A Publisher alternative for nonprofits

What changes for your organization

Plenty of small nonprofits run on Publisher: the donor newsletter, the gala flyer, the annual appeal letter, envelopes, mailing labels and the volunteer sign-up sheet. Microsoft ended support for Publisher in October 2026 and is taking it out of Microsoft 365. Its notice to IT admins says the update that removes it reaches PCs from mid-November 2026, and some not until early December.

Your files are fine, but very few apps can open them. PubStudio can.

Open what you already have

Open a .pub file and it comes in with its text, pictures, tables and pages where you left them, from Publisher 98 through Microsoft 365. Change it, print it or save a PDF to email. The original is never changed. See open a .pub file.

For a monthly or quarterly newsletter, Design > Next Issue (Pro) makes the next edition with its dates moved on and the issue number counted up. It lists every change first, so you can untick any you'd rather make by hand.

Appeal letters, envelopes and labels

Mail merge prints a letter, postcard, envelope or label for everyone on your list, from Excel, a CSV file exported from your donor list, Access or Outlook contacts. Each appeal letter can greet the donor by name. You can also merge to PDF, or send the merged copies by email. Mail merge is part of Pro: see the mail merge guide.

One look, whoever makes it

With Pro, the Brand Kit holds your logo, five colors and two fonts, and Design > Apply Brand Kit puts them on any template. So the flyer a volunteer makes matches the newsletter the office makes. Pro also makes QR codes, so a flyer can send people straight to your donation page or website.

Templates for what you print

• Newsletters for donors and members. See newsletter templates.
• Flyers and posters for fundraisers, drives and open houses. See flyer templates.
• Tri-fold brochures that explain what you do. See brochure templates.
• Certificates of appreciation for volunteers and sponsors. See certificate templates.
• Letterhead, envelopes, name badges and labels for the office and for events.

Pro adds new designs every month. November's include a Winter Coat Drive Flyer, a Gift Exchange Sign-Up Sheet and a Year in Review Newsletter.

Staff, volunteers and shared computers

• Office PCs: install from the Microsoft Store. Windows shows no warning, and updates come through the Store.
• Volunteers on their own Mac or Chromebook: PubStudio online is free in Chrome or Edge, with no account. Files are opened in the browser and aren't uploaded.
• Shared or borrowed PCs where you can't install anything: use the online version there too.
• An old shared drive full of .pub files: Pro can convert a whole folder to PDFs or Word in one go.

Free or Pro?

Free, for good	Open, edit, print and save any publication, including your old .pub files, with one template of each kind. Prints and PDFs carry a "Made with PubStudio" line.
Pro, $10 a month or $99 a year	Clean prints and PDFs, mail merge, every template plus new designs each month, Next Issue, the Brand Kit, QR codes, more export types, and converting a whole folder at once.

Many volunteers will only ever need Free. You can buy Pro just for the PCs that do the mailings and the newsletter. Choose how many at checkout, from 1 to 99, each $10 a month or $99 a year. A Pro license also works online. If you pay by invoice or purchase order, email us at [email protected] and we'll send you an invoice for the yearly plan.

Every new PC gets a 7-day Pro trial, with no card or account. If you stop paying, PubStudio goes back to Free and everything you made still opens. See pricing.