--- title: "Microsoft Publisher Reviews, Pros and Cons - 2026 Software Advice" description: "Reviews of Microsoft Publisher. Learn how real users rate this software's ease-of-use, functionality, overall quality and customer support. Talk to our advisors to see if Microsoft Publisher is a good fit for you!" source_url: "https://www.softwareadvice.com/cms/microsoft-publisher-profile/reviews/" page_type: "reviews" language: "en" --- 1 million+ businesses helped. Get advice Get Free Advice [Home](https://www.softwareadvice.com/) / [Content Management Software](https://www.softwareadvice.com/cms/) / [Microsoft Publisher](https://www.softwareadvice.com/cms/microsoft-publisher-profile/) / Microsoft Publisher Reviews Software Advice offers objective insights based on verified user reviews and independent product and market research. When our advisors match you to a software provider, we may earn a referral fee. [Overview](https://www.softwareadvice.com/cms/microsoft-publisher-profile/) Reviews [Alternatives](https://www.softwareadvice.com/cms/microsoft-publisher-profile/alternatives/) # Microsoft Publisher User Reviews ## Reviews summary - Overall rating: 4.4/5 - Total reviews: 242 ### Secondary ratings - Ease of use: 4.4/5 - Customer support: 4.3/5 - Value for money: 4.4/5 - Functionality: 4.4/5 ### Rating distribution - 5 stars: 137 reviews (57%) - 4 stars: 78 reviews (32%) - 3 stars: 21 reviews (9%) - 2 stars: 5 reviews (2%) - 1 star: 1 reviews (0%) ### Most mentioned pros - The built-in templates, drag-and-drop layout tools, and familiar Microsoft interface make it simple to design flyers, brochures, newsletters, and other marketing materials. - It’s a reliable, easy-to-use tool for creating flyers, newsletters, invitations, and other print materials quickly. While it lacks some modern design features and collaboration tools, it’s efficient for straightforward projects and works well for organizations that need clean, professional layouts without a steep learning curve. - Microspft Publisher has a decent selection of templates that users can choose from in order to design promotional materials. ### Most mentioned cons - We normally just create the files on a Windows computer then export them as a PDF for those who don't have Macs, but this completely removes editing capabilities. - This tool doesn't offer as many professional-grade design tools also the tool is not designed for modern web development. - It also is not overly easy to collaborate with others. ## Microsoft Publisher customer reviews Showing reviews 1-25 of 242 (page 1). ### Better Options Available--Especially Since Publisher is Being Discontinued - Overall rating: 3/5 - Reviewer: Ann B. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Health, Wellness and Fitness - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: Used monthly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: March 2026 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. It's a little frustrating that I will have to recreate forms I have used for decades because MS Publisher is being discontinued in October 2026. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 3/5 - Value for money: 1/5 - Customer support: 3/5 - Functionality: 2/5 #### Pros I am familiar with the tools and capabilities of the program and many standard forms I use were created in Publisher. #### Cons At this point, I can easily do anything--and much, much more--I could do in Publisher in Canva for less cost. #### Reasons for choosing Microsoft Publisher Familiar with the product, Microsoft a reputable company. --- ### Great Publisher for most businesses - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Mike S. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Education Management - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: January 2024 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I have tried to switch to other new Publishing platforms and I always end up coming back to Publisher. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 3/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros You can jump right into using Publisher with little learning curve. This is in contrast to InDesign or Affinity that requires a bigger learning curve. Does everything most businesses would ever need. #### Cons There are very few cons but one would be that it is not a collaborative document. #### Reasons for choosing Microsoft Publisher Publisher was far easier to use right from the start and did everything I needed. #### Reasons for switching to Microsoft Publisher Publisher easier to use right from the start. --- ### Try it first - Overall rating: 2/5 - Reviewer: Freyxa M. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Mental Health Care - Company size: 201-500 employees - Product usage: Used daily for less than 6 months - Reviewed: June 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Is useful for creating printed training materials, but it feels updated for modern on boarding practices #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 3/5 - Customer support: 3/5 - Functionality: 2/5 #### Pros It has a single drag and drop sign to, and it’s really useful for creating visual content, it can be also there for producing printable materials for in person sessions #### Cons It’s really limited on the collaboration features and it’s not ideal for teens working on the same dock, it’s also only PC, Mac users are excludeD --- ### Excellent Design Program for Newbies - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Ashley C. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Hospital & Health Care - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: June 2022 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. I would highly recommend Publisher for its available features and ease of use. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros Microsoft Publisher is an excellent tool for creative assignments. It had all of the functions that I needed. The software was easy to learn, thus making it great for beginners. #### Cons I used Microsoft Publisher in my daily work for over 10 years. I recently switched to an Apple computer, but Publisher was not available for Mac. I was disappointed because I used Publisher more than any other software by far! #### Reasons for choosing Microsoft Publisher I used Publisher because it is user-friendly unlike Adobe products. --- ### Great Entry Level - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Retail - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: June 2022 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered If you want a universal app as an individual or small company with little to no desktop publishing experience, you'll be delighted with this app. If you want to take it to a professional level, this is too limited. