We’ve all written emails, college essays, and articles and maybe even dreamed of becoming published authors because of our imaginations as children.
Or was that just me?
Either way, personally or professionally, we’ve all written some content. Editing, organizing, and sharing this content can be quite intimidating if we don’t use the right tools to guide us in the right direction. Attention to detail is key to creating content such as legal documents, client publications, company reports, personal to-do lists, or internal memos.
Document creation software helps users edit, customize, and share documents. It also stores documents for collaborative editing, which can be a solution for teams working toward a shared goal even if they don’t share a location.
Please note that the following tools are ranked alphabetically:
Choosing the right word processor for your needs elevates and refines your content requirements. A multitude of free and paid word processors are out there to choose from, and we’re going to walk you through a few.
Content creation can be intimidating. But with the right software, you can make sure that you write, edit, organize, and share your content seamlessly.
This word processing software list features real user reviews. Please note: vendors that offer a free trial are also considered free. To be included, the software solution must be able to do one or more of the following.
*This data was pulled from G2 in 2023. The product list is ranked in alphabetical order. Some reviews may have been edited for clarity.
Category: Document Creation Software
Apache OpenOffice Writer is open-source software with everything you’d expect from a modern word processor. It creates simple memos or an entire book with diagrams and indices. Writer is easy-to-use and makes your ideas look great.
“Open Office gives us full automation across the board, like Microsoft Office, with additional features, especially within Writer. We don't need to run a bunch of programs. For example, if I wish to process a PDF file, I can open and edit it, then save it, all within Apache OpenOffice Writer without needing any additional software.”
- Apache OpenOffice Writer Review, John Benjamin T.
“The page's design is important to me, and I often find that OpenOffice will display the text with improper kerning and leading. It will show some lines as being slightly too high/low or letters too close/too far away from each other. Zooming out and in shifts the whole thing, so I can tell that it won't show that way when I export or print the file, but I wish I didn't see it while I was writing.”
- Apache OpenOffice Writer Review, Avia K.
Category: Document Creation Software
Coda is a doc that joins teams and words. It comes with a set of building blocks combined to create powerful work. These building blocks create infinite depth, tables, and even actional buttons within Coda. Its versatility can help individuals launch products, scale businesses, or even study for tests.
“It's easy to start working in Coda. Ease of use, in general, is very high. You can easily create or remove pages and subpages, change text formatting, add tables, and import many of the most common types of documents. The ability to set an icon and a cover image allows each page to stand out and makes it easier to know at a glance what kind of page you're on. It's also incredibly easy to collaborate within Coda, with multiple people seamlessly interacting with and changing items together.”
- Coda Review, Brianna T.
“I wish the formatting options for texts and inserting images were better. Formatting text to strikethrough, be a different font, etc., is not as intuitive as other tools, and inserting images/other media into a Coda section is not easily done.”
- Coda Review, Adrienne D.
Category: Document Creation Software
More than a regular doc, Dropbox Paper is a co-editing tool that brings creation and coordination together. Get your team on the same page by keeping the agenda, meeting minutes, next steps, and assignments in one place. Dropbox Paper’s management tools help you stay organized by adding due dates, assigning to-dos, and mentioning people along with their tasks. It offers smart templates and can connect to your calendar for smooth functioning.
“Dropbox Paper is a clear and natural stage for making reports and working together. Dropbox Paper gives clients the freedom to alter archives to suit their requirements. You can add media from outside sources like pictures, recordings, and GIFs.
Dropbox Paper additionally supports adding joins from media sources, such as Youtube, SoundCloud, Vimeo, Streamable, etc. You can install the recordings from the connections directly on the report for simple review. Dropbox Paper is a finished instrument for coordinated effort, and one of the most incredible highlights is making records.”
- Dropbox Paper Review, Nalla A.
“Sometimes you can’t see a document preview, so you have to download it to view it. This is an additional step in the process.”
- Dropbox Paper Review, Tere L.
Category: Note-Taking Software
Evernote is a note-taking and word-processing tool that captures to-do lists, projects, ideas, and memories. You can attach documents, take voice memos, and scan images. Use it to organize everything from personal memories to big projects in an accessible location, even offline.
“Evernote is great for collaboration. It allows me to share my notes and collaborate with colleagues. It integrates with a wide variety of apps I use, thus making it easy to share notes with other tools. It's available on multiple platforms. This makes it easy to access my notes from any device. Its powerful search function makes searching for keywords, notes, and attachments easy.”
- Evernote Review, John E.
“One thing I don't like is the way notes are managed. When you are a beginner user and have few notes, it works very well, but for more advanced users with a lot of information, this management is very short.”
- Evernote Review, Jesus M.
Category: AI Writing Assistant Software
Grammarly empowers over 50,000 teams worldwide. Its trusted AI-powered suggestions help writers to improve word choices, clarify sentences, fix grammatical errors, and refine tone. Whether email, articles, or any other form of writing, Grammarly enhances all your communications.
“I have been using Grammarly for a while, and it has been a game-changer. The suggestions are incredibly helpful, and it has caught countless errors that I would have missed otherwise. I love the personalized feedback that considers my writing style and preferences. The interface is easy to use, and I appreciate that it is used across various platforms, including web browsers and mobile apps. The plagiarism checker has been a lifesaver for me.”
