LibreOffice Online Returns from Retirement as Questions Arise Over Collabora Relationship

Summary

The Document Foundation (TDF) has announced it will resume development of LibreOffice Online (LOOL), its browser-based office suite that has been largely dormant since 2020. The decision follows a community vote earlier this year and marks a reversal from TDF's 2020 decision to freeze the project, despite a 2022 open letter calling for its revival.

The move raises questions about TDF's relationship with Collabora, a UK-based company that provides the majority of full-time paid developers for LibreOffice and maintains its own online office suite called Collabora Online (COOL). Collabora has been actively developing COOL since 2015, with the current version being COOL 25.04, and recently released Collabora Office for Desktop (CODA) in November 2025. The company offers both paid commercial versions and free development editions of its software.

Both LibreOffice and Collabora products are open source, but their business models differ significantly. TDF offers only free-of-charge software without commercial support, while Collabora's model centers on paid support and services alongside free downloads. Collabora's online offerings feature a modernized ribbon-based UI similar to Microsoft Office 365, and its desktop version uses HTML and JavaScript rendered through native browser engines. The revival of LOOL could potentially create competition or confusion in the LibreOffice ecosystem, given Collabora's existing and actively maintained online solution.

• The move raises questions about the relationship between the non-profit Document Foundation and for-profit Collabora, particularly regarding development resources and market positioning