Stop Paying for Microsoft 365: A Native Office Suite for $9.99
Microsoft 365 Personal now costs $9.99 a month, the same as a getapps.cafe Solo Cup. Here's what DocCafe, SheetCafe and SlideCafe replace, where the yearly math splits, and what you give up if you switch.
I did the math on my Microsoft 365 subscription last week and canceled it the same day.
Here is what I was paying: $99.99 a year for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. That is almost a hundred bucks annually for three apps I use maybe four times a week. The files live on OneDrive, and if Microsoft decides to redesign the ribbon again, I adapt or I am out of luck.
There is a better way to do office work on a Mac.
The Office Suite Hiding in Plain Sight
getapps.cafe has a category called Latte: Daily Essentials. Inside it, there are fifteen apps, and seven of them replace the core Microsoft 365 suite. They save to your local drive. They work offline. And they are included in a single subscription that unlocks every app on the menu.
Here is what replaces what:
DocCafe replaces Word. It opens .docx files, lets you edit with full formatting controls, and saves back to .docx. Tables, images, headers, footers, tracked changes: all there. There is no account for your data. Your documents stay on your machine.
SheetCafe replaces Excel. A native spreadsheet editor with a familiar ribbon, formula engine, charts, and conditional formatting. It opens .xlsx, .xls, and .csv files. If you live in spreadsheets, this one matters.
SlideCafe replaces PowerPoint. Open a .pptx, edit slides, use the presenter view, and export. It is fast, and your deck stays on your local drive.
PDFCafe replaces Adobe Acrobat. Read, annotate, sign, and fix typos inside the text of PDFs. All offline.
NoteCafe replaces OneNote. A local-first markdown notes app. Every note is a plain text file in folders you control. Searchable and portable.
TaskCafe and StickyBoard round out the core group: project boards and sticky notes, both offline.
Seven apps, one category, one subscription.
The Real Cost Comparison
Let's put numbers next to each other.
| What you get | Microsoft 365 Personal | getapps.cafe Solo Cup |
|---|---|---|
| Word processor | Word | DocCafe |
| Spreadsheet | Excel | SheetCafe |
| Presentations | PowerPoint | SlideCafe |
| PDF editor | No | PDFCafe |
| Notes | OneNote | NoteCafe |
| Task manager | No | TaskCafe |
| Sticky notes | No | StickyBoard |
| Other native apps | No | 117 more |
| Cloud storage | 1 TB OneDrive | Your own disk |
| AI assistant | Copilot included | None |
| Monthly price | $9.99/mo | $9.99/mo |
| Yearly price | $99.99/yr | $59.88/yr |
If you pay monthly, the base price is exactly the same: $9.99 a month for Microsoft 365 Personal or getapps.cafe Solo Cup. The annual numbers are where the gap opens up. You drop Microsoft's $99.99 yearly fee for the $59.88 Solo Cup plan. You swap cloud-dependent Office for local equivalents, and you get the rest of the menu included. Screen recording, OCR, password management, system monitoring, image editing: all there.
What Native Actually Means Here
DocCafe, SheetCafe, and SlideCafe write real .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx files on your own disk. They open and save those files directly on your machine. They are not uploaded to a remote server.
If your Wi-Fi drops, you keep working. If you switch to a different cloud storage provider next year, your files are right where you left them: on your computer.
This matters more than most people realize until they are on a plane, in a coffee shop with spotty Wi-Fi, or staring at a syncing spinner when a deadline is approaching.
Will My Files Work With Other People?
Yes. DocCafe saves standard .docx files. Send one to a colleague using Word and they can open it. SheetCafe writes .xlsx that Excel reads. SlideCafe saves .pptx that PowerPoint opens.
Your files are standard format files on your disk. They are not locked inside a proprietary cloud ecosystem. You can back them up however you want, sync them with whatever service you prefer, and open them in any compatible app. Even Microsoft Office, if you ever want to go back. But you are not getting an identical rendering engine, and some elements do not travel.
What You Give Up
This is a swap, not a clone. When you leave Microsoft, you leave features behind.
DocCafe has no spell check and no word count. SheetCafe ships with exactly 88 formula functions. You do not get XLOOKUP, there are no macros, and there are no pivot tables. SlideCafe handles animations and transitions inside its own slideshow, but they do not travel in the saved .pptx file, and there are no slide masters. None of these three apps supports real-time co-editing.
If you write letters, contracts, or budgets, or if you build slide decks you present yourself, this switch suits you. If you are a pivot-table fanatic, a macro developer, or part of a team editing the exact same file at once, you should keep Office.
If you fall into that second group but you hate subscriptions, Microsoft sells Office Home 2024 for $179.99 as a one-time purchase. It is the direct option for people who absolutely need Excel but refuse to rent it.
The Cafe Math
getapps.cafe offers two plans. Solo Cup is $9.99 a month for one device. Family Roast is $15.99 a month for up to five devices.
Microsoft 365 Family costs $12.99 a month for up to six people. If you are already paying that, switching to Family Roast costs $3 more per month. But if you pay yearly, the cafe plan actually wins: $95.88 a year for Family Roast versus $129.99 for Microsoft. For a household with two people using office software, the math is hard to ignore.
There is a 7-day free trial. A card is required to start, but you are not charged until the trial ends. You can install the Latte apps, open your existing .docx and .xlsx files, and see if they do what you need. If they do not, cancel before the week is up and you pay nothing. If they do, you are saving money and getting more software.
Try It Before You Cancel Anything
I am not saying delete your Microsoft account today. I am saying install the trial, open your most complicated Word doc in DocCafe, load your heaviest spreadsheet in SheetCafe, and run your next presentation through SlideCafe. See if anything breaks. See if your workflow survives.
Mine did. That is why I canceled Microsoft 365 last week and haven't opened it since.
The whole Latte lineup is waiting at getapps.cafe. Fifteen Latte apps, 124 across the whole menu, and a 7-day trial to see it for yourself.
Related: The All-in-One Office for Mac - Six Apps, One Subscription