Here’s a clear comparison table showing the differences between Microsoft Teams Meetings and Teams Communities, especially regarding how you invite people and their requirements to join.
Summary Points
- Meetings: Anyone (even with no Microsoft account) can join via invitation link as a guest, no paid license needed. Some interactive features may require sign-in.
- Communities: To participate, invitees must have (or register) a free or paid Teams/Microsoft account. No paid license required, but signing in is mandatory.
With a standalone Office 2021 license, you do not automatically receive a free Microsoft cloud account with extended storage—only very basic storage is available for free accounts, and no additional space comes bundled with Office 2021 itself.
Office 2021 and Cloud Storage
- Office 2021 is a one-time purchase (not a subscription), so it does not include any paid cloud storage options like those offered in Microsoft 365 subscriptions.
- Anyone can create a free Microsoft account and use OneDrive Free, but that account is limited to just 5GB of storage without a paid subscription.
- If you need more cloud storage than 5GB, you must separately subscribe to Microsoft 365, Microsoft 365 Basic, or another paid OneDrive plan.
- Office 2021 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) can save files to OneDrive Free, but only within your free 5GB cloud space.
- Office 2021 itself does not give you extra storage, even if you register your product to a Microsoft account.
OneDrive and Subscription Options
- Free OneDrive: Any Microsoft account gets 5GB of free cloud storage, usable with Office 2021 if you sign in.
- Paid OneDrive/Microsoft 365: If you want more cloud space, a Microsoft 365 subscription includes 1TB per user, but this is a separate, recurring fee and not included with Office 2021.
- Standalone OneDrive: Standalone paid OneDrive storage is only available for business plans—normal consumers are often redirected to Microsoft 365 subscriptions when they try to buy extra space.
Summary Table
In short: With Office 2021, free cloud storage is limited to 5GB per account, and there is no built-in free, unlimited, or upgraded cloud space unless you separately subscribe to Microsoft 365 or OneDrive business plans.
With Office 2021, you can use other cloud storage services, but integration is not as seamless as with OneDrive; you will need to manually save and open files from alternative sources, as direct cloud hooks are limited.
Third-Party Cloud Storage Options
- Manual Upload/Download: You can save Office files to your computer and then manually upload them to Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, or any other major cloud service via their web interfaces or desktop sync folders.
- Desktop Sync Clients: If you install the sync client for Dropbox, Google Drive, or Box, you can save files directly to your synced folders, and they’ll be uploaded to the cloud automatically.
- No Native Integration: Office 2021 apps do not offer direct “Save to Dropbox” or “Open from Google Drive” options inside Word, Excel, or PowerPoint—the built-in cloud options are limited to OneDrive and SharePoint.
- Legacy Add-ins: Some cloud providers (like Dropbox or Box) may offer Office add-ins, but support in Office 2021 is often limited, and you may need to rely on manual workflows for sharing and collaboration.
Summary
You are free to use file sync and upload tools to work with other cloud providers, but Office 2021 does not provide deep, built-in integration beyond Microsoft’s own services. For most users, this means manually saving to a synced folder or uploading through a web browser.
there are several open-source community platforms you can self-host on your own Linux server or WordPress site, offering functionality similar to Microsoft Teams Communities but with full data control and often strong extensibility.
Self-Hosted Open Source Community Platforms
- Rocket.Chat: Real-time messaging, file sharing, video calls, and team collaboration—all open source and can be self-hosted on Linux. Offers roles, channels, and integrations that mimic much of what Teams offers.
- Mattermost: Designed for team chat, threaded discussions, and file sharing, with a user experience very close to Teams and Slack. Fully open source and enterprise-ready, installable on Linux.
- Nextcloud Talk: Built around Nextcloud’s file sharing/collaboration platform with secure chat, video meetings, group spaces, and rich integration options; highly privacy-focused.
- Zulip: Advanced threaded chat system (topics/streams) for focused discussions—great for communities needing clear organization.
- Element (on Matrix protocol): Fully decentralized, supports persistent group chat (“rooms”), file attachments, and bridges to other network services. Extremely flexible and privacy-focused.
WordPress Community Plugins
- BuddyPress: Completely free, open-source plugin that creates social communities within your WordPress site. Offers member profiles, activity streams, private messaging, groups, forums, and notifications.
- wpForo Forum: Professional forum software for WordPress supporting Q&A, discussions, and community-driven features.
- ProfileGrid: Adds user profiles, groups, and social features to WordPress for advanced community building.
- Asgaros Forum: Lightweight, feature-rich plugin for adding a full forum to your WordPress site.
Key Features Compared to Teams Community
- Channels/Groups for organized conversations.
- File sharing, private and group chat.
- Roles and permissions for moderation and privacy.
- Video/audio conferencing (on Rocket.Chat, Mattermost, Nextcloud Talk, Element).
- Customization and extensibility through plugins or add-ons.
- Host on your own infrastructure (Linux server, web hosting, VPS, or locally).
- For WordPress, moderate with plugins and built-in tools and extend as needed.
Any of these options can help you replicate much of the Teams community experience, with some tools adding even broader features (like video conferencing) or tighter integration with other open source solutions.