a standalone version of Microsoft Word outright for $139.99. As part of the Office 365 suite, Microsoft Word would cost households $6.99 a month ($9.99 for a whole family) or $12.50 a month per business user. Not surprisingly, Microsoft Word is not free. It’s the de facto internationally accepted way of corporate communication. If you get a résumé, document, report, or memo today, chances are it would be in either. Since the 1980s, Microsoft Word has been dominating all the writing software worldwide. Write undistracted and edit texts on the fly with Ulysses.