Microsoft is now bundling its Office products into the Microsoft 365 subscription. The Microsoft 365 Personal bundle gives you access to all the Office apps, plus 1TB of OneDrive storage. But it also costs $69.99 per year for individuals and $100 for the Family plan. And now Microsoft has a new plan called Microsoft 365 Basic, which gives you access to all the Office apps, plus 100GB of OneDrive storage, for $1.99/month or $19.99/year, which is a step in the right direction.

But what if you don’t want to pay for Office at all? What if you only use it sporadically or can’t afford a subscription? There are a few legitimate ways to get free access to Microsoft Office apps like PowerPoint, Word, and Excel.

If you’re a student or teacher, Microsoft is offering the entire suite for free, including Teams and classroom tools, as long as you’re part of an eligible institution. All you need to do is enter your official school email address on the Microsoft Office Education page to get started. If your domain is verified, you’ll get access to Office tools through an automated authentication process. However, if your institution has yet to be verified, it could take up to a month to complete account setup.

There are some caveats here, and Microsoft isn’t entirely clear on how everything works. If your school qualifies, you should be good. However, it appears that you’re only eligible for the free Office web app, along with Microsoft Teams and OneDrive. Otherwise, your school may not be eligible for any of these apps.