In the event you’re bored with paying for Microsoft Workplace options you do not use, listed here are free alternate options to Phrase you possibly can obtain and begin utilizing at this time.
Microsoft Phrase has its devotees, however discover one one that loves it, and also you’ll in all probability discover a number of who don’t. From redesigns that conceal acquainted menu gadgets to overly difficult and infrequently unused options, there’s rather a lot to be desired in a easy phrase processor that Microsoft Phrase doesn’t ship attributable to its advanced nature.
Microsoft Phrase and the remainder of Microsoft Workplace is pricey–as an illustration, Microsoft 365 Enterprise Premium prices $22 a person per 30 days. There are additionally some particulars in regards to the pricing for the house version of Microsoft Workplace, together with such data because the variety of customers and cloud storage.
In the event you don’t want all of the options that Microsoft Phrase affords, it may be onerous to justify paying that value, particularly in a small enterprise atmosphere 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 Phrase alternate options as an alternative.
Google Docs
Google Docs, which is well the most well-liked Microsoft Phrase different on this record, is free to everybody with a Google account.
If you’d like the fundamental options of Microsoft Phrase, you don’t have to look any additional than Google Docs–it does all of your primary phrase processing wants, and it’s tightly built-in with Google Drive and different merchandise. Since all the things 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 it is best to be capable of decide up proper the place you left off, right down to the letter. Google Docs additionally helps Microsoft Phrase’s .doc and .docx codecs, so that you shouldn’t have any issues importing and modifying these.
Considered one of its finest options for enterprise customers is real-time collaboration. In the event you share a doc with one other Google person, each of you may be within the doc on the similar time, see the opposite person’s cursor place, watch what they’re typing, and chat to one another as nicely. It’s an important collaboration software that stands out amongst phrase processors.
Superior customers could discover the options missing–it truly is a bare-bones phrase processor.
Apache OpenOffice Author
In the event you hate Microsoft Phrase due to the invention of the ribbon, then Apache’s OpenOffice Author is the 2003 throwback you need. It has a traditional interface that, whereas it may well look a bit cluttered, mimics the menus that Microsoft tossed out when Workplace 2007 was launched. It can undoubtedly really feel acquainted to Workplace 2003 customers, with the added perk of nonetheless receiving updates and safety patches, which is vital for a enterprise software program suite.
OpenOffice Author has its personal doc format, nevertheless it additionally helps .doc and .docx recordsdata, and it does an important job of sustaining formatting when importing these forms of recordsdata. Lots of the superior options of Microsoft Phrase are included in OpenOffice Author as nicely, so modifying advanced Phrase paperwork received’t be a difficulty.
If on-line collaboration or native cloud help is a promoting level, then you might wish to go on OpenOffice Author as a result of it consists of neither. It’s attainable to retailer recordsdata in a cloud drive and entry them utilizing OpenOffice, however you’ll have to have the desktop consumer of Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Apple iCloud put in, so you possibly can open your cloud storage like a neighborhood pc folder.
Zoho Author
Zoho Author is a free doc creation software with a clear writing interface and highly effective built-in capabilities. Writing paperwork in Author is essentially distraction-free, whereas vital textual content instruments are nonetheless inside attain.
The native options of Author, lots of which leverage the capabilities of different Zoho apps, actually set it other than the bunch. Use the built-in AI software, Zia, for higher high quality content material, quick grammar fixes and perception into the doc’s readability for various audiences. The Doc Signal software places e-signature instruments proper within the doc, so groups can go from draft to approval to signature all in the identical house. Doc Fillable instruments additionally put kinds proper in your paperwork, giving them an expert really feel that’s prepared for embedding anyplace you want a type.
To not be outdone by Google Docs or Microsoft Phrase, Zoho Author’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 Author is constructed for company collaboration, authorized approvals and artistic groups.
LibreOffice Author
The Doc Basis’s LibreOffice Author, like OpenOffice, is a totally free and open-source product that gives phrase processing, help for .doc and .docx file codecs, and all of the instruments the common Microsoft Phrase person will want in a phrase processor. LibreOffice Author and OpenOffice Author are comparable in quite a lot of methods: Interface model, file format help, lack of cloud integration and real-time collaboration, and normal phrase processing options. Each are strong decisions for these in search of a free different to Microsoft Phrase, and deciding on one over the opposite largely comes right down to choice.
One facet 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 heart 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 Workplace Author
If you’d like a phrase processor that’s simply as function packed as Phrase, however you don’t wish to pay a premium, try WPS Workplace Author. It’s a full-featured software suite that feels premium.
WPS Workplace Author does a lot of the similar issues as Microsoft Phrase, and it consists of native cloud help to make storing paperwork on-line a snap; nevertheless, it does lack real-time collaboration. Take a look at any overview of WPS Workplace Author, and also you’ll discover statements that attest how a lot it’s like Phrase. With its inclusion of extra options than different free suites like OpenOffice, this may be the one to go for–particularly contemplating you don’t should pay for it.
With something free and top quality, there’s a catch, and also you would possibly be capable of guess what it’s in our fashionable age of “freemium” apps: Adverts. Don’t let that dissuade you from making an attempt WPS Author–you won’t see an advert. There’s no banner throughout the highest of the app–advertisements solely seem if you wish 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 via a roughly 10-second advert, which unlocks the function for half-hour. In the event you like what WPS Author has to supply, you possibly can decide to get rid of advertisements by paying a yearly subscription payment of $29.99, or you possibly can fork over $119.99 for a lifetime license.
Microsoft Workplace Phrase On-line
Don’t overlook Microsoft’s free different to the paid model of Phrase: Workplace On-line. Like Google Docs, Microsoft Phrase On-line is a simplified, cloud-based model of Phrase. It lacks quite a lot of the superior options of a locally-installed model of Phrase, however for customers who need a free model of Phrase, that is as shut as you may get.
Similarities between Google Docs and Phrase On-line are current all the best way right down to the interface, however with just a few tweaks to make it really feel extra just like the Microsoft ribbon as an alternative of the drop-down menus Google Docs customers are used to. Paperwork created in Phrase On-line are saved in Microsoft OneDrive, and real-time collaboration options like these in Google Docs can be found as nicely. One huge plus in Phrase On-line’s favor is formatting: In the event you create a doc in Phrase On-line after which import it to a neighborhood model of Microsoft Phrase, it’s going to retain the formatting manner higher than if it’s made in Google Docs.
Try 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 Workplace 365 that you just’ve by no means thought-about.
