If you are uninterested in paying for Microsoft Office options you do not use, listed here are free alternate options to Word you possibly can obtain and begin utilizing right now.
Microsoft Word has its devotees, however discover one one who loves it, and also you’ll most likely discover a number of who don’t. From redesigns that cover acquainted menu gadgets to overly sophisticated and sometimes unused options, there’s rather a lot to be desired in a easy phrase processor that Microsoft Word doesn’t ship resulting from its advanced nature.
Microsoft Word and the remainder of Microsoft Office is pricey–for example, Microsoft 365 Business Premium prices $22 a consumer per thirty days. There are additionally some particulars in regards to the pricing for the house version of Microsoft Office, together with such data because the variety of customers and cloud storage.
If you don’t want all of the options that Microsoft Word provides, it may be exhausting to justify paying that value, particularly in a small enterprise setting the place you simply want a phrase processor. Don’t pay for what you aren’t going to make use of–check out one among these six free Microsoft Word alternate options as a substitute.
Google Docs
Google Docs, which is definitely the preferred Microsoft Word various on this record, is free to everybody with a Google account.
If you need the fundamental options of Microsoft Word, you don’t have to look any additional than Google Docs–it does all of your fundamental phrase processing wants, and it’s tightly built-in with Google Drive and different merchandise. Since every part is saved in Google’s cloud, you don’t want to fret about shedding your work–Docs autosaves after each single keystroke, so within the occasion of a crash you must be capable to decide up proper the place you left off, right down to the letter. Google Docs additionally helps Microsoft Word’s .doc and .docx codecs, so that you shouldn’t have any issues importing and modifying these.
One of its greatest options for enterprise customers is real-time collaboration. If you share a doc with one other Google consumer, each of you will be within the doc on the identical time, see the opposite consumer’s cursor place, watch what they’re typing, and chat to one another as effectively. It’s an important collaboration instrument that stands out amongst phrase processors.
Advanced customers could discover the options missing–it truly is a bare-bones phrase processor.
Apache OpenOffice Writer
If you hate Microsoft Word due to the invention of the ribbon, then Apache’s OpenOffice Writer is the 2003 throwback you need. It has a basic interface that, whereas it might look a bit cluttered, mimics the menus that Microsoft tossed out when Office 2007 was launched. It will certainly really feel acquainted to Office 2003 customers, with the added perk of nonetheless receiving updates and safety patches, which is essential for a enterprise software program suite.
OpenOffice Writer has its personal doc format, but it surely additionally helps .doc and .docx information, and it does an important job of sustaining formatting when importing these sorts of information. Many of the superior options of Microsoft Word are included in OpenOffice Writer as effectively, so modifying advanced Word paperwork gained’t be a difficulty.
If on-line collaboration or native cloud assist is a promoting level, then you might need to go on OpenOffice Writer as a result of it consists of neither. It is feasible to retailer information in a cloud drive and entry them utilizing OpenOffice, however you’ll have to have the desktop shopper of Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Apple iCloud put in, so you possibly can open your cloud storage like a neighborhood pc folder.
Zoho Writer
Zoho Writer is a free doc creation instrument with a clear writing interface and highly effective built-in capabilities. Writing paperwork in Writer is basically distraction-free, whereas essential textual content instruments are nonetheless inside attain.
The native options of Writer, a lot of which leverage the capabilities of different Zoho apps, actually set it other than the bunch. Use the built-in AI instrument, Zia, for higher high quality content material, quick grammar fixes and perception into the doc’s readability for various audiences. The Document Sign instrument places e-signature instruments proper within the doc, so groups can go from draft to approval to signature all in the identical house. Document Fillable instruments additionally put types proper in your paperwork, giving them an expert really feel that’s prepared for embedding wherever you want a kind.
Not to be outdone by Google Docs or Microsoft Word, Zoho Writer’s real-time collaboration has granular controls together with feedback, solutions, textual content masking to cover some gadgets from collaborators and even content material locks for blocks of textual content. Zoho Writer is constructed for company collaboration, authorized approvals and inventive groups.
LibreOffice Writer
The Document Foundation’s LibreOffice Writer, like OpenOffice, is a totally free and open-source product that gives phrase processing, assist for .doc and .docx file codecs, and all of the instruments the typical Microsoft Word consumer will want in a phrase processor. LibreOffice Writer and OpenOffice Writer are related in quite a lot of methods: Interface type, file format assist, lack of cloud integration and real-time collaboration, and basic phrase processing options. Both are stable decisions for these searching for a free various to Microsoft Word, and choosing one over the opposite largely comes right down to desire.
One side of LibreOffice stands out, and it isn’t what’s within the app–it’s the community-driven nature of the platform. Collaborating with customers and builders to enhance the product is entrance and middle on LibreOffice’s web site, and that focus has grown LibreOffice right into a thriving group of customers and coders that maintain making it higher.
WPS Office Writer
If you need a phrase processor that’s simply as function packed as Word, however you don’t need to pay a premium, try WPS Office Writer. It is a full-featured software suite that feels premium.
WPS Office Writer does many of the identical issues as Microsoft Word, and it consists of native cloud assist to make storing paperwork on-line a snap; nevertheless, it does lack real-time collaboration. Look at any overview of WPS Office Writer, and also you’ll discover statements that attest how a lot it’s like Word. With its inclusion of extra options than different free suites like OpenOffice, this could be the one to go for–particularly contemplating you don’t need to pay for it.
With something free and prime quality, there’s a catch, and also you would possibly be capable to guess what it’s in our trendy age of “freemium” apps: Ads. Don’t let that dissuade you from making an attempt WPS Writer–you won’t see an advert. There’s no banner throughout the highest of the app–adverts solely seem whenever you need to use choose options like printing or exporting to PDF. If you must do a type of issues, you’ll have to take a seat by way of a roughly 10-second advert, which unlocks the function for half-hour. If you want what WPS Writer has to supply, you possibly can decide to remove adverts by paying a yearly subscription charge of $29.99, or you possibly can fork over $119.99 for a lifetime license.
Microsoft Office Word Online
Don’t overlook Microsoft’s free various to the paid model of Word: Office Online. Like Google Docs, Microsoft Word Online is a simplified, cloud-based model of Word. It lacks quite a lot of the superior options of a locally-installed model of Word, however for customers who need a free model of Word, that is as shut as you may get.
Similarities between Google Docs and Word Online are current all the way in which right down to the interface, however with a number of tweaks to make it really feel extra just like the Microsoft ribbon as a substitute of the drop-down menus Google Docs customers are used to. Documents created in Word Online are saved in Microsoft OneDrive, and real-time collaboration options like these in Google Docs can be found as effectively. One massive plus in Word Online’s favor is formatting: If you create a doc in Word Online after which import it to a neighborhood model of Microsoft Word, it’s going to retain the formatting approach higher than if it’s made in Google Docs.
Check out our different articles that may prevent cash, with a take a look at 6 free alternate options to Microsoft Excel and 5 alternate options to Office 365 that you simply’ve by no means thought of.