3 Free Microsoft Word Alternatives

If you’re like me, Microsoft Word was and may still be a mainstay on your PC. I know when I was younger I thought I was all that when I had a full install of Microsoft Office. As time grew on, my path in life did as well. My needs and priorities changed. I spent my money on software titles like Photoshop and Dreamweaver to further my web and graphic design business. Microsoft Word wasn’t a necessity. I found an open source alternative that was free and used that. I could save DOC and DOCX files – I was set.

Microsoft Office still corners the market but there are several reliable free options out there to be found. All very useful, with many of the features of Word and all compatible with existing documents.

SoftMaker FreeOffice

SoftMaker FreeOffice 2018 is free to use at home and for business. FreeOffice is a complete Office suite with a word processor, a spreadsheet application and a presentation program – all compatible with their counterparts in Microsoft Office.

SoftMaker FreeOffice’s Word alternative is TextMaker. Its interface is less cluttered than most free Microsoft Word alternatives, and it is packed full of useful tools and flexible settings. The powerful word processor combines ease of use with a long list of features that let you create beautiful documents with ease. Numerous new template catalogs and drop-down elements take the work out of formatting text, tables, and pictures.

Full list of TextMaker’s features

With FreeOffice 2018 you can open, edit, and save documents in the Microsoft file formats DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX. This makes it easy to share files directly with Microsoft Office users.

System requirements:
• Windows 7, 8, 10, Windows Server 2008 R2 or newer
• macOS 10.10 or higher
• Any PC-based Linux (32 or 64 bits)

DOWNLOAD SoftMaker FreeOffic

Apache OpenOffice

Apache OpenOffice may be the oldest and most well-known name in this list. OpenOffice is the first Microsoft Word alternative I worked with. I still use it to this day. I have never experienced an issue with the software and consider it a very reliable choice to replace your Office suite software.

Apache OpenOffice is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.

OpenOffice’s Word counterpart is Writer. Writer is a word processor you can use for anything from writing a quick letter to producing an entire book. It has everything you would expect from a modern, fully equipped word processor.

Apache OpenOffice comes fully installed with DOC and DOCX support – Writer can, of course, read all your older Microsoft Word documents, or save your work in Microsoft Word format for sending to people who are still using Microsoft products. Writer can also open .docx files created with Microsoft Office 2007 or Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac OS X.

System requirements:
• Windows XP or newer
• macOS 10.7 (Lion) or higher
• Linux kernel version 2.6 or higher, glibc2 version 2.5 or higher

DOWNLOAD Apache OpenOffice

LibreOffice

LibreOffice is a powerful office suite – its clean interface and feature-rich tools help you unleash your creativity and enhance your productivity.
LibreOffice includes several applications that make it one of the most powerful Free and Open Source office suites on the market.

LibreOffice’s Writer is their answer to Microsoft Word. Writer has all the features you need from a modern, full-featured word processing and desktop publishing tool. It’s simple enough for a quick memo, but powerful enough to create complete books with contents, diagrams, indexes, and more. You’re free to concentrate on your message, while Writer makes it look great.

LibreOffice Writer is fully compatible with Microsoft Word documents (including DOC and DOCX) as well as other common text file formats, so you’ll have no trouble sharing files with friends or colleagues using different software, or opening your old files.

System Requirments

DOWNLOAD LibreOffice

There are more options out there when it comes to Microsoft Word alternatives but these three are the best in my opinion. Of course, there are several free writing apps, which I will cover in a future article, but for actual software titles Apache OpenOffice, LibreOffice, and SiteMaker’s FreeOffice are the most powerful and user-friendly.