- Grammarly Review, Husnain M.
“I dislike when Grammarly isn't that effective and consistent when using the Chrome Extension. I'd like to have the same accuracy on the Chrome Extension as I have on their platform.”
- Grammarly Review, Laura M.
Category: Office Suites Software
A community-driven and developed software, LibreOffice is a free, open-source software that believes in sharing work in a non-restrictive way. They believe that everyone deserves access to free software.
“LibreOffice is a versatile and accessible office suite compatible with various operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and Mac. This makes sharing files across different platforms and maintaining the same workflows easy. I find Writer and Calc, the LibreOffice equivalent of Word and Excel, packed with a wealth of well-organized features that provides a great user experience. Moreover, LibreOffice offers an extensive range of export options, including the most commonly used formats.”
- LibreOffice Review, Ram N.
“Unlike Microsoft or Google Sheets, it lacks online options for saving and sharing, automation, or online integration. While its formula support is good, its key shortcuts are fewer than Microsoft suites.”
- LibreOffice Review, Pallavi A.
Category: Document Creation Software
Polished documents – anytime, anywhere. Microsoft Word helps you write like a pro by checking grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation in all Word documents with Microsoft Editor. Share documents and edit with anyone. Save documents to OneDrive and access them from any device. No matter what, your files are protected against ransomware and cyber attacks.
“Microsoft Word keeps me organized and formatted. Whenever I have to create a document, it is easy to input the information into a blank page, format it, etc. It also integrates information with Excel, Powerpoint, and other Microsoft programs. I integrate information from Word mostly into Excel and Powerpoint.”
- Microsoft Word Review, Karen C.
“It has many good features in quantity and quality, but sometimes it becomes hard to understand and operate because of the great quantity. A person has to spend a reasonable amount of time to understand it, and it is very complex to comprehend MS Word for a person who is a newbie.”
- Microsoft Word Review, Vijay S.
Category: Knowledge Management Software
Notion is a workspace where you and your team collaborate, take notes, manage tasks, and organize work. With Notion AI, you can reach new heights without jumping between your word processing application and an AI-powered tool. Notion helps task management and organization.
“I like Notion because it is an all-in-one platform that allows me to combine multiple tools into one unified workspace, such as note-taking, task management, databases, and more. It is highly customizable, and combined with the amazing templates other creative users are building, it can create a unique setup that works best for my everyday needs.”
- Notion Review, Nibir D.
“It takes a bit of time to get used to all the possibilities, and the names aren't always the clearest. It takes trial and error to play with and figure things out.”
- Notion Review, Audrey G.
Category: Office Suites Software
With over 1.2 billion installs, WPS Office is a leading productivity suite for PC and mobile devices. Its high-performance and affordable solution is fully compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, and Word. This free word editor is available for Linux-based PCs, Windows, Android, and iOS.
“WPS Office provides a convenient solution for accessing documents in various formats all in one place. One of its most valuable features is converting documents from one format to another. Additionally, it includes an integrated data storage system that makes it easy to access past documents.”
- WPS Office Review, Deepesh S.
“Some fonts do not appear and are difficult to get. Also, they don´t have some templates that Windows Office has. It would be nice to have these two resources.”
- WPS Office Review, Angel C.
Category: Document Creation Software
Zoho Writer is an online word processor that helps you write, edit, and collaborate on documents, and then makes it easy for you to publish them across multiple platforms. Zoho has powerful editing capabilities, an AI-powered multilingual writing assistant, and a multi-stage approval workflow.
“Zoho Writer has proven to be an effective and efficient tool for creating, editing, formatting, and sharing documents. It's one of the easiest and best software options we've used for this purpose, and it offers a wide range of features that make it particularly useful from a business perspective.
One of the things we appreciate about Zoho Writer is that it provides a clean blank page with minimal tools, allowing us to focus on our work without being overwhelmed by unnecessary features. We can access the tools we need as needed, much like in a physical notebook.”
- Zoho Writer Review, Pawan K.
“Sometimes I find it difficult to convert documents into PDFs, etc. Also, Zoho Writer is great at correcting spelling, but sometimes interprets it incorrectly, so we need to verify the spelling.”
- Zoho Writer Review, Vandana K.
With this free word processing software, you can easily start creating your next masterpiece. Whether you’re a beginner or a tenured professional, present each content piece confidently.
Want to collaborate with your team on projects and work on tasks in real time? Here’s your guide to document collaboration (because teamwork makes the dream work).
Stop second-guessing your content by ensuring that you use the right document creation software to help you edit!
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Tanuja Bahirat is a Content Marketing Specialist at G2. She has previously written for the ed-tech industry and currently specializes in Data De-Identification, DDoS protection, mobile data security, cloud directory services, DNS security, runtime application self-protection, and network security policy management among other security categories to provide valuable information to readers. When she's not busy writing, she can be found attending local concerts, exploring cafes, trying her hand at baking, or binge watching series.
Stop second-guessing your content by ensuring that you use the right document creation software to help you edit!
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