Apache OpenOffice vs. OmniGraffle

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Apache OpenOffice
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
Apache OpenOffice is a free open source office suite that includes six applications: Writer (word processor), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (diagramming and graphics), Base (database), and Math (formulas).N/A
OmniGraffle
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
OmniGraffle is a wireframing tool for Mac users.N/A
Pricing
Apache OpenOfficeOmniGraffle
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Apache OpenOfficeOmniGraffle
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Apache OpenOfficeOmniGraffle
Considered Both Products
Apache OpenOffice
Chose Apache OpenOffice
Apache is the free alternative to MS Office and is enough for basic tasks. It doesn't have all the modern functionality that newer versions of MS Office have, like cloud connectivity and that kind of stuff but for a basic office suite it's really good and it costs nothing to own.
Chose Apache OpenOffice
They are very compatible and very similar overall. If you can use the one, you can use the other. Layouts are also not too dissimilar. So, transitioning from one or the other will not be a problem. Ultimately, pricing may be your deciding factor, not functionality, which is …
Chose Apache OpenOffice
MS Office file formats are native to OpenOffice
Chose Apache OpenOffice
Due to costs mainly, not having to use a ultra expensive app like Microsoft instead. On a big company cost saving is a main driver and apache can fulfill everything even with such a low cost. Initially the team was suspicious of it but now they cannot live without it
Chose Apache OpenOffice
Microsoft Office 2016 required licenses which incurred a cost. Upgrade to Office 2019 or higher is also costly. In terms of functionality, the products are both equally capable, with OpenOffice having a slightly less polished user interface.
Chose Apache OpenOffice
Like OpenOffice, LibreOffice is also an open open source software which ships as the default office suite on Linux operating systems. Libre office is more suited for users using Linux as their primary operating system. Plus it requires 2gb space, same as Microsoft office so …
Chose Apache OpenOffice
For some weird reason, a particular Excel template could not convert properly in QuattroPro so we chose OpenOffice.
Chose Apache OpenOffice
Apache OpenOffice is less intense on our computer systems and saves us a ton of financial resources. Since our document creation and editing needs are typical of a small business and not very complex, Apache OpenOffice is sufficient for us. We think that almost any smaller to …
Chose Apache OpenOffice
OpenOffice comes for free and with almost the same functionalities as Microsoft Office. Even if there may be some small incompatibilities, saving 500+ Microsoft Office licenses can be a real incentive for a small company. Together with moving to OpenOffice, as a part of the …
Chose Apache OpenOffice
OpenOffice is great, free, and easy to use. I enjoy some of this other software, and use Google Drive (and applications) frequently, yet I still find daily use for OpenOffice.
Chose Apache OpenOffice
Apache OpenOffice (OO) is less complicated than MS Office. This makes it easier for beginners to learn. On the other hand, it does not seem to have some of the more advanced features that power users like (but that can confuse and frustrate basic users). OO could profit by …
Chose Apache OpenOffice
I selected Apache because it provides the same tools and performance (as well as the Microsoft Office formats) for absolutely no price tag. It is produced by people who care about making a product that works— great updates are made periodically. The interface is very similar …
Chose Apache OpenOffice
The big benefits that OpenOffice gives us is the flexibility, the cost, and the ease of licensing. We do have some Office users, and we keep licenses for them. We looked at Office 365, and that was a good way to work for some people, but the requirement to be constantly …
Chose Apache OpenOffice
The products are certainly equivalent, with OOO having a much better price and better performance than the non-Microsoft offerings.

I've used Lotus Smartsuite (now deprecated), Coral Office, Star Office (a previous version of OOO), and Microsoft Office. Functionality across all …
Chose Apache OpenOffice
Apache OpenOffice may not quite have all the bells and whistles of Microsoft Office, but I chose it for one major reason: it is absolutely free. It is also fully functional as a free software. There is no trial, need to upgrade, or subscription plan. As a small business owner, …
Chose Apache OpenOffice
Microsoft Office 365 and Prezi
Chose Apache OpenOffice
I like the look and feel that Apache open office has. The fact that it is Open Source and not costly is great. It has an easy learning curve for people that are used to using Microsoft Office.
