• iPhone 15 Plus vs. Pro Max
  • 3 Key Tech Trends to Watch in 2024

12 Best Free Alternatives to MS Word

Best alternative word processor programs to MS Word

writing programs like word

  • Emporia State University

writing programs like word

These free word processors can be a great alternative to Microsoft Word . Many have very similar characteristics to Word and since they're free, you'll be saving hundreds of dollars by using one of them.

All of the free word processors below can create, edit, and print documents. Many of them can open and edit Word documents, automatically check your spelling, use a wide selection of free MS Word templates, create tables and columns, and much more.

Our top picks for a free word processor are the first ones on the list. These have the most features and we suggest checking them out first to see if they'll fit your word processing needs. You should find that most of them can handle just about everything Microsoft Word can.

Free Word Processors Alternatives to MS Word

If you're looking for a free word processor that doesn't require a download, check out this list of free online word processors that you can access from anywhere you have an internet connection.

All of these word processor programs are 100 percent freeware , which means that you won't ever have to purchase the program, uninstall it after so-many days, donate a small fee, purchase add-ons for basic functionality, etc. The word processor tools below are free to download at no cost.

WPS Office Writer

Features a tabbed interface for better document management.

Includes 1 GB of cloud storage.

Free templates built in.

The whole suite has to be downloaded to use Writer.

WPS Office (previously called Kingsoft Office) is a suite that includes a word processor, called Writer, that's easy to use because of its tabbed interface, clean design, and uncluttered menu.

Spell check is performed automatically as you would expect to be done in a good word processor. You can easily toggle spell check on and off from the menu at the bottom.

Writer supports full-screen mode, dual page layout, and the option to hide the menus, which makes for a perfect distraction-free writing experience. There's even a viewing mode to protect against eye damage, turning the background of the page into a greenish color.

You can also add custom dictionaries, read/write to popular file types, create a cover page and table of contents, use built-in templates, encrypt documents, and easily view all the pages of a document from a side pane.

Writer is part of the WPS Office software, so you have to download the whole suite to get the Writer portion. It runs on Windows , Linux , Mac , and mobile devices ( iOS and Android ).

FreeOffice from SoftMaker

Several neat features.

Opens and saves to common file formats.

Great for making eBooks.

Automatic spell check is included.

Free for home and business use.

Relatively large download size.

Must download the whole suite of programs even if you'll just install the word processor.

Hasn't updated in a while.

SoftMaker FreeOffice is a suite of office programs, and one of the included tools is a free word processor called TextMaker.

Immediately after opening this word processor for the first time, you're given the option to choose a classic menu style or use a ribbon menu you might already be familiar with. The choice is yours, and there's even a touch mode option you can turn on.

Menu options are organized logically, and beyond the normal word processor features are ones for eBook-making, like PDF and EPUB exporting, chapter creation, and footnotes.

This free word processor can also preview documents before opening them, track changes, insert comments, add objects such as Excel charts and PowerPoint slides, and use shapes, among many other things.

TextMaker can open a huge variety of document file types, including ones from Microsoft Word, OpenDocument files types, plain text, WRI, WPD , SXW, PWD, and others. When you're ready to save, this word processor exports to popular formats like DOCX , DOTX, HTML , and TXT , as well as file formats specific to this program (e.g., TMDX and TMD).

TextMaker has to be downloaded as part of FreeOffice, but during installation, you can choose to install the whole suite or just the free word processor program. It runs on Windows 10, 8, 7, or Windows Server 2008. Mac 10.10 and higher is supported, too, as well as Linux and Android.

OpenOffice Writer

Works with lots of file formats.

Extensions and templates are supported.

Checks for spelling errors automatically.

Includes advanced and basic formatting options.

There's a portable option available.

You have to download the whole program suite even to use just Writer.

Might take a while to download on slow internet connections.

The interface and menus are dull and cluttered.

OpenOffice Writer has all the necessary features to make it on any list of good word processors. Plus, there's a portable option so you can use the program on the go with a flash drive .

Automatic spell check is included, as well as support for a huge variety of popular file types, the ability to add notes to the side of any document, and easy-to-use wizards for creating letters, faxes, and agendas.

A side menu pane lets you quickly switch between editing page properties, styles, and formatting to adding images from the gallery. You can even undock these settings so that you can have more room for writing but still have simple access to important tools.

Similar to WPS Office that tops this list, you must download the whole OpenOffice suite to your computer even if you're just installing Writer. With the portable option, you have to actually extract the entire office suite even if you just want to use the Writer tool.

Includes unique advanced features.

Has a spell check.

You can download it apart from its whole suite.

Downloads and installs quickly.

Spell check doesn't work automatically.

The interface can be distracting.

WordGraph includes most of the standard features you'd find in any word processor, but it also has some unique tools.

In addition to adding things like graphics, charts, tables, and illustrations to a document, WordGraph can also produce PDFs , create a table of contents and index, and access files stored on cloud storage services like Dropbox.

While a spell check utility is included, it doesn't work in live mode, which means you must manually run it to check for spelling mistakes.

Unlike some of these other word processors, you can download WordGraph on its own without having to also download the SSuite Office software that it belongs to.

WordGraph works on Windows computers but can be used on a Mac or Linux machine with extra software .

Easy to use with a clean and uncluttered UI.

Lets you find spelling errors in your writing.

Popular formatting options are supported.

Can open and save to popular file formats.

Hasn't been updated since 2015.

Spell check isn't automatic.

Limited open/save file format options.

AbleWord opens documents quickly, has a really simple design, and supports editing and saving to popular file types. It's very easy to use and looks really nice.

There isn't much that makes AbleWord stand out among similar software except that it's not bogged down with unnecessary buttons or confusing features and settings, and you can use it to import PDF text into the document.

Spell check is built-in but you have to run it manually because it doesn't find errors automatically.

This program hasn't been updated since 2015, so it probably won't be updated again any time soon, or ever, but it's still fully usable today as a free word processor.

You can use AbleWord if you have Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP.

Spell check is automatic.

Supports automatic saving.

Lets you collaborate with others in real time.

Works with lots of file types.

Supports plugins.

Print preview isn't as easy to use as it is in similar programs.

Doesn't have a modern interface.

No longer gets updated.

AbiWord is a free word processor with automatic spell check and common formatting options. The menus and settings are organized well and aren't cluttered or confusing to use.

You can share documents with others and have the changes reflected automatically, making live, real-time collaboration possible.

Common file types work with AbiWord, like ODT , DOCM , DOCX, and RTF .

During setup, you can enable or disable all sorts of extra features, like an equation editor, grammar checker, web dictionary, Google Search and Wikipedia integrator, translators, and file format support for DocBook, OPML , ClarisWorks, and others.

One downside to this program is that the print preview feature isn't like most programs in that you have to open the preview as an image in a photo viewer, which isn't supplied with AbiWord.

AbiWord works on Windows, but only through the download link below because it's no longer available for Windows users from their official website. It also works on Linux but only through Flathub .

Customize the layout a number of ways.

Can be set up to auto-save every so often.

Opens documents in tabs.

Supports common document formats.

Small setup file.

Must run spell check manually.

Could be hard to use.

No update since 2018.

Jarte is another free word processor that has a tabbed interface to keep all open documents easily accessible on one screen.

Common file types are supported, you can set Jarte to automatically save a document from every minute to every 20 minutes, and you can install several spell check dictionaries during setup.

Jarte can be configured to automatically open the last file you were using upon launching the program, which is a nice option that most of the other software from this list doesn't allow.

Unfortunately, the spell check feature isn't automatic, and the program itself is sometimes confusing to grasp.

You can download Jarte for Windows 10 down through Windows XP.

WriteMonkey

Completely portable (no installation necessary).

Features a very minimal interface.

No spell check.

Large download file.

WriteMonkey is a portable word processor that's centered around providing an interface with the least number of distractions as possible so that you can focus on writing and nothing else.

Every menu option in WriteMonkey is only shown if you right-click the document. From there, you can do everything from open a new document or project to toggle focus mode, copy all the text, open dev tools, and more.

WriteMonkey is a free word processor for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Supports automatic spell check.

Tabbed browsing helps organize open documents.

Lets you use shortcut keys.

Very outdated; no longer gets updated.

Supports a limited number of file formats.

Another free word processor, this one advertised for creative writers, is RoughDraft. It works with RTF, TXT, and DOC (from Word 2010–97) files, provides automatic spell check, allows shortcut keys for nearly every command, and lets you switch between various writing modes—Normal, Screenplay, Stage/Radio Play, and Prose.

It's simple to open and edit files from your computer because of the file browser that's open on the side of the program window. New documents appear in their own tab so that you can keep up to 100 files open in RoughDraft at the same time.

One of the downsides to this word processor is that the last version came out in 2005 and the developer is no longer working on it, so it won't get new features in the future. Also, while the DOC file format is supported, the file has to have been created in Word 2010 or older.

FocusWriter

Provides multiple ways to create a distraction-free interface.

Colors and layouts can be customized.

Goals can be created to stay on task.

There's a portable option.

Can't open documents with rich text formatting.

FocusWriter is similar to WriteMonkey in that it's portable and has a minimal interface. The program automatically hides the menus and any buttons from being viewed, and you can run it in full-screen mode so that you don't see any other program windows.

Basic formatting is allowed in FocusWriter, like bold, strikethrough, and aligning text. You can also edit the foreground and background text, page margins, color, and line spacing to produce custom themes.

You can open and save documents to popular formats like DOCX, ODT, RTF, and TXT. However, documents with rich text formatting might import into FocusWriter in plain text and become completely unusable.

FocusWriter includes an alarm and lets you set goals regarding your typing, like to type a particular number of words or to type for a certain number of minutes per day.

Another advantage this program has over some of the other free word processors in this list is that it gets updated far more often, so you can be sure that new features and/or security updates are released as frequently as they need to be.

FocusWriter runs on Windows, macOS , and Linux.

Supports tabbed browsing.

Makes project tracking easy.

Works with the two most popular MS Word file formats.

It's missing several features common in a Word processor.

Word counter doesn't update automatically as you type.

Judoom has a similar look and feel to Microsoft Word, and you can even use some of the same file types, like DOC and DOCX.

It's easy to keep track of projects because you can add up to two at a time and easily browse through local files and folders from a side menu. Any new documents that are opened are kept in their own tabs to keep everything closely together but organized at the same time.

While it's easy to use and has a clean look to it, Judoom doesn't include common features that you'll normally find in a word processor, like spell check, headers/footers, and page numbers.

You can download Judoom on Windows only.

Protect documents with a password.

Spell check is included.

Lets you edit unique document file formats.

Installs in seconds.

Doesn't open DOCX files.

Saves to just a few basic file formats.

Very outdated.

AEdit has a bit of an outdated interface since the development team abandoned the software and haven't released an update since 2001, but it still works just fine for a word processor.

AEdit lets you password protect documents and provides a spell check function, though it doesn't check for errors automatically.

The free AEdit word processor works with files in Microsoft's popular DOC format but not their newer DOCX format. You can also open 123, BAT , ECO, HTML, RTF, TXT, and XLS files.

However, when you save a document with AEdit, your options are limited to ECO, RTF, TXT, and BAT.

AEdit is for Windows computers.

Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day

  • 5 Best Free Online Word Processors for 2024
  • The 13 Best Free PDF Editors (February 2024)
  • The 10 Best Word Processing Apps for iPad in 2024
  • The 21 Best Free Data Recovery Software Tools of 2024
  • The 10 Best Writing Apps of 2024
  • 9 Best Free Microsoft Office/365 Alternatives
  • WPS Office Writer Review
  • OpenOffice Writer Review
  • 12 Best Free Defrag Software Tools (February 2024)
  • 8 Best Free Disk Space Analyzer Tools
  • AbleWord Review
  • 14 Best Free Spyware Removal Tools (2024)
  • 11 Best Free Photo Editors
  • WPS Office Review
  • 5 Best Free Document Converter Software Programs
  • The 11 Best Free PDF Readers for Windows & Mac

TechRepublic

Account information.

writing programs like word

Share with Your Friends

6 Best Free Alternatives to Microsoft Word

Your email has been sent

Image of Aminu Abdullahi

  • Best for sharing and real time collaboration: Google Docs
  • Best for long and complex documents: Apache OpenOffice Writer
  • Best for automation: Zoho Writer
  • Best for customization: LibreOffice Writer
  • Best for advanced features: WPS Office Writer
  • Best for users who prefer Microsoft Word's interface: Microsoft Office Word Online

Microsoft Word has its devotees, but find one person who loves it, and you’ll probably find several who don’t. From redesigns that hide familiar menu items to overly complicated and often unused features, there’s a lot to be desired in a simple word processor that Microsoft Word doesn’t deliver due to its complex nature.

Microsoft Word as a part of Microsoft Office is expensive — for instance, Microsoft 365 Business Premium costs $22 for each user per month.

SEE: Discover the best free alternatives to Microsoft Excel .

If you don’t need all the features that Microsoft Word offers, it can be hard to justify paying that price, especially in a small business environment where you just need a word processor. Don’t pay for what you won’t use and take a look at one of these six free Microsoft Word alternatives instead.

Alternatives to Microsoft Word comparison

This chart provides a general overview of Microsoft Word capabilities. We evaluated each tool further to determine which might suit your needs best.

Google Docs: Best for sharing and real time collaboration

Google Docs logo

Google Docs, which is easily the most popular Microsoft Word alternative on this list, is free to everyone with a Google account.

If you want the basic features of Microsoft Word, you don’t need to look any further than Google Doc — it supports all your basic word processing needs and is tightly integrated with Google Drive and other products. Since everything is saved in Google’s cloud, you don’t need to worry about losing your work ( Figure A ). Docs automatically save after every single keystroke, so in the event of a crash, you should be able to pick up right where you left off, down to the letter. Google Docs also supports Microsoft Word’s .doc and .docx formats, so you shouldn’t have any problems importing and editing those files.

Google Docs dashboard

One of its best features for business users is real-time collaboration. If you share a document with another Google user, both of you can be in the document simultaneously, see the other user’s cursor position, watch what they’re typing, and chat with each other. It’s a great collaboration tool that stands out among word processors.

Advanced users may find the features lacking — it really is a bare-bones word processor.

Standout features

  • Real-time collaboration capability.
  • Pageless view.
  • Table templates.
  • Watermarks.
  • Document summary.
  • Google Meet integration.
  • Menu shortcut that lets you tag people, add elements and perform other actions.
  • Commenting, notes and suggestions.
  • Meeting notes.
  • Email draft.
  • Checklists.
  • Customizable templates.
  • In-doc chat capability.
  • Table of contents sidebar.
  • Find and replace capability.
  • Intuitive, easy to learn and use.
  • Easy sharing and collaboration.
  • Easy track changes.
  • Versatile and user friendly.
  • Limited offline capability.
  • Some users reported that it has limited advanced formatting and editing capabilities.
  • Sometimes crashes occur when too many people are working on the same document.

SEE: Become a Google Docs power user .

Apache OpenOffice Writer: Best for long and complex documents

Apache OpenOffice logo

If you hate Microsoft Word because of its ribbon, then Apache’s OpenOffice Writer is the 2003 throwback you want. It has a classic interface that, while it can look a bit cluttered, mimics the menus that Microsoft tossed out when Office 2007 was released ( Figure B ). It will definitely feel familiar to Office 2003 users, with the added perk of still receiving updates and security patches, which is important for a business software suite.

Apache OpenOffice Writer environment

OpenOffice Writer has its own document format, but it also supports .doc and .docx files, and it does a great job of maintaining formatting when importing those types of files. Many of the advanced features of Microsoft Word are included in OpenOffice Writer as well, so editing complex Word documents won’t be an issue.

If online collaboration or native cloud support is a selling point, then you may want to pass on OpenOffice Writer because it includes neither. It’s possible to store files in a cloud drive and access them using OpenOffice, but you’ll need the desktop client of Google Drive , Microsoft OneDrive or Apple iCloud installed so that you can open your cloud storage like a local computer folder.

  • Table of contents and references.
  • AutoCorrect dictionary.
  • AutoComplete capability.
  • Multi-page display.
  • HTML, PDF, and MediaWiki formats.
  • Supports .docx and .doc.
  • Familiar, Microsoft-like interface.
  • Over 900 templates.
  • Commenting/Notes.
  • It doesn’t have mobile apps.
  • The user interface isn’t intuitive.

Zoho Writer: Best for automation

Zoho Writer logo

Zoho Writer is a free document creation tool with a clean writing interface and powerful built-in capabilities. Writing documents in Writer is largely distraction-free, while important text tools are still within reach. The native features of Writer, many of which leverage the capabilities of other Zoho apps, really set it apart from the rest. Use the built-in AI tool, Zia, for better quality content, fast grammar fixes and insight into the document’s readability for different audiences ( Figure C ).

Collaborator comments and suggestions in Zoho Writer

The Document Sign tool puts e-signature tools right in the doc so that teams can go from draft to approval to signature, all in the same space. Document Fillable tools also put forms right in your documents, giving them a professional feel that’s ready for embedding anywhere you need a form.

Not to be outdone by Google Docs or Microsoft Word, Zoho Writer’s real-time collaboration has granular controls, including comments, suggestions, text masking to hide some items from collaborators and even content locks for blocks of text. Zoho Writer is built for corporate collaboration, legal approvals and creative teams.

  • WordPress integration.
  • Comments and notes.
  • Lock or mask sensitive information.
  • Post to WordPress from Zoho Writer.
  • Word document import.
  • Export to .docx and .pdf.
  • Document automation.
  • Document fillable.
  • Real-time collaboration.
  • Offline editing capability.
  • Integrates well with Zoho WorkDrive and other products in the Zoho suite.
  • Users say the editor gets slow when working with large documents.
  • Zoho Writer spell checker could be improved.

LibreOffice Writer: Best for customization

LibreOffice logo

The Document Foundation’s LibreOffice Writer, like OpenOffice, is a completely free and open-source product that offers word processing, support for .doc and .docx file formats and all the tools the average Microsoft Word user will need in a word processor. LibreOffice Writer and OpenOffice Writer are similar in a lot of ways: interface style, file format support, lack of cloud integration and real-time collaboration, and general word processing features ( Figure D ). Both are solid choices for those looking for a free alternative to Microsoft Word, and selecting one over the other largely comes down to preference.

LibreOffice Writer interface with Lorem ipsum filler text typed on the page next to a photo of the Earth

One aspect of LibreOffice stands out, and it is’’t what’s in the app — it’s the community-driven nature of the platform. Collaborating with users and developers to improve the product is front and center on LibreOffice’s website, and that focus has grown LibreOffice into a thriving community of users and coders that keep making it better .

