Office 365 Lifetime (5 Devices) vs 5 Separate Office 2024 Licences — Which Saves UK Buyers More in 2025?
You have got a household with multiple computers. Or a small team. Or you are just someone who works across a desktop and a laptop and maybe a tablet. Either way, you need Microsoft Office on more than one device — and you are staring at two very different options.
Option A: One Office 365 Pro Plus lifetime licence that covers 5 devices for £19.99. Option B: Buying 5 separate Office 2024 Pro Plus licences at £29.99 each. The price gap is enormous — but is the cheaper option actually better? Let us break this down properly.
The Price Showdown — Raw Numbers
Before we get into features, let us just look at what each approach costs for covering 5 devices:
| Approach | Unit Cost | Total for 5 Devices | Cost Per Device |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office 365 Lifetime (5 Devices) | £19.99 | £19.99 | £4.00 |
| 5× Office 2024 Pro Plus | £29.99 each | £149.95 | £29.99 |
| Microsoft 365 Family (official) | £79.99/year | £399.95 (5 years) | £80/year |
The numbers speak loudly. The Office 365 lifetime licence is 7.5 times cheaper than buying individual Office 2024 licences, and roughly 20 times cheaper over five years than Microsoft's own subscription. But cost alone does not tell the whole story.
What You Get With Each Option — Feature Comparison
Both options give you the core Microsoft Office desktop applications. But there are meaningful differences in how they work:
| Feature | Office 365 Lifetime (5 Devices) | Office 2024 Pro Plus (Per Device) |
|---|---|---|
| Word, Excel, PowerPoint | ✅ | ✅ |
| Outlook | ✅ | ✅ |
| OneNote | ✅ | ✅ |
| Access (Windows only) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Publisher (Windows only) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Devices covered | Up to 5 | 1 per licence |
| PC and Mac support | ✅ Both | ✅ Both |
| Licence type | Account-based | Device-based |
| Transferable to new device | ✅ (deactivate old, activate new) | ⚠️ Limited (tied to device) |
| Recurring payments | ❌ None | ❌ None |
| OneDrive cloud storage | Varies | ❌ Not included |
| Automatic updates | ✅ Ongoing | ⚠️ Security only (no feature updates) |
Scenario 1 — UK Family With Multiple Computers
This is the most common situation. You have a family of two adults and perhaps a teenager or university student. There are three to five devices in the house — a mix of laptops and maybe a desktop. Everyone needs Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Winner: Office 365 Lifetime (5 Devices)
At £19.99 total, this is the single best value proposition in UK software right now. One purchase, five installations, done. Each family member gets the full Office suite on their machine. If someone gets a new laptop for Christmas, you deactivate the old device and install on the new one.
The only scenario where individual Office 2024 licences make sense for a family is if you specifically need each device to have its own independent licence that is not linked to a shared account. For most families, this is unnecessary.
Scenario 2 — UK Small Business With 5 Employees
This is where it gets more nuanced. A small business with 5 employees might seem like the perfect use case for the 5-device licence — but there is an important consideration.
The Office 365 lifetime licence is tied to one Microsoft account. In a business context, this means all five devices share a single account. For some small businesses (a family business, a husband-and-wife consultancy, a sole trader with multiple machines), this is perfectly fine.
But if you need each employee to have their own Microsoft account with their own OneDrive, their own Outlook mailbox, and their own login credentials, individual licences or a Microsoft 365 Business plan is more appropriate.
The practical middle ground: Many UK small businesses use individual Office 2024 licences for the desktop apps and separate email hosting (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 Exchange Online at £3.30/month per user) for email. This hybrid approach gives independence per employee while avoiding the £99.99/year per-user cost of full Microsoft 365 Business.
Scenario 3 — Freelancer or Remote Worker With Multiple Devices
You work on a desktop at home and a laptop on the go. Maybe you also have a tablet for reading documents. You are one person, but you need Office on multiple devices.