OmniGraffle
Chose OmniGraffle
While these other tools are great for what they are, OmniGraffle’s solid focus on and support for diagramming makes it our tool of choice for communicating workflows and concept relationships, creating documentation, and creating other diagrams. Its libraries allow us to create …
Chose OmniGraffle
Because we're primarily a Mac shop, Visio was a non-starter. (It's monstrously complex compared to OmniGraffle, which works against the quick-and-dirty just-enough-documentation ideal common on agile teams.) We've used Draw.io on internal projects and when coordinating with …
Chose OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle has a standard and "Pro" version just like Microsoft Visio does.
OmniGraffle works exclusively on Macs, while Visio can run on both Windows and OS X.
I probably would be using Visio today if I did not have a Mac background. Even in my past job where I supported …
Chose OmniGraffle
Stands ahead of the competition; native compatibility and robustness of solution make it the tool of choice. OmniGraffle's price and level of functionality surpass the alternatives.
Chose OmniGraffle
To sum up:

  • use Omnigraffle for diagraming or for quick wireframe drafting
Chose OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle is a solid Mac based Visio with much added functionality specific to wireframe designs. The libraries, although somewhat out of date, allow rapid designs with low fidelity, exactly what you want in wire frames. We use Sketch increasingly to handle the layout of the …
Chose OmniGraffle
It is definitely much more adapted to my needs than PowerPoint, and there are actually not so many tools in that category. As I haven't tried other software like Lucid Chart or Sketch, which appeared recently, I can't really make a comparison. I must say that Omnigraffle fits …
Chose OmniGraffle
My instructor at General Assembly taught us how to us OmniGraffle, so I've been familiar with it.
Chose OmniGraffle
I like that OmniGraffle lets me see my assets and it feels a little more drag and drop.
Chose OmniGraffle
It has much more functionality with flexibility and automated creation of end-to-end from one object to another. It saved a lot of time of creating objects, rather it gave me more opportunities to focus on contents. Another good thing is, like I said in previous answers, there …
Chose OmniGraffle
Axure RP is almost unnecessarily complicated in some areas and the UI can be drastically improved. FlairBuilder is great overall but lack of or slow support is what hurts it. OmniGraffle is one of my top 2 choices currently and InvisionApp is the other.
Chose OmniGraffle
Easier to wireframe with omnigrafffle
Chose OmniGraffle
Omnigraffle handles flows and diagrams better than other tools I've listed above. However, Axure is far superior for creating wireframes and turning them into interactive prototypes (basically "coding" using if/then logic statements). Sketch is much better for detailed design …
Chose OmniGraffle
In comparison to Sketch, OmniGraffle is much better with connectors and placeholders. The placeholders were key for me as I use them often while building wireframes. It's so easy to access and drop in. I'm still trying to figure out how to download and sync stencils for Sketch …
Chose OmniGraffle
I have not tried any alternatives.
Best Alternatives
Apache OpenOfficeOmniGraffle
Small Businesses
Google Workspace
Google Workspace
Score 9.1 out of 10
MindManager
MindManager
Score 8.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Google Workspace
Google Workspace
Score 9.1 out of 10
Cvent Event Diagramming
Cvent Event Diagramming
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Score 8.8 out of 10
Cvent Event Diagramming
Cvent Event Diagramming
Score 9.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Apache OpenOfficeOmniGraffle
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
5.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Apache OpenOfficeOmniGraffle
Likelihood to Recommend
In my opinion, Apache OpenOffice is best suited for writing, editing and proofreading texts in any language. You can also download additional language packages that really take up little space in your PC's storage. Of course, Apache OpenOffice is comprehensive of spreadsheet-/drawing-/database-related softwares and so on, but I primarily use it for writing and editing my own texts. I don't see any scenarios where it is less appropriate, at least so far.
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As I said earlier in this review, OmniGraffle does an excellent job with arcs if they are created in OmniGraffle. The same is not true if the drawing I'm working on was imported from Visio. In that case, I need to just start all over with the arc lines, and that is not often a reasonable option.
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Pros
  • OpenOffice is ideal to have as an application on your PC versus utilizing an online word archive application like Google Docs.
  • OpenOffice can deal with an assortment of document types like [.doc, .rtf, .xml] , making it a fundamental apparatus for the individuals who don't approach Microsoft Word.
