The short answer
- You have Microsoft 365 and make flyers, bulletins or cards: PowerPoint.
- You'd rather work in a browser, or share designs with a team: Canva.
- You want a real layout app without paying: Affinity.
- You do professional print work, or your printer asks for it: InDesign.
- You want free and open source: Scribus.
PowerPoint
Already installed if you have Microsoft 365, and it's one of the apps Microsoft points Publisher users to. Each slide can be set to any page size (Design > Slide Size), text boxes and pictures sit where you put them, and it prints and exports PDF well. It has no linked text boxes, so articles that run across columns become separate boxes. Opens .pub files: no.
Word
Microsoft's other suggestion, and the right one for text-heavy documents: letters, certificates, simple newsletters, labels. Word's page layout tools are weaker than Publisher's, and designed pages with many floating boxes are awkward to edit. Opens .pub files: no. See converting Publisher to Word.
Canva
Browser-based, with a large template library and easy sharing. Good for flyers, social posts and anything a group edits together. Some templates and features need a paid plan. Opens .pub files: no, but it imports PowerPoint files as editable designs. See Publisher to Canva.
Affinity
A full desktop layout app for Windows and Mac, made free by Canva in 2025. It has master pages, linked text frames and proper print output, so it's the closest thing to a free InDesign. There's more to learn than in Publisher. Opens .pub files: no, but it opens IDML. See Publisher to Affinity.
Adobe InDesign
The industry standard for print layout, by subscription. Worth it if you do layout for a living or work with print shops that expect InDesign files; more than most Publisher users need. Opens .pub files: no, but it opens IDML. See Publisher to InDesign.
Scribus
A free, open-source layout app for Windows, Mac and Linux. It's capable but less polished than the others. Opens .pub files: it can import them, using the same open-source library as LibreOffice, with similar results: expect to fix text and fonts.
LibreOffice Draw
Part of the free LibreOffice suite. Not really a Publisher replacement for new work, but useful as a free viewer. Opens .pub files: yes, most of them. Simple pages come through well; in longer documents, text that flowed between columns gets copied into every column, and wrapping and fonts can change. It can't save back to .pub.
Getting your old files across
Whichever app you pick, your existing .pub files need converting, since only LibreOffice and Scribus read them and neither keeps complex layouts intact. Your options:
- To read or print them: a PDF. My converter makes one for $4.99.
- To keep editing them: my converter makes a .pptx for PowerPoint, Canva or Google Slides, a .docx for Word and an IDML file for Affinity or InDesign, all three for $12 per file, with a free preview first. A whole folder goes through the bulk converter.