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Productivity · head to head

LibreOffice vs OWASP ZAP

LibreOffice logo

LibreOffice

Productivity

Free and open-source office suite that runs entirely offline

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
OWASP ZAP logo

OWASP ZAP

Cybersecurity

Free, open-source web application scanner and intercepting proxy, now governed by the Software Security Project.

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: LibreOffice real-time collaborative editing is far behind Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, and for teams who co-edit this alone usually decides the question; OWASP ZAP authenticated scanning of modern single-page applications is the hard part and ZAP makes you build it by hand: session handling, token refresh and login scripts are configured per application, and a misconfigured session means the scanner logs itself out and reports a clean result for pages it never reached.
  • They diverge on capability: LibreOffice covers Full suite, OWASP ZAP covers Intercepting proxy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LibreOffice and OWASP ZAP actually diverge.

Attributes where LibreOffice and OWASP ZAP differ
AttributeLibreOfficeOWASP ZAP
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feefree
PlatformsWindows, macOS, LinuxDesktop, Cli, Api
CategoryProductivityCybersecurity
FoundedUnknown2001

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in LibreOffice

  • Full suite
  • Works offline
  • OpenDocument native
  • Microsoft format support
  • No telemetry or AI
  • Extensions and macros

Only in OWASP ZAP

  • Intercepting proxy
  • Passive scanner
  • Active scanner
  • AJAX spider
  • Automation Framework
  • Headless daemon and REST API
  • Docker images
  • Add-on marketplace

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

LibreOffice

  • Organisations where documents cannot leave the premises for policy or statutory reasonsnot OWASP ZAP
  • Replacing per-seat office licences at scalenot OWASP ZAP
  • Long-term archives needing a format not defined by a single vendornot OWASP ZAP
  • Reviving older hardware that current commercial suites strainnot OWASP ZAP

OWASP ZAP

  • Adding a baseline security scan to every application's pipeline where per-target commercial licensing would limit coverage to a handfulnot LibreOffice
  • Manual penetration testing that needs an intercepting proxy, request replay and fuzzing without a paid licence per testernot LibreOffice
  • Teaching developers what an attack against their own endpoint looks like, using a tool they can install themselvesnot LibreOffice
  • Pre-release regression scanning of an internal application that would never justify a commercial DAST subscriptionnot LibreOffice

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

LibreOffice

  • Real-time collaborative editing is far behind Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, and for teams who co-edit this alone usually decides the question
  • Mobile support is weak, which is disqualifying for a workforce that reviews documents on phones
  • Complex Microsoft Office documents still lose formatting in transit, so exchange-heavy workflows need testing with real files
  • Central policy management, conditional access and audit tooling are thin against the commercial suites
  • Advanced spreadsheet work is where the gap with Excel is widest, and it affects exactly the users least willing to change

OWASP ZAP

  • Authenticated scanning of modern single-page applications is the hard part and ZAP makes you build it by hand: session handling, token refresh and login scripts are configured per application, and a misconfigured session means the scanner logs itself out and reports a clean result for pages it never reached.
  • There is no support contract in the product, so when a scan breaks the day before a release the escalation path is a GitHub issue and a community chat, which is not an answer that satisfies a delivery manager or an auditor who wants a named responsible party.
  • Active scanning sends genuine attack traffic, so it can create records, trigger emails, exhaust rate limits or destabilise a fragile environment, and pointing it at production without prior agreement produces an incident rather than a test result.
  • Output needs triage: passive rules generate large volumes of low-severity informational findings about headers and cookie flags that bury the few results that matter, and a team without someone tuning the rule set stops reading the report within a few sprints.
  • As a dynamic scanner it can only test what it can reach, so authorisation flaws between accounts, business logic abuse and anything behind an undiscovered endpoint go unreported, and a passing ZAP scan is evidence of nothing more than the absence of the classes of bug it looks for.

Pricing, plan by plan

LibreOffice

Free
  • LibreOfficeFree
    • Full suite
    • Commercial use permitted
    • No per-seat licence

OWASP ZAP

Free
  • Free & Open SourceFree
    • Full functionality
    • Active & passive scanning
    • Spider

Which should you pick?

Choose LibreOffice if

  • You need full suite.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • You also want works offline.
LibreOffice review

Choose OWASP ZAP if

  • You need intercepting proxy.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Desktop, Cli, Api.
  • You also want passive scanner.
OWASP ZAP review

Questions people ask

Is LibreOffice or OWASP ZAP better?
Neither clearly leads. LibreOffice starts at Free and OWASP ZAP at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LibreOffice or OWASP ZAP?
LibreOffice starts at Free and OWASP ZAP at Free.
Does LibreOffice or OWASP ZAP run on more platforms?
LibreOffice runs on Windows, macOS, Linux. OWASP ZAP runs on Desktop, Cli, Api.
Can I use LibreOffice for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is LibreOffice best used for?
LibreOffice is most often used for organisations where documents cannot leave the premises for policy or statutory reasons, replacing per-seat office licences at scale, long-term archives needing a format not defined by a single vendor, reviving older hardware that current commercial suites strain. Of those, organisations where documents cannot leave the premises for policy or statutory reasons and replacing per-seat office licences at scale are not what OWASP ZAP is typically brought in for.
What can LibreOffice do that OWASP ZAP cannot?
LibreOffice covers Full suite, Works offline, OpenDocument native, Microsoft format support. OWASP ZAP covers Intercepting proxy, Passive scanner, Active scanner, AJAX spider.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

LibreOffice: Is LibreOffice really free for business use?

Yes. It is open source with no per-seat licence and no restriction on commercial use. The Document Foundation is funded by donations and sponsors.

OWASP ZAP: Is it still called OWASP ZAP?

The project left OWASP in August 2024 and is now governed by the Software Security Project, with core development sponsored by Checkmarx. The tool is now just ZAP, though most existing documentation, courses and search results still use the OWASP name.

LibreOffice: Does it have AI features?

No. The 26.8 release states it contains no generative AI, that documents are not transmitted to remote services, and that no component requires network access.

OWASP ZAP: Is it free for commercial use?

Yes. It is Apache 2.0 licensed, with no per-application, per-scan or per-user cost, and it can be used and modified commercially without a licence agreement.

LibreOffice: Can it open Microsoft Office files?

Yes, and save back to them. Round-tripping complex documents is imperfect between any two suites, so test with your own files before committing to an exchange-heavy workflow.

OWASP ZAP: Can it replace a penetration test?

No. It automates checks for known vulnerability classes against endpoints it can reach. It does not reason about business logic, chain findings into an attack, or test authorisation between accounts, which is most of what a tester actually does.

LibreOffice: Why do governments use it?

Two reasons: no per-seat cost at scale, and OpenDocument is an ISO standard implemented by more than one vendor, which matters for archives that must stay readable after a vendor relationship ends.

OWASP ZAP: Does it run in CI?

Yes, through the official Docker images and the Automation Framework, which defines scan jobs in YAML so configuration lives in the repository. A baseline passive scan is the usual starting point because it is fast and non-intrusive.

LibreOffice: What is the biggest reason not to use it?

Collaborative editing. If several people work on the same document simultaneously, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are substantially better and that gap is not closing.

OWASP ZAP: How does it compare to Burp Suite?

Burp Suite Professional is the more polished manual testing tool and has a stronger scanner and extension ecosystem, but it is licensed per tester and Burp Suite Enterprise per target. ZAP is the better fit where cost per target is the binding constraint; many teams use both.

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