  • Desktop publishing.
  • Integrated calculation function.
  • Drawing tools.
  • Spellchecker, thesaurus, AutoCorrect and hyphenation.
  • Works well with MS Office files.
  • Installs on Windows, Linux and Mac.
  • Supports drag-and-drop.
  • Some users reported that the tool is sometimes slow.
  • Limited documentation.

WPS Office Writer: Best for advanced features

WPS Office logo

If you want a word processor as feature-packed as Word but don’t want to pay a premium, check out WPS Office Writer. It’s a full-featured application suite that feels premium.

WPS Office Writer does most of the same things as Microsoft Word, and it includes native cloud support to make storing documents online a snap; however, it does lack real-time collaboration ( Figure E ). Look at any review of WPS Office Writer, and you’ll find statements that attest to how much it’s like Word. With its inclusion of more features than other free suites like OpenOffice, this might be the one to go for — especially considering it’s free.

WPS Office Writer interface with the text That's the writer.... typed out

With anything free and high quality, there’s usually a catch, and you might be able to guess what it is in our modern age of “freemium” apps: Ads. Don’t let that dissuade you from trying WPS Writer — you might not see an ad. There’s no banner across the top of the app; ads only appear when you want to use select features like printing or exporting to PDF. If you need to do one of those things, you’ll have to sit through a roughly 10-second ad, which unlocks the feature for 30 minutes. If you like what WPS Writer offers, you can eliminate ads by paying a yearly subscription fee of $29.99 or $9.99 for three months.

Key features

  • PDF file support.
  • File format conversion.
  • PDF to Word conversion.
  • Document to picture export.
  • Picture to text conversion.
  • Skins and design customization.
  • Supports Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
  • Supports 13 languages on PC and 46 languages on mobile.
  • 20GB of cloud storage.
  • WPS Office is compatible with 47 common document formats.
  • The free version contains ads.
  • Some users say the app is a bit slow.

Microsoft Office Word Online: Best for users who prefer Microsoft Word's interface

Microsoft Word logo

Don’t overlook Microsoft’s free alternative to the paid version of Word: Office Online. Like Google Docs, Microsoft Word Online is a simplified, cloud-based version of Word ( Figure F ). It lacks many of the advanced features of a locally-installed version of Word, but this is as close as you can get for users who want a free version of Word.

Microsoft Word Online dashboard

Similarities between Google Docs and Word Online are present all the way down to the interface, but with a few tweaks you can make it feel more like the Microsoft ribbon instead of the dropdown menus Google Docs uses. Documents created in Word Online are saved in Microsoft OneDrive, and real-time collaboration features like those in Google Docs are available as well. One big plus in Word Online’s favor is formatting: If you create a document in Word Online and then import it to a local version of Microsoft Word, it’s going to retain the formatting way better than a Google Docs file.

  • .docm, .docx, .pptm, .pptx, .xlsm, and. xlsx support.
  • 5GB of cloud storage.
  • Templates, fonts, icons and stickers.
  • Spelling and grammar.
  • Auto-save function.
  • Dictation and voice command capability.
  • Familiar environment for Microsoft Office users.
  • Limited features compared to the offline version.
  • It may contain ads.

SEE: Explore everything Microsoft 365 has to offer.

How to choose the best free alternatives to Microsoft Word

When selecting the best free alternatives to Microsoft Word, there are a few key factors to consider.

  • Assess your specific requirements and determine the features and functionalities you need from word processing software. This could include document formatting options, collaboration capabilities, compatibility with various file formats and available templates.
  • Conduct thorough research on popular options such as Google Docs, LibreOffice Writer, Apache OpenOffice Writer, Zoho Writer and WPS Office Writer.
  • Read user reviews, compare features and test the software to see how well it meets your requirements.
  • Consider factors like compatibility with Microsoft Word formats, integration with cloud storage and ongoing support and updates.

By evaluating these criteria, you can make an informed decision and choose the alternative that best suits your needs.

Review methodology

We analyzed each Microsoft Word alternative based on five key data points: free, support for Microsoft Word format, offline access, templates and ability to meet needs. All the tools in our comparison group satisfy these criteria. We evaluated how well each alternative fulfills users’ needs in terms of functionality, ease of use, formatting capabilities and other relevant factors. This criterion helps assess the overall suitability of the tool for different types of users and their specific requirements.

Subscribe to the Microsoft Weekly Newsletter

Be your company's Microsoft insider by reading these Windows and Office tips, tricks, and cheat sheets. Delivered Mondays and Wednesdays

  • Best Free Alternatives to Microsoft Excel
  • Best Microsoft Project Alternatives
  • Best Microsoft Planner Alternatives
  • Software usage policy
  • Best software for businesses and end users

Create a TechRepublic Account

Get the web's best business technology news, tutorials, reviews, trends, and analysis—in your inbox. Let's start with the basics.

* - indicates required fields

Sign in to TechRepublic

Lost your password? Request a new password

Reset Password

Please enter your email adress. You will receive an email message with instructions on how to reset your password.

Check your email for a password reset link. If you didn't receive an email don't forgot to check your spam folder, otherwise contact support .

Welcome. Tell us a little bit about you.

This will help us provide you with customized content.

Want to receive more TechRepublic news?

You're all set.

Thanks for signing up! Keep an eye out for a confirmation email from our team. To ensure any newsletters you subscribed to hit your inbox, make sure to add [email protected] to your contacts list.

Download SoftMaker Office for Android

SoftMaker Office for Android and iOS

The only complete mobile office suite.

Download

NEW FreeOffice

The best free alternative to microsoft office.

writing programs like word

Always free to use with Windows, Mac and Linux

Freeoffice is free for personal and business use..

Try out FreeOffice, and you will then undoubtedly agree that it is the best free alternative to Microsoft Office.

FreeOffice is a complete Office suite with a word processor, a spreadsheet application and a presentation program – all seamlessly compatible with their counterparts in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint).

What's the catch? There is none. Simply download it free of charge and use it for as long as you want. This great free Office suite has impressed millions of people who now use it every day.

  • Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 or a later version
  • macOS 10.12 or a later version
  • Any 64-bit Linux for PCs

writing programs like word

Download our free PDF editor also

FreePDF logo

Create, edit, view, print and annotate PDF files with FreePDF , the best free PDF editor for Windows.

Download FreePDF now free of charge.

FreePDF

Thank you for downloading FreeOffice for Mac

You will find the installation program here:.

writing programs like word

In Chrome: bottom left

writing programs like word

In Firefox and Safari: top right

writing programs like word

In Edge: top right

Thank you for downloading FreeOffice for Windows

Change privacy settings.

Some cookies are required to provide you with the basic functions of this website and thus cannot be disabled.

We use the open source software Matomo on our websites to collect traffic statistics. Matomo does not transfer any data to servers beyond our control.

Matomo uses cookies. These cookies allow us to count visits and analyze the use of our websites.

If you agree to the analysis of your data, please enable these cookies.

JPA Menu Logo

10 Totally Free Word Processor Alternatives To Microsoft Word

free microsoft word alternatives

There are lots of free Microsoft Word alternatives.

I’m sure you don’t prepare business plans with charts and graphs. You don’t use online collaboration tools or schedule meetings for a group of directors.

I doubt you would ever need to create business presentations with 100 slides.

You write your words for blog posts, content articles, guest posts, and short stories, and maybe publish poems . So why do you pay for MS Office to do these simple writing tasks?

You don’t need to pay for a word processor

Whichever option or version of Word you choose, you pay.

The Office Suite is a bundled application of many programs that writers will never need.

Even with the basic personal Office 365 subscription and Microsoft Onedrive, you pay for Excel, Outlook, and Powerpoint just to get MS Word.

It might be a good deal for a small business, but you only want to write, create, and edit text.

Why pay for all the stuff you will never use to write in Word documents?

You can use Word online as part of Office Online, but you still need to pay.

If you only need to write, many free Microsoft Word alternatives will do the job perfectly for you.

I was a Word user for years, like all of us. But I can’t remember the last time I used it.

Sure, I have lots of old files in Word document format.

But I can open and edit almost any file format with a completely free Word alternative.

Writing a book

Word processors are not ideal for writing a book. Long manuscripts can cause problems with any word processor, including Word.

But you can do it if you set up a book template and save chapter files.

However, using software designed to handle the big job of writing a novel or a book is sometimes a better idea.

Read our article that lists the best free and paid book writing software choices for you if you plan on writing a book.

Free alternatives to Microsoft Word – You have lots of choices

What can I use instead of Microsoft Word? Nowadays, you have so many options for free writing programs like Word.

You can download free word processor software, or you can use web-based and cloud-based applications.

All you need is a blank document.

Then write your words. Add a little formatting and save your work.

Almost any free version word processor can do this.

Changing word processors is also a great way to view your writing in a different way.

Do you want to move away from using Word?

Try some of these free Microsoft Word alternatives to see if one is right for you and your writing needs.

To get you started, here are ten free word processors to choose from.

1. Google Docs

Google Docs

Google Docs is a free office tool suite. The big contrast to MS Office, of course, is that Google Docs is free.

If you know how to use MS Word, you will adapt to Docs in no time at all.

The user interface, menus, and formatting options are almost the same.

Docs has a word counter, so it’s easy to keep track of your writing goals.

Many writers, including content article writers , use Google Docs due to the ease of sharing documents and collaborating.

It is also fully compatible with importing and exporting docx documents.

Writing projects are stored and saved to Google Drive. You get 5 gigabytes for free, which is usually enough storage space for most writers.

Another advantage is that you can also set up Docs to work offline  if you prefer.

2. Apple Pages

Apple pages - one of the best free microsoft word alternatives for Mac users

You are a Mac user, and all you need is a free word processor; it’s easy. Apple Pages can do everything you need to do.

The page layout view is extremely easy to work with. All the fonts, text formatting, and editing tools are easy to find.

It has a decent spell checker, word and page count , and track changes with a comments option.

Pages also has a great real-time auto-save function. It saves your work automatically to your computer or your iCloud drive when you are online.

There is a duplicate file function too. It allows you a lot of control over your edits and revisions.

Almost all of the common features in Word are available in Pages documents.

One area where Pages shines over Word is that you have much more control over any images you use.

Another is that you can format an ebook for publishing and export it to an epub file.

3. Libre Office

Libre Office

I used Apache OpenOffice for many years. It is an open-source project and is still a great option.

However, there is another very similar free office suite. Libre Office is a favorite for a lot of writers.

The two office suites came from the same basic development, so they share a lot of things in common.

Working with Writer, the word processor, is easy. It has clear traditional menus, icons, and toolbars. So it doesn’t have the sometimes confusing ribbon found in Word.

This might be a useful feature for you. It lets you get on with writing instead of endlessly searching ribbons for the right buttons.

If all you need is a functional word processor, Writer in OpenOffice or Libre Office might be sound choices for you.

4. WPS Office

WPS Office

If you are familiar with Google Docs or Microsoft Word, you will be able to work with WPS Office straight away.

WPS is in the same vein as other free word processors. It has all the standard features you expect, and it works with most standard word processing file extensions.

But one of its best features is that it gives you the facility to drag and drop paragraphs. It is a very practical idea.

Another great feature of WPS is that it has tabbed documents. No need to keep hunting for open windows.

WPS also comes with a complimentary cloud storage service that gives you 1G free space for PC and iOS.

5. Calmly Writer

Calmly Writer

Calmly Writer lets you one thing well. Write.

When you start typing, all of the distracting options disappear away from the interface. All you see are your words.

Calmly also includes a focus mode tool. When you activate it, it highlights only the paragraph you are working on at the time.

If you are a writing minimalist and hate distractions when you write, it could be a good choice for you.

Calmly Writer is a browser-based app, and there is a Chrome extension available.

6. Zoho Writer

Zoho Writer

Zoho Writer is a great free alternative to Word. It is packed with a lot of features.

You can sync between your PC or Mac, iPhone, Android, or iPad.

Almost everything you do in Word, you can do with this word processor. There are even collaboration tools.

It also has Zia, a writing assistant, to help with contextual grammar, readability, and style suggestions.

You can import your existing Word documents and get to work. There is also a plugin to link your Zoho documents to Word.

It’s not a bad deal at all for a free online writing tool.

7. Focus Writer

Focus Writer

FocusWriter is another one of the minimalist distraction-free text editors.

It uses a full-screen hide-away interface, but you can access the menus by moving your mouse to the edges of the screen.

This option allows the program to have a familiar look and feel about it. But you can get all the clutter out of the way so that you can immerse yourself in your work.

It’s available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.

8. iA Writer

iA Writer

If you are looking for a clean, no-fuss writing web app, then iA Writer might be right for you.

Forget about all the fancy keyboard shortcuts and lists of menu options.

All you can do with this great little app is write.

The NYT says this about iA Writer. “ It creates a clean, simple, and distraction-free writing environment for when you really need to focus on your words. It’s delightful to use.”

For article and blog post writing, it is one of the top free word processors out there and will suit most writing styles.

It is available for Windows, Mac, and apps for Android and iOS.

9. Softmaker Free Office

Softmaker Free Office

Free Office gets a mention because it can do one thing some other word processors can’t do.

It can export directly to .epub. It’s a very handy feature for self-publishers.

FreeOffice is a complete Office suite with a word processor, a spreadsheet application, and a presentation program.

All of these are compatible with their counterparts in Microsoft Office.

TextMaker is the free word processor in this office suite.

It comes with advanced formatting options, the ability to create databases for bibliographies and footnotes, as well as track change.

It is available as a free download for both Mac and PC.

10. Scribus

Scribus

Scribus is a free program for desktop publishing.

It gets a mention here because it is free, of course. But also because it is such a feature-rich cross-platform program.

As long as you are familiar with using text boxes, you can use this program to design flyers, brochures, and newsletters.

Scribus is a page layout and desktop publishing program.

It works with Linux, FreeBSD, PC-BSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, OpenIndiana, Debian GNU/Hurd, Mac OS X, OS/2 Warp 4, eComStation, Haiku, and Windows.

So, well, that says you can use it on any operating system under the sun.

Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK colors, spot colors, ICC color management, and PDF creation.

Perhaps it is not a perfect choice for most writers and bloggers. But you might have a desktop publishing job you need to do one day.

No, you don’t need to pay a cent for a reliable and fully functional word processor.

There are a lot of free Microsoft Word alternatives.

Many of the programs listed above are complete office suites. So you get a bonus with all the extras that come with them.

You definitely have plenty to choose from. So make your choices and save yourself a lot of money.

Related reading: Choose Your Writing Apps For iPad To Write Anywhere Anytime

About The Author

Avatar for Derek Haines

Derek Haines

More articles.

More To Blog Writing

Good Blog Writing Needs Know How And Your Imagination

Lazy Writing Mistakes

5 Common Writing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Reputation

What Makes A Good Writer

What Makes A Writer, A Great Writer? Hard Work

4 thoughts on “10 totally free word processor alternatives to microsoft word”.

Avatar for Harmony Kent

Great post. I use Scrivener for my writing, but a lot of authors I know rely on MS Word, and as you say, it is problematic to work with, especially when trying to format it into book form. Thanks for sharing.

Avatar for Derek Haines

Thank you, Harmony. You’re right. Maybe I should put the warning to authors in red! Word processors are great for short-form writing. But not for a novel.

Avatar for Judy L Mohr

You forgot to include Scrivener in your list. Scrivener is one of the BEST word-processing programs for writers in existence, providing writers with the ability to easily get their files ready for submission to agents and publishers (those heading down traditional roads), or to generate the necessary eBook files and other formats needed for self-publishing.

There is a link in the post to software for writing books. Scrivener is on that list.

Comments are closed.

Privacy Overview

How-To Geek

The best free microsoft office alternatives.

Tired of expensive productivity app licenses and subscriptions? Keep your work up with these six reliable suites that don't cost a cent.

Quick Links

Libreoffice: open-source desktop apps, google drive: web-based work apps from google, iwork: not just for mac users anymore, wps office: familiar interfaces across all platforms, freeoffice: versatile productivity on most devices, microsoft office online: fewer features but no cost.

While Microsoft Office is still the ubiquitous choice for word processing, slideshow presentations, spreadsheet calculations, and many more digital tasks, there are still plenty of free alternatives. Avoid freeware full of ads and check out these free productivity suites.

Microsoft Office is mainly composed of Microsoft Word for documents, Microsoft PowerPoint for presentations, and Microsoft Excel for spreadsheets. Microsoft Office is available through a subscription to Microsoft 365 that costs $69.99/year, or $6.99/month for a single account. Family accounts with up to six users run a bit higher at $99.99/year, or $9.99/month. Alternatively, you can just download one of these lovely suites for free and start being productive right away.

LibreOffice Writer Interface

Like the best free software, LibreOffice is an open-source project from The Document Foundation that was originally part of another Office alternative, OpenOffice . You can download LibreOffice for free personal use on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Just keep in mind that, as an open-source application, LibreOffice does not provide its own support or assistance.

Larger companies that want to use this alternative may want to look into professional support from approved third-parties before engaging LibreOffice at the enterprise level. While businesses may save by paying for reliable solutions, many governments around the world are opting for LibreOffice to escape Microsoft's costly enterprise agreements.

LibreOffice Writer, Calc, and Impress are the main offerings that correlate with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, respectively. These tools are also available online through web-based versions called LibreOffice Online . As above, these tools are largely intended for personal use, although businesses can engage them with proper support. LibreOffice also offers open-source applications for image editing (Draw), formulas (Math), and database management (Base). You can get started by downloading the LibreOffice suite for free from its website.

Google Drive Interface

Google Drive is one of the most popular free alternatives to Microsoft Office because it comes from one of Microsoft's biggest competitors. Google offers completely free service and support for a wide range of applications that match those in Microsoft Office. Popular user-friendly apps like Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Drawings are all available for free.

All of these apps use Google's cloud storage service, Google Drive. In addition to these primary G Suite apps, Google offers apps like Forms and Classroom that can cater to unique needs like those of teachers. A huge number of third-party tools like Zoho, LucidChart, Slack, and more provide native integration with Google's many apps.

Having your productivity suite based entirely on the cloud offers additional security, as it's more difficult to lose track of your files. While businesses may need to pay Google a modest sum for enterprise-level support, Google's productivity suite is a great free choice for any personal endeavor. Get started today by creating a free Google account. If you want to upgrade your apps or use them professionally, you can explore Google's G Suite service, which comes with more storage, features, and support.

iWork Pages on Mac

If you own a Mac, you might already be familiar with Apple's own productivity suite, iWork. It features alternatives for the main Microsoft Office apps: Pages (Word), Numbers (Excel), and Keynote (PowerPoint).

While these apps were formerly exclusive to Macs, anyone can access them now for free through iCloud as well as on iPad and iPhone. If you're most familiar with Microsoft Office, there might be a learning curve. However, frequent Mac users may find the interface to be more akin to other Apple apps. To get started, navigate any browser to the iCloud website and sign up for a free account.

