Microsoft's subscription model isn't for everyone. Some people just want to pay once and move on with their lives, no auto-renewals, no billing surprises, no "your plan has changed" emails. This lifetime license just dropped to its lowest price yet: $54.99 , down from $249.99.

Run the math against a Microsoft 365 subscription, and the gap is hard to ignore. Microsoft 365 Personal costs $99.99 a year, so a $54.99 lifetime license pays for itself before the first year of a subscription would even renew. Stay on Microsoft 365 for three years, and you'd have spent close to $300 for software you never actually own.

The license includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and Access, installed permanently on one Windows 10 or 11 PC.