Publisher alternative in 2026

A reminder to anyone who is so inclined, please sign and share the petition to save Publisher:

https://www.change.org/p/prevent-the-discontinuation-of-microsoft-publisher

I have been using Publisher for over thirty years to create training manuals and flyers for my business. I love this program. In fact, my husband has wanted me to buy a Mac for years and I always said no because I didn't want to have to transfer all these documents to a new format since there is no Publisher on the Mac platform. I feel very disappointed and angry because I value a company that provides consistency and reliability in their products. Will you provide an equivalent product to meet my needs? (Word and PowerPoint are not functional alternatives!) Or maybe it's time to made the move?

Exactly! I agree 💯! Guess my loyalty to Microsoft is not appreciated or rewarded and Apple would have been a better alternative. My next laptop will not be PC… It will be a Mac.

I have read everyone's replies and questions along with doing some research. Conclusion?

1. There is no program that Publisher can be converted into and maintain all the hard work you have done with graphics, layout, etc. I find it insulting that Microsoft assures that we could just convert it to Word or PowerPoint (Seriously? PowerPoint) and not lose anything.
2. There are certainly programs that can be learned going forward, but that means years of publications is lost and in some cases many months/years to redo standard publications we have already put much work into.
3. Microsoft apparently had zero clue how many of their customers use Publisher and how extensively. They need to listen and offer another way to keep Publisher as something separate from the Office package that is a one time load and no updates required.
4. The complaints go beyond these threads. I mentioned it to the staff at Geek Squad when I took my laptop for repairs and they said they were getting a lot of complaints, too.
5. Ideally, Microsoft should rethink their very misinformed decision. If not that, there should be clear information on how users can get the licensed stand alone Publisher program on a computer or laptop.

This was a very bad move on the part of Microsoft. Shame on them!

I agree completely. I'm unsure whether to pay for the 2021 Publisher version or not at this point. Who knows how long will that version will work. We don't know for sure whether they will come out with a twilight version or not, since they have been largely silent. I'm leaning towards canceling my 365 subscription, having Geek Squad completely remove OneDrive from my computer and installing the 2021 version. After being a customer for many years, dealing with Microsoft has become a dreaded chore and is very disheartening.