Unlike other free Microsoft Office alternatives that try hard to emulate the experience, iWork won't be immediately familiar if you've been using Microsoft's productivity suite. iWork uses iCloud to securely share documents. All Microsoft file types are finally compatible with iWork as well.

WPS Office

One of the more recently developed free productivity suites built to compete with Microsoft Office, WPS Office comes from Chinese developer Kingsoft and offers software that will be immediately familiar to most Microsoft Office users. WPS stands for Writer, Presentation, Spreadsheets, which are the names of the suite's primary offerings. The suite is entirely compatible with all of Microsoft's programs, file types, and even some extensions.

WPS Office also offers free versions of their apps for desktop as well as mobile devices. While not every app is available on every platform, the core WPS apps are available on Windows, Linux, Android, and all modern Apple devices. You'll encounter some ads when using WPS, but they rarely interfere with productivity. Its features secure cloud support with a 200 MB upload limit and 1 GB of free space, alongside accessible web apps and user-friendly PDF tools.

FreeOffice Apps

Whether you're on Windows, Mac, or Linux, FreeOffice from SoftMaker is exactly what its name suggests: a free Office alternative. Its layout will be immediately familiar to Microsoft Office users, especially with its ability to change between modern and classic layouts that will be useful to new users and veterans alike. These easily configured layouts also include a Touch mode that makes it easier to use on tablets and mobile devices.

FreeOffice is fully compatible with Microsoft Office files and features the same kinds of tools that you'd expect from a modern productivity suite. SoftMaker offers TextMaker (Word), PlanMaker (Excel), and Presentations (PowerPoint), as well as a programming environment and scripting language for developers called BasicMaker. There are also premium versions of these apps, with more features like file management and scripting support, for a one-time cost of $79.95 or a subscription service that starts at just $2.99/month. This is in addition to fully featured productivity apps for Android .

Microsoft Office Online

If none of these options appeal to your unique needs, or you just want or need to stay with Microsoft products, basic versions of the ubiquitous productivity apps are available for free through any web browser. From any desktop or mobile device, you can sign up for a free Microsoft account and start using slightly limited versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You can get started by navigating any browser to Office.com, and signing into or up for a free Microsoft account.

Related: How to Get Microsoft Office for Free

Countless other productivity apps exist out there, but these six are the best of the best when it comes to getting your work done quickly, reliably, and most importantly, for free.

Filter by Keywords

Best 10 Free Microsoft Word Alternatives 2024

Senior Content Marketing Manager

February 26, 2024

Microsoft Office Word is undoubtedly the most widely-used text editor. It allows you to create documents easily. So finding Microsoft Word alternatives can feel like a short list of options.

Why would anyone want to choose something else?

Well, this dominant word processor does have its drawbacks. There’s no free version, and it only works on a limited number of operating systems. Also, many think it’s a bit too complicated and unusable for today’s needs. 

Although MS Word has fans, some people prefer to use a different program with similar capabilities. We’ve got you covered if you’re looking for text editors that work across various operating systems and don’t want to pay for Microsoft Word premium features you don’t use.

Here’s our review of the 10 best free Microsoft Word alternatives, features, pricing, and ratings for all!

What is Microsoft Word? 

1. clickup docs, 2. google docs, 3. libreoffice writer, 4. wps office free writer, 5. focuswriter, 6. zoho docs, 8. freeoffice textmaker, 9. write monkey, 10. iwork pages, how to choose the best microsoft word alternative.

Microsoft Word, or MS Word, is a document processor published by Microsoft and is one of the productivity apps included in the Microsoft Office suite. First released in 1983, the program is the brainchild of Richard Brodie and Charles Simonyi. It is available for MS Windows, Android, Apple iOS, and Apple macOS and is compatible with the Linux OS using WINE. Notable Microsoft Word features include: 

  • Allows users to create professional-quality documents
  • Allows font and text formatting
  • HTML and image support
  • Advanced page layout
  • Grammar check

If you’re fed up with the unnecessary features you pay for with an MS Office subscription, there are several word processors you can use instead. These document editors can get downloaded for free and are excellent for those who only need a word processor and not the other features from Microsoft Office. 

Microsoft Word benefits vs. limitations

Undoubtedly, the most notable MS Word benefit is its ability to help you produce documents in different formats. It’s also easy to work with and can integrate your documents with other media within the Microsoft Office suite, including worksheets, presentations, flowcharts , and graphs. Its ability to track edits and changes in your documents ensures easy collaboration when working in a team.

Nonetheless, Microsoft Word can get expensive because users often purchase additional tools they’ll never need or use. Furthermore, the program may not always be intuitive. For example, Microsoft Office users may encounter downtimes when incorporating pictures into your documents or aligning text around the images. 

10 Best Free Microsoft Word Alternatives

If you’re looking for a free but feature-rich MS Word alternative, ClickUp Docs is just what you need. The document editor helps you create eye-catching and functional documents, wikis, and more in one user-friendly platform.

You can add tables, embed bookmarks, and more while formatting your documents. ClickUp is more than merely a text editor. It’s a hub where teams come together to plan, organize, and collaborate on work using tasks, Docs, Chat, Goals , Whiteboards , and more. Tag team members through comments, assign action items, and convert plain text into tasks.

Users working on one project can conveniently add widgets to change product statuses, assign tasks, update workflows, and more within one editor. It’s easy to keep your work organized because ClickUp categorizes your documents for quick access and searchability. Critical resources can also get managed and added to any section of your Workspace. 

ClickUp Docs includes ClickUp Brain , an AI-powered writing assistant that can be used to summarize notes, for brainstorming, creating content, generating product descriptions and more.

🔑 ClickUp Docs k ey features

  • Create Docs with rich formatting options
  • Use ClickUp AI to create anything from briefs to the high-quality marketing copy, product descriptions, and blog content
  • Create relationships to link Docs and tasks
  • Easily assign tasks and update workflows
  • Compatible with various file formats

✅ ClickUp Docs pros

  • Unmatched customization capabilities
  • Top-notch team collaboration
  • Categorizes your work
  • Real-time reporting

❌ ClickUp Docs cons

  • Not all ClickUp views are available on the mobile app (yet!)

💸 ClickUp Docs pricing

  • Free Forever
  • Unlimited : $7 per user per month
  • Business : $12 per user per month
  • Enterprise :  Contact ClickUp  for custom pricing
  • ClickUp AI  is available on all paid plans for $5 per Workspace member per month

💬 ClickUp Docs customer ratings

  • G2: 4.7/5 (3,880+ reviews)
  • Capterra: 4.7/5 (2,480+ reviews)

writing programs like word

Arguably, Google Docs is a powerful word processor and among the better-known alternatives to Microsoft Word. It mirrors Microsoft Word in terms of functionality. It allows users to create files and share them in various formats. The functionality of Google Docs can get extended using different add-ons. Although Google Docs is a web-based text editor, it allows you to work on documents offline. 

You can continue to edit your documents even without an internet connection. Since it’s a file-sharing service, Google Docs is excellent for real-time collaboration. It provides G Suite integration and is compatible with multiple file formats, including PDF. 

🔑 Google Docs key features

  • Add-ons such as MLA, DocuSign, and LucidChart
  • Offers real-time collaboration
  • Works like MS Word

✅ Google Docs p ros

  • Speech recognition and ability to translate files from various foreign languages
  • Saves work automatically
  • Allows offline editing

❌ Google Docs cons

  • Formatting issues may arise when importing content from formats such as PDF or RTF
  • It has a restricted selection of templates

💸 Google Docs p ricing

  • Google Docs is a free text editor, but pricing plans in the Google Workspace suite start at $6 per user per month

💬 Google Docs c ustomer ratings

  • Capterra: 4.7/5 (25,928+ reviews)
  • G2: 4.6/5 ‎(39,800+ reviews)

writing programs like word

Dubbed the all-inclusive word processor for all types of text-based work, LibreOffice Writer is among the most impressive alternatives to Microsoft Word. It’s compatible with Linux, macOS, and Windows operating systems. LibreOffice Writer is considered a feature-packed analog version of MS Word and comes with all the tools you need for text-based work.

The text editor is available in two versions, and both feature templates and wizards for creating all document types. It also supports different file formats and allows you to export documents to PDF without additional software. So if you’re looking for a text editor that stands in for Microsoft Word, you won’t go wrong with LibreOffice. 

🔑 LibreOffice Writer key features

  • Excellent format compatibility
  • Available in two versions to suit your needs
  • Downloadable without providing your information

✅ LibreOffice Writer pros

  • Document template galleries
  • No ads and paywalls
  • Supports multiple plugins

❌ LibreOffice Writer cons

  • Technical support isn’t provided
  • Slow and takes a lot of memory because it’s a Java program

💸 LibreOffice Writer pricing

  • The Collabora version is free for up to 20 users but can get upgraded to a paid plan for up to 99 users at $18 per user yearly
  • The CIB version costs $14.99 per user yearly and can get installed on up to 10 devices

💬 LibreOffice Writer c ustomer ratings

  • G2: 4.1/5 ‎(59 reviews)
  • Capterra: 4.3/5 (1,370+ reviews)

writing programs like word

Anyone who has used the newer versions of Microsoft Word but didn’t like the complexity should consider switching to WPS Office Writer. The free text editor looks and works almost like Microsoft Word and even features its equivalent of OneDrive, which offers 1GB of free cloud storage. 

WPS Office Free Writer comes with templates to help you create multiple document tasks. It’s compatible with most text file formats, including current MS Word versions. Discrete ads support the free version of WPS Office Writer, but you can remove them by choosing the premium versions. This is an impressive word processor and one of the best alternatives to Microsoft Word. 

🔑 WPS Office Free Writer key features

  • The WPS PDF to Word converter allows you to work on multiple document formats
  • The free version provides basic editing tools needed to work on your documents
  • Cloud storage offers a secure space for your documents
  • Designed to mirror Microsoft Word

✅ WPS Office Free Writer p ros

  • Provides impressive file format support
  • The nested interface mimics Microsoft Word
  • Free cloud storage

❌ WPS Office Free Writer c ons

  • May contain pop-up ads

💸 WPS Office Free Writer p ricing 

  • WPS Office Premium subscription costs $3.99 monthly, $18.99 for six months, and $29.99 annually

💬 WPS Office Free Writer c ustomer ratings

  • G2: 4.4/5 (‎232 reviews)
  • Capterra: 4.5/5 (841 reviews)

writing programs like word

This MS Word alternative is touted as the ideal text editor for fast drafts, thanks to the relative ease of formatting docs. It’s compatible with Linux, macOS, and Windows OS. It’s excellent for those who want to type out a page or two without worrying about formatting. 

FocusWriter features a suite of clever tools designed to optimize productivity . As the name suggests, the text editor blocks out all distractions so that you focus on your drafts. When you open the text editor, a blank page is all you’ll see. 

🔑 FocusWriter key features

  • Features alerts that get triggered at specified times
  • Designed to minimize distractions as you work

✅ FocusWriter pros

  • The timers and alarms come in handy when working against time
  • The fading features allow you to focus on your work
  • Your work gets saved automatically

❌ FocusWriter cons

  • Excellent for productivity but not ideal for editing documents

💸 FocusWriter pricing

  • Free for life

💬 FocusWriter c ustomer ratings

  • Capterra: 4.6/5 (68 reviews)
  • G2: 4.6/5 (12 reviews)

Bonus: Check out these Microsoft Whiteboard alternatives !

writing programs like word

Few text editors are better suited for educational and business tasks than Zoho Docs. The web-based software can be used in your favorite browser and comes with a user-friendly UI that can easily get managed via tabbed menus. In addition, Zoho Docs allows users to upload and download documents in DOCX format. It also supports collaboration, enabling you to work in real-time with your colleagues. 

🔑 Zoho Docs key features

  • Two-way synchronization, recovery, and file encryption
  • Blends with other text editors seamlessly
  • Can serve as an email marketing solution
  • Provides cloud storage for your docs

✅ Zoho Docs pros

  • Document management and visibility
  • Saves your docs automatically
  • Robust password security

❌ Zoho Docs cons

  • The free version has limited space, making it unsuitable for editing large documents

💸 Zoho Docs pricing

  • $5 per month per user when you upgrade your subscription

💬 Zoho Docs c ustomer ratings

  • G2: 4.4/5 (206 reviews)
  • Capterra: 4.5/5 (151 reviews)

Bonus: Microsoft Access Competitors !

writing programs like word

This Microsoft Word alternative has features to help you create documents in multiple formats and collaborate with your team in real-time. With this text editor, you can create documents and tables, embed graphics, and more. It also has an in-built Mail Merge tool that allows you to fill out your email fields automatically. 

🔑 AbiWord key features

  • Fitted with multiple plugins and features that make it highly functional
  • Compatibility with various platforms and text formats
  • Saves your documents automatically
  • HTML support

✅ AbiWord pros

  • The plugin architecture can be expanded
  • Saves your files in DOCX format
  • Available in multiple languages

❌ AbiWord cons

  • You can’t export PDF files

💸 AbiWord pricing

  • Inquire with AbiWord for pricing

💬 AbiWord c ustomer ratings

  • G2: 4.1/5 (15 reviews)
  • Capterra: 4.3/5 (1,378 reviews)

writing programs like word

This impressive Microsoft Word alternative comes with handy templates for creating everyday documents. FreeOffice TextMaker has all the features to expect from a modern text editor, including advanced formatting options, change-tracking, and the ability to create databases for managing footnotes and bibliographies. 

🔑 FreeOffice TextMaker key features

  • Ability to track changes when collaborating on text editing projects
  • You can create your templates and save them for future use
  • Neat and easy-to-navigate intuitive user interface

✅ FreeOffice TextMaker pros

  • Can print multiple pages per worksheet
  • It Opens password-secured files
  • Can export files to EPUB format

❌ FreeOffice TextMaker cons

  • Doesn’t support DOCX files

💸 FreeOffice TextMaker pricing

💬 freeoffice textmaker c ustomer ratings.

  • G2: 4.3/5 (110 reviews)
  • Capterra: 4.5/5 (235 reviews)

writing programs like word

This productivity-focused program comes equipped with quick shortcuts to make word processing easier. It’s only compatible with Windows OS and is designed to optimize your output without worrying about formatting or editing. Although Write Monkey may not be ideal for creating documents such as CVs or letters, it’s excellent for committing ideas to paper or later development. It’s only compatible with TXT files, and therefore, you must convert different formats before working on them. 

🔑 Write Monkey key features

  • Productivity-focused
  • Only works with TXT format
  • Designed to help you commit ideas to memory
  • Available as a portable app

✅ Write Monkey pros

  • Distraction-free interface optimizes productivity
  • Handy keyboard shortcut
  • Supports markup

❌ Write Monkey cons

  • Not suitable for creating large files

💸 Write Monkey pricing

💬 write monkey c ustomer ratings.

  • G2: 4.4/5 (27 reviews)
  • Capterra: 4.9/5 (179 reviews)

writing programs like word

If you want an MS Office alternative with multiple templates that allow the creation of various document types such as resumes, books, newsletters, and reports, you’ll love iWork Pages. The convenient text editor allows you to make changes to your documents in one click and provides robust password protection and the ability to work with files in different formats. 

🔑 iWork Pages key features

  • Easy to export and import Microsoft docs
  • Available as part of the iWork suite
  • Navigable, user-friendly intuitive interface

✅ iWork Pages pros

  • Offers limitless document creation options on one page
  • Advanced features are offered by Apple’s graphic
  • Saves your work in multiple formats as you prefer

❌ iWork Pages cons

  • Only compatible with iOS and macOS

💸 iWork Pages pricing

  • 50GB: $0.99 per month
  • 200GB: $2.99 per month
  • 2TB: $9.99 per month

💬 iWork Pages c ustomer ratings

  • G2: 4.6/5 (13 reviews)
  • Capterra: 4.4/5 (71 reviews)

Choosing the best Microsoft Word alternative depends on your specific needs and preferences. Here are some tips to guide you:

  • Collaboration Features : If you frequently work in teams, consider tools like ClickUp that excel in real-time collaboration and document sharing.
  • Cost : If budget is a concern, look for free alternatives. ClickUp Docs, Google Docs, Apache OpenOffice, and LibreOffice offer robust functionality at no cost.
  • User Interface : Look for an intuitive layout that makes navigating through different features and tools easy and efficient. This can greatly enhance your productivity and overall user experience.
  • Additional Features : Some alternatives offer unique features. For instance, ClickUp Docs is a part of a robust project management tool that can store all your work in one place.
  • Offline Access : If you often work without internet access, choose an option with strong offline capabilities.

Always consider your personal needs and work habits when choosing an alternative. The best tool is the one that fits seamlessly into your workflow.

Make the Most of Your Word Processor with ClickUp Docs

There are many options for Microsoft Word alternatives. When you’re searching be sure to always consider factors like collaboration capabilities, compatibility, cost, user interface, unique features, and offline access when making your choice. Ultimately, the best word processing software is the one that fits seamlessly into your workflow and helps enhance your productivity.

Nonetheless, few offer the flexibility and functionality of ClickUp Docs. One thing that stands out about ClickUp is that it’s a collaboration-driven platform focused on helping you to team up in real-time.

Sign up for ClickUp Docs for free today to enjoy unlimited text editing!

Questions? Comments? Visit our Help Center for support.

Receive the latest WriteClick Newsletter updates.

Thanks for subscribing to our blog!

Please enter a valid email

  • Free training & 24-hour support
  • Serious about security & privacy
  • 99.99% uptime the last 12 months

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience.

English | 中文 (简体) | Deutsch | Español | Français | Italiano | More...

logo

  • What is LibreOffice?
  • LibreOffice vs OpenOffice
  • LibreOffice Technology
  • New Features
  • Writer – word processor
  • Calc – spreadsheet
  • Impress – presentations
  • Draw – diagrams
  • Base – database
  • Math – formula editor
  • What is OpenDocument?
  • Templates & Extensions
  • Who uses LibreOffice?
  • Screenshots
  • Download LibreOffice
  • Business users: click here
  • LibreOffice for Android and iOS
  • App Stores and Chromebooks
  • Release Notes
  • Development versions
  • Portable versions
  • LibreOffice as Flatpak
  • LibreOffice as Snap
  • LibreOffice as AppImage
  • LibreOffice Impress Remote
  • LibreOffice Online
  • Community Assistance
  • Documentation
  • Installation Instructions
  • Professional Support
  • System Requirements
  • Accessibility
  • Mailing Lists
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Join us – start here!
  • What can you do for LibreOffice?
  • Infrastructure
  • Localization
  • Native-Lang Projects
  • Testing - QA
  • Community map
  • Grant Request
  • Who are we?
  • Advisory Board Members
  • LibreOffice Certification
  • Source Code
  • LibreOffice Timeline
  • Privacy Policy
  • Foundation's Reports
  • Merchandise
  • Read our blog
  • --> --> --> --> --> -->

Out now: LibreOffice 24.2

Styles for comments • Row/column highlighting in Calc • Options dialog search field

LibreOffice Conference 2023

September 20 – 23 in Bucharest, Romania. We'll have workshops, discussions and lots of fun!

