When document creation is our concern, Microsoft Word is the first tool that comes to our minds. With loads of features and editing capabilities to offer, Microsoft Word is a powerhouse. And with Microsoft on the managerial front, the concerns are pretty limited.
Year Founded: 1983
Headquarters: Redmond City, California, United States
One can use Microsoft Word to write notes, quotations, and planners. Word comes inbuilt with features like pre-built templates and hundreds plus font choices.
However, Microsoft Word has its own shortcomings. Therefore, one might need to use alternatives to Word that perhaps serve productivity better.
Pros– reliable and fast, extensive features
Cons– expensive, a lot of complex features
Best Microsoft Word Alternatives For Word Processing:
Even though a rarity, some users might not be satisfied with Microsoft Word’s service and would still want some alternative to Microsoft Word. We are here to help. Here are some of the best Microsoft Word alternatives one could have asked for!
Dropbox Paper
Year Founded: 2015
Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
Dropbox Paper is one of the best alternatives to Microsoft Word. A part of the Dropbox suite, Dropbox Paper is a word processing tool.
It offers a pretty minimalistic interface which is easy to use and very interactive. With Dropbox Papers, one can add rich media to their document, including images, videos, and audio. It also supports YouTube links or SlideShare decks.
Pros– clean and fast markdown, free to use
Cons– might lag occasionally and might eat up a lot of storage.
Office Online
Year Founded: 2010
Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
Microsoft’s own counterpart to its vintage tool, Office Online, is one of the best web-based document-creating tools.
Although it is not a full-fledged alternative to Microsoft Word, nor is it the entire Microsoft Word in a web-based format, it definitely gets the job done. With Office Online, one can open any document in the supported format.
It also adds some extra features in the form that with Office Online, one can see the edits made by the co-authors with just an internet connection. It offers all Office customizations for free, thereby making itself a worthy alternative and competitor to Microsoft Word.
Pros– easily compatible, easy to use
Cons– lacks some important features.
Google Docs
Year Founded: 2006
Headquarters: Mountain View, California, United States
Talking of productivity and Microsoft and Google not being a part of it is a difficult deal. Google Docs is by far the strongest competitor to Microsoft Office in terms of reliability and legacy. With Docs, one can create and edit forms, spreadsheets, and presentations.
The best part about Google Docs is that one can use it exclusively offline. Moreover, a free Google account is all it needs to get a Google Docs subscription.
Pros– free to use, beginner-friendly
Cons– the presentation program is not full-fledged.
Etherpad
Year Founded: 2008
Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
Etherpad is an online document editor mainly used for collaboration purposes. With Etherpad, one can do various kinds of stuff mainly because of the fact that Etherpad is an open-source and highly customizable piece of software.
Etherpad also offers an interactive platform that is barred from the hassled process of signing up.
One can directly open a pad and start working on it with their team on a real-time basis or being miles apart. Etherpad’s collaborative capabilities make it a great alternative to Microsoft Word.
Pros– vastly customizable, collaboration features
Cons– sometimes laggy, not suitable for confidential data
Zoho
Year Founded: 1996
Headquarters: Tamil Nadu, Chennai, India
Indian software giant Zoho has earned itself a reputation for being one of the most reliable pieces of software providers.
Zoho Writer is a great word-processing tool. With Writer, one can have no issues with the interface because it is highly interactive and easy to use.
Zoho’s cutting-edge feature has to be the fact that the files are automatically saved in Writer once typing is complete, thus eliminating the risk of losing out on the file.
With features like two-way desktop sync, large file transfer, encryption, file recovery, two-step authentication, in-app chat, and more, Writer definitely is one of the best alternatives to Microsoft Word.
Pros– mobile app support, contains almost all the necessary features
Cons– requires a lot of customizations before getting started, no pre-made template
Apache Open Office
Year Founded: 2012
Headquarters: New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Arguably one of the best “free” Microsoft Word alternatives, Open Office is another business productivity tool.
It has the same capabilities as Microsoft Word does, for example, many fonts and formatting options. However, what segregates it from Microsoft Word is the fact that it is open source.
Open Office comes integrated with plug-ins allowing it to open PDF files in Writer and allowing edits. It has a great edge over Microsoft Word as the code is open-source, allowing the client to modify it conveniently.
Pros– free to use, secure privacy policies
Cons– eats up a lot of storage space, no cloud-save feature.
Libreoffice
Year Founded: 2010
Headquarters: Berlin, Germany, Europe
A better version of Open Office, LibreOffice, just like its parent organization, is another great Microsoft Word alternative.
LibreOffice’s derivation from Open Office makes it another open-source alternative to Microsoft Word, making it another tool that the user can customize and use as per their requirements.
What gives it an edge, though, is the fact that LibreOffice offers features that can help us collaborate on documents. Moreover, LibreOffice has additional tools like grammar and spelling checks, making it a great alternative.
Pros– It’s an open-source tool, runs smoothly even on low-spec devices
Cons– no option for cloud-storage
Jarte
Year Founded: 2018
Headquarters: North Carolina, United States
Based on Microsoft WordPad Engine, Jarte is free. They also offer a paid version with some extra functionalities. However, the free version is nothing short of being a great nemesis to Microsoft Word. It offers every essential element that one expects from a document editor.
Jarte also has features like the inclusion of pictures, audio, and videos in the file. Moreover, Jarte can also convert PDF and HTML files to Word format and allow editing. All these cutting-edge features make it a great alternative to Microsoft Word.
Pros– easily compatible, has a lot of cool features
Cons– no option of incorporating sample layouts
Freeoffice 2016
Year Founded: 2016
Headquarters: Nuremberg, Germany, Europe
Part of Soft Maker’s FreeOffice program is their developed document editor tool to give Excel tough competition is TextMaker.
The previous versions of FreeOffice were quite buggy to use. However, the 2016 version proved to be an absolute game-changer for SoftMaker.
Pros– free to use, easily compatible
Cons– no integrated cloud support, sometimes lags.
WPS Office
Year Founded: 2001
Headquarters: Palo Alto, California, United States
WPS Office is a great document editor that can serve pretty well as a great alternative to Microsoft Word. The biggest advantage that WPS Office holds against all other alternatives is the fact that it is available in multiple languages.
It has all features that MS Word has, including editing capabilities, and also it can open files of any format.
WPS offers cloud storage to its users as well for them to store their files over the cloud and eliminate the fear of them losing out on their files. Thus, WPS Office is surely a great competitor and alternative to Microsoft Word.
Pros– smooth processing, viewing pdf is seamless
Cons– no auto spell-check feature, lags on low-spec devices
FAQ’S
What is the best alternative to Microsoft word?
Based on their feature sets, Google Docs and Zoho are the best alternatives.
What are some free alternatives to Microsoft word?
Open Office is clearly the best free-to-use alternative to Microsoft Word.
Do we need an account to use Microsoft word?
Yes. One needs a Microsoft account to use Microsoft Word.
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