LibreOffice, the popular open source office suite, is calling out Microsoft for planned price hikes in Germany.

Quoting an article form t3n (original in German), LibreOffice says Microsoft is planning to raise the price of Microsoft 365 in the German market every six months. The move appears to be limited to corporate customers, with individual users not impacted.

Nonetheless, LibreOffice is positioning itself as a good alternative:

LibreOffice is a free (as in zero cost) office suite, but it also offers fundamental freedoms to study, modify and share the software. Businesses benefit from the software’s data protection and security, and they can also take advantage of professional support.

• LibreOffice can be installed in parallel with Microsoft Office for testing purposes
• The German Federal Office for IT security has issued recommendations for secure configuration of LibreOffice
• In larger environments, LibreOffice can be distributed centrally to users
• Free software apps strengthen independence from individual providers and reduce vendor lock-in

EU companies and governments have a stronger tradition of relying on open source software than their US counterparts. Microsoft’s decision could drive even more customers to open source, with LibreOffice an excellent Microsoft alternative.