Fantastic People

LibreOffice is about more than software. It’s about people, culture, creation, sharing and collaboration.

Do more - easier, quicker, smarter

LibreOffice is a free and powerful office suite, and a successor to OpenOffice.org (commonly known as OpenOffice).

Its clean interface  and feature-rich tools help you unleash your creativity and enhance your  productivity.

Discover it!

September 20 – 23 in Bucharest, Romania. We'll have workshops,discussions and lots of fun!

Join us there

Join us today!

LibreOffice is Free and Open Source Software. Development is open to new talent and new ideas, and our software is tested and used daily by a large and devoted user community.

From libreoffice official blog, from the document foundation planet.

Berlin, February 22, 2024 – LibreOffice 7.6.5 Community is immediately available from www.libreoffice.org/download for Windows, macOS, and Linux [1]. This is the most thoroughly tested version of the suite, for deployments by individuals, small and medium businesses, and other organizations in productivity environments. For enterprise-class deployments, TDF strongly recommends the LibreOffice Enterprise family of applications […]

read more »

We have received a postcard from FSFE (Free Software Foundation Europe), with a nice small poem. Every time we see .ODT, every bell rings. LibreOffice, you are our wings: so good you make us fly editing for hours as well as on the fly. With your huge crows of proud volunteers, you deserve all of […]

Berlin, February 22, 2024 – LibreOffice 7.6.5 Community is immediately available from www.libreoffice.org/download for Windows, macOS, and Linux [1]. This is the most thoroughly tested version of the suite, for deployments by individuals, small and medium businesses, and other organizations in productivity environments. For enterprise-class deployments, TDF strongly recommends the LibreOffice Enterprise family of applications […]

When working with LibreOffice Impress, “Slide Master” is the place where you can change the templates used for different types of the slides used in your presentation. Here we discuss a possible improvement for the “Slide Master” by making the copy from master slides possible.

To see the problem and the room for enhancement, open LibreOffice Impress, then choose “View->Master->Slide Master” from the menus. The[…]

  • @libreoffice
  • @LibreOfficeBugs

Reddit

Impressum (Legal Info) | Datenschutzerklärung (Privacy Policy) | Statutes (non-binding English translation) - Satzung (binding German version) | Copyright information: Unless otherwise specified, all text and images on this website are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License . This does not include the source code of LibreOffice, which is licensed under the Mozilla Public License v2.0 . “LibreOffice” and “The Document Foundation” are registered trademarks of their corresponding registered owners or are in actual use as trademarks in one or more countries. Their respective logos and icons are also subject to international copyright laws. Use thereof is explained in our trademark policy . LibreOffice was based on OpenOffice.org.

writing programs like word

10 Free Microsoft Word Alternatives Worth Trying

Not everyone is a Microsoft Word fan. Here are fresh (and free) alternatives to Microsoft Word that you might not know about.

Microsoft Word is a wildly popular word processor, but there are plenty of people who don't love it. Whether this is because of cost, access, or preference, not everyone is a Word fan.

There are many other options if you know where to look. Here are several alternatives to Microsoft Word that you might not know about.

Screenshot of Jarte--- an alternative to Microsoft Word

Jarte offers a neat and clean interface; working with documents in this app is extremely simple.

You can have multiple documents open in one window, using the tabs at the top to see everything at a glance. You also have the option to customize the application's button labels, automatic detection of links, and word wrapping.

  • Edit with basic tools like copy, paste, find, and spell check, as well as a dictionary and thesaurus.
  • Insert images, hyperlinks, tables, equations, and objects.
  • Format fonts with bold, italic, underline, color, size, and style.
  • Adjust paragraphs using alignment, indent, line spacing, and tab stops.
  • Multiple views, counts for words, pages, and characters, zoom in or out, and a built-in screen capture feature.

You can download and use Jarte for free. If you are interested in bonus features such as custom keyboard shortcuts, scripting, and autocorrect, you can take a look at Jarte Plus .

Download : Jarte (Free)

2. AbleWord

AbleWord---an alternative to Microsoft Word

For an application with the same familiar appearance as Microsoft Word, check out AbleWord.

You've got a standard menu at the top for tools like File, Edit, and View, quick button actions right below for things like undo, redo, and spell check, and the font formatting bar beneath.

  • Save documents as DOC, DOCX, PDF, HTML, or TXT.
  • Insert images, text frames, tables, and page numbers.
  • Format fonts, paragraphs, styles, columns, bullets, and numbering.
  • Use tables by inserting, selecting, or deleting along with merging and splitting cells.
  • PDF file importing, print or draft layout views, word count, zoom in or out, and page layout options.

AbleWord is available for download at no charge, with all features included. If you need help getting started, just click the Help button from the toolbar or visit AbleWord Online Help .

Download : AbleWord (Free)

3. WordGraph

WordGraph---an alternative to Microsoft Word

SSuite Office provides a host of applications like word processors, spreadsheets, and editors. One of these products is called WordGraph; it's a terrific alternative to Microsoft Word.

Just like in AbleWord, you have a standard menu at the top, action buttons, and a formatting toolbar. Each new document resides in its own tab.

  • Select views from full width, centered outline, or full height along with thumbnail views along the side.
  • Insert objects, images, tables, links, emoticons, equations, automatic text, and character art.
  • Format fonts, paragraphs, and visual text effects.
  • Use tools for spell check, word count, to track changes
  • Online dictionaries, thesaurus, and translations.
  • Tiled windows, document exporting, history, and statistics, keyboard shortcuts, and cloud storage integration.

You can download WordGraph for free on its website, as well as other products from SSuite .

Download : WordGraph (Free)

4. FocusWriter

FocusWriter---an alternative to microsoft word

FocusWriter is ideal for those who want a distraction-free writing experience . When you open FocusWriter, the document area is backed by a wooden background texture.

You can change this to one of a myriad of zen options and see all of your hidden toolbar options by directing your mouse to the top of the window.

  • Edit with basic undo, redo, cut, copy, and paste features.
  • Format fonts, paragraphs, indents, and headings.
  • Use tools to find, replace, spell check, and add symbols.
  • Adjust settings for focused text, themes, and focus preferences.
  • Hide tools away on all four edges, focus timer, daily progress statistics, goal setting, toolbar customizations, and keyboard shortcuts.

FocusWriter is free and available on multiple platforms. If you like the features of word processors but prefer a more focused writing tool, this is the writing application for you.

Download : FocusWriter (Free)

5. Page Four

Page Four---an alternative to microsoft word

While it's intended for creative writers, Page Four is a fantastic word processor for master organizers, too. Its Notebook feature provides a structured hierarchy for your items. You can create new notebooks, add folders and subfolders, and insert pages easily.

  • Navigate to each page with tabs at the bottom of the window.
  • Format fonts, paragraphs, and lists.
  • Use tools to import or export notebooks, word count, and document locking via password.
  • Click Smart-Edit to scan your document for overused words and phrases.
  • Search for text on pages or in notebooks.
  • Customizable view for full-screen writing, snapshot feature with list display, ability to insert dates, characters, links, or email addresses.

The free version of this application will not receive future updates, just a fair warning. If you like the idea of a free tool that keeps your work organized, however, this one might be the one for you.

Download : Page Four (Free)

Related: The Best Free Alternatives for Microsoft Office 365

6. Shaxpir 4

Shaxpir 4, pronounced like Shakespeare, is another word processor that is ideal for creative writers. Don’t let that stop you from trying it for papers, essays, and even for brainstorming ideas, though. You can organize your documents by type, all within an attractive, intuitive interface.

  • Navigate to content using the sidebar.
  • Format fonts, paragraphs, styles, and lists.
  • Insert images, connections, and block quotes.
  • Export items as DOCX or HTML.
  • Version history (Paid feature), word count, spell check, color-coded display for sentiment, vividness, and spelling, and content creation by type and folder.

Shaxpir 4 is available at no charge and comes with a free trial for Shaxpir 4: Pro . With this upgrade, you'll have access to features like EPUB exporting, custom themes, and version history.

Download : Shaxpir 4 (Free)

LyX---an alternative to microsoft word

LyX is a fully-fledged word processor with tons of extras. You might be surprised at the number of buttons that you see beneath the menu when you open the app up, but the tips as you mouse over them will help you immensely as you get your bearings.

Select File > New and you're on your way. The handy tabbed interface makes keeping track of multiple documents simultaneously easy.

  • Format fonts, lists, paragraphs, and sections.
  • View outline, source, and message panes, all within one window.
  • Insert everything from images, links, and tables to math formulas, citations, and comments.
  • Use tools for spell check, thesaurus, statistics, and file comparisons.
  • Import and export with dozens of file types, math macros, margin notes and footnotes, labels, cross-references, and index entries.

LyX is free, open-source , and available across multiple platforms. The website offers a lot of helpful information regarding releases, bug-tracking, and development statuses.

Download : LyX (Free)

8. Hancom Office 2020

If you would rather not download a word processor, Hancom Office 2020 is an excellent in-browser option.

To begin, either click the New Document plus sign on the main page or select Word from the New Document dropdown box at the top. When the editor opens, you will see the standard slew of menu items and buttons.

  • Download documents as DOCX or PDF files.
  • Format fonts and paragraphs.
  • Add headers, footers, endnotes, page numbers, or page breaks.
  • Insert shapes, images, tables, text boxes, symbols, bookmarks, or links.
  • Selection tools, ruler, and task pane views, zoom in or out, page setup options like size, orientation, color, and margins.

Website : Hancom Office 2020 (Free)

Download : Hancom Office 2020 (Trial)

Related: How to Edit PDFs In-Browser

9. Hemingway

Hemingway---an alternative to microsoft word

Another great online word processor is Hemingway. You can click Write from the top to start and then Edit to access a suite of helpful tools. While this editor does not offer specific features for images, tables, or downloads, it gives you a good writing experience, even if only in the copy itself.

  • Format fonts with bold or italic.
  • Add H1, H2, or H3 headers.
  • Create quotes with a single click.
  • Insert links and lists with bullets or numbers
  • Readability tools, color-coded display for active voice, adverbs, and hard-to-read sentences, and counts for words, characters, letters, and more.

Hemingway is one of the simplest free online writing tools, but it's still the most useful overall. In addition to accessing it in-browser, you can check out the Hemingway Editor 3 desktop app, as well. It offers many of the same awesome features.

Website : Hemingway (Free)

Download : Hemingway Editor 3 for Windows | Mac ($19.99)

Draft---an alternative to microsoft word

One final Microsoft Word alternative: Draft. This very simple tool has all of the features you need to create, edit, and save your documents. Like Hemingway, you can write directly into the app (Once you create a free account, of course). One of the standout features that we love here is version control.

  • Insert comments, to-dos, images, snippets, and footnotes.
  • Export documents as TXT, HTML, DOC, or PDF.
  • Ask for help with your documents from coworkers or fellow students.
  • Organize files in folders, preview them in Hemingway mode, import files, and customize interface settings.

Draft is a useful tool for many types of writers. From business needs to personal writing and education, this word processor will have you more than covered.

Website : Draft (Free)

Related: More Unique Document Editors You Might Want to Check Out

The Best Alternatives to Microsoft Word

Whether it’s cost, access, or features, there are many word processors that can give you what you need.

Sometimes, it's a matter of finding something more specialized. For others, the bare necessities will be more than enough. In either case, we hope that you give at least one of these free word processors a spin the next time you need a little change of scenery.

Able2Extract Professional – PDF Converter and Editor Software

10+ Free MS Word Alternatives You Can Use Today

While many people believe that they are "locked" into using Microsoft Word for all their document creation needs, it simply isn't true. Over the past few years, there have been many Microsoft Word and Office alternatives that were released and that have gained traction. Now, there are alternatives to the costly application from Microsoft, many of which are free.

Today we're going to explore eleven alternatives to Microsoft Word that you can quickly and easily start using today. Some will be online and some will be downloadable applications that can be installed on your local computer, but all will enable you to wean yourself off of Microsoft Word and still be productive.

This is because they can all work in conjunction with the applications you already use with MS Word. Take your everyday PDF converter tool, for instance. Working with PDF documents is difficult and you may think it even harder if you swap out an application in your usual software lineup. This simply isn't true, though. Able2Extract Professional, for instance, lets you work easily with any MS Word alternative there is. Simply convert your PDF to Word and then import or upload your converted results into any one of the Word processors in this list. You won't miss a single beat!

So if you need a good list of free alternatives to MS Word, look no further. Let's get started on our tour of eleven free alternatives to Microsoft Word.

Online Microsoft Word Alternatives

Sometimes it's easier to create and collaborate online in real-time than by editing and managing multiple versions on your local hard drive and sending the files via email. The web-based word processing applications below will not only let you create the documents online but also quickly and easily share them with others.

Xodo is an online document management platform that offers a powerful Word editing tool. Users can edit and revise Docx files directly in their web browser without any software installation. With an intuitive interface and a comprehensive set of editing tools, Xodo's Docx Word Editor is fast and easy to use. Xodo gives you the ability to make changes to text with popular formatting, font, spacing, and text colour options, making it an efficient tool for both individuals and business users. Any changes you make can instantly be downloaded and saved back into Docx format seamlessly. Because Xodo offers a full suite of document tools, you can keep your Word document in Xodo to view or convert to PDF without having to leave the platform. Xodo takes top spot because of its ease of use, quality editing tools, and smooth performance while editing.

Dropbox Paper

Dropbox Paper is a free online word processor offered by the online cloud storage provider. To start using it, you will need a Dropbox account. Once logged in, you get full access to the online suite. The minimalist interface is very intuitive and its simplicity allows you to focus on your content. You can also do a number of things that go beyond creating a textual document. You can add rich media, such as audio, video and images. Dropbox Paper also allows you to access apps that let you embed Trello cards, Youtube videos or SlideShare decks. Other collaborative features include document link-sharing, creating and assigning checklist items to members or embedding one of your Dropbox documents. Dropbox Paper, overall, does an excellent job at creating dynamic documents you can share and access online.

Office Online

For Microsoft Word and Office aficionados, the best possible free online alternative for their document editing needs is definitely Word online, which comes as part of the Office Online suite. Although free MS Word web app is not a full-fledged version of its paid counterpart, it allows you to open, create and edit Word documents online. Also, it offers some additional benefits of online software tools. For example, the ability to access and see updates from co-authors to your docs literally from anywhere in real time with only an Internet connection and the latest 2016 version. You can share and collaborate on documents. An equally alluring feature of Office Online is its cross-platform compatibility. So, if you're a Chromebook or Linux OS user, MS Word web app is the most elegant way to get access to Microsoft's document editing features - for free!

Google Docs

Google Docs allows you to create, collaborate and share documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings and even forms. Google Docs is packed with features, which can be further extended with various add-ons . While it will automatically save the file online and store it there, you can also have the documents published as a web page, downloaded or emailed as an attachment in Word, ODT, PDF, plain text or RTF formats. You can invite collaborators to work on the document with you or only allow others to view it without the ability to edit. And if you are apprehensive of having to depend on the Internet connection for document processing, don't worry. You can enable Google Docs offline access and keep editing your documents even when you are disconnected from Internet. All it takes is a free Google account.

Etherpad is an online document editor primarily intended for collaborative editing in, as the site claims, "really real time". It's an open source, highly customizable tool for online document collaboration with friends, fellow students and classmates, or colleagues at work. One of its advantages, especially appealing to users who are reluctant to use services which require email registration, is that there is no sign up with Etherpad. All you need to do is start a new pad and share the link to it with your collaborators. You can also invite them by email if you prefer. After that, you can start working on the planned writing project together, in real-time, even if you are miles apart.

Zoho offers around 20 free online applications including Writer for word processing. You can link your Zoho account to your Google and Yahoo accounts, as well. The Writer's interface shouldn't cause anyone problems as it is comfortably familiar. When working online there's always the risk of losing data due to a lost network connection, accidentally closing your browser or having your browser crash. Luckily Zoho automatically saves your documents for you, as you finish typing. Zoho Writer is well-equipped with features that allow you to work easily online: two-way desktop sync, large file transfer, encryption, file recovery, two-step authentication, in-app chat, and more. You can import and work with MS Word documents, allowing you to insert images, and edit content as needed. Zoho Writer offers all the standard text formatting and document creation features and can export to DOCX, ODF, PDF, Latex, RTF, TXT and even HTML. It can plug into Echosign for digital signatures, publish the document to a blog or make it public for all to see. Zoho Docs is completely free to use.

Downloadable Word alternatives

Downloadable Microsoft Word Alternatives

Some people are reluctant to cut the ties to their local computer and put all their work and business documents online. If you're one of them and don't want to rely on an Internet connection, here are several free word processing applications to round out our list. These you can download and install on your local computer. Take advantage of all the desktop features of MS Word without the hefty price tag!

Apache OpenOffice

The Apache OpenOffice package actually includes six programs that all use the same engine making them inherently the same and extremely easy to learn and use. The 6 applications included in the Apache OpenOffice suite are: Writer (word processor), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (diagrams and illustrations) and Base (database manipulation) and Math (mathematical equations). Writer can even natively do some things that Word cannot, like open PDF files without the addition of a plug-in or commercial add-on. As the software is open source it is maintained by a large community meaning help and bug fixes are freely available and quickly created. The downside to Writer is that it can only open DOCX files without the ability to edit and save them. You can install this suite on Windows XP to Windows 10, macOS and Linux.

LibreOffice

LibreOffice is another open source Microsoft Office alternative and a successor of the OpenOffice.org project (in 2010, Oracle/Apache OpenOffice and LibreOffice projects went separate ways). LibreOffice is distributed as a “monolithic software” consisting of seven components: Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Base, Math, and Charts. LibreOffice Writer is a free and powerful word processor available for Windows, Linux, and Mac. This Microsoft Word alternative can edit and save DOCX file format meaning that if you often collaborate on documents with Microsoft Office users, LibreOffice Writer is your best choice. It offers multi-language support, a spelling and grammar checker, ability to export in PDF and EPUB ebook format, AutoCorrect and AutoComplete features, a lot of extensions and document templates, and more regular updates and major and minor releases than Apache OpenOffice.

