15 Best Google Docs Alternatives In 2022

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Over time, our computers have gotten smaller and more portable, and this phenomenon, coupled with fast internet speeds and online meeting services, has allowed us to work on-the-go. Nowadays, we perform lots of tasks from our computers and smartphone also, if you have an active internet connection, then you can always work on the go.

Online word processors come with many advantages. Your documents are accessible from anywhere, they’re open to collaboration and sharing, and are easy to import and export. When you think of online word processing, you immediately think of Google Docs. Google Docs is a great document creation tool that lets you work alongside your team members in real-time.

Teams can use it to document notes, ideas, and processes to keep everyone on the same page, It is a great service with an extensive array of features, plus heaps of add-ons, too.

Google Docs has inspired the inception of many other services that offer the same features. Even existing word processing software that offer better and more powerful editing features are also incorporating online collaboration tools now. That said, you might not always want to use Google Docs.

Here are the top 15 Best Google Docs Alternatives In 2022.

Table of Contents

1. Slite

Slite is another collaborative work tool you can use as an alternative to Google Docs.

As it is a collaborative workspace, you might find that Slite replaces more than just Google Docs, too. The free version of Slite allows you to create 50 shared documents per month, as well as unlimited personal documents.

You can also invite an unlimited number of users to your free Slite. Furthermore, it integrates nicely with one of the most popular team management tools, Slack, meaning you can talk and work between the two with ease. Other integrations include Figma, Loom, Trello, Asana, and GitHub. In that, Slite works as a document editing tool and as a project management option.

2. CryptPad

CryptPad is a set of easy-to-use online applications which you can use as a replacement of Google Docs.

You can use popular formats including rich text documents and presentations. Besides these two formats, users can share polls, Trello-style whiteboards, to-do lists, and even a code compiler window. Besides this wide range of options, CryptPad can be seen as one of the preferred Google Docs alternatives for one simple reason and that is because you don’t need to sign up in order to create an online document (however, it will be needed if you want to allow others to view the contents of the documents).

You get a good collection of editing tools, much like to Google Docs, and the color scheme also seems familiar. When it comes to sharing, you can share the document with others over a link or even embed the document in an online blog or article, which is an option not available in Google Docs or other substitutes for it.

Apart from the ability to collaborate, you can also chat with other participants.

Furthermore, CryptPad gets its name from its ability to encrypt documents, which ensures that your documents are completely safe from intellectual property theft, and these documents are only accessible using the encryption keys. Unlike Google Docs, you’ll have to pay to get the most out of CryptPad. While free users get up top 50MB of storage on the cloud, you can buy a subscription starting at 5 euros (~$6).

When you sign up you also get access to CryptDrive – an online file-sharing service along with CryptPad. Lastly, another great feature of the app is that you can simply sign in with a username and password, without the need of entering an email ID. Alternatively, you can use Airborn (visit) for collaboration if you want a tool with AES 256 encryption but the tool is mostly limited to word documents.

It has flexible paid plans and it charges you $3.5 per month to enable sharing.

3. ONLYOFFICE

OnlyOffice is a relative newcomer to the world of online office suites, but the company offers a free version of its software for personal use.

The software allows users to easily upload documents, spreadsheets, and presentations created using Microsoft Office or LibreOffice. Android and iOS apps also provide mobile access. A key strength of OnlyOffice is its cloud-based storage options, which let you connect your Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and Yandex.Disk accounts.

If you’re using a major cloud service, OnlyOffice can probably connect to it. The package is built on a lot of open-source software, too, meaning true geeks can check out the source code on GitHub.

It’s even possible to deploy OnlyOffice on your own server, which further increases its potential for power users or network administrators.

4. Etherpad

Besides being a superb Google Docs alternative, etherpad is also customizable. This editing tool helps students, writers, and professionals develop documents and collaboratively edit them in real time. The online collaborative documents (Pads) help you work on the same documents simultaneously while interacting with your team members.

This real-time interaction is possible thanks to the chatbox technology in each pad. Also, etherpad offers you an impressive version control feature. With this, you can view and collect all the previous versions of your documents. You can also track older revisions and permanently save specific versions of the old documents.

One of my favorite features of this tool is the time slider. This feature allows you to review all the events within the pad during a specific timeline. There is also an import and export feature that allows you to output your documents in several formats. Plus, it helps you to keep records of all your articles, collaborative activities, and meetings.

The best part is, you can access all these features for free offline. Unlike Google Docs, etherpad lets you set a 24-hour, 60-day, or 365-day period before it destroys documents.

5. ClickUp

Another incredible project management software that can be used as a Google Docs alternative is ClickUp.

The application is an incredible document collaboration software that is being used around the world in all sorts of companies whether they are small or large. The application has a feature called Docs where the tool helps you to in creating some incredible pieces of content like powerful knowledge bases and user guides, and it can also help you in taking the meeting minutes and the SOPs concerning the office or the company.

