Office 2013 is more expensive than Office 365, and the license is only good for one machine. If you only need the core applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote) you can get Office 2013 Home & Student for $140. Throw in Outlook, and you get Office 2013 Home & Business for $220. Office 2013 Pro adds Access and Publisher, all for $400.
Office 365 comes in two flavors: Office 365 Home Premium for $100 per year and Office 365 Small Business Premium for $150 per year. Both come with the full Office 2013 Pro software for your PC, but there are key differences.
Up to five people can use Office 365 Home Premium on up to five devices, with each user getting an Office experience customized to their own Microsoft ID.
The only scenario that truly makes sense for Office 2013 is if you only need the software in Office 2013 Home & Student, and only on a single PC. In that case, you can spend the $140 and be done. Once you throw in a second PC, though, or if you need the additional tools like Outlook, Access, or Publisher, the math is heavily skewed in favor of the Office 365 subscription.
new Office 365. You don't use it from the cloud. It has a cloud element, but it's really just a different pricing model for the traditional suite. It's not a cloud vs. local argument at all. It's a choice between paying $400 for one computer, or $100 a year for five computers plus the assurance that you always have the latest version of the software--plus additional Office 365 perks.