Jarte is based on Microsoft WordPad Engine, but is still free. There is a paid version of the software that adds on some extra functionality, but the free version is more than adequate and fully compatible with Word and WordPad documents. Features include an ergonomic tabbed interface, small resource requirements, portability, support for touchscreens, and quick loading time. It also has built-in spell checking and can export to HTML and PDF files. Jarte allows you to insert images, tables, hyperlinks and everything else that you have come to expect from Word. Jarte contains no ads, trial periods or crippled features and is funded through user purchases of the Jarte Plus version.

WPS Office is a free document processing suite whose WPS Writer app will serve you well as a Microsoft Word alternative. WPS Office 2016 Free can open and save to a long list of popular file formats native to those applications like docx, doc, and more. You can get the application in languages other than English: French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and Russian. The suite has the same familiar look and feel of MS Office with one exception--it has a tabbed viewing window, so you can open more than one document at a time. And also worth mentioning is WPS Cloud , the company's cloud document storage service that offers up to 1GB of free storage that you can use. This is perfect if you're trying to find a free Word alternative that's not only scalable for teams, but can also be as collaborative and seamless as its Microsoft counterpart.

SoftMaker FreeOffice

SoftMaker FreeOffice is another great free suite that offers a full featured Microsoft Word alternative. The suite's TextMaker application allows you to focus on creating documents just as you would in MS Word. This suite offers up essential editing features and even a handful of basic templates for creating and editing documents. Tables, charts, shapes and graphics are available along with standard text formatting options. This application provides you with everything you need. The entire suite is available for Windows, Linux, and Android, so you can keep your document processing tasks going even while away from your desktop.

Whether you are looking for a free locally installed Microsoft Word alternative or an online one for easier collaboration and online file storage, there are many available. The eleven that are covered in this article are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, but should give you a good starting point. The obvious giants in the arena are Google Docs and Openoffice.org which are probably also the most popular, though Zoho does offer a wider selection of applications. In the end, the one that best suits you will be the one that offers the features you need the most.

Free PDF Viewer

No matter which one you pick, you're guaranteed a fully functional, robust word processor at zero cost. If you also want a completely free PDF viewer with powerful features for Windows, Mac, or Linux, give Slim PDF Reader 2 a chance today!

Download 100% Free

  • Able2Extract Professional
  • The best Adobe ® Acrobat ® alternative
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • How to compare any two documents
  • PDF to Excel
  • The Ultimate Guide
  • Convert tables only
  • Get rid of headers and footers in PDF tables
  • How to keep formatting when converting PDF to Excel
  • How to preserve PDF table cell styles
  • PDF Conversion & Creation
  • How to batch convert PDF
  • How to batch create PDFs
  • How to convert ANY file to Excel
  • How to Convert PDF to CSV for Quickbooks
  • How to Export PDF Form Data to CSV
  • How to convert PDF to PowerPoint
  • How to convert PDF to HTML
  • Converting PDF images to JPEG
  • How to convert JPEG to PDF
  • How to convert MS Publisher to PDF
  • PDF to AutoCAD Guide
  • PDF Editing
  • How to edit a PDF
  • Create and fill PDF forms
  • How to sign PDF documents
  • Annotate and review PDFs
  • How to insert blank pages into PDF
  • How to add watermarks to PDFs
  • How to add Bates Numbering to PDF
  • OCR for Scanned Documents
  • Scanned PDF FAQs
  • OCR software
  • How to convert scanned PDFs in a different language
  • Miscellaneous
  • PDF evolution
  • The ultimate Excel cheatsheet
  • A beginner's guide to Microsoft Office
  • 10 free MS Word alternatives you can use today

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best possible experience. By continuing you agree to our privacy policy .

Best free word processor of 2024

Alternatives to Microsoft Word

Best overall

Best for cloud, best for collaboration, best for productivity, best for text files, how we test.

The best free word processor makes it simple and easy way to type up documents on your computer, without needing to pay for a software license.

1. Best overall 2. Best for cloud 3. Best for collaboration 4. Best for productivity 5. Best basic 6. Best for text files 7. FAQs 8. How we test

However, while there are some good, free word processing programs out there, they tend to not have so many features as paid-for software. Even when they do, there can be compatibility issues with moving document formats between software platforms, especially when importing to Microsoft Word .

Here we’re looking at the very best word processors that can be used offline (particularly useful for distraction-free writing), but there are also several excellent browser-based tools to consider if you'd rather do your writing online.

These then are the best free word processors and alternatives to Microsoft Word, that will provide a reliable platform for you to work from, at home or in the office.

We've also featured the best Microsoft Office alternatives .

Image

The best word processor available today is: Microsoft Word For sheer features and convenience it's still hard to beat Microsoft Word. While it's not free like the tools listed below, the latest version fully integrates with Microsoft OneDrive, and lets you shift material seamlessly between the whole suite of Microsoft 365 apps.

The best free word processor of 2024 in full:

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

1. LibreOffice Writer

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy.

LibreOffice is a fork of Apache OpenOffice, and the two offer very similar word processing apps, but LibreOffice receives more frequent updates and has a more lively userbase, so we're inclined to lean in its favor. 

The word processor, Writer, is a feature-packed analog of Microsoft Word, packed with all the tools you could need for any text-based work. 

The two versions of Writer include wizards and templates for common document types, such as invoices and letters, and it’s easy to create your own templates for future use as well. The word processors also work together with the other office software in their respective suites – so you can use Base to create a bibliography, for example.

Both word processors support all the most popular file formats, and can export documents to PDF without the need for additional software. If you’re looking for a word processor that can stand in for Microsoft Word, either of these two will be a perfect candidate.

Read our full LibreOffice review .

  • ^ Back to the top

2. WPS Office Free Writer

Reasons to avoid.

If you’ve used a modern version of Microsoft Word, there’ll be no learning curve when you switch to Writer – the word processing component of WPS Office Free.

This free word processor looks and behaves almost exactly like its premium counterpart, and even has its own equivalent of OneDrive, offering 1GB free cloud storage.

Its selection of pre-installed templates gives you everything you need for common document types, and you can easily create your own for bespoke tasks. It’s compatible with every text file format you can think of, including current and legacy versions of Microsoft Word dating back to Office 97.

WPS Office Writer is supported by discrete ads, which can be removed by upgrading to the premium version, but they’re barely noticeable and no features are locked behind a paywall. Overall, WPS Writer is very impressive, and in our opinion it’s the best free word processor available to download today.

WPS recently launched a free PDF to Word converter as well, which is a great companion to its word processor.

Read our full WPS Office Free review .

3. Google Docs

When it comes to free word processing, Google Docs may seem like one of the most obvious choices, and has the advantage of saving your work automatically so you don’t have to worry if your connection fails. 

It’s also a good choice for collaborative working, and means you don’t have to upload work to a separate cloud storage service. 

However, it has a limited selection of templates, there’s no way to import content from other Google applications, it suffers from the formatting issues when importing mentioned above, and any online tool is going to be surrounded by distractions like social media.

Read our full Google Docs review .

4. FocusWriter

If you simply want to hammer out some words without worrying about formatting, you could just use Windows’ built-in Notepad app, but FocusWriter is full of clever tools that will help you maximize productivity without ever getting in the way.

As the name implies, FocusWriter blocks out all distractions so you can give that all-important first draft your full attention. In normal use, all you see is a blank page – toolbars are only visible if you move your mouse pointer to the edge of the screen – but there’s a killer feature in Focused Text, which fades everything into the background except the current paragraph or sentence.

FocusWriter also features alerts that are triggered at certain times, or when you’ve reached a predefined word count, so you don’t need to worry about watching a counter (as you would in Microsoft Word). This also makes FocusWriter a good tool to use in tandem with the Pomodoro Technique, which involves working hard for a period of time that’s long enough for you to work productively, but not so long that you become fatigued.

It’s not great for editing, but for productivity, FocusWriter is hard to beat.

Read our full FocusWriter review .

5. FreeOffice TextMaker

TextMaker – the word processing element of SoftMaker FreeOffice – is good looking, and comes with several handy templates for creating letters and other everyday documents. The selection isn’t as extensive as some of its rivals’, but you can also make new designs for future use and save them in TMV format.

All the features you’d expect from a modern word processor are present and correct, including advanced formatting options, the ability to create databases for managing bibliographies and footnotes, and a function for tracking changes to collaborative projects.

The only real drawback of TextMaker is its inability to save your work in DOCX format (though you can open and edit these files with no difficulty). This feature is limited to the premium version of SoftMaker Office.

Read our full FreeOffice review .

6. Writemonkey

WriteMonkey is another no-frills word processor designed to help you maximize your output without fussing with editing and formatting. It’s not intended for documents like letters or CVs, but is great for committing early ideas to paper (or screen) so you have the raw material to develop later.

Unlike FocusWriter, which is compatible with all the most common text formats (including Microsoft’s DOC and DOCX), WriteMonkey only works with TXT files, so you’ll have to convert any works in progress before opening them. WriteMonkey’s hidden controls are trickier to navigate, too – everything is accessed via a large right-click menu, or a vast collection of keyboard shortcuts.

That said, if you’re happy to commit those shortcuts to memory, you’ll find WriteMonkey faster to use than toolbar-based alternatives.

We also like the ability to look words up in Wikipedia, Google Images, Poetry.com, Answers.com, and many others without opening a browser winder manually and leaving yourself open to the temptations of Twitter and Facebook.

WriteMonkey is a portable app, so there’s no need to install it – just extract all the downloaded files to a removable drive or cloud storage service and fire it up by running the file WriteMonkey.exe.

Read our full Writemonkey review .

We've also featured the best free cloud apps for business .

Best free word processor FAQs

Which free word processor is best for you.

When deciding which free word processor to download and use, first consider what your actual needs are, as sometimes free platforms may only provide basic options. That means if you need to use advanced tools you may find a paid platform is much more worthwhile. Additionally, free and budget software options can sometimes prove limited when it comes to the variety of tools available, while higher-end software can really cater for every need, so do ensure you have a good idea of which features you think you may require.

To test for the best free word processor we first set up an account with the relevant software platform, whether as a download or as an online service. We then tested the service to see how the software could be used for different purposes and in different situations, especially looking at how it worked with different file formats. The aim was to push each software platform to see how useful its basic tools were and also how easy it was to get to grips with any more advanced tools.

Read how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar .  

Get in touch

  • Want to find out about commercial or marketing opportunities? Click here
  • Out of date info, errors, complaints or broken links? Give us a nudge
  • Got a suggestion for a product or service provider? Message us directly
  • You've reached the end of the page. Jump back up to the top ^

Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!

Cat Ellis

Cat is the editor of TechRadar's sister site Advnture. She’s a UK Athletics qualified run leader, and in her spare time enjoys nothing more than lacing up her shoes and hitting the roads and trails (the muddier, the better)

Adobe Acrobat Reader (2024) review

Videoleap review

Looking for a massive TV deal? LG's 77-inch C3 OLED TV is $1,550 off at Amazon

Most Popular

By Barclay Ballard February 19, 2024

By Barclay Ballard February 16, 2024

By Barclay Ballard February 15, 2024

By Cat Bussell February 15, 2024

By Philip Berne February 13, 2024

By Krishi Chowdhary February 13, 2024

By Philip Berne, Alex Walker-Todd February 13, 2024

By Krishi Chowdhary February 12, 2024

  • 2 Two 52-year old Q1 desktop computers were found during a house clearance
  • 3 ZLUDA, a tool that could run CUDA code on AMD and Intel GPUs, has been open sourced
  • 4 Samsung's new anti-reflection OLED TV screen is a modified version of The Frame TV's wild matte display, and it may come to more TVs if it's successful
  • 5 Got an HDR monitor? Grab the new Nvidia App already – it turns SDR games into HDR, and aims to beat Windows 11's similar feature
  • 2 Prodigy ATX Platform can run advanced AI models and costs as little as $5000
  • 3 Discover what the future folds with the magic of HONOR
  • 4 MIT researchers have developed a revolutionary cryptographic ID tag that's smaller and cheaper than RFID tags
  • 5 ChatGPT is broken again and it’s being even creepier than usual – but OpenAI says there's nothing to worry about

Apache OpenOffice

  • Extensions & Templates
  • Get Involved
  • Focus Areas
  • Native Languages

Apache OpenOffice

I want to learn more about openoffice.

What is Apache OpenOffice? And why should I use it?

I want to download Apache OpenOffice

Download Apache OpenOffice for free, or find out about other ways of getting it.

I need help with my OpenOffice

Help is at hand whenever you need it.

I want to do more with my OpenOffice

Extend Apache OpenOffice with additional functionality, templates and clipart.

I want to participate in OpenOffice

Apache OpenOffice is made with help from people all over the world. Feel free to contribute!

I want to stay in touch with OpenOffice

Follow the progress of OpenOffice via announce list, our blog or social media.

Blog

Recent Blog Posts

22 December 2023: Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15 27 February 2023: Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.14 30 August 2022: 333,333,333+ Downloads of Apache OpenOffice 22 July 2022: Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.13 4 May 2022: Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.12 6 October 2021: Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.11 4 May 2021: Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.10 7 February 2021: Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.9 6 January 2021: New release for Apple's macOS 11 (Big Sur) - Also with fixes for Linux and Windows 10 November 2020: Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.8 29 October 2020: 300 Million Downloads of Apache OpenOffice 15 October 2020: The Apache Software Foundation Celebrates 20 Years of OpenOffice® 17 May 2020: Apache OpenOffice needs your help 22 October 2019: 1.6 million downloads of Apache OpenOffice 4.1.7 21 September 2019: Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.7 18 November 2018: Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.6 31 January 2018: Over 3.2 million downloads of Apache OpenOffice 4.1.5 30 December 2017: Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.5 19 October 2017: Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.4 28 November 2016: Over 200 million downloads of Apache OpenOffice 12 October 2016: Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.3 28 October 2015: Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.2 27 September 2015: Coming soon... Apache OpenOffice 4.1.2 13 May 2015: Authoring e-Books in Apache OpenOffice 13 April 2015: Collaboration is in our DNA

Recent News

Archived News

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15 released

22 December 2023: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.15 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.14 released

27 February 2023: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.14 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

More than 333,333,333 downloads

30 August 2022: The Apache OpenOffice project announces that Apache OpenOffice was downloaded more than 333,333,333 times. Further information are in the Blog available.

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.13 released

22 July 2022: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.13 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.12 released

4 May 2022: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.12 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.11 released

6 October 2021: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.11 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.10 released

4 May 2021: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.10 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.9 released

7 February 2021: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.9 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.8 released

10 November 2020: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.8 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.7 released

21 September 2019: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.7 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.6 released

18 November 2018: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.6 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.5 released

30 December 2017: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.5 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.4 released

19 October 2017: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.4 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.3 released

12 October 2016: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.3 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.2 released

28 October 2015: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.2 . In the Release Notes you can read about all bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

Udine moves to OpenOffice, will save 360,000 Euro

16 September 2014: The City of Udine, in Italy, announced a process that will lead to the installation of OpenOffice on 900 municipal desktops, saving the city 360,000 Euro. ZDNet's Raffaele Mastrolonardo has the details .

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.1 released

21 August 2014: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.1 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new features, functions and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

Apache OpenOffice 4.1.0 released

29 April 2014: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.0 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new features, functions and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

100 Million downloads

17 April 2014: The Apache OpenOffice project is proud to tell you that our software was downloaded over 100 million times . Join us in celebrating this big achievement!

Italian region adopts OpenOffice, saves 2 Million Euro

10 October 2013: The Italian administrative region of Emilia-Romagna announced plans to move to OpenOffice, saving 2 million euro .

Volunteers, not Amateurs

8 January 2013: Apache OpenOffice is developed 100% by volunteers. Apache does not pay for developers, for translators, for QA, for marketing, for UI, for support, etc. Of course, we're happy to accept donations to the Apache Software Foundation , to keep our servers runnings and for similar overhead expenses. But our products are developed entirely by volunteers.

Some users are initially worried by this statement: How can software for free, developed by volunteers, be any good? Read on for an answer...

Apache Software Foundation

Copyright & License | Privacy | Contact Us | Donate | Thanks

Apache, OpenOffice, OpenOffice.org and the seagull logo are registered trademarks of The Apache Software Foundation. The Apache feather logo is a trademark of The Apache Software Foundation. Other names appearing on the site may be trademarks of their respective owners.

  • Domain Names
  • Domain Name Search
  • Free Domain Transfer
  • .com Domain
  • 1 Dollar Domain
  • Cheap Domain
  • Free Domain
  • Buy SSL Certificate
  • Website Builder
  • Website Platforms
  • Website Templates
  • Web Design Services
  • eCommerce Website Builder
  • Local Business Listing
  • Web Hosting
  • WordPress Hosting
  • 1 Dollar Hosting
  • Windows Hosting
  • Free Website Hosting
  • Create Business Email
  • HiDrive Cloud Storage
  • Microsoft 365 Business
  • Cloud Server
  • VPS Hosting
  • Dedicated Servers
  • Rent a Server
  • IONOS Cloud
  • Business Name Generator
  • Logo Creator
  • Favicon Generator
  • Whois Lookup
  • Website Checker
  • SSL Checker
  • IP Address Check
  • Online sales

What are the free Microsoft Word alternatives?

Microsoft Word alternatives at a glance

Which Microsoft Word alternative is right you, depends almost entirely on what you want to use the program for . If it’s important for you to have a lot of options regarding text design, you need a different program compared to those who just concentrating solely on writing. Also, the alternatives to Microsoft Word all take up different amounts of memory – or you could also choose an online program that doesn’t require any space on your hard drive. An important prerequisite is that the program is compatible with your operating system.

Word alternatives in comparison

Apache openoffice writer: similar to word, libreoffice writer: alternative to openoffice, abiword: simple program with many functions, wps office writer: alternative for frequent writers, softmaker freeoffice: word processing from germany, writemonkey: writing without distraction, google docs: online word processing.

The IONOS HiDrive Cloud Storage enables you to store, edit, and share your Office documents centrally and securely. Whether for private or professional purposes, you can work flexibly on any device with the HiDrive app and other interfaces. IONOS' state-of-the-art US data centers ensure your data is optimally protected.

Apache OpenOffice was operated under the name OpenOffice.org until 2012 and now is simply called 'OpenOffice'. The OpenOffice Writer is the most popular among the Microsoft Word alternatives, and together with LibreOffice, it’s most similar to the original . Just like Microsoft Office packet, OpenOffice (as well as being a word processing program) also provides an alternative to Excel, a database tool, a drawing program, a tool for mathematical formulas, and a presentation tool. OpenOffice doesn’t, however, provide an alternative for the Outlook e-mail program.

OpenOffice Writer has all the functions that you need in everyday office life. It is important that OpenOffice can open all Microsoft Word formats . When saving work, OpenOffice Writer only supports the older file formats (.doc, .xml). Most of the details are in the layout, however subtleties such as the placement of footnotes could shift content around. It is therefore recommendable to convert documents to pdf documents before you print them. OpenOffice Writer is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Screenshot of Apache OpenOffice Writer

$1 Domain Names

Register great TLDs for less than $1 for the first year.

