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Open Source Google Docs Alternatives

The best open source alternative to Google Docs is LibreOffice - Writer. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Google Docs and many of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Google Docs are CryptPad, Apache OpenOffice, Etherpad and MediaWiki.

Google Docs alternatives are mainly Word Processors but may also be Note-taking Tools or Office Suites. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Google Docs.
This page was last updated Jun 29, 2022
Google Docs
  889
  • Free • Proprietary
  • Online
  • Android
  • iPhone
  • Chrome OS
  • Android Tablet
  • iPad

Google Docs is an online word processor, part of Google Drive, that lets you create and format...

Learn more about Google Docs

  1. Writer has all the features you need from a modern, full-featured word processing or desktop publishing tool.

    LibreOffice - Writer vs Google Docs opinions
    This alternative is disputed. LibreOffice - Writer is still a legitimate alternative to Google Docs, but it might have issues that some users think are important.
    Lehmax

    Google Docs makes collaboration easy. LibreOffice doesn't offer that feature.

    Top negative comment  over 4 years ago
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    26
    Anipe

    More of an office clone due to the lack of online function

    Comment • 2 months ago
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    0
    intp

    Not really an apples-apples comparison. A more direct alternative would be something like Microsoft Word online or Perhaps NextCloud with OnlyOffice

    Negative comment • 9 months ago
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    0

    Libre Office - Writer is more like Microsoft word not used for online sharing.

    Negative comment • over 2 years ago
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    15

    The primary value-add on google docs is real-time collaboration. That's not available on libreoffice.

    Negative comment • about 3 years ago
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    17

  2. CryptPad is a private-by-design alternative to popular office tools and cloud services. All the content stored on CryptPad is encrypted before being sent, which means nobody can access your data unless you give them the keys.

    CryptPad vs Google Docs opinions
    Almost everyone thinks CryptPad is a great alternative to Google Docs.

    Zero Knowledge collaborative editor. None of the other editors have this feature which is nescesary in today's world!

    Top positive comment  over 5 years ago
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    4
    Douze

    CryptPad is both secure AND easy to use. What's not to love about that ? Privacy isn't limited to tech savvy people anymore !

    Top positive comment  about 2 months ago
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    0

    Etherpad isn't a fully-featured word processor. It's only allows text editing with some functionality.

    Top negative comment  over 2 years ago
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    -2

    It's way better as it is much safer than the data-eating Google Docs.

    Positive comment • over 1 year ago
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    0
    zokris

    Everything on CryptPad is encrypted by design and you can create notepads, sheets, presentations, code, polls, whiteboards and to-do lists. Of course you can share them with collaborators and on top of that you don't even need an account to use CryptPad!

    Positive comment • almost 2 years ago
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    1
    newbread

    It's an online collaborative editor not like libreoffice and open office. But it's also not harvesting my data and can be used without registratition.

    Positive comment • over 2 years ago
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    2

    sheets and slides are missing

    Negative comment • about 3 years ago
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    0

  4. Apache OpenOffice is a leading open-source office suite that offers free applications for word processing, spreadsheet, presentations, graphics, databases and more.

  5. Etherpad

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    • Free • Open Source
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron

    Etherpad is a highly customizable Open Source online editor providing collaborative editing in really real-time.

    Most users think Etherpad is a great alternative to Google Docs.

  6. MediaWiki is a free software wiki package written in PHP, originally for use on Wikipedia. It is now used by several other projects of the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation and by many other wikis, including this website, the home of MediaWiki.

  8. Foam

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    • Free • Open Source
    • Self-Hosted
    • Visual Studio Code

    Foam is a personal knowledge management and sharing system inspired by Roam Research, built on Visual Studio Code and GitHub.

  9. Create and edit documents online without sacrificing your privacy.

    Discontinued

    Project seems dead, github repo still up.

    Almost everyone thinks Airborn is a great alternative to Google Docs.

  10. Twake

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    • Freemium • Open Source
    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted

    Twake is a real-time teamwork platform. It is a suite of collaborative tools that includes the specificities of some bestsellers (Slack, Trello, Google Drive...).

  11. Documize

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    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted

    Documize creates the Enterprise Knowledge Backbone by unifying docs, wiki, reporting and dashboards —

  12. recordando

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    • Free • Open Source
    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted

    recordando (Spanish for remembering) is a program in which to keep your written thoughts

Showing 10 of 23 alternatives