Are you looking for free word processors that can be used as an alternative to Microsoft Word which is a paid service? You have come to the right place.
The free Microsoft Word alternatives covered in this article contains features that you'll rarely miss the MS Word software.
All these free alternatives will allow you to perform routine tasks like:
- Create, edit and save as a document
- Download file as PDF, ePub, Docx, Txt, and open document formats
- Print document
- Spell checker
- Create tables
- Save documents to the cloud
- Online collaboration
- And many more features
Thus, switching over to any of these free word processing software from MS Word will save you good money every year.
In this article, I have compiled the 5 best word processors that are totally free and work as good as Microsoft Word barring some of its premium features.
If you don't want to pay for MS Word, check out its best free alternatives below.
Let's get started.
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List of Best Microsoft Word Alternatives
1. WPS Office Writer
WPS Office comes with both the free and the premium plan. You can download the free software from its official website. Here is the download link - WPS Office.
The free office suite package includes Writer, Presentation, and Spreadsheets.
Once you launch WPS Office, select Document to start the Writer. Inside the Writer, you can use the blank template to use the free version.
Or use the premium templates for documents like letters, resumes, posters, brochures, work reports and cards. However, you need to subscribe to the premium plan to use these templates.
As we're only talking about the free word processor, you need to choose the blank template option to create a word document in WPS Office.
Once inside Writer, you may not feel like working outside of Microsoft Word. The interface of is almost like MS Word.
The free version of Office Suite is compatible with Google Docs, Microsoft Office, Adobe PDF and others. Thus, you can easily open any word document inside WPS Office and edit it. It offers features like multiple document formats, 230 plus fonts, ability to edit & insert images, tables, charts and more.
Key Features
The software is available to download on multiple platforms like Windows, Linux, iOS and Android. I would recommend you to try this free word processing software to see if this is the right MS Word alternative for you or not.
If you need more advanced features you may consider upgrading to the premium plan.
Under the Premium Plan, you get the following privileges:
- All the features of Office Suite in desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet
- Advanced Writer, Presentation, Spreadsheets
- Ad free experience across all operating systems and devices
- PDF to Word, PDF Editor, Split/Merge PDF documents
- Optical character recognition,
- Convert images to Word/PDF
- Get up to 20GB of Cloud storage
- Extensive online templates that includes resumes, presentations, memos, finance, business, education, charts
- WPS office Premium support up to 9 connected devices - 3 PCs and 6 Mobile
- WPS Office supports 8 languages - English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Russian and Indonesian
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Also Read: Best Fonts in Word
2. Google Docs
Google Docs is one of the most used online word processors as it is free and includes all the important features of Microsoft Word. Not to forget that it supports online collaboration too.
Google Docs is cloud-based so to access it, all you need is a Google account (Gmail) and a working internet connection.
If you have worked with Microsoft Word earlier, you would feel at ease while working with Google Docs as it contains all the essential features that are present in MS Word.
While working on it you don't need to always remember to save your documents as it automatically saves it on Google Drive cloud storage. It also offers many popular extensions to make your content writing process much easier and error-free. For example, in Google Docs, you can use extensions like Grammarly, Semrush SEO writing assistant, Math Type, Mail Merge and others.
Did I say earlier that Google Docs supports online collaboration? Yes, it indeed has this feature. If you have a team, you can invite team members to view, edit or comment on your document.
I think it is a great feature when you see other team members working and helping out to create a great document.
In terms of features and benefits, it is one of the best alternatives to Word. And it is free too.
Key Feature
3. LibreOffice Writer
The third best alternative to Microsoft Word is LibreOffice Writer. It is included inside the package when you download LibreOffice.
LibreOffice Writer is part of LibreOffice, a free and open source software. Due to its open-source nature, the Writer receives regular updates from contributing editors.
It is compatible with Microsoft Word. Thus, you can easily work upon documents created on MS Word. It also supports multiple cross platforms and is available for Windows and Mac both.
It's a full-featured free word processor that supports both the popular word file format - .doc and .docx.
LibreOffice Writer allows you to create documents such as letters, resumes, faxes and features useful tools like spell checker, thesaurus and autocorrect.
Key Feature
4. Zoho Writer
Zoho offers many free online applications that also include Writer, a cloud-based tool for word processing. The online application is another great alternative to both Microsoft Word and Google Docs.
You're not required to download any software to use this free word processor. You can create, edit and download your documents online from Zoho Writer website. To start creating your document you need to register from your email account or log in with your Gmail ID.
Like Google Docs, it automatically saves your document as you edit it, saving you from the risk of losing data due to a lost network connection.
And it also supports online collaboration where you can work with your team members in real-time.
Another wonderful feature of this free word processor is its ability to post your document on blogging platforms. If you're a blogger, you can create your document in Zoho Writer and publish it directly on WordPress or Blogger.
Prefer to work right on your mobile, Zoho Writer has got you covered here also. It has apps for Android, iPhone and iPad devices.
You can easily import your existing MS Word documents preserving the format, flow, and style intact. Zoho Writer allows to create and export documents in the following file formats:
- Microsoft Word (.docx)
- Open Document Text (.odt)
- Rich Text Format (.rtf)
- Text File (.txt)
- Epub Document (.epub)
- HTML (.zip)
Let's check out all the features that make it one of the best Microsoft Word alternatives.
Key Features
5. Pages (Mac)
For people working on Mac devices, Pages is the best alternative to MS Word. It comes included in almost all Apple devices.
Unlike Word, the interface of Pages is clean and clutter-free.
It has 70 plus pre-built templates to create resumes, posters, digital books and reports. Or, if you want to create a document from scratch, start from the blank document.
Formatting features allow users to customize fonts, personalize text styles, embed images, tables, charts, shapes, maths equations, quadratic formula, audio and video.
Documents created in Pages are compatible with MS Word. You can save Pages documents as Word files. Word documents can also be imported and edited into Pages.
Similar to other word alternatives covered here, Pages also supports real-time collaboration. Irrespective of the devices used - Mac, iPad, iPhone, or PC, your team can work together from anywhere and from almost any device.
All the changes that you make in Pages are automatically saved.
Key Features
These word processors are some of the best alternatives to Microsoft Word that offers more or less the same features. And yes, they all are free to use.
Wrapping Up
In terms of ease of use and feature, it's still hard to beat Microsoft Word. But that comes with a price. If you're looking for a free alternative to MS Word, you can choose any of these word processing software covered in this article-
- WPS Office
- Google Docs
- LibreOffice
- Zoho Writer
- Pages (Mac)
Which word processor do you like the most and why? Please offer your comment below.
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