Why wait? Grab your favorite domain name today!

An alternative to the alternative: LibreOffice split off from OpenOffice in 2010 after disagreements with Oracle, who was the main sponsor at the time. The layout and functions of the program are largely the same, but there are some important differences. The LibreOffice Writer can edit and save the docx file format , whereas OpenOffice can only open it. If you often swap documents with other Microsoft Office users, it’s recommended you use LibreOffice.

LibreOffice also provides significantly more updates than OpenOffice, which can be both advantageous and disadvantageous. The advantage is that developers eliminate errors, close security gaps, and implement new features. However, they sometimes also create immature functions and not all users have the patience to keep installing new updates every two months.

Screenshot of LibreOffice Writer

The name AbiWord comes from the Spanish word 'abierto', meaning 'open'. This Microsoft Word alternative provides similar functions to the original and the layout is similar to earlier versions of Word (up until Word 2003). AbiWord takes up little space on the hard drive: only 20 megabytes . With AbiWord, you can create tables, embed graphics, and automatically fill in fields in e-mails with the Mail Merge tool.

With a long list of plugins, the features can be expanded by installing AbiWord. The import filters , for example, are used to read and save most file formats, including docx files. In practice, however, the layout has to be reworked in some formats. AbiWord also offers a platform with AbiCollab.net where you can work on documents with other people in real time . AbiWord doesn’t have a function for exporting documents as a pdf. The program works alongside Windows and Linux on the operating system QNX, FreeBSD, and Solaris.

Screenshot of AbiWord

The company, Kingsoft, has been distributing its Office package WPS Office since the 1980s. In addition to various paid versions, the manufacturer also offers the extensive Office Free Edition. The structure of the text processing program looks very similar to that of Microsoft, comes however with a few changes. For example, it is possible to open several documents within the program and switch between them with the help of tabs . Another special feature is the two display formats “Eye Protection Mode” and “Night Mode”, which makes the writing area very easy on the eye.

Files can be saved in different file formats. Therefore, not only the WPS format is available, but also other common file types, including DOCX. If you log in, you can also access a personal cloud and save the files online. Users also have the simple option of securing the file with a password and establishing encryption.

WPS Office

The German software manufacturer, SoftMaker, also offers a free version of FreeOffice in addition to its fee-based offer. All users need to do is enter a valid e-mail address. You have the choice between a classic menu structure and the modern ribbon view. No matter which one you choose, the window is very tidy.

When saving the documents, you can choose either between Microsoft Office file formats or the in-house SoftMaker formats. Additionally, you have the possibility to export documents as pdf or epub. The free office suite also includes a spreadsheet program and presentation software. FreeOffice receives regular updates and is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac. You can also download a version for Android smartphones.

SoftMaker FreeOffice

WriteMonkey is the right choice for anyone who wants to write without being distracted by advanced layout features. The full-screen mode is most similar to the simple white (or depending on the settings, black, green, or another color) paper, where you can let your creativity run wild. Right-click to access the menu, which will then allow you to fade out certain parts of the text, or be able to jump between different paragraphs. You can set the timer for the amount of time you want to concentrate. The built-in word completion also saves a lot of time when typing.

WriteMonkey is the smallest of the desktop programs mentioned here. It doesn’t need to be installed, which means that WriteMonkey can be used on a USB stick and then put onto other computers. To open WriteMonkey, simply download the application file folder, copy it to a random folder on your hard drive, and then open the WriteMonkey.exe file. Texts can be saved by WriteMonkey as a txt file , or exported to Word , also as a docx file. WriteMonkey only works on Windows.

Screenshot of WriteMonkey

Google Docs is an online writing program. If you have a Gmail account, click on 'Documents' in the tool bar to go to Google Docs. You can also open your documents using Google Drive. In Google Docs, you can create new documents and work with multiple users on the same document at the same time . You can see straightaway what changes other users have made to the document. This is especially useful when you want to write a text together with others, or when working with editors. As with Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, and LibreOffice, Google Docs also provides features for creating tables (sheets) and presentations (slides).

The disadvantages of Google Docs are that it’s slower and has fewer features than Microsoft Word alternatives that are stored on the computer. The layout options of Google Docs are much more limited. Also, many users have reservations about trusting the internet with confidential information. In addition, the functionality of Google Docs depends on the quality and security of the internet connection. Fortunately, there is also a Google Docs app that you can download to your computer or smartphone and then work in offline-mode.

Screenshot of Google Docs

Of course, there are also Google Docs alternatives . Zoho offers the most features out of all the online word processing programs, such as an e-mail program and many layout options. Zoho also requires registration with an account and is therefore especially suitable for users who regularly edit texts online. For occasional group work, Etherpad which is accessible without an account. Etherpad has less text processing capabilities - but is the fastest tool when it comes to group work.

HiDrive Cloud Storage with IONOS

Your data is stored securely in data centers in the US and Europe. Access HiDrive from any device, any time, from the office or on the go.

  • Open Source

Related articles

The best Photoshop alternatives

The best Photoshop alternatives

Adobe Photoshop is considered the industry standard for image editing software, and it’s been that way for many years. But hobby photographers and amateur designers often complain that the program is simply too complex (thanks to its enormous range of functions), or too expensive to warrant purchasing. For this reason, there are numerous Photoshop alternatives, many of which are considerably…

The best free video hosting providers and premium solutions

The best free video hosting providers and premium solutions

Embedded videos on a website have a significant impact on the bandwidth and thus the performance of a server. To relieve servers, the use of a video hosting platform is recommended. In some cases, free solutions differ greatly from premium providers in terms of the range of functions they offer. We present the best solutions.

How to get Microsoft Office for free

How to get Microsoft Office for free

Microsoft programs like Word, Excel and PowerPoint are an indispensable part of the working world. But many private users can’t afford a paid Microsoft subscription. And some people may not need the full version. In this article, we’ll show you how you can get a free Microsoft Office subscription, albeit with limited features.

Build or host a website, launch a server, or store your data and more with our most popular products for less.

writing programs like word

Computers normally come stocked with rudimentary word processing and text editing software, such as WordPad and Notepad on Windows. But once you’re ready to go beyond the basics, you usually end up staring down a rather expensive add-on package like the near-ubiquitous Microsoft Office suite. If you don’t feel like spending money on software, though, there are ways to avoid hefty fees.

Thanks to the free and open-source software (FOSS) movement, there are alternatives that not only cost nothing but allow users to access the underlying code so they can make changes as needed. So if you don’t like how your particular copy of the software works, you are free to add or subtract code as you see fit, creating a new version, or “fork.” Programs such as Google Docs, which are free to use but do not have freely editable source code, are not included here.

Even if you’re not a programmer, someone else has likely wanted to make the same changes as you, so a solution fitting your particular issue or need may be just a download away. Let’s check out a few options that’ll get you started on your open-source document editing journey.

LibreOffice Suite

a draft of text written in LibreOffice writer

If you’re looking for an open-source office suite, LibreOffice is the software package for you. Its word processing program is LibreOffice Writer—which, incidentally, this story was written with, so I can attest to its excellence. You’re able to choose from different fonts and text styles, embed images and figures, and use a variety of other functions you’d expect from its paid competition. It can save files in an Open Document Format (ODF), a number of Word formats, and export your work as a PDF for wide-ranging compatibility.

LibreOffice also includes a “Calc” program for creating spreadsheets, “Impress” for slideshows, “Math” for displaying mathematical equations, and several more.

Notepad++ is a replacement for built-in source code editors and standard text editors that requires only a small amount of storage and computing power. Like Notepad, it’s a pure text editor, meaning you won’t be able to format what you write. So while you wouldn’t want to type up a college paper or business report with it, it’s useful when editing code and basic text. This editor is extremely customizable and has a powerful auto-complete feature.

As for why you’d want to replace the basic editor that comes with your system, I’ll note that Windows Notepad can often cause problems when you’re setting up different types of hardware (such as a Raspberry Pi ). Without getting too far into the weeds here, Notepad++ formats text in a way that often works better, avoiding unnecessary frustration.

Other open-source options

LibreOffice and Notepad++ are the programs I use and recommend, but they’re only a small sample of the open-source editing tools available. Some of this variety can be attributed to users’ ability to split, or fork, each program to create their own version when the original doesn’t meet all their needs. LibreOffice, for example, is descended from Apache OpenOffice , which is similar, but updated less frequently.

Some other options have more specialized uses. For typesetting, you might consider LaTeX . If you need to work with others, check out Gobby or Etherpad for collaborative text editing. And if you’re looking to take notes, you may want to try Notable . Newer versions of Notable, though, are no longer open-source, as managing it is now its author’s full-time job. Which brings us to a question you’ve probably asked yourself:

Free? But how?

These programs are free, so how do people who work on them make a living? Sometimes, developers tinker with open-source software part-time as a passion project, but in other cases, people actually find a way to make a living working full-time on FOSS. These developers earn money via a variety of funding options, often including donations. I’ve personally contributed a small amount of cash to both LibreOffice and Notepad++, and I’d encourage others to do the same if they get a lot of value out of these or similar programs. Beyond money, projects like this are often also looking for contributors, so don’t be afraid to jump in, or perhaps even fork something to exactly suit your needs.

Like science, tech, and DIY projects?

Sign up to receive Popular Science's emails and get the highlights.

The Write Practice

Book Writing Software (2024): Top 10 for Writers

by Joe Bunting | 20 comments

Writing a book is hard. I've written fifteen books and at some point during each one I had the thought, “There has to be a tool, a piece of book writing software, that would make it easier to reach my writing goals.”

Book Writing Software - Top 10 Pieces of Software for Writers

The good news is there  is  book writing software that can make the writing process and meeting your daily goals easier!

(The better news is that once you've found the right software, we have the best resources to help you finish your book, like this book idea worksheet , which will get you started on your book in just a few minutes. Get your free copy here. )

In this article, we will cover the ten best pieces of software for writing a book and look at the pros and cons of each. Click the links below to get our review on the best writing software.

Best Writing Software: Contents

  • Google Docs
  • Google Sheets OR Microsoft Excel
  • ProWritingAid
  • Publisher Rocket
  • Microsoft Word
  • Bonus: Note Taking Apps
  • Bonus: Google Drive OR Dropbox

Worst Pieces of Software for Writing a Book

Before we discuss writing software that will help you write a beautiful book, it's important to understand (and eliminate) what will hurt your writing progress. At least while you're writing a book:

  • Video Games.  Especially World of Warcraft (always, always, always!) but also Solitaire, Sudoku, Angry Birds, Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, and Wild Rift/League of Legends.

No World of Warcraft for Writers

  • Facebook, TikTok, and Other Social Media Software.  Do I really need to say more? Fortunately there's a piece of book writing software for avoiding this very distracting software (see Freedom below). You can't write a book if you spend you writing time publishing social media posts.
  • Other Productive Software Not Directly Associated With Your Writing.  Yes, it's good to reconcile your bank account on Quickbooks or make sure you're up to date on your calendar app, but responsible, well-meaning work can easily be an excuse for a quick distraction that turns into a major distraction from writing your book.

Set aside time for your writing every day and then stay focused. If you need a game, make writing your daily word count your game. If you want more “likes” on social media, imagine how great getting five-star reviews on your book will be.

If you need to check your bank balance several times a day, think about what your bank balance will be when you stop checking it constantly, finish your book, and become a successful author. Now let's talk about some book software for authors that can help you with your book writing process.

The 10 Best Pieces of Book Writing Software

First, there is no such thing as the perfect book writing software. No amount of key features or book writing templates or editing features will write a book for you. Still, these ten book writing software options can help. Take a look at the pros and cons of each:

1. Scrivener (Word Processor)

Scrivener  is the premier book writing app made by writers  for  writers. Scrivener's “binder” view allows you to break up your book into chapters and sections and easily reorganize it with drag and drop interface.

You can also get a high-level view of your book using the corkboard and outliner modes, allowing you to view book chapters, sections, or individual scenes as index cards. Project targets let you create word count goals and then track your progress daily. Its composition mode can help you stay focused by removing all the clutter.

Scrivener Deadline Week 3

Scrivener has formatting features for publishing (e.g. on Amazon or Barnes & Noble), as well as basic features for distraction-free writing, and has templates for novels, nonfiction books, screenplays, and more.

You can read our  full Scrivener review here .

To be fair, Scrivener also has its weaknesses. Formatting is more complicated than it needs to be and collaborating isn't easy, meaning it loses its effectiveness as soon as you bring on an editor (we recommend Google Docs for collaborating).

You can sync with your iPhone/iPad, but only through Dropbox, making it not as easy as it should be. It also has something of a learning curve, especially for its advanced features. But it more than makes up for that by being so helpful in the early stages of the writing process. Again, here are the pros and cons for Scrivener.

Pros of Scrivener:

  • Easily manage a large book writing project (or screenplay) in the binder view
  • Get a high-level view of your book's structure using corkboard and outliner views
  • Manage your writing productivity with project targets and deadlines
  • iPhone and iPad app

Cons of Scrivener: 

  • Formatting can be overly complicated
  • Learning curve
  • ​Syncing with Dropbox isn't always easy
  • No Android app

We believe in Scrivener so much, we published a book about how creative writers can write more faster using it. It’s called  Scrivener Superpowers .  If you’re using Scrivener or want a tutorial to save yourself time as you learn how to use it for your creative writing, you can  get Scrivener Superpowers here . You can also learn more about how to use the software with one of these resources:

  • Scrivener Superpowers  by M.G. Herron
  • 3 Reasons I Love Scrivener
  • Microsoft Word vs. Scrivener

Cost: $59.99 for Windows, Mac

Scrivener  is the premier book writing app made by writers  for  writers. It's powerful set of tools allow you to write, organize, edit, and publish books.

  • Easily manage writing projects
  • Made by writers for writers
  • Corkboard and outliner views
  • Project targets and deadlines
  • iPhone and iPad app
  • Complicated formatting
  • Steep learning curve
  • ​Syncing isn't always easy

Scrivener

2. Dabble (Word Processor)

Similar to Scrivener, Dabble is a word processor that gives you the power to organize and rearrange scenes and chapters using drag and drop, manage your word count goals to keep to a deadline, and plot like a pro. (Screenshots seen here are in the optional dark mode.)

Dabble Review: Best book writing software

Dabble has a plot grid that allows you to easily see a macro view of your story. You can rearrange as needed, find plot holes easily, and make notes on each plot point as detailed as you like. 

Dabble Review: Best book writing software

Collaboration is easy. You simply add a co-author and they will be sent an invitation. They must also have a subscription or they will only be able to read the document. 

You can insert images in any scene or note, or add title images to chapters or full page images within or between chapters. You can even set cover art for the manuscript. 

Focus mode in Dabble is automatic. Simply start typing and everything else fades away. No need to worry about saving every few minutes either.

Dabble is cloud-based and automatically saves as you go. You can access your manuscripts everywhere: in your browser, on your phone, or in the desktop app. As you're writing, you can make notes and comments.

Don’t want to type? You can dictate. And when you’re done writing, there’s a Read to Me feature that reads your manuscript to you!

Cost : Subscription plans range from $10/month to $20/month; Lifetime access cost is $499; 14-day free trial 

Dabble is a word processor designed specifically for books. It gives you the power to organize and rearrange scenes and chapters using drag and drop, manage your word count goals to keep to a deadline, and plot like a pro. 

  • Easy Learning Curve
  • Streamlined collaboration
  • Cloud-based syncing
  • Built-in Dictation
  • Easy Exporting
  • Word count targets and deadlines
  • Plotting tool
  • Subscription service
  • Lifetime access cost is high
  • Only simple formatting options

Dabble

3. Google Docs (Word Processing)

While Scrivener and Dabble are a great book  writing  software, once you get to editing and getting feedback, it begins to fall short. That's why Google Docs has become my go-to piece of book writing software for collaborating with editors, beta readers, and other writers.

It's free, easy to use, and requires no backups since everything is in the cloud.

Best of all are its collaboration abilities, which allow you to invite your editor to the document and then watch as they make changes, which are tracked in suggestion mode, and leave comments on your story (see screenshot below).

Google Sheets Editing: Best Book Writing Software

I also like the outline feature in the left sidebar. You can display it by clicking View > Show Outline. Then format the chapters and main sections of your manuscript as headings to make them appear in the document. You can then easily visualize and even click through your book to navigate it. This feature isn't as useful as Scrivener and Dabble's binder, but it makes navigating your book much easier.

While not the best for brainstorming, writing, or organizing your book, Google Docs, the free word processor available in Google Drive, is the single best word processor for collaborating with co-writers, beta readers, or editors.

  • Real-time collaboration with editors, beta readers, or other writers
  • Suggestion mode
  • Outline View
  • Few large-document organization features
  • No productivity features
  • Usually requires an internet connection

Google Docs

4. Google Sheets OR Microsoft Excel (Spreadsheet)

If you’d told me when I was first trying to become a writer that one of my most-used tools in my book writing software toolkit would be a spreadsheet, I would have told you I didn't major in English to have to use a spreadsheet.

But now, as I'm finishing my fifteenth book, I realize that I use spreadsheets almost daily. Spreadsheets allow you to get a sense of the elements of your book at a glance, and when you're working on a 300-page document, distilling it down to useable information becomes very necessary.

You might use spreadsheets for:

  • Character tracking
  • Breakdown of scenes
  • A Foolscap/Beat sheet

Google Sheets is perfect for this because it's free and you can quickly share your documents with your writing partners, editors, or beta readers to get feedback.

Microsoft Excel is another great option, but Excel lacks the real-time editing with other users and is overall lacking in the collaboration functions. Still, if you already have Excel, it's a great way to quickly get started plotting your book or managing your project.

Google Sheets

  • Real-time Collaboration : Work with editors, beta readers, or co-authors in real-time.
  • Speed : It's fast and responsive, which is useful for quickly developing an outline or managing a project.
  • Cost-effective : It's so cost-effective it's free!
  • Handling External Spreadsheets : Managing spreadsheets from other sources like Excel can be annoying.
  • Internet Dependency : Although there's an offline mode, the overall experience is better with an internet connection.

Microsoft Excel

  • Familiar : If you already own or have used Microsoft Office, it should be familiar to you.
  • Advanced Feature : Excel is slightly more powerful than Google Sheets (although for most writing related tasks, you will likely not need advanced features).
  • Offline Access : Unlike Google Sheets, Excel doesn't require an internet connection, which is handy for working on-the-go.
  • Cost : Unlike Google Sheets which is free, Excel comes with a cost as part of the Microsoft 365 Office Suite.
  • Collaboration : Although Excel has collaborative features, they're more streamlined in Google Sheets.

