Microsoft Office 2026: Should You Wait or Buy Now?

Updated 7 September 2026 — still no Office 2026 announcement from Microsoft. Office 2021 loses support on 13 October 2026, and Microsoft 365 business prices rose on 1 July. Figures and lifecycle dates rechecked against Microsoft’s documentation.

Microsoft Office 2026 is generating a lot of search traffic. That’s partly the Office 2021 end-of-support date of 13 October 2026 concentrating minds, partly genuine curiosity about what comes after Office 2024. The short answer: there is still no announcement, no roadmap entry and no credible leak — almost two years on from the release of Office 2024. The release cycle points to 2027 at the earliest. Here’s what the evidence actually shows, what is genuinely happening this October, and why none of it changes the case for buying Office 2024 now.

What Microsoft Has Actually Confirmed

One statement. In Microsoft’s own Office 2024 and Office LTSC 2024 FAQ, they confirmed their commitment to “another release of the on-premises version of Office in the future, beyond this release.” No version number. No year. No feature list. That’s it.

That page was last revised in June 2026, and the wording has not changed. Microsoft has had two years and several opportunities to put a date against that sentence, and has chosen not to.

Everything else circulating online — specific features, release dates, pricing, screenshots — is invented. This includes content that presents itself as reporting or analysis. There is no Office 2026 in any Microsoft roadmap, no preview programme, and nothing in the Microsoft Learn lifecycle pages that refers to a version beyond 2024. If you’ve read otherwise, the source made it up.

What Microsoft have confirmed is the opposite of what the rumour mill implies: the perpetual channel will continue. They just haven’t told us when.

The Release Cycle Doesn’t Point to 2026

Microsoft has released perpetual Office versions on a consistent cadence for the last decade. The pattern is clear:

Three years has been the cadence for three consecutive releases. From October 2024, that lands the next version around late 2027. A 2026 release would be a departure from everything Microsoft has done in the modern Office era — and with the year three-quarters gone and no preview programme, no roadmap entry and no announcement, it is not going to happen.

What Is Actually Happening in October 2026

The genuine Office deadline this year has nothing to do with a new release. Office 2021 and Office LTSC 2021 reach end of support on 13 October 2026. Microsoft confirmed the date in its lifecycle announcement, and it applies to the consumer editions as well as the volume-licensed LTSC builds.

The apps will keep opening on 14 October. What stops is security updates, bug fixes and technical support. For a home user that is a risk that grows quietly over time; for anyone handling client data or working to a compliance standard, running unsupported Office is usually the point at which it stops being a judgement call.

Microsoft’s own upgrade guidance names two routes: Microsoft 365 Apps, or Office LTSC 2024 for organisations that need to stay on-premises. The perpetual route is the direct like-for-like replacement — a one-time purchase that behaves the way Office 2021 behaves, with the support window running to October 2029.

We’ve written up the deadline and the practical steps separately in Office 2021 End of Support: What UK Users Need to Do. It isn’t the only Microsoft retirement landing this autumn either — October 2026: Microsoft’s Deadline Month collects all of them in one place.

Microsoft Wants You on 365 — but the Pushback Is Real

Microsoft’s commercial preference is obvious. Every version of Office since 2019 has arrived with fewer features than its 365 counterpart, with Microsoft openly positioning that gap as an incentive to subscribe. The perpetual versions exist to serve customers who won’t or can’t move to cloud-delivered software — regulated industries, air-gapped environments, cost-controlled IT departments, and individuals who simply don’t want a monthly bill.

In January 2025, Microsoft raised the price of 365 Personal by 42%, bundling Copilot AI features into all paid plans. The reaction was immediate. Users downgraded to Classic plans, cancelled subscriptions, and started actively researching perpetual alternatives.

Business customers got the same treatment on 1 July 2026, when UK prices for annual Microsoft 365 business plans went up: Business Basic from £55.20 to £64.80 per user per year, Business Standard from £115.20 to £129.60. Business Premium held at £202.80. Copilot moved into the standard bundles at the same time. Whatever the merits of the AI features, the pattern is now well established — the subscription price is not a fixed quantity, and it has only ever moved in one direction.

The Classic plans — the pre-2025 pricing without Copilot — are the interesting counterpoint. We previously expected Microsoft to withdraw them around the middle of 2026. That hasn’t happened. They are still available, but they are no longer publicly listed or directly purchasable: for most people they surface only as a retention offer part-way through cancelling a subscription. Available, in other words, but on Microsoft’s terms rather than yours, and with no commitment that they will stay.

This is the context in which any future perpetual release will arrive. Microsoft cannot afford to abandon the perpetual market entirely. Enterprise compliance requirements alone make it unavoidable. Add the consumer subscription fatigue, and the commercial case for continuing the perpetual channel is stronger now than it was two years ago. A future version is coming — the question is when, and 2026 is not the answer.

Why Waiting Will Cost You More Than Buying Now

Office 2024 is supported until 9 October 2029 — confirmed by Microsoft. That’s just over three years of security updates, patches and OS compatibility from today. If the next perpetual version arrives in late 2027, Office 2024 will still have two years of supported life remaining when it does.

The cost of waiting is straightforward. Microsoft 365 Personal currently costs £84.99 per year at the standard rate. Two years of holding off while a new version materialises costs £169.98. You then still need to buy the new version. Compared to — for Office Home & Business 2024 today, that arithmetic is hard to justify.

And the feature delta between perpetual versions is narrower than it used to be. Microsoft channels its Copilot AI capability into the subscription. The jump from Office 2024 to whatever comes next will be incremental for perpetual buyers — incremental enough that most users on 2024 will finish out its support window without feeling short-changed. The upgrade decision belongs in 2029, not now.

The Numbers Over Five Years

Microsoft 365 Personal at the current standard rate costs £424.95 over five years — the full support window of Office 2024. A Classic plan without Copilot is cheaper, but as covered above you can no longer simply buy one.

Office Home & Business 2024 is — for PC or — for Mac. Office Professional Plus 2024 is —. Against 365 Personal, the perpetual licence breaks even inside the first year and a bit. Against Business Standard at its new rate of £129.60 per user per year, Office Professional Plus pays for itself in well under a year per seat — and then keeps working while the subscription keeps billing.

The subscription model earns its keep for teams running deep Microsoft 365 integrations — real-time co-authoring, SharePoint, Teams, Copilot as part of an active workflow. If that’s the picture, 365 is the right answer. For everyone else — the majority of home users, freelancers, and small businesses who open Office applications to do work and close them again — perpetual is the rational choice at these prices.

Which Version to Choose

Not sure which is the right fit? The Office Licence Advisor covers the key differences between versions and points you to the right licence in a couple of minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions