Google Docs is a tool that almost every professional uses for their editorial work. Because Google provides this tool for free which makes your work seamless if you’re more into collaborations & teamwork projects. However, it’s not the only platform that provides cloud-based on-the-go editorial features. And that’s why we’re here to find out some of the best Google Docs alternatives or secure alternatives to Google Docs.
These websites & apps like Google Docs are good for those who’re looking for a change. And can’t keep up with the same design over & over again. In addition to that, you’ll be able to share your files with your team & can do a live chat with them. Moreover, there are plenty of other features that may look similar to Google Docs. But provides an exponentially different feel from that.
Google Docs Alternatives: 13 Best Alternatives to Google Docs in 2021
Consequently, these alternatives will provide you a new experience. And real-time editing with your colleagues to make your documents error-proof. Because when Google announced a real-time collaboration feature on their apps like Docs, Worksheet, slides, & more. It changes how millions of people were sharing & editing their documents, sheets, & presentations. And now there are tons of apps that provide the exact same or sometimes better features than Google Docs.
So without further ado. Let’s dive into the list of the Best Google Docs alternatives in 2021 & further.
Table of Contents
Microsoft Office 365
A Microsoft account all you need to access your docs, excels, presentations, & other files in a single dashboard. It’s a powerful & one of the best Google Docs alternatives. That provides almost everything a professional needs to collaborate with others. You can gain access to Microsofts’ entire gamut of apps in a single click. In addition to that, Microsoft Office 365 provides tons of templates to save time.
If you’re a Microsoft Office user(desktop version) then you’ll find things familiar to work with. Because, from its interface to its usability, everything is almost similar to its desktop app. This Google Docs alternative, allow users to share their files just like its competitor, where you can give a certain amount of permissions to your colleagues & counterparts while they’re reading/editing your files.
Moreover, you won’t be able to edit files while you’re offline, cuz Microsoft office 365 doesn’t allow users to edit files without the internet. Unlike Google Docs, that makes editing easy while even you’re offline & allows users to create documents as well.
Zoho Writer
Zoho is a huge company that have apps from book-keeping to email services & personal wiki to robust CRM. The Writer is just one of them and Zoho’s answer to Google Docs. Zoho Writer is available on almost every platform, a person could use to complete his/her editorial work. Although, Writer doesn’t have the best user-interface like Google Docs & Office 365.
But it does provide a succinct sidebar that helps you to edit your docs, spreadsheets, & presentations at ease. You’ll get all the tools from Google Docs & Microsoft Office 365 which is pretty impressive. And whether you’re editing your doc from your computer or smartphone. Zoho syncs your data that makes your work easy if you change devices while working.
Moreover, Zoho Writer offers offline editing mode, which is pretty handy if you’re in a remote area, where the connection always flutters like a star from another galaxy. Therefore Zoho Writer is a recommended, one of the best Google Docs alternatives on our list. That one should be using for his/her professional work.
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ONLY OFFICE
Only Office is another one of the best Google Docs alternatives. That can be used free, for personal usage. And small subscription fees, for small & medium businesses. The interface is pretty similar to Microsoft Office online, where you’ll be able to create, edit, & read documents at ease. However, the paid version is just like Zoho that includes email servers, domain, & CRM to handle your business leads.
In Only Office, you can create presentations, spreadsheets, & documents on their web-based editor. And if you’re more into collaboration & stuff, then you can integrate your Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, & other accounts. That offers you to add files directly from those accounts.
If you’re a blogger & using the ONLY OFFICE as your article writing tool. Then you can integrate your website(if it’s on WordPress) with it, then you’ll be able to publish articles right from your ONLY OFFICE’s dashboard with a single click. Apart from all these things, you can live chat with colleagues & leaves messages on a certain section of your document.
Coda.io
More like a collaborative tool. Coda comes up with amazing features, one can use to elaborate meetings & complete work before deadlines. The web-based app offers pre-made templates to save you some time. You can create doc files or directly upload them via your PC or Google Drive account. Further, you can tag teammates by using “@” or start a new task to work on, with your teammates.
Coda has a simplistically designed toolbar just like Livejournal. That makes your editing work easy. Although, you won’t get editing tools like Google Docs or Microsoft Office. But still, Coda won’t disappoint you while editing your official documents. Moreover, this one of the best alternatives to Google Docs have some adorable tables to make your documents more informative and engaging.
After all, Coda was made to help you out in cultivating new ideas & synchronizing your work with the team. The last feature Coda has to offer is, that you can leave comments in between paragraphs & tables.
Paper by Dropbox
Dropbox is better known for its cloud storage service, which is pretty safe & robust. But in this world of competition, Dropbox has its own Google Docs alternative, known as Paper by Dropbox. Which is a nice tool, if you’re already using this cloud storage to safeguard your files. The tool offers all the basic editing features like changing the fonts, adding links, using files from your Dropbox storage, & a lot more.
Paper by Dropbox is definitely one of the best alternatives to Google Docs. That offers calendars, blocks of codes, beautiful tables, to-do lists, & more. I personally like Paper, just because of its simplicity. After all, it automatically saves edited files to my Dropbox storage which is pretty similar to Google Drive.
If you’re heavily using Google docs in editing and loves the freedom it provides. Then Paper isn’t for you. Although, it could be a great choice for those who work individually or have a small team to handle. Apart from this, Paper has a pretty sleek design to make you feel something new.