5. Vellum (Book Formatting/Word Processing)

If you want to turn your book into an eBook, it's not that hard. Scrivener, Word, Pages, they all can format eBooks and print books. But that doesn't mean they'll look good. In fact, it takes a lot of skill and effort to format a printed book that looks good on any of those word processors.

That's why I love Vellum so much.

Vellum makes beautiful books.

Vellum: Top Book Writing Software

Vellum picks up where Scrivener, Word, and Pages leave off, giving you a tool to make great looking eBooks and print books, usually in under an hour. The most important part of this is the previewer (see the image below), which lets you see how each formatting change or book edit you make will appear on Kindle, Fire, iPhone, Nook, and other eReaders.

Vellum Previewer: Best Book Writing Software

It also has stripped-down, option-based formatting, which is perfect for designing both eBooks and print books. I really love this writing app!

Vellum is a book formatting tool to quickly and easily create beautiful eBooks and print books, often within an hour. It features a book previewer which allows you to see how your book will look on various eReaders and in print, and offers a simplified, option-based formatting to format beautiful books faster.

  • Ease of Use: Easy to navigate and use, even for inexperienced writers.
  • Quick Formatting: The simplified, option-based formatting lets you create books in as little as an hour.
  • High-Quality Aesthetics: Delivers visually beautiful books.
  • Book Previewer Tool: View how your book will appear on various eReaders as you work.
  • Platform Limitation: Restricted to Mac users.
  • Style Restrictions: Limited design and styling options can be a drawback for some.
  • Cost: Higher price point compared to some other formatting software.

Vellum

6. ProWritingAid (Grammar/Spell Check)

Can a grammar checker replace an editor?

Definitely not. But if you ask Alice Sudlow, our in-house editor, she'll tell you, “If you don’t have access to an editor (or if you do, but you don’t want to hire them to edit your emails or Facebook posts), software that performs grammar checks like  ProWritingAid  is an accessible, affordable alternative.”

If you struggle with grammar mistakes, sentence structure, spelling, or even writing style, ProWritingAid can help. It goes far beyond your built-in spellcheck. You should still learn grammar skills, but ProWritingAid can help you start to see the patterns and grow as a writer.

There's a free version that's very good. It can even be installed into your browser or Word processor, so you can check your grammar wherever you write.

The paid version, just $96 a year with our discount link (33 percent less than Grammarly ‘s price), gives you additional support on sentence structure, style, and vocabulary. Learn more about how writers can get the most out of ProWritingAid here .

ProWritingAid

  • Grammar and Style Correction: Gives "as-you-type" grammar corrections as well as comprehensive style analysis to help you write clearer, more engaging prose.
  • Writing Insights: You can learn a lot about your writing style with their detailed reports on readability, sentence structure, and more.
  • Integration: You can integrate it with nearly any other writing tool or word processor..
  • Subscription Cost: While more affordable than other options, there is a subscription cost for for full access.
  • Overwhelming Feedback: Not all the feedback is useful, and without knowledge of the book writing process, you may get distracted by the amount of feedback.
  • Internet Requirement: You must have an internet connection for most types of feedback.

Grammarly

  • Easy to Use: User-friendly design (slightly more easy to use than ProWritingAid in my opinion).
  • Spell-Check and Grammar Check: Detailed spelling and grammar check functionality.
  • Goal-Setting Feature: It can help you tailor suggestions based on writing goals.
  • Broad Integration: Works with many platforms (the Google Docs integration isn't very good though).
  • Cost: While the free plan is robust, the premium plan is more expensive compared to ProWritingAid.
  • Google Docs Integration: Lacks a fully functional integration.
  • Big Picture Feedback: Does not provide as much overarching edits and style-based feedback as ProWritingAid.

7. Publisher Rocket (Book Marketing App)

How do you know if your book will sell? Wouldn't it be nice to know if there is a market for your book  before  you start writing? How do you find the most readers on Amazon for your published book? For all of these questions, Publisher Rocket has an answer.

Read our  full Publisher Rocket review here .

writing programs like word

Publisher Rocket a book marketing research tool that helps you understand what readers actually want  and  how to connect with them with your books. Here are some things you can discover in Publisher Rocket:

  • What phrases Amazon buyers are actually searching for.
  • The psychology of how readers choose to buy books.
  • How much money readers are spending on certain niches and topics.
  • How much money specific books are making per month (for example, books that might be competing with yours).

I've personally used Publisher Rocket to take mid-list books to #1 bestseller status on Amazon. It's an amazing tool, perfect for anyone working on a book.

We also like KD Spy, another Amazon research tool (check out our review here ). You can compare and contrast the two tools below:

Publisher Rocket

  • Target Popular Keywords: Helps writers find specific phrases readers are using on Amazon to discover books.
  • Market Understanding: Offers a clear view of what books are competing with yours (and how many sales they make, historically).
  • Category Identification: Find the most relevant Amazon categories for your book.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility: Works on both PCs and Macs.
  • Learning Curve: May require some time and education to fully utilize all features.
  • Cost: One-time purchase required.
  • Amazon-Centric: Tailored for Amazon, may not be as effective for other platforms.

KDSpy

  • Amazon Category Research : Analyze Amazon book categories to understand competition and profitability.
  • Keyword Tools : Provides niche and seed keywords to help in market understanding.
  • Competition Snapshot : Ability to get an overview of your competitors.
  • Traffic Light System : Visual cues to understand keyword difficulty and category competitiveness.
  • Limited Keyword Data : Doesn't provide Amazon search numbers.
  • Browser Extension : Limited to browser usage, not a standalone software.
  • Basic Keyword Tools: Keyword functionalities are quite basic compared to Publisher Rocket.
  • Dependent on Amazon : Insights are tailored for Amazon, may not apply to other platforms.

8. Atticus (Book Formatting/Word Processing)

Once you've  written  your book, how do you turn it into something people can actually  read ? If you're self-publishing, you need a tool like Atticus.

Atticus is a book formatting and word processing tool that allows you to take your manuscript and quickly and easily format it for publishing, including print and eBook formats.

But Atticus is more that just a formatter. It's an all-in-one solution for writers, giving you the organization features of Scrivener, the cloud collaboration features of Google Docs,  and  the book formatting abilities of Vellum. Yes, that's just as cool as it sounds!

Atticus Home Screen

It also works on all platforms, whether you're working on Windows, Mac, Chromebook, or even Linux. While I still love and use Vellum (see below), the benefit of Atticus is that it works for everyone, not just Mac users. Learn more about Atticus in my full review.

  • All-in-One Solution : Combines writing and formatting capabilities seamlessly.
  • Multi-Platform Availability : Available on PC, Mac, Linux, and Chromebook.
  • Cost-Effective : Priced lower than some competitors like Vellum while offering similar capabilities

Cons: 

  • Learning Curve : While intuitive, mastering advanced features may require some time.
  • New Software : Being relatively new, it might have fewer features compared to established software, with some desired features planned for future updates.
  • Crude Formatting : Out of the box formatting options aren't as refined as Vellum and will require more tweaking.

Atticus is a complete book writing and formatting tool that merges the capabilities of an online word processor with plug-and-play book formatting features. It can function as a one-stop solution for authors, with collaboration tools between authors, editors, and book designers, to take your book from idea to finished, publishable product.

Atticus

9. Freedom (Productivity App)

One question writers always ask me is, “How can I stay focused enough to finish what I write?” I have too many thoughts on that for this article, but as far as using writing software to encourage focus goes, I recommend Freedom. It's my favorite writing tool for a distraction-free writing experience.

Freedom allows you to enter focus mode, blocking your biggest distractions, including both websites and mobile apps, for a set period of time. So when you mindlessly escape your book to scroll through Facebook, you'll find the site won't load.

You can also schedule recurring sessions, so that at a scheduled time (e.g. Mondays from 6 am to 10 am), you won’t be able to access the sites on your blocklist, even if you try.

There are other apps like this that we've written about before, notably Self-Control for Mac and StayFocused for Windows. But Freedom goes further, allowing you to block sites on both your computer  and  your phone, and enabling recurring sessions.

You can learn more about  how writers can get the most out of Freedom on our review here .

Freedom is a productivity app that can help writers in stay focused by blocking distracting websites and mobile apps for a designated period or during specific schedules, like during your morning writing time.

  • Distraction Blocking : Helps you concentrate on writing by blocking distractions.
  • Scheduled Focus Sessions : Schedule your focus mode in advance for recurring undistracted writing sessions.
  • Mobile Device Syncing : Getting it working with mobile devices can be a bit challenging.
  • Bypass Possibility : It's possible to find ways around its blockers if one tries hard enough.

Freedom

Cost: $29 / year for Pro version, which I use and recommend (there's also a free trial available)

10. Microsoft Word (Word Processor)

Again: no piece of book writing software is going to write your book for you. If you're looking for the next “shiny new toy” to help you write your book, it might be an excuse to avoid doing the hard work of writing.

Most of us learned how to use computers by using Microsoft Word, or a program like it. Word gets the job done. Sure, Scrivener is a little better for books, but I wrote my first book on Word and it's fine.

I wrote a long review of  the pros and cons of using Word to write books —the main problem is that as your document grows, it becomes more and more difficult to work with, whereas with Scrivener, it becomes easier—but the point is, if Word is what you have, don't let that stop you from finishing your book.

You don't need a fancy tool to plan a book in the early stages, like if you draft a character description for your protagonist, or in the editing stages, like if you want to make comments on scene details.

As Jeff Elkins said in  his review of Word , “If you aren’t already putting in the hard work to be the kind of writer you want to be, it doesn’t matter what new writing software you invest in. It is not going to help.”

Microsoft Word is the industry standard word processing software. While limited in its features for writing books, it provides a familiar platform for writers to create, share, and review their work.

  • Familiar Interface : Known and used by many, making collaboration easier.
  • Extensive Features : Provides a wide range of writing and formatting tools.
  • Cost : Requires a subscription to Microsoft 365.
  • Lack of Book Writing Features : Despite its extensive feature set, it lacks specialized tools for book writing included with applications like Scrivener or Dabble.
  • Lack of Real-Time Collaboration : While it offers some collaboration features, it falls short in real-time collaborative editing compared to some cloud-native applications like Google Docs.

Cost: $69 / year with Microsoft 365 (includes Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, and other Microsoft software)

Note:  Another word processor we can't recommend is yWriter, which while it has a cult following and was designed by a fellow novelist, seems to be out of development and has no support for Mac/OSX.

BONUS #1: Google Drive OR Dropbox (Cloud Backup)

There's nothing worse that finishing a great writing session and going to save your work, then your computer crashes and you discover you've lost your best writing. It's enough to send any writer into the throes of grief and depression. There's a simple solution, though: save a copy of ALL your writing to the cloud using Google Drive, Dropbox, or BOTH.

Here's my process:  I have all my Scrivener book files saved on a folder on Google Drive on my computer. Then, Scrivener automatically backs up every few minutes to a Dropbox folder. That way, I know I will always have the document I need, no matter what happens. Best of all, both of these apps have free plans, making it extremely foolish NOT to use them.

Pros of Drive:

  • Universal cloud backup
  • Automatically syncs
  • Free or inexpensive

Cons of Drive:

  • Setup is a bit tricky the first time
  • Maybe you WANT to lose your writing when your computer crashes

Cost: Free with Paid options

Sign up for Google Drive here »

Sign up for Dropbox here »

BONUS #2: iOS Notes OR Evernote OR Ulysses OR Bear (Note Taking)

When I'm writing for a long time, I like to get up and go for a walk. Sometimes, I wish I could continue writing while I walk. Other times, I find myself brainstorming ideas while I'm not at my computer, typing it up on my phone, and then wanting to easily move what I wrote to my laptop without having to go through the hassle of emailing it back and forth to myself.

That's where note taking apps like Ulysses and Evernote come in.

Ulysses Book Writing Software

iOS Notes, Ulysses ,  Evernote , and  Bear  are note taking apps that allow you to sync between all your devices, so you have what you need wherever you are, ideal for jotting down ideas or thinking through your book while you're out and about.

While Scrivener recently released an iOS app which allows you to sync between devices, their process is clunky and requires you to purchase both the mobile and desktop apps. These note taking apps make the process much more seamless.

Like Scrivener, they all have a binder-like sidebar that allows you to move documents around. None of them are designed specifically for books, so they may take a little configuring to make it work for you, but once you have one set up the way you want, it's very intuitive.

And while I hate Markdown, a markup language that allows you to format your text, I actually like the paired-down formatting options Ulysses and Bear give, especially for brainstorming. Overall, I wouldn't convert from Scrivener to any of these apps, but as supplements, they work great.

Pros of Evernote:

  • Sync notes between devices
  • Write as you go
  • Capture ideas

Cons of Evernote:

  • Free plan is limited
  • Becomes clunky as you get more notes
  • Better for note taking than managing a large writing project

iOS Notes  Cost: Free with any iOS device

Get the app here »

Evernote  Cost: Free with Paid options

Ulysses Cost: $45 Note: Ulysses is only available for Mac, either in the App Store or from their website.

Bear Cost: $1.49 monthly / $14.99 yearly Note:  Bear is also only available for Mac, either in the App Store or from their website.

Bonus #3: Hemingway App (Style Checker)

Most writers think their sentences are easier to read than they are. You think you're coming across clearly, that your writing makes sense, but then someone reads it and comes away with something totally different. Hemingway App (sometimes called Hemingway Editor) helps with that.

Hemingway App Purple Prose

Hemingway App is a free website that checks readability. You can copy and paste your writing into the website's input box. Then it will grade your writing based on your used of   adverbs , passive voice , and sentences as units . Hemingway App is useful, but even the best book writing software can’t replace a good editor.

Pros of Hemingway:

  • Fast, easy style advice

Cons of Hemingway:

  • Somewhat arbitrary advice
  • Hemingway himself would fail

Cost: Free!

Try out Hemingway App here »

The 30+ Tools Every Writer Needs

30 Tools to Write, Publish, and Market Your Book

Writing is no different, and while the right software is important, it's just one of the many tools you need as a writer.

That's why we published a list of all of our favorite tools for everything related to being a writer.

You can  download our tools for writers guide for free here .

The Most Essential Book Writing Software

Imagine it's three thousand years ago.

You're sitting around a campfire with some of your family and friends, tired from the day's work. You begin to tell a story. It's one you've told before, told a hundred times. You can see faces around the fire, the children with their eyes wide, the men and women who have heard the story before but still enjoy it because it brings meaning to their lives.

Storytellers—writers—have existed since the beginning of humanity. They didn’t always have book writing software. They didn't have the printing press or the internet. They didn't always even have the alphabet to write their stories down. Instead, storytellers had their imaginations, their voices, and a rapt audience. Y

ou don’t need book writing software to write a great story. Book writing software can make the process a little faster or easier, but the truth is great stories will always exist, no matter what kind of software we have.

The only three things essential to writing a great book:

  • Your imagination
  • A desire to tell your story

That’s all you need. Do you want to write your book? If you do, then do it. Write it. Nothing is stopping you except you.  So go get writing.

What pieces of book writing software do you use?  Let us know in the comments .

The world is full of powerful software to help you write your book. In the end, though, all these tools are just that—tools. The stories you imagine and your discipline to put the words on the page are far more important.

So for this practice, set aside all the fancy software. Eliminate all the bells and whistles and open up your computer's native text editor (TextEdit for Mac or Notepad for Windows).

Take fifteen minutes to write without any distractions.

Continue your work in progress, or start a new story based on this prompt: A student discovers one of their teachers is not what they appear to be.

When you're done, share your writing practice in the Pro Practice Workshop . And if you share, be sure to leave feedback for your fellow writers!

' src=

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

How to Write a Memoir: How to Start (and Actually Finish) Your First Draft

Join over 450,000 readers who are saying YES to practice. You’ll also get a free copy of our eBook 14 Prompts :

Popular Resources

Book Writing Tips & Guides Creativity & Inspiration Tips Writing Prompts Grammar & Vocab Resources Best Book Writing Software ProWritingAid Review Writing Teacher Resources Publisher Rocket Review Scrivener Review Gifts for Writers

Books By Our Writers

HIDDEN: Bodies, Loot, Caves, & Self-Respect

You've got it! Just us where to send your guide.

Enter your email to get our free 10-step guide to becoming a writer.

You've got it! Just us where to send your book.

Enter your first name and email to get our free book, 14 Prompts.

Want to Get Published?

Enter your email to get our free interactive checklist to writing and publishing a book.

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?

ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.

When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

How to use Copilot Pro to write, edit, and analyze your Word documents

lance-31.png

Microsoft's Copilot Pro AI offers a few benefits for $20 per month. But the most helpful one is the AI-powered integration with the different Microsoft 365 apps. For those of you who use Microsoft Word, for instance, Copilot Pro can help you write and revise your text, provide summaries of your documents, and answer questions about any document.

First, you'll need a subscription to either Microsoft 365 Personal or Family . Priced at $70 per year, the Personal edition is geared for one individual signed into as many as five devices. At $100 per year, the Family edition is aimed at up to six people on as many as five devices. The core apps in the suite include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote.

Also: Microsoft Copilot vs. Copilot Pro: Is the subscription fee worth it?

Second, you'll need the subscription to Copilot Pro if you don't already have one. To sign up, head to the Copilot Pro website . Click the Get Copilot Pro button. Confirm the subscription and the payment. The next time you use Copilot on the website, in Windows, or with the mobile apps, the Pro version will be in effect.

How to use Copilot Pro in Word

1. open word.

Launch Microsoft Word and open a blank document. Let's say you need help writing a particular type of document and want Copilot to create a draft. 

Also: Microsoft Copilot Pro vs. OpenAI's ChatGPT Plus: Which is worth your $20 a month?

A small "Draft with Copilot" window appears on the screen. If you don't see it, click the tiny "Draft with Copilot icon in the left margin."

 width=

2. Submit your request

At the text field in the window, type a description of the text you need and click the "Generate" button.

 width=

Submit your request.

3. Review the response and your options

Copilot generates and displays its response. After reading the response, you're presented with a few different options.

 width=

Review the response and your options.

4. Keep, regenerate, or remove the draft

If you like the draft, click "Keep it." The draft is then inserted into your document where you can work with it. If you don't like the draft, click the "Regenerate" button, and a new draft is created. 

Also: What is Copilot (formerly Bing Chat)? Here's everything you need to know

If you'd prefer to throw out the entire draft and start from scratch, click the trash can icon.

 width=

Keep, regenerate, or remove the draft.

5. Alter the draft

Alternatively, you can try to modify the draft by typing a specific request in the text field, such as "Make it more formal," "Make it shorter," or "Make it more casual."

 width=

Alter the draft.