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 3/5 #### Pros Easy to use Tons of templates "some" tweaking #### Cons Not powerful Relys on Clipart vs creating art from scratch #### Reasons for choosing Microsoft Publisher Compared to illustrator, simple to use and loaded with templates #### Reasons for switching to Microsoft Publisher Very easy for coworkers to use --- ### app for design of pages, magazines, etc. - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Maycol L. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Writing and Editing - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used weekly for less than 2 years - Reviewed: May 2023 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I used it for various school work on a magazine and the production of a newspaper. It made it very easy for me to edit the pages, so I could give it the style I wanted. It is a bit complex if used "professionally", but if you understand the basics of the app you can do a lot of things. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 3/5 - Functionality: 3/5 #### Pros I feel that it is a very complete app for newspaper/magazine style editing work, as well as being easy to use. #### Cons It is a bit expensive, as usual in office packages. #### Reasons for choosing Microsoft Publisher I started Publisher because I was watching videos on YouTube about Publisher and that got me interested in the product. Besides, I already had it on my computer through the office suite. --- ### MS Publisher for Book Covers - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: William O. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Publishing - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used monthly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: May 2022 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. It is my go-to Book Cover creator solution. I prefer it to any of the paint programs I have used (Paint.net, Gimp, Pixel, etc.). #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros I have used Publisher for many years. Although it is constantly being improved, I have never had trouble learning the new features and it makes beautiful products (in my case, mostly Book Covers). #### Cons I can't think of a single negative about this software. #### Reasons for choosing Microsoft Publisher Ease of use, mainly. I like Canva because it has so many templates, but it is not as easy to use as Publisher. On rare occasions, I need GIMP or Paint.NET to do something that I can't do in Publisher. But it could be that I don't know how to use Publisher well enough. --- ### i love Microsoft !!!!! - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Adriana Z. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Hospital & Health Care - Company size: 51-200 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: April 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. I’ve loved everything Microsoft has and offers their customers! #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros I’ve loved the ability to easily adapt to a new software that is also compatible with all of my other software platforms. #### Cons I haven’t had a bad experience with any Microsoft products --- ### Publisher review - Overall rating: 3/5 - Reviewer: Daniel C. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Hospital & Health Care - Company size: 51-200 employees - Product usage: Used monthly for less than 6 months - Reviewed: May 2026 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. The layout being similar to Microsoft products is a benefit, but otherwise I think Publisher does not set itself apart the way Word and PowerPoint does. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 2/5 - Value for money: 2/5 - Customer support: 3/5 - Functionality: 3/5 #### Pros Microspft Publisher has a decent selection of templates that users can choose from in order to design promotional materials. #### Cons Convering files to PDFs from publisher is not as simple as it is to do so from Word and it hinders editing capabilities. --- ### Staple software but it is slightly outdated - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Sannah M. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Architecture & Planning - Company size: 51-200 employees - Product usage: Used monthly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: May 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. I do believe it is a good staple software if you are purchasing Microsoft office however considering the cost, I would not go out of my way to purchase if I did not already have access. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 3/5 - Customer support: 4/5 - Functionality: 3/5 #### Pros Microsoft publisher is a good software that gives you the option to work with a few different templates to bring your ideas to life. Whether these are postcards, leaflets, posters, there is a good variety on here. #### Cons It is a little outdated and there are better software's that give more creative control and editing options. --- ### Microsoft publish is easy and convenient - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Kelly W. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Facilities Services - Company size: 1001-5000 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for less than 2 years - Reviewed: May 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros It is very easy to you and have great templates. #### Cons I do not have an cons about Microsoft publisher. --- ### Brilliant publishing software - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Emmeline C. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Publishing - Company size: 10000+ employees - Product usage: Used monthly for less than 2 years - Reviewed: April 2025 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered It’s brilliant software, convenient to use especially as a writer and editor #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Cons Nothing I dislike about Microsoft Publisher --- ### Excellent software to create professional looking publications for your business - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Gabriela B. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Veterinary - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: December 2024 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I use it regularly with great success to create professional-looking material for my business. It's very user friendly and templates are useful and time saving. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros It contains a great variety of templates to create different kinds of promotional material for the business such as flyers, invitations, cards and banners. You don't need experience in graphic design to generate great professional-looking publications. #### Cons It works best with publications that need a limited amount of text. --- ### MS-Publisher Review - Overall rating: 3/5 - Reviewer: Caroline K. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Government Administration - Company size: 51-200 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: September 2024 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I used to use it when I was new to graphic design. I still use it when introducing interns to graphic design. It is really simple and easy to use if you want to layout a simple publication. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 4/5 - Functionality: 3/5 #### Pros It is very simple to use, especially for those new to graphic design. #### Cons It is too simple, with limited graphic design tools. --- ### Microsoft Publisher Review - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: James N. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Computer Software - Company size: 1001-5000 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: May 2023 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I enjoyed the product. It is easy to use and learn. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros User-friendly interface: Microsoft Publisher has a simple and intuitive interface that makes it easy to use for beginners and experts alike.Template library: Microsoft Publisher comes with a wide variety of templates that users can use to create professional-looking documents quickly.Customization: Users can customize their documents with various design elements such as shapes, images, and colors. #### Cons Pricing: For you to use Microsoft Publisher, you have to buy a license from Microsoft for Microsoft Office. --- ### An easy and professional tool for desktop publishing! - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: E-Learning - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: June 2023 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. My overall experience has been a pleasure. MS Publisher was my first experience creating a newsletter for my company, and it was simple and effective. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 4/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros I have used Publisher for many years, and it is by far the easiest desktop publishing application. It is a great way to get started without requiring a steep learning curve. #### Cons I love the program but would be even happier if it were available for MacOS. I use both Mac and Windows. --- ### Microsoft - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Tarmetria T. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Utilities - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: October 2023 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros I like how easy it is to write or proof read or maintain a slide show etc . Very useful for those in the industries of office and business and banking . Maybe each review you can become more successful in your micromanaging career!! #### Cons There’s nothing that I don’t like about Microsoft --- ### Microsoft Publisher--Fine in a Pinch, but there are Better Document Layout Tools Available - Overall rating: 3/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Higher Education - Company size: 5001-10000 employees - Product usage: Used monthly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: November 2021 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered Microsoft Publisher is the first document layout tool I used. It is fine enough to make basic layouts, but it lacks the flexibility and functionality to create anything beyond the basic. Publisher struggles with complicated layouts and autoformats things in such a way that it is often hard to predict how it will react to changes to the layout. While I was able to create basic layouts with Publisher, once I transitioned to more fully featured layout tools like InDesign, I never looked back. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 2/5 - Value for money: 3/5 - Customer support: 2/5 - Functionality: 2/5 #### Pros The best part about Publisher is the ease of use and user-friendly approach. Anyone familiar with Microsoft Office products can create workable documents in it. That it integrates into the Microsoft Office family of products is valuable. #### Cons Microsoft Publisher has vastly fewer features and is far less powerful than competitor document layout tools like InDesign. Clunky object snaps, unintuitive layering, and limited font design capabilities hamstring it as anything more than a basic layout tool. What's more, the vast majority of Publisher's functionality is replicated within Microsoft Word. As such the need for a separate tool like Publisher within the Office family is largely obviated. I recommend sticking with Word for your basic layouts. For anything more complicated, use a tool like InDesign. --- ### This is a way to get a project done - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Valerie G. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Food Production - Company size: 1001-5000 employees - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: November 2023 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. I love Microsoft publisher when I was first introduced I did not think I was going to ever need this but now I never use word and just use Microsoft publisher. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros There's so many different things that you can use Microsoft publisher for. You are the editor and you control the editing there is so many different features that can be done to your project #### Cons Sometimes I don't like the fonts that are available and do not want to have to purchase any fonts either --- ### Everyone's Good Ol' Publisher - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Andrea S. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Entertainment - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: Used monthly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: June 2023 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Overall, it's a handy go-to. We use it for so many things in our education program! It's reliable, if even a little cumbersome to learn. Always produces solid results. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 3/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros I like that it is accessible to any person wishing to create documents for printing. For us, we utilize Publisher for the creation of brochures, fliers, and programs for our Education Program. It's easy to submit the files to local printing companies. Our creations always look good and just cost us the price of printing! #### Cons Sometimes it isn't as intuitive as I would like. I use other services, like Canva, and they can be easy to figure out from the get-go. Publisher has a few more steps than I would like. Especially when learning on one's own. --- ### MS Publisher still has it all these years later - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Alex G. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Education Management - Company size: 51-200 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: November 2023 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros I'm not afraid to admit it, I still love Publisher and use it whenever I need to make up a simple poster or print out some images. Word just doesn't work very well for these types of projects and Illustrator or InDesign is a massive overkill. In steps Publisher and you're done in minutes. #### Cons Sadly Publisher hasn't had much love by Microsoft for many years and hasn't really been updated in just as long. There's no AutoSave function for OneDrive and you don't get an X at the end of the file extension like its siblings, but it works and it gets the jobs it needs to do, done. --- ### An advanced topography tool to make publications stand out. - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Stefano P. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Architecture & Planning - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for less than 12 months - Reviewed: February 2023 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered It is an intuitive tool, with practice you can achieve good designs. The limit is set by oneself. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 4/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros Among its most notable features is that its customizable publications with professional-level scaling can be exported to various formats such as PDF, XPS and other image formats. This increases the range of compatibility with other applications. As for its use, it is intuitive, and as you practice you will improve the quality of your designs. #### Cons For certain designs and in order to save time it is necessary to have more than one collaborator working on the design at the same time. This function is not integrated in this software, it should be integrated and thus give the user the option to work individually or together. This is the only drawback I find, otherwise it is a good design application. --- ### Great for beginners and making basic advertising materials - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Benjamin G. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Medical Practice - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: Used monthly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: June 2023 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Positive. Does what I need it to and does it well without being too complex. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros How simple and accessible it is. If you have experience using other Microsoft Products such as Word and PowerPoint, it's very easy to pick up and use as the layout and core features are similar. However, this has templates for posters, leaflets etc and is much better for those. When make information heavy leaflets, there's usually a template to fit your aesthetic and content type and it's just a matter of filling in your copy and selecting aesthetic options. #### Cons It's ultimately quite limited on what you can achieve using it. You have les precision and control compared to products such as Adobe InDesign, but then this is more of the final stage where you'd assemble designs taken from other apps. At the price-point and accessibility however, it's not really a complaint, but something to be aware of. --- ### Microsoft Publisher - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Catherine C. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Computer Software - Company size: 1001-5000 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for less than 2 years - Reviewed: November 2022 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered Good experience. The app is useful and helpful to users. The user can make documents like posters, banners, etc. And given the features mentioned, the app provides enough features to do its main function. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros The app has intuitive user interface which makes the user use the app without any complication. It has enough features and content which makes the user engage in using the app. It has a simple yet clean visual design. Creating a project or document using the app is easy plus the user's imagination, it can make a good output. #### Cons If the developer could make the app available via web so it would become cheaper or even free of use. --- ### “Microsoft publisher: MEDIA Template” - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Marisa Ö. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Human Resources - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used weekly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: December 2021 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered A best app for creative printing and publishing that provides the ready-to-use template on Microsoft! #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros I have been using the Microsoft Publisher for 10 years ago. It has a variety of templates for media such as brochures, booklets, newsletter, and invitation. It is user friendly and a very good helper for you to create with the designed template and relate to the printer setting easily. #### Cons There are some limit functions like stickers and the template and features look very formal, it would be better if there are more creative looks. However, this is the best app for Microsoft and I do hope the team can develop it well. ## More reviews [Next reviews](https://www.softwareadvice.com/cms/microsoft-publisher-profile/reviews/?page=2) --- Microsoft Publisher Reviews, Pros and Cons - 2026 Software Advice