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Cryptpad
The simplest & one of the best Google Docs alternatives is here. Cryptpad is a feature-rich online editing tool. That provides all the basic features one could need to decorate a document. You can create files in rich-text, code, presentations, sheets, poll, kanban, whiteboard, & more. Although, the website is powered by the ONLY OFFICE.
But still, Cryptpad has managed to differentiate it from the ONLY OFFICE. And provides identical features to its users. The biggest disadvantage of Cryptpad is, that it only provides 50 MB of space to free users. Although, nowadays due to Covid-19, they’re providing 1 GB of space. But still, it’s not an attractive offer.
However, if you’re looking for a not so cool, cheap & one of the best Google Docs alternatives. Then Cyptpad could a fair option for you.
Nuclino
Nuclino is nothing but a simple document editor & collaborative tool. That helps you manage your team in an organized manner. You can create workspaces in which you can create different projects, which are known as clusters in this alternative. The app allows you to navigate through a cluster graph which is pretty cool and engaging.
You can invite people or add team members to work on projects together. Although, it’s not fully packed with hundreds of editing tools. But still, Nuclino provides decent editing features you mostly use while editing or sharing a document.
Nuclino allows users to connect their Slack accounts to import docs & team members in a single click. Moreover, this one of the best Google Docs alternatives is available on most of the platforms like Android, iOS, Mac, & Windows. Which makes it pretty easy to access from anywhere & everywhere. However, the free version of this app only allows 50 items & a total of 5 GB of storage to store your documents.
Bit.ai
If you’ve ever used Medium to write or share your content. Then Bit.ai could look a bit familiar to you. Because the interface of its editor is almost the same but more polished. Just like Medium, you’ll get features like making your text bold, italic, clickable, & etc. Users can change their theme according to their preferences. Apart from this, Bit.ai allow users to write mathematical equations, code blocks, content library, & a lot more.
Just like Google Docs or Microsoft Office, you can create your documents more meaningful with custom heading with different levels. And easily can curate a to-do list for your team between the document. Moreover, this one of the best Google Docs alternatives provide tons of pre-made templates to help you save your precious time. After all, time is money.
The app is pretty awesome because the admin can see anything, his/her team members are doing. Also, you can give permissions according to their work and need. In the end, the free version of Bit.ai only provides 1 GB of storage to work with your colleagues. But if you’re okay with this limitation. Then you must try this one of the best & secure alternatives to Google Docs.
Etherpad
If collaboration is your thing, then Etherpad is a must, online editor tool for you. You can download the app on your Windows/Mac and start creating documents with your colleagues. Etherpad is an open-source project powered by tons of passionate developers. Consequently, this one of the best Google Docs alternatives does have a plethora of plugins to download. That enhances your writing experience.
Moreover, the interface looks pretty neat, which helps you to focus only on your work & writing skills. Unlike other alternatives to Google Docs, you won’t be able to use Etherpad on your android devices. However, the app is the only thing you’ll need to access your files to edit on your Windows. You can customize the theme of Etherpad as per your preferences.
And easily can invite your friends & team through a single link or invitation. Moreover, if you don’t want to create an account, that’s totally fine. Because Etherpad provides public instances that allow you to create/edit your docs without even creating an account. Also, you can set a limit after which the document will get destructed.
Quip
Quip is another one of the best collaboration tools which is a good competitor of Google Docs. The app provides live chats in almost every document, which is pretty handy if you’re using a smartphone. Moreover, Quip is accessible on almost every platform like Android, iOS, Windows, & of course Mac. The news feed feature allows admins & other teammates to let you guys know what has been recently edited and created.
However, the document editor isn’t the best thing about Quip. Because it provides all the basic editing tools like heading tags, comments, quotes, code blocks, & a few more. But if you’re serious about teamwork & looking for a basic online editor tool. Then Quip can easily replace Google Docs, especially for your team.
Quip is pretty fast that syncs your data as soon as you edit them, which is pretty handy if you often change your devices while working.
Slite
I personally love Slite, because of its minimalistic design & easy to use interface. The app is a perfect choice for all types of collaborations. You can add team members and can assign them various types of tasks to complete. However, this one of the best Google Docs alternatives doesn’t have a lot of editing features. And comes up with a floating bar. But you can view a plethora of advanced features by using a “/” before starting a paragraph.
You can easily attach files & tag your teammates in documents. However, Slite’s free version only allows up to 50 shared files & unlimited personal files, which is pretty enough if you’re handling a small business. You can embed YouTube videos in your docs with a simple copy & paste technique.
Firepad
Firepad is an open-source collaboration tool. That allows users to create files in rich-text & coding format. You can easily share links with your team to invite them to create & edit files with you. The interface isn’t that appealing but it does have all the features you could need to complete your document.
The app provides only five different types of fonts to choose from & all the basic editing tools from unorder & order list to bold & italic. If you’re in hurry and need to show something to your teammates quickly. Then Firepad could be a great choice for you.
Gobby
Gobby is a simple but useful open-source Google Docs alternatives. You can freely download this application on your PC. And start editing your docs right away with your teammates. The interface of Gobby is more like notepad or notepad++, you’ll definitely feel like you’re in the 90s. But still, the collaborative features it provides are awesome.
The app shows all the editing history at the bottom. And just like Microsoft Office, it shows heading at the left side of your app. However, there’s nothing a lot we can say about this Alternative to Google Docs. But if you’re looking for a simple open-source secure alternative to Google Docs. Then Gobby is an app, you should be checking out.
