Apple iWork
Ranked 12 of 18 office suites by recommenders
Light, simple word processing and spreadsheet apps that people prefer to Microsoft's and Google's and keep using for years. Critics mainly object to subscription ads in the apps.
Light, simple word processing and spreadsheet apps that people prefer to Microsoft's and Google's and keep using for years. Critics mainly object to subscription ads in the apps.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 52%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.1 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Preferred over Microsoft and Google suites
“I personally prefer all their productivity software to Google's or Microsoft's, and it's not a close race”
Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “Apple Announces Low-Cost 'MacBook Neo' with A18 Pro Chip” “I haven't needed Office in well over 15 years given iWork and Google Docs.”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices” “Apple's office suite is my favorite I've ever used, and it's not close.”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Apple Business” Covers everyday office needs
“for a free package, it meets many users needs perfectly fine”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Tim Cook to become Apple Executive Chairman” “which does all I need out of an office suite”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “ICC ditches Microsoft 365 for openDesk” “Apple's iWork software is perfectly fine.”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices” Favorite office suite for many
“Apple's office suite is my favorite I've ever used, and it's not close.”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Apple Business” “Apple's office suite is still my favorite”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Tim Cook to become Apple Executive Chairman” “I also like Apple's office suite”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Apple Business” Light, runs well on modest hardware
“Apple's productivity programs are so light I can leave them open in the background and forget they're running for months at a time”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Apple Business” “Safari, iWork, Logic, even Final Cut run perfectly fine in 8Gb”
Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “Apple Introduces MacBook Neo”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Subscription ads inside the apps
“Apple Creator Studio ads in the former iWork Apps (including abusing toolbar icons for it)”
Comment from 5 Aug 2026 in “"Gravity is worth asking about."” “iWork apps now have advertisements for updating to an Apple Creator Studio subscription.”
Comment from 1 Aug 2026 in “BMW Spider-Man in-car advertising” “ads in iWork applications”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “Resizing windows on macOS Tahoe – the saga continues” Seen as weak for professional work
“Apple apps are a complete joke in the professional world.”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Apple Business” “is worlds better than Apple's office suite”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Apple Business” “anything by Apple last place”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Apple Business” Free status and subscription move disputed
“I have never considered macOS or Apple Office suites as "free" or cheap”
Comment from 1 Feb 2026 in “Apple: Our philosophy is to provide software for our machines free (1976)” “with their move to the subscription version”
Comment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Use Microsoft Office Shortcuts in Libre Office” Slow feature updates, weak keyboard support
“destroyed the iWork suite while taking forever to even manage feature parity”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Apple Creator Studio” “I generally find these apps and others lacking on the keyboard front”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Apple Business”
Other office suites people recommend
The four most recommended other office suites, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LibreOffice | 345 | 188 | 65% | 13 | 20 yrs11 owners | — |
| Microsoft Office | 256 | 407 | 39% | 12 | 12 yrs11 owners | — |
| Microsoft 365 | 151 | 340 | 31% | 12 | 2 yrs11 owners | — |
| Google Workspace | 107 | 214 | 33% | 12 | 10 yrs14 owners | — |
| Apple iWorkThis page | 11 | 10 | 52% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
23 of the 24 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Apple Creator Studio ads in the former iWork Apps (including abusing toolbar icons for it)”
“iWork apps now have advertisements for updating to an Apple Creator Studio subscription.”
“Switch to iWork and get a copy of LibreOffice whenever an old docx document looks funky in Pages.”
“Apple's office suite is still my favorite”
“for a free package, it meets many users needs perfectly fine”
“Pages is simpler than word with much more manageable styles”
“Apple apps are a complete joke in the professional world.”
“I also like Apple's office suite”
“I generally find these apps and others lacking on the keyboard front”
“Apple's productivity programs are so light I can leave them open in the background and forget they're running for months at a time”
“anything by Apple last place”
“Apple's office suite is my favorite I've ever used, and it's not close.”
“is worlds better than Apple's office suite”
“I personally prefer all their productivity software to Google's or Microsoft's, and it's not a close race”
“Safari, iWork, Logic, even Final Cut run perfectly fine in 8Gb”
“with their move to the subscription version”
“ads in iWork applications”
“I have never considered macOS or Apple Office suites as "free" or cheap”
“destroyed the iWork suite while taking forever to even manage feature parity”
“Apple's iWork software is perfectly fine.”
“iWork apps are garbage, no AI included.”
“I haven't needed Office in well over 15 years given iWork and Google Docs.”
“which does all I need out of an office suite”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.