Is Pages equal to, or better, than Microsoft Office Home

Microsoft currently supports the single-purchase Office 2019 for Mac, Office 2021 for Mac, and their Microsoft 365 subscription program on macOS Big Sur (11.*), Monterey (12.*), and the current Ventura (13.*). Microsoft applications downloaded from the Mac App Store are subscription only and a single-purchase license would be invalid.

Apple's Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are not clones of their Microsoft counterparts and must perform document translations upon initial opening and exporting back to Microsoft document formats. Apple does not guarantee the accuracy of that translation process. If you are using Microsoft applications, you open/edit/save the content in its native document format without translation.

It is "different than." Some people like some things in Pages better than Word but I think overall most people would say Office is better. If you are working in a situation where you frequently need to interchange documents with Word users, then Word is definitely the better choice.

Note that Office Home does not support iPads; you will need a Microsoft 365 subscription for that (or Pages).

Office Home & Student 2021 is compatible with a MacBook Pro running the current macOS Ventura. If that is what you have, you may want to post the exact error message here and in the Microsoft Office for Mac forum to see if anyone can help.

Microsoft forum for install issues: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_install-msoffice_OfH-mso_OPMac?sort=LastReplyDate&dir=Desc&tab=All&status=all&mod=&modAge=&advFil=&postedAfter=&postedBefore=&threadType=all&isFilterExpanded=false&page=1

You still haven't mentioned what version of Office home and student you are attempting to install. Only Office 2019 or 2021 for Mac (and current single-purchase licenses for either) can be installed now. If possible, you need to talk to a human at Microsoft, if you have not already, and have them resolve the licensing redemption/inability to install product debacle you are experiencing.

We are fellow users, and Apple is not involved in third-party product licensing/installation issues as that should be resolved by Microsoft.

I just purchased a license for Office 2021 Professional for Windows 11 on Friday and the generated license key would not redeem at Microsoft's site blocking access to the software download. I understand your aggravation. Did not have this issue last Spring when I purchased Office 2021 home and business for Mac.