Microsoft Word despite being widely popular is not used by many people and the reason may be due to its cost, access or preference. There is nothing to worry about if you fall in this category as there are plenty of free suits that have the potential to replace the premium apps.
Most of the users find Microsoft Word most suitable and reliable platform for creating their documents and Office 360 has taken it even further offering cloud backups and mobile use as per requirement.
If you don't have Microsoft Word don't panic, in this article, we are going to discuss some of the popular alternatives to Microsoft Word. Several companies have created and released rival office suites for the purpose of increasing productivity. Some of these software are totally free while some are paid. But we will explore a free alternative to Microsoft Word below.
Free Alternative to Microsoft Word
1. Microsoft Office Online
Similar to Google, Microsoft has also packed slimmed-down versions of all its usual application to use online for free. Microsoft Office Online is completely free and works and looks just like its desktop equivalent. It doesn't offer advanced tools like pivot table but these features aren't provided by Google either.
Office Online can be an excellent choice if you prefer using Microsoft document formats. You don't require to convert your files to work on them like Google's free office suite.
This created file can be easily shared online using Microsoft OneDrive account. All you have to do is to simply log in to your Microsoft account. You can easily find a version of Office Online for Chrome as well as mobile editions of Office for Android and iOS.
Pros:
• It is fully compatible with desktop apps.
• Works with OneDrive.
Cons:
• It lacks some of the advanced features like a pivot table.
Go to Microsoft Office Online
2. LibreOffice
LibreOffice offers everything that you get from office suites. It is completely free to use and is fully compatible with Microsoft formats. It is a potential rival of Microsoft Word. The suits contain 6 programs for covering every common office task: calc, writer, draw, base, impress and math. Draw, Math and Base aren't found in many other free office suites. They are generally used for vector diagrams, mathematical functions and databases.
LibreOffice is an open-source project which is managed and maintained by a large enthusiastic group of volunteers who constantly work to improve stability and add new features. It is completely free and convenient for home as well as business users. LibreOffice allows you to select a large number template and extensions for maintaining its flexibility. It properly supports file conversions which preserve existing formatting, means your abc.doc files looks same in the LibreOffice and vice-versa.
The latest version (version 6) has added numerous new features and fixes such as customization of interface, improved files import and export compatibility.
It is available for Windows, Mac and Linux but you can't find any official mobile versions except for a document viewer for Android.
Pros:
• It is a huge software suite.
• It offers full Microsoft Office compatibility.
• It is completely free to use.
Cons:
• Some features are still experimental.
Go to LibreOffice
3. Polaris Office
Polaris Office is a cross-platform that places your document in the cloud. Samsung users might already be familiar with the mobile version of Polaris Office. It is completely free and available for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android which usually comes pre-installed in some Samsung handsets.
The good thing about Polaris Office is that it is compatible with all MS document formats. Polaris Office offers a slick ribbon-based interface along with some basic customization options.
If you are planning to install Windows version of Polaris Office, various additional pieces of bundled software are included such as browser extension for McAfee (WebAdvisor), anti-virus suite and marketer research tool(PremierOpinion).
For using Polaris Office you will require to sign in with either Facebook or Google or create an account. Creating an account is necessary because it is a cloud-based service. It offers features like 1GB of cloud storage and 60MB of monthly data transfer. If the available space is not enough for you, it can be connected to Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, Microsoft OneDrive and Amazon Cloud Drive as well as save locally on your device.
These are the features offered by its free version. You will get a chance to enjoy other extra features like PDF editor, removing ads and ability to search within a document.
Pros:
• It is available for desktop as well as mobile devices.
• It offers 1GB of cloud storage.
Cons:
• Comes with bundled extra software.
Go to Polaris Office
4. Zoho Workplace
Zoho workplace is free and is an exciting alternative to Google Docs. Zoho Workplace is very closer to desktop office package and has attracted business like BBC and Nike as its regular users.
Zoho's new-look word processor is excellently presented and holds the capacity to produce professional-looking docs. It also offers a reasonable presentation package and sterling spreadsheet alongside it.
Zoho Workplace offers a powerful site creation tool, collaborative tools and file management solutions.
You will need to search the pricing page for the " Forever Free" plan if you want to signup for its free version. It doesn't provide a one-click setup. All you have to do it to go through the signup process and provide the existing business domain to begin.
Pros:
• It is simple and well-presented.
• It is better than its rivals.
• It offers site-creation tool.
Cons:
• Some tools are very simple.
Go to Zoho Workplace
5. Free Office
FreeOffice offers most of the pro features in a free version of a premium suite. It provides analogues for MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel. It offers effortless conversion to both Epub and PDF formats and supports Microsoft file format from 1997 onwards.
Sadly, some useful features are exclusive to the premium version of the software. Some of the non-essential but nice to have feature like tabbed browsing is missing. The major problem for the regular writers is the lack of thesaurus.
It is not as smart as WPS Office as it offers a slightly more old fashioned approach to navigation.
Pros:
• It supports Microsoft formats.
• Includes in-built PDF reader.
Cons:
• It doesn't include thesaurus.
Go to Free Office
6. WPS Office Free
WPS Office Free can be viewed as free slimmed down version of premium offices suite. But you won't easily notice the difference because it looks very similar to the latest version of Word, Excel and PowerPoint and comes packed with plenty of features.
If offers excellent File format support. You can save your document in native Microsoft formats that allows easy sharing with Microsoft Office users. There is no availability of database software but comes with an excellent free PDF reader.
It comes with occasional ads but is not annoying as they are few and far between. Free versions of WPS office comes for Windows and Linux as well as an app for Andriod users.
Pros:
• It supports Microsoft Office file formats.
• It is cross-platform.
Cons:
• It contains few ads.
Go to WPS Office Free
7. Google Docs
Google Docs is completely free and useful for working across platforms and sharing documents online. It should be your first port of call if you work collaboratively or switch between PC and a Mac.
Google Docs can be a natural choice if you already have gone deep in the Android/Google ecosystem. It runs perfectly in all of the web browsers and comes as mobile apps for Android and iOS.
But Google Docs lacks some of the advanced features like pivot table which is available in LibreOffice. But the good point is that everything is laid in a clear and logical way and your files are saved and synced automatically.
The main cons of Google Docs is that opening the files created in other platform is cumbersome and file formatting in most of the case is not converted properly.
The other drawback is, some people may find it less user-friendly than other office software.
Pros:
• It is cross-platform.
• Mobile apps are available.
• It integrates with Google Drive.
Cons:
• Suffers formatting issues in most cases.
• It is quirky.
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