  • OpenOffice is a more profound programming than Word and is more open. I know, openness for a record composing programming, I know. In any case, OpenOffice takes into account rapidly evolving edges, typeface, size, and so forth, and I think shows improvement over Word, and in a simpler arrangement.
  • OpenOffice can deal with bookkeeping pages, essential information bases, introductions, and fundamental drawings. It handles the entirety of the typical Microsoft Office instruments inside one application.
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  • The ability to easily map out process flows for users of a wide range of tech comfort levels—The design is intuitive enough for even people with lower tech comfort levels to visually chart process flows. We have never had to do significant onboarding for less tech-savvy colleagues—this is a huge timesaver!
  • Collaborative mind mapping—OmniGraffle is a great platform to get together with people and brainstorm ideas in the early stages of a project, then link ideas together to create visual relationships to inform business and product design decisions.
  • Communicating strategy to stakeholders—Communicating the complexities of a workflow to stakeholders is a lot easier and more effective, with a diagram that clearly shows the relationships between factors rather than showing them a PowerPoint that, because of its slide-by-slide nature, makes it difficult to consistently show how different factors play into an overall workflow.
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Cons
  • Some people used to Microsoft products can feel it's a little bit old in its style
  • I saves documents in its native format, which is incompatible with MS Word or Excel, unless you change that in the preferences tab
  • The UI is not very pretty
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  • No support for team collaboration. I would really like to see a way to share files to iCloud so that others can access and edit.
  • Better print settings. If you're trying to print a document across many pages, it's not easy to make this happen.
  • No ability to pre-configure settings. For example, I have to manually change the unit of measure from "inches" to "pixels" when I create a new document, would like the ability to change that fundamentally.
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Likelihood to Renew
It is a cheap alternative; however, with Microsoft 365 licenses also dropping significantly, we might opt to go in that direction to maintain uniformity.
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Best product for my needs on the market
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Usability
It's good overall, just the UI it's not the prettiest, feels like an older version of MS office, but gets the job done. Once get the hang of it it's easy to use, besides it has great documentation on how to use it and there are many forums that discuss many related topics.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Is there really support? There is a user forum but I do not see much developer input. Support options are limited. The most recent (Sept 2019) version of the product seems to have issues operating under Windows 10, yet there are few recent comments in the community forum, most comments are regarding older versions.
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OmniGraffle is an excellent application for chart and diagrams development. Been using it for a while now and it's a multiple platform application.
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Implementation Rating
We found that it is possible to use Open Office to accomplish everything we need. Some tasks required searching for steps on Google.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
The big benefits that OpenOffice gives us is the flexibility, the cost, and the ease of licensing. We do have some Office users, and we keep licenses for them. We looked at Office 365, and that was a good way to work for some people, but the requirement to be constantly connected to the internet was difficult for some of our field staff. Same with Google Drive, though that was more popular than Office 365. We don't do a ton of collaborative work, so the lack of online collaboration wasn't a dealbreaker for us, though I can see how 365 or Google Drive would be much more helpful for a team of people working on a single document.
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Because we're primarily a Mac shop, Visio was a non-starter. (It's monstrously complex compared to OmniGraffle, which works against the quick-and-dirty just-enough-documentation ideal common on agile teams.) We've used draw.io on internal projects and when coordinating with external teams, but a web-based tool was too awkward for heavy use and bogged down with complex documents. For us, OmniGraffle sits in the "sweet spot" between complex data-driven modeling tools and lightweight "drawing" programs that force too much manual labor when doing heavy diagramming work.
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Return on Investment
  • Moving to OpenOffice will save the company the cost of 500+ of Microsoft Office licenses in our company.
  • Because it is cross-platform, we could also save 500+ of Microsoft Windows licenses if we move everyone to Linux.
  • On the negative side, the lack of online collaboration and browser support may be an issue when you use clouds like Box, Workboard etc.
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  • I've created multiple OmniGraffle template files that I use constantly. I create covers for our proposals in OmniGraffle with pictures of the the client's buildings or sites. All I need to do is drag and drop the image into the template, change the title and client name and address accordingly and it's ready to go.
  • Using templates in OmniGraffle has saved lots of time.
  • Using OmniGraffle to design drawing details for construction documents has allowed us to land projects, purchase orders and new clients to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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ScreenShots