The Document Foundation has decided to bring LibreOffice Online back to life. The project was placed in the foundation’s “attic” in 2022, which is its term for archived projects. Now, after a recent community vote, development will resume.
LibreOffice Online, also known as LOOL, is the browser-based version of LibreOffice. Many users may not even know it exists. Development has been mostly inactive since 2020.
A few years ago, the board decided to freeze LibreOffice Online. The reasons were related to governance and project direction. Some community members disagreed with that decision and even published an open letter asking for its return. Still, the project remained archived.
Earlier this month, the current board voted to reverse the old decision. The repository will now be reopened. Developers can start contributing again. However, this does not mean there is a finished product ready to download. It is only the beginning of development again.
TDF says it wants to build an online version “by the community and for the community.”
There is already a browser-based LibreOffice solution. It is called Collabora Online, often shortened to COOL. It has been around since 2015 and is actively maintained. Collabora is a for-profit company based in the UK. It employs many of the paid developers working on the LibreOffice codebase. Over the years, it has become a major commercial partner in the ecosystem.
Collabora offers paid enterprise services. It also provides a free development edition called CODE. Traditionally, its online suite required hosting on a web server and was often integrated with platforms like Nextcloud.
In late 2025, Collabora went a step further and launched Collabora Office for Desktop. This is a local desktop version built with web technologies. That move blurred the earlier separation between TDF and Collabora. Before that, TDF focused on desktop LibreOffice, while Collabora handled the cloud side.
Now, with LibreOffice Online coming back under TDF. TDF board members say this is not about competing with Collabora. They describe the original decision to archive LibreOffice Online as a mistake. In their view, reopening the project simply corrects that mistake and gives the community equal footing.
However, Collabora’s Michael Meeks voted against the revival. He said the decision was extraordinary and pointed out that Collabora contributes a large share of development work. We can understand the reason.
Collabora has been building and selling cloud based LibreOffice solutions for years. If TDF develops its own strong online version, it could change the balance in the ecosystem.
It is important to understand that open source projects are not controlled by a single company. Community members in different countries may want a version hosted directly under TDF. For them, governance and independence matter.
The office software market has changed a lot. Microsoft 365 dominates with its web based apps. Google Docs and Google Workspace are widely used in schools and businesses. Most users now expect real time collaboration in the browser.
LibreOffice is still strong as a free desktop alternative. But in the online space, it has not had the same visibility. With subscription prices increasing, more users are looking for free and open alternatives. A community driven web office suite could attract interest, especially from governments and organizations that prefer self hosted solutions.
Right now, LibreOffice Online is just a reopened repository. It is not a polished product. TDF has made it clear that it will not provide enterprise hosting or commercial support. Those services will remain part of the broader ecosystem.
The success of this revival depends on developer participation. If contributors step forward and the technology base is modernized, LibreOffice Online could become a serious open source option in the browser.
This is both a technical and political decision. It shows how open source communities balance independence and commercial partnerships. The next year will show whether this revival strengthens the LibreOffice ecosystem or creates tension within it.
