{"id":70218,"date":"2022-11-01T17:01:12","date_gmt":"2022-11-01T17:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cloudnewshub.com\/archives\/70218"},"modified":"2022-11-01T17:01:12","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T17:01:12","slug":"6-free-alternatives-to-microsoft-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cloudnewshub.com\/?p=70218","title":{"rendered":"6 free alternatives to Microsoft Word"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you’re tired of paying for Microsoft Office features you don’t use, here are free alternatives to Word you can download and start using today. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Image: anyaberkut, Getty Images\/iStockphoto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Microsoft Word has its devotees, but find one person who loves it, and you\u2019ll probably find several who don\u2019t. From redesigns that hide familiar menu items to overly complicated and often unused features, there\u2019s a lot to be desired in a simple word processor that Microsoft Word doesn\u2019t deliver due to its complex nature.<\/p>\n

Microsoft Word and the rest of Microsoft Office is expensive<\/a>\u2013for instance, Microsoft 365 Business Premium costs $22 a user per month. There are also some details about the pricing for the home edition of Microsoft Office<\/a>, including such information as the number of users and cloud storage.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t 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\u2019t pay for what you aren\u2019t going to use\u2013take a look at one of these six free Microsoft Word alternatives instead.<\/p>\n

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Google Docs<\/h2>\n
Image: Google<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Google Docs<\/a>, which is easily the most popular Microsoft Word alternative on this list, is free to everyone with a Google account.<\/p>\n

If you want the basic features of Microsoft Word, you don\u2019t need to look any further than Google Docs\u2013it does all your basic word processing needs, and it is tightly integrated with Google Drive and other products. Since everything is saved in Google\u2019s cloud, you don\u2019t need to worry about losing your work\u2013Docs autosaves 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\u2019s .doc and .docx formats, so you shouldn\u2019t have any problems importing and editing those.<\/p>\n

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 at the same time, see the other user\u2019s cursor position, watch what they\u2019re typing, and chat to each other as well. It\u2019s a great collaboration tool that stands out among word processors.<\/p>\n

Advanced users may find the features lacking\u2013it really is a bare-bones word processor.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Apache OpenOffice Writer<\/h2>\n
Image: Apache<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you hate Microsoft Word because of the invention of the ribbon, then Apache\u2019s OpenOffice Writer<\/a> 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. 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t be an issue.<\/p>\n

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 is possible to store files in a cloud drive and access them using OpenOffice, but you\u2019ll need to have the desktop client of Google Drive<\/a>, Microsoft OneDrive<\/a> or Apple iCloud<\/a> installed, so you can open your cloud storage like a local computer folder.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Zoho Writer<\/h2>\n
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Collaborator comments and suggestions in Zoho Writer. Image: Zoho<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Zoho Writer<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

The native features of Writer, many of which leverage the capabilities of other Zoho apps, really set it apart from the bunch. Use the built-in AI tool, Zia, for better quality content, fast grammar fixes and insight into the document\u2019s readability for different audiences. The Document Sign tool puts e-signature tools right in the doc, so 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\u2019s ready for embedding anywhere you need a form.<\/p>\n

Not to be outdone by Google Docs or Microsoft Word, Zoho Writer\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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LibreOffice Writer<\/h2>\n
Image: The Document Foundation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Document Foundation\u2019s LibreOffice Writer<\/a>, 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. 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.<\/p>\n

One aspect of LibreOffice stands out, and it isn\u2019t what\u2019s in the app\u2013it\u2019s the community-driven nature of the platform. Collaborating with users and developers to improve the product is front and center on LibreOffice\u2019s website, and that focus has grown LibreOffice into a thriving community of users and coders that keep making it better<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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WPS Office Writer<\/h2>\n
Image: WPS Software<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you want a word processor that\u2019s just as feature packed as Word, but you don\u2019t want to pay a premium, check out WPS Office Writer<\/a>. It is a full-featured application suite that feels premium.<\/p>\n

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. Look at any review of WPS Office Writer, and you\u2019ll find statements that attest how much it\u2019s like Word. With its inclusion of more features than other free suites like OpenOffice, this might be the one to go for\u2013especially considering you don\u2019t have to pay for it.<\/p>\n

With anything free and high quality, there\u2019s a catch, and you might be able to guess what it is in our modern age of \u201cfreemium\u201d apps: Ads. Don\u2019t let that dissuade you from trying WPS Writer\u2013you might not see an ad. There\u2019s no banner across the top of the app\u2013ads 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\u2019ll have to sit through a roughly 10-second ad, which unlocks the feature for 30 minutes. If you like what WPS Writer has to offer, you can opt to eliminate ads<\/a> by paying a yearly subscription fee of $29.99, or you can fork over $119.99 for a lifetime license.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Microsoft Office Word Online<\/h2>\n
Image: Microsoft<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Don\u2019t overlook Microsoft\u2019s free alternative to the paid version of Word: Office Online<\/a>. Like Google Docs, Microsoft Word Online is a simplified, cloud-based version of Word. It lacks a lot of the advanced features of a locally-installed version of Word, but for users who want a free version of Word, this is as close as you can get.<\/p>\n

Similarities between Google Docs and Word Online are present all the way down to the interface, but with a few tweaks to make it feel more like the Microsoft ribbon instead of the drop-down menus Google Docs users are used to. 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\u2019s favor is formatting: If you create a document in Word Online and then import it to a local version of Microsoft Word, it\u2019s going to retain the formatting way better than if it\u2019s made in Google Docs.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Check out our other articles that can save you money, with a look at 6 free alternatives to Microsoft Excel<\/a> and 5 alternatives to Office 365 that you\u2019ve never considered<\/a>.
<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’re tired of paying for Microsoft Office features you don’t use, here are free alternatives to Word you can download and start using today. Image: anyaberkut, Getty Images\/iStockphoto Microsoft Word has its devotees, but find one person who loves it, and you\u2019ll probably find several who don\u2019t. From redesigns that hide familiar menu items […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,783,154,152,177,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cloud","category-cloudsync","category-google","category-microsoft","category-open-source","category-software"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudnewshub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudnewshub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudnewshub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudnewshub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudnewshub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cloudnewshub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudnewshub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/70219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudnewshub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudnewshub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudnewshub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}