Winner: Office 365 Lifetime (5 Devices), overwhelmingly
For a single user with multiple devices, there is absolutely no reason to buy separate licences. The 365 lifetime licence covers all your machines under one account for £19.99. Buying even two Office 2024 licences would cost £59.98 — three times more.
Scenario 4 — IT Manager Deploying Across Company Machines
If you manage IT for a UK company with more than 5 users, neither of these options is your primary solution. You would typically use volume licensing or Microsoft 365 Business plans. However, for small offices or departments with exactly 5 machines, the Office 365 lifetime licence can serve as a remarkably cost-effective stopgap.
The Update Question — Does It Actually Matter?
One of the most frequently asked questions from UK buyers is about updates. Office 2024 Pro Plus receives security updates but not feature updates — its feature set is frozen at the 2024 release. Office 365 (including the lifetime variant) receives ongoing feature updates as Microsoft releases them.
In practice, how much does this matter? For most users, honestly, very little. The core functionality of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint has been largely stable for years. The new features Microsoft adds are typically AI-related (Copilot integrations) or minor UI tweaks. If you are writing documents, building spreadsheets, and creating presentations, both versions do the job identically.
Where updates matter more is in security. Both options receive security patches, so you are covered either way. The difference is purely in new features — and for most UK remote workers and small businesses, the features in Office 2024 are more than sufficient for years to come.
Transferability — The Hidden Advantage of 365
Here is something many UK buyers overlook: what happens when you replace a computer?
With Office 2024 Pro Plus (device-based licence), transferring to a new machine can be complicated. The licence is tied to the hardware it was originally installed on. While Microsoft's terms do allow transfer in some cases, it is not always straightforward.
With Office 365 lifetime (account-based licence), you simply sign into your Microsoft account on the new device, and Office installs. You can deactivate old devices and activate new ones freely, up to 5 active at any time. Over a 5-10 year period, this flexibility is significant — most people replace at least one computer in that time.
What About Mac Users?
Both options fully support macOS. If you have a mixed household with Windows PCs and Macs, the Office 365 lifetime licence is particularly attractive because it covers all platforms under one licence. With Office 2024, you would need to buy the correct version for each platform — and confirm the key works for Mac before purchase.
Our Verdict — Which Should UK Buyers Choose?
Let us make this simple:
| If You Are... | Choose This | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One person, one device | Office 2024 Pro Plus (£29.99) | Full suite, one-time payment, latest version |
| One person, 2-5 devices | Office 365 Lifetime (£19.99) | Covers all devices for less than one Office 2024 licence |
| Family with multiple PCs/Macs | Office 365 Lifetime (£19.99) | Unbeatable value at £4 per device |
| Small team, shared account OK | Office 365 Lifetime (£19.99) | Cheapest way to equip 5 machines |
| Business needing separate accounts | 5× Office 2024 Pro Plus (£149.95) | Independent licences per employee |
For the vast majority of UK buyers, the Office 365 lifetime licence at £19.99 for 5 devices is the clear winner. It is cheaper, more flexible, and covers more devices than any other option on the market.
The maths do not lie: £19.99 for 5 devices versus £149.95 for 5 individual licences. Unless you specifically need independent accounts per user, the choice is obvious.
Where to Buy — And Why Trust Matters
Both licences are available from Softkeys.uk, a UK-registered retailer with over 8,174 verified customer reviews and a 4.28-star rating. Every purchase includes:
- Instant digital delivery (keys arrive in minutes)
- Lifetime warranty on all product keys
- UK-based customer support
- Legal licence resale under UsedSoft v Oracle principles and UK Consumer Rights Act 2015 protection
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I mix PC and Mac devices on one Office 365 lifetime licence?
What happens if I replace one of my 5 devices — can I transfer the licence?
Do both options include Outlook for email?
Is the Office 365 lifetime licence really lifetime, or does it expire?
Which option is better for a UK small business with 5 employees?
Are these licences legal to buy in the UK?
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