Similar Software to LibreOffice: 16 best alternatives for 2023

LibreOffice is a free and open-source application that you can use to perform tasks like word processing, spreadsheet calculations, and presentation. The original author was Star Division and it was developed by The Document Foundation in January 2011. Its stable release was 11 years later in 2022. It can be used in most operating systems and is written in C++, XML, and Java. It is available in 119 languages. A lot of people use this application due to its user-friendly functions and features. They have improved compatibility in exporting .docx format documents. Its safety feature is top-notch with the use of OpenPGP keys to sign in. You can create E-book with an Epub export function, use a pivot chart for complex spreadsheets, usage of watermarks to customize your sheet, and an attractive presentation template to make your work even better. Calc has a major spreadsheet performance boost which makes it easier to use. They also included guide books for your convenience in case of any issue and can use safe mode if you suspect have any issue with the setup. The main part of LibreOffice is writer, calc, impress, draw, base, math, charts, and extensions. You do not have to pay for the license fee and can be used for an individual, a home office, or even a big enterprise with thousands of workers. This will be a great alternative to any other major office application.

1. Quip

Quip is a productivity software founded in 2012 by Bret Taylor, who is a co-creator of the well known tool "Google Maps" and an ex worker of Facebook Inc.. It was firstly launched as a website in 2012 but one year later the company launched a mobile phone app. This software allows people to create and edit documents together, and also has a spreadsheet tool, which makes this software very useful for businesses. Quip allows everyone to edit the same document at the same time, showing the history of versions and who and when made each of the changes in the document. Even thought you don't have internet connection at a particular moment, you can still use every tool, creating and editing the documents during that time and right after you recover internet connection the changes will automatically be shown to the rest of the persons inside the document. It also gives you the chance to mention someone with an @, and that person will get a notification on his phone, perfect for giving a touch of attention to those mates who take advantage of group works. Quip is a very useful app that can be used for editing documents with your workmates or classmates and works very efficiently, with an instant update of the new information that makes group work very comfortable to do.

2. GoodNotes

GoodNotes is a beautiful and powerful PDF annotating and organizing App. It allows you to read, mark up, review, and share your documents. Whether you process business contracts or use annotations on notes and textbooks this software is the ultimate companion for your needs. It includes optical character recognition technology and handwriting, which will enable you to search for digital notes using various keywords. All your documents and annotations will be securely stored on all Apple devices. You can protect them with a strong password and log in automatically without filling in any complicated forms. GoodNotes also allows you to mix handwriting, drawings, and digital text freely on one page and add an unlimited number of notes per document. You can export and print your documents and pass them to other people or import and annotate them even on a Windows PC. A brand new document manager allows you to review all the files stored in one place. The file manager will help you sort out large notes and decide which ones to delete, share, reorganize or move to iCloud. GoodNotes has digital highlighters, vector drawings tools with layers support, and more powerful annotation options. You can also make your handwriting look prettier by choosing from 6 different pen styles or erasing it if you made a mistake. The new note editor allows you to type custom text right on the page, and you can also change the text size and color. This new App has all the PDF annotation tools we've dreamed of: fast and precise Highlighter with unlimited colors, Marker Pen, Squiggly Line tool, Text Stamp, Rectangle Boxes, and Arrows. There are also Emoji Stickers which you can use for a quick note or highlight. GoodNotes has many features to make your work easier: you can use many different options, adjust the vertical and horizontal spacing between notes per page, manage text alignment, background colors, and zoom level. What's most important is that GoodNotes lets you get rid of paper completely and work even when there's no Internet connection. The program is compatible with all Apple products: iPhone, iPad, and macOS computers. Just download it once and always access your PDF documents on any device you own. GoodNotes has a user-friendly interface. Its pricing ranges from $7.99 monthly to $39.99 annually, and you can try it for free as well: download the App and go enjoy 3 days of these features completely free of charge. Some so many people can benefit from this software, and they include: Lawyers or people who deal with many legal documents daily. GoodNotes will help them review, mark up and organize papers without buying additional equipment. Students can use GoodNotes' built-in optical character recognition to search for handwritten annotations using keywords. This will save their time spent on research and studying. Salespeople can use GoodNotes' notetaking capabilities to decrease notetaking time and process their sales faster. Business owners can decrease the number of meetings by delegating tasks online with Goodnotes' digital signature feature. Anyone who wants to go paperless or has a hard time keeping track of important documents. GoodNotes is the best companion for any Apple device to take notes, annotate documents and create amazing papers. This note taking app will enable you to save your time spent on research and studying

3. Microsoft Word

Microsoft's native word processing suite.

4. WriteMonkey

Writemonkey is a free text editor