6. Review the different versions

If you opt to regenerate the draft, you can switch between the different versions by clicking the left or right arrow next to the number. You can then choose to keep the draft you prefer.

 width=

7. Revise existing text

Copilot will also help you fine-tune existing text. Select the text you want to revise. Click the Copilot icon in the left margin and select "Rewrite with Copilot."

 width=

Revise existing text.

8. Review the different versions

Copilot creates a few different versions of the text. Click the arrow keys to view each version.

 width=

Review the different versions.

9. Replace or Insert

If you find one you like, click "Replace" to replace the text you selected. 

Also: ChatGPT vs. Microsoft Copilot vs. Gemini: Which is the best AI chatbot?

Click "Insert below" to insert the new draft below the existing words so you can compare the two.

 width=

Replace or Insert.

10. Adjust the tone

Click "Regenerate" to ask Copilot to try again. Click the "Adjust Tone" button and select a different tone to generate another draft.

 width=

Adjust the tone.

11. Turn text into a table

Sometimes you have text that would look and work better as a table. Copilot can help. Select the text you wish to turn into a table. Click the Copilot icon and select "Visualize as a Table."

 width=

Turn text into a table.

12. Respond to the table

In response, click "Keep it" to retain the table. Click "Regenerate" to try again. Click the trash can icon to delete it. Otherwise, type a request in the text field, such as "remove the second row" or "make the last column wider."

 width=

Respond to the table.

13. Summarize a document

Copilot Pro can provide a summary of a document with its key points. To try this, open the document you want to summarize and then click the Copilot icon on the Ribbon. 

Also: The best AI chatbots

The right sidebar displays several prompts you can use to start your question. Click the one for "Summarize this doc."

 width=

Summarize a document.

14. Review the summary

View the generated summary in the sidebar. If you like it as is, click the "Copy" button to copy the summary and paste it elsewhere.

 width=

Review the summary.

15. Revise the summary

Otherwise, choose one of the suggested questions or ask your own question to revise the summary. For example, you could tell Copilot to make the summary longer, shorter, more formal, or less formal. 

Also: The best AI image generators

You could also ask it to expand on one of the points in the summary or provide more details on a certain point. A specific response is then generated based on your request.

 width=

Revise the summary.

16. Ask questions about a document

Next, you can ask specific questions about any of the content in a document. Again, click the Copilot icon to display the sidebar. In the prompt area, type and submit your question. Copilot displays the response in the sidebar. You can then ask follow-up questions as needed.

 width=

Ask questions about a document.

More how-tos

 width=

I've tried Vision Pro and other top XR headsets and here's the one most people should buy

 width=

The best AI image generators to try right now

 width=

The best TVs of 2024: Expert tested

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories .

  • Backchannel
  • Wired World
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Newsletters
  • Wired Insider

David Nield

17 Tips to Take Your ChatGPT Prompts to the Next Level

5 blue balls riding on 5 randomly arranged curved black tubes against a bright green backdrop

ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and other tools like them are making artificial intelligence available to the masses. We can now get all sorts of responses back on almost any topic imaginable. These chatbots can compose sonnets, write code, get philosophical, and automate tasks.

However, while you can just type anything you like into ChatGPT and get it to understand you. There are ways of getting more interesting and useful results out of the bot. This "prompt engineering" is becoming a specialized skill of its own.

Sometimes all it takes is the addition of a few more words or an extra line of instruction and you can get ChatGPT responses that are a level above what everyone else is seeing—and we've included several examples below.

While there's lots you can do with the free version of ChatGPT, a few of these prompts require a paid ChatGPT Plus subscription —where that's the case, we've noted it in the tip.

ChatGPT can give you responses in the form of a table if you ask. This is particularly helpful for getting information or creative ideas. For example, you could tabulate meal ideas and ingredients, or game ideas and equipment, or the days of the week and how they're said in a few different languages.

Using follow-up prompts and natural language, you can have ChatGPT make changes to the tables it has drawn and even produce the tables in a standard format that can be understood by another program (such as Microsoft Excel).

If you provide ChatGPT with a typed list of information, it can respond in a variety of ways. Maybe you want it to create anagrams from a list of names, or sort a list of products into alphabetical order, or turn all the items in a list into upper case. If needed, you can then click the copy icon (the small clipboard) at the end of an answer to have the processed text sent to the system clipboard.

Screenshot of ChatGPT

Get ChatGPT to respond as your favorite author.

With some careful prompting, you can get ChatGPT out of its rather dull, matter-of-fact, default tone and into something much more interesting—such as the style of your favorite author, perhaps.

You could go for the searing simplicity of an Ernest Hemingway or Raymond Carver story, the lyrical rhythm of a Shakespearean play, or the density of a Dickens novel. The resulting prose won't come close to the genius of the actual authors themselves, but it's another way of getting more creative with the output you generate.

ChatGPT can really impress when it's given restrictions to work within, so don't be shy when it comes to telling the bot to limit its responses to a certain number of words or a certain number of paragraphs.

It could be everything from condensing the information in four paragraphs down into one, or even asking for answers with words of seven characters or fewer (just to keep it simple). If ChatGPT doesn't follow your responses properly, you can correct it, and it'll try again.

Another way of tweaking the way ChatGPT responds is to tell it who the intended audience is for its output. You might have seen WIRED's videos in which complex subjects are explained to people with different levels of understanding. This works in a similar way.

For example, you can tell ChatGPT that you are speaking to a bunch of 10-year-olds or to an audience of business entrepreneurs and it will respond accordingly. It works well for generating multiple outputs along the same theme.

There’s a New Theory About Where Dark Matter Is Hiding

Steve Nadis

Nvidia Hardware Is Eating the World

Lauren Goode

Tech Job Interviews Are Out of Control

Angela Watercutter

Screenshot of ChatGPT

Tell ChatGPT the audience it's writing for.

ChatGPT is a very capable prompt engineer itself. If you ask it to come up with creative and effective inputs for artificial intelligence engines such as Dall-E and Midjourney , you'll get text you can then input into other AI tools you're playing around with. You're even able to ask for tips with prompts for ChatGPT itself.

When it comes to generating prompts, the more detailed and specific you are about what you're looking for the better: You can get the chatbot to extend and add more detail to your sentences, you can get it to role-play as a prompt generator for a specific AI tool, and you can tell it to refine its answers as you add more and more information.

While ChatGPT is based around text, you can get it to produce pictures of a sort by asking for ASCII art. That's the art made up of characters and symbols rather than colors. The results won't win you any prizes, but it's pretty fun to play around with.

The usual ChatGPT rules apply, in that the more specific you are in your prompt the better, and you can get the bot to add new elements and take elements away as you go. Remember the limitations of the ASCII art format though—this isn't a full-blown image editor.

Screenshot of ChatGPT

A ChatGPT Plus subscription comes with image generation.

If you use ChatGPT Plus , it's got the DALL-E image generator right inside it, so you can ask for any kind of photo, drawing, or illustration you like. As with text, try to be as explicit as possible about what it is you want to see, and how it's shown; do you want something that looks like a watercolor painting, or like it was taken by a DSLR camera? You can have some real fun with this: Put Columbo in a cyberpunk setting, or see how Jurassic Park would look in the Victorian era. The possibilities are almost endless.

You don't have to do all the typing yourself when it comes to ChatGPT. Copy and paste is your friend, and there's no problem with pasting in text from other sources. While the input limit tops out at around 4,000 words, you can easily split the text you're sending the bot into several sections and get it to remember what you've previously sent.

Perhaps one of the best ways of using this approach is to get ChatGPT to simplify text that you don't understand—the explanation of a difficult scientific concept, for instance. You can also get it to translate text into different languages, write it in a more engaging or fluid style, and so on.

If you want to go exploring, ask ChatGPT to create a text-based choose-your-own adventure game. You can specify the theme and the setting of the adventure, as well as any other ground rules to put in place. When we tried this out, we found ourselves wandering through a spooky castle, with something sinister apparently hiding in the shadows.

Screenshot of ChatGPT

ChatGPT is able to create text-based games for you to play.

Another way to improve the responses you get from ChatGPT is to give it some data to work with before you ask your question. For instance, you could give it a list of book summaries together with their genre, then ask it to apply the correct genre label to a new summary. Another option would be to tell ChatGPT about activities you enjoy and then get a new suggestion.

There's no magic combination of words you have to use here. Just use natural language as always, and ChatGPT will understand what you're getting at. Specify that you're providing examples at the start of your prompt, then tell the bot that you want a response with those examples in mind.

You can ask ChatGPT for feedback on any of your own writing, from the emails you're sending to friends, to the short story you're submitting to a competition, to the prompts you're typing into the AI bot. Ask for pointers on spelling, grammar, tone, readability, or anything else you want to scrutinize.

ChatGPT cleared the above paragraph as being clear and effective, but said it could use a call to action at the end. Try this prompt today!

Screenshot of ChatGPT

Get ChatGPT to give you feedback on your own writing.

In the same way that ChatGPT can mimic the style of certain authors that it knows about, it can also play a role: a frustrated salesman, an excitable teenager (you'll most likely get a lot of emoji and abbreviations back), or the iconic western film star John Wayne.

There are countless roles you can play around with. These prompts might not score highly in terms of practical applications, but they're definitely a useful insight into the potential of these AI chatbots.

You can type queries into ChatGPT that you might otherwise type into Google, looking for answers: Think "how much should I budget for a day of sightseeing in London?" or "what are the best ways to prepare for a job interview?" for example. Almost anything will get a response of some sort—though as always, don't take AI responses as being 100 percent accurate 100 percent of the time.

If you're using the paid ChatGPT Plus tool, it will actually search the web (with Bing) and provide link references for the answers it gives. If you're using the free version of ChatGPT, it'll mine the data its been trained on for answers, so they might be a little out of date or less reliable.

Your answers can be seriously improved if you give ChatGPT some ingredients to work with before asking for a response. They could be literal ingredients—suggest a dish from what's left in the fridge—or they could be anything else.

So don't just ask for a murder mystery scenario. Also list out the characters who are going to appear. Don't just ask for ideas of where to go in a city; specify the city you're going to, the types of places you want to see, and the people you'll have with you.

Your prompts don't always have to get ChatGPT to generate something from scratch: You can start it off with something, and then let the AI finish it off. The model will take clues from what you've already written and build on it.

This can come in handy for everything from coding a website to composing a poem—and you can then get ChatGPT to go back and refine its answer as well.

You've no doubt noticed how online arguments have tended toward the binary in recent years, so get ChatGPT to help add some gray between the black and the white. It's able to argue both sides of an argument if you ask it to, including both pros and cons.

From politics and philosophy to sports and the arts, ChatGPT is able to sit on the fence quite impressively—not in a vague way, but in a way that can help you understand tricky issues from multiple perspectives.

You Might Also Like …

📩 Get the long view on tech with Steven Levy’s Plaintext newsletter

“Over time the trust will come”: an exclusive interview with TikTok’s CEO

I stopped using passwords . It’s great—and a total mess

Inside the beef industry’s campaign to influence kids

Meet the pranksters behind Goody-2 , the world’s “most responsible” AI chatbot

Is there lead in your reusable water bottle ?

🌲 Our Gear team has branched out with a new guide to the best sleeping pads and fresh picks for the best coolers and binoculars

OpenAI Gives ChatGPT a Memory

Steven Levy

The Skilled Workers Training AI to Take Their Jobs

Morgan Meaker

OpenAI’s Sora Turns AI Prompts Into Photorealistic Videos

Reece Rogers

Meta Will Crack Down on AI-Generated Fakes&-but Leave Plenty Undetected

Vittoria Elliott

100 Million People Pay Google for Extra Storage. Can It Get Them to Pay More for Smarter AI?

Paresh Dave

IMAGES

  1. Best Free Writing Apps: Top 11 Software Writers Need

    writing programs like word

  2. How to Start Writing with Microsoft Word

    writing programs like word

  3. Best Writing Software for Novelists and Writers

    writing programs like word

  4. The Best Microsoft Word Alternatives for Writers

    writing programs like word

  5. Best Book Writing Software: Top 15 Programs for Writers

    writing programs like word

  6. 6 best academic writing software

    writing programs like word

VIDEO

  1. MICROSOFT WORD PART 1

  2. Microsoft Word Tutorial for Beginners

  3. Ms word list of Commands and Keyboard Setting

  4. 03 Intro to Word

  5. Reading Sentences No.4 (Like -word) #reading #learnenglish #sentences #grammar #basicenglish #short

  6. word perfect tutorial |Microsoft Word Tutorial Complete MS-Word Tutorial for Beginners tips & tricks

COMMENTS

  1. 12 Best Free Alternatives to MS Word

    Best alternative word processor programs to MS Word By Stacy Fisher Updated on February 2, 2023 Reviewed by Jerrick Leger These free word processors can be a great alternative to Microsoft Word. Many have very similar characteristics to Word and since they're free, you'll be saving hundreds of dollars by using one of them.

  2. 6 Best Free Alternatives to Microsoft Word

    Best for customization: LibreOffice Writer Best for advanced features: WPS Office Writer Best for users who prefer Microsoft Word's interface: Microsoft Office Word Online Microsoft Word has...

  3. What is LibreOffice?

    LibreOffice is Free and Open Source Software, available for everyone to use, share and modify, and produced by a worldwide community of hundreds of developers. Our software is tested and used daily by a large and devoted user community - we're open to new talent and new ideas, so get involved and influence its future. Built on a strong heritage

  4. The Best Free Microsoft Word Alternatives

    Most Full-Featured Word Alternative: LibreOffice Writer Best Cloud-Based Word Alternative: Google Docs Best for Apple Users: iWork Pages Most Similar to Microsoft Word: WPS Office Writer When you ask people what program they use to write a report or letter, odds are they'll say Microsoft Word.

  5. FreeOffice: The best free alternative to Microsoft Office

    FreeOffice is a complete Office suite with a word processor, a spreadsheet application and a presentation program - all seamlessly compatible with their counterparts in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint). What's the catch? There is none. Simply download it free of charge and use it for as long as you want.

  6. 10 Completely Free Microsoft Word Alternatives For Your Writing

    1. Google Docs 2. Apple Pages 3. Libre Office 4. WPS Office 5. Calmly Writer 6. Zoho Writer 7. Focus Writer 8. iA Writer 9. Softmaker Free Office 10. Scribus Summary You don't need to pay for a word processor Whichever option or version of Word you choose, you pay.

  7. Writer

    Discover / Writer Writer Edit all kinds of documents Writer has all the features you need from a modern, full-featured word processing and desktop publishing tool. It's simple enough for a quick memo, but powerful enough to create complete books with contents, diagrams, indexes, and more.

  8. 7 Best Microsoft Word Alternatives: Top Word Processors in 2024

    The best Microsoft Word alternative is LibreOffice - Writer, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Microsoft Word are Google Docs, Apache OpenOffice Writer, WPS Writer and ONLYOFFICE. Microsoft Word alternatives are mainly Word Processors but may also be Novel Authoring Tools or Note-taking Tools.

  9. The Best Free Microsoft Office Alternatives

    Google Drive: Web-Based Work Apps From Google. Google Drive is one of the most popular free alternatives to Microsoft Office because it comes from one of Microsoft's biggest competitors. Google offers completely free service and support for a wide range of applications that match those in Microsoft Office. Popular user-friendly apps like Google ...

  10. Best free writing app of 2024

    1. Best overall 2. Best for markup 3. Best Word alternative 4. Best word processor 5. Best for Mac 6. Best online 7. FAQs 8. How we test Like the best free word processors, writing apps...

  11. 10 Free Microsoft Word Alternatives in 2024

    1. ClickUp Docs Create unlimited docs, wikis, and knowledge bases in ClickUp If you're looking for a free but feature-rich MS Word alternative, the Docs feature in ClickUp is just what you need. The document editor helps you create eye-catching and functional documents, wikis, and more in one user-friendly platform.

  12. Best free office software of 2024

    4. LibreOffice. Everything you could want from an office suite, fully compatible with Microsoft formats and totally free to use - even commercially. LibreOffice is compatible with all Microsoft ...

  13. Home

    Do more - easier, quicker, smarter. LibreOffice is a free and powerful office suite, and a successor to OpenOffice.org (commonly known as OpenOffice). Its clean interface and feature-rich tools help you unleash your creativity and enhance your productivity.

  14. 10 Free Microsoft Word Alternatives Worth Trying

    3. WordGraph. SSuite Office provides a host of applications like word processors, spreadsheets, and editors. One of these products is called WordGraph; it's a terrific alternative to Microsoft Word. Just like in AbleWord, you have a standard menu at the top, action buttons, and a formatting toolbar.

  15. 10+ Free MS Word Alternatives You Can Use Today

    For Microsoft Word and Office aficionados, the best possible free online alternative for their document editing needs is definitely Word online, which comes as part of the Office Online suite.

  16. Best free word processor of 2024

    The best free word processor makes it simple and easy way to type up documents on your computer, without needing to pay for a software license. Best free word processor: quick menu (Image credit ...

  17. Apache OpenOffice

    Apache OpenOffice 4.1.8 released. 10 November 2020: The Apache OpenOffice project announces the official release of version 4.1.8 . In the Release Notes you can read about all new bugfixes, improvements and languages. Don't miss to download the new release and find out yourself.

  18. The best free alternatives to Mircosoft Word

    Apache OpenOffice Writer: similar to Word LibreOffice Writer: alternative to OpenOffice AbiWord: simple program with many functions WPS Office Writer: Alternative for frequent writers SoftMaker FreeOffice: Word processing from Germany WriteMonkey: writing without distraction Google Docs: online word processing Tip: Managing Office documents

  19. The Best Microsoft Word Alternatives That Are Totally Free

    1. LibreOffice (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux) If you're looking for a solid, dependable desktop tool in the mold of Word then LibreOffice is one of your best bets.

  20. Two alternatives to Microsoft Word that are free and customizable

    Computers normally come stocked with rudimentary word processing and text editing software, such as WordPad and Notepad on Windows. But once you're ready to go beyond the basics, you usually...

  21. Book Writing Software (2024): Top 10 for Writers

    Dabble Google Sheets OR Microsoft Excel Vellum ProWritingAid Publisher Rocket Atticus Freedom Microsoft Word Bonus: Note Taking Apps Bonus: Google Drive OR Dropbox Worst Pieces of Software for Writing a Book

  22. How to use Copilot Pro to write, edit, and analyze your Word ...

    If you like the draft, click "Keep it." The draft is then inserted into your document where you can work with it. If you don't like the draft, click the "Regenerate" button, and a new draft is ...

  23. 17 Tips to Take Your ChatGPT Prompts to the Next Level

    With some careful prompting, you can get ChatGPT out of its rather dull, matter-of-fact, default tone and into something much more interesting—such as the style of your favorite author, perhaps.