Collaborative editing lets everyone in your Workspace comment, edit, and work on the Doc simultaneously, without any overlap. You’ll also know who is working on what with real-time collaboration detection. You can also enhance security measures by protecting your Docs from unwanted edits. Simply turn on the Protect this page option and add context for your audience.

Let’s take a look at some of the other functionalities that this excellent Google Docs alternative has to offer to its clientage around the world.

Key Features:

First and foremost, the application lets the user highlight who the document creator is and who are the contributors that helped compose the content piece
You can also attach various pictures and other attachments to your documents to better explain your content
You can also use dividers to help readers distinguish between all of the different sections of the document that you have written
Using the word counter, you can also see the number of characters and words that you have written in the editor

6. Microsoft Office Online

Microsoft Office formerly Office Online, also known as “Office on the Web” is the free offering from the world’s most popular office suite.

A Microsoft account is all you need to gain access to almost the entire gamut of Microsoft Office applications. Office Online grants access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook, as well as Sway and a host of other tools. So, how does the Office on the Web compare to Google Docs (and the wider range of G Suite tools)? The offering is so good that some people have entirely eschewed purchasing Microsoft Office 2021 or Office 365 in favor of the free online suite.

Great collaboration tools are one of many reasons why you should use Office Online instead of paying for Microsoft Word, for example. Each feature has only strengthened the free service. However, Microsoft has not given us the crown jewels. The online Office offering does carry some limitations.

For instance, the number of templates available is reduced. As well as this, you can use the integrated styles, but cannot make your own. Office contains a number of these “half-features” that you’ll encounter from time to time.

Some are negligible. Others can be massively frustrating—I’m looking at you, Merge Formatting. The free online version of Microsoft Office is still an excellent alternative to Google Docs, despite the shortcomings found in several of the applications.

7. Zoho Writer

Zoho Docs isn’t as well known as Microsoft Office Online or Google Docs and it doesn’t really resemble either service either.

Recently, it’s become its own sort of productivity app. You can still create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Just don’t expect the user interface to look like Google Docs or Microsoft Office.

This interface itself is clean and simple to use, but Microsoft and Google enthusiasts may not like its unfamiliar layout and that it has a number of hidden menus.

But Zoho does offer more options when it comes to importing documents from other cloud services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. The free version of Zoho Docs includes 5GB of storage per user, a file upload limit of 1GB, two-factor authentication, the mobile app, and use of the Zoho office suite.

8. Bit.AI

Similar to some of the other providers on this list, Bit.Ai is more of a collaboration tool than a pure editing software. What really stands out about their product is the way hosts or admins can separate the access of people invited to collaborate on the document.

Many other tools only give you the option of inviting someone to edit or comment on the document, but Bit.Ai breaks it down much further and gives all of the control to the admin. Link tracking is also available for administrators so you can have a clear understanding of where the document went, who shared it, and who edited it without having to dig through chat logs.

In addition to that, Bit.Ai offers visual templates ranging from product presentations, business proposals or marketing budgets. With over 100 media integrations, pretty much anything you drag and drop on the document will spring to life on the documents itself.

Having said all this, Bit.Ai has an incredibly steep learning curve for a collaboration tool and is the opposite of some of the other tools on here which were designed to simple and easy to use.

Bit.Ai attempts to mitigate this by providing a library of tutorials, guides and other tips in video format to guide you through all the problems every step of the way.

9. Dropbox Paper

Dropbox Paper is the online document editing offering from Dropbox, better known for its cloud storage solutions.

All you need to use Dropbox Paper is a Dropbox account. Once you sign up, you can begin using this handy Google Docs alternative. Dropbox Paper has some handy features. Adding and curating images is exceptionally easy, especially if you already use Dropbox as an image host. Similarly, embedding other content is just as easy.

There’s also the option to edit using Markdown language, which is handy for quick edits and basic styling. As with other online document editing tools, collaboration and sharing are key. Dropbox Paper allows sharing and commenting by clicking a button and inviting users (other Dropbox users or from Google Accounts).

One cool collaboration feature is that you can “@” people from your document, even if they’re not currently working on the same document.

The person receives a notification that you want them to come and work with you. Another handy collaboration feature is Task Assignment. You can quickly turn any bullet list into a task list to be assigned to your collaborators. As a Google Docs alternative, Dropbox Paper is a handy and quick document editing tool.

However, it doesn’t have the extensive range of editing tools available to Google Docs or some of the alternatives on this list.

10. Collabora

Collabora is an online collaboration and editing suite based on LibreOffice for information-rich documents.

The online application brings an elaborate set of editing tools using the familiar MS Office-style layout. Besides a full-fledged editing toolbar, you also get the ability to add comments whether it’s for the team to emphasize on an edit or for you to clarify your doubt. Compared to Google Docs in which you can only resolve comments, the flow of comments in Collabora feels more user-friendly and you can reply to each comment individually, mark it resolved, or delete it.

However, Google gives you the liberty to share the comment with a link, which is not available in Collabora. Collabora is available in both server-based and cloud-based options and for the cloud version, you get support from reliable services such as NextCloud, ownCloud, and Pydio. Out of the three, you’re free to choose any depending upon which service provides the least latency of the three for you.

The pricing for cloud-based Collabora starts at $18 per user per year, but you can start by taking a free demo. However, you cannot use the service without an internet connection. The cloud services are most useful for clients in the US and the EU, and customers outside these regions might face some lag while using Collabora.

Furthermore, you’ll have to adjust with the somewhat outdated interface, but the extensive sharing options would make you forgive the lack of features.

11. Firepad

Unlike the other editors in this list, Firepad allows synchronous document (with CodeMirror) and code (via ACE) co-editing.

The formatting features are almost the same as those of Etherpad, save that it allows you to insert images into the plaintext documents. Since it uses Firebase as a backend, Firepad requires no server-side code.

You can easily embed it into any web app using the available JavaScript files, so if you wish to extend your web application capabilities by adding the simple document and code editor, Firepad is your choice.

12. Calmly Writer Online

If you’re looking for writing websites and apps like Google Docs but prefer simplicity to extravagant features, Calmly Writer Online covers all your needs for free.

You get a clear space to enter your text and images, all of which you can just select and edit like any word processor. For additional tools, just click on the Calmly Writer icon.

From the menu that appears, you can save, print, or open a document, as well as set a range of preferences, including focus, dark, and dyslexic mode. If you want to work offline, you can even download the whole app to your Windows, Mac, or Linux computer.

13. Quip

Unlike other Online Office suits, Quip doesn’t offer all the advanced document editing features. However, if you are looking for a free tool that offers some robust collaboration features on all your devices, then Quip is the answer.

Its interface is very intuitive and collaborative on all devices like smartphones, tablets and PC, unlike others that work best on a PC. All documents come with a chat section where you can easily discuss about the document. This is especially handy on Smartphones, making it simple to chat and interact with both document and the chat.

You can easily edit documents both online and offline and discuss the topic (online) on the go. It also has a news feed feature that lists all the changes to the documents, so you could keep up with the changes. Few things that even Google documents lacks. However, the editing features it offers will not help you create some complex documents like manuals, etc.

It offers basic formatting and writing features and will let you insert pictures and tables at max. Although, these tools should be good enough for writing some quick posts, articles and any document that doesn’t require much formatting. The main reason why you may want to try out Quip is for its vast collaboration power and ability to easily sync across all devices.

If you don’t have to write complex documents and want to make sure you get the best interface for collaborating with your colleagues on the go, then Quip is the answer.

14. Nuclino

Nuclino is a lightweight and fast alternative to Google Docs. It has everything most users love about Google Docs real-time collaborative editing, auto-save of changes, version history, comments, and more.

The formatting options are less extensive, as Nuclino prioritizes the ease and speed of the editing experience and helps you keep your documentation consistent. It stands out among other Google Docs alternatives thanks to its unique approach to organizing content. Instead of disconnected docs in separate folders, Nuclino allows you to link related pages together like a wiki.

Users can structure their documentation like their own internal Wikipedia, making it easy to discover relevant information. Simply type @ inside a document to easily link it to other related content. But Nuclino is more than just a document collaboration tool. The list, board, and graph views allow you to organize your content visually, adapting the tool to your workflow.

This flexibility makes Nuclino a great tool for knowledge sharing, sprint planning, employee onboarding and offboarding, business memos, and much more.

It works like a collective brain, allowing you to bring all your team’s work together in one place and collaborate without the chaos of files and folders, context switching, or silos. Nuclino is tightly integrated with Google Drive, making it a great Google Docs replacement for teams that still use Google Sheets, Slides, and Drawings.

15. Coda

Much like Quip, Coda is more of a collaborative team planning tool than just a text editor. To begin with, you can add multiple elements in form of modular elements like graphs, table, videos etc. within a single document.

The idea is to accommodate any idea that pops up in your brain, irrespective of when or how it comes up. To make your job easier, Coda allows you to initiate a new task or tag a team member by simply typing ‘@’. The editing toolbar on the top has a mix of commonly used editing tools which will remind you of a common CMS editor like WordPress. There aren’t a lot of font styles or sizes to play with but that’s not the main utility here.

Notably, there are fewer editing options compared to Google Docs, especially because the focus of the app is collaboration and not simply editing. The purpose of this software is to let users be more productive and synchronous with their team, especially if you’re part of a team working remotely. Besides these editing features, you can also add comments or automate tasks from within Coda in an IFTTT format.

Furthermore, there’s a huge catalog of templates which you can utilize to get your job done quickly.

Conclusion

That’s pretty much it! So, there are Best Google Docs Alternatives.

If you have any other favorite Best Google Docs Alternatives then don’t forget to share them with us in the comment below. Also, if you liked this article, Share on your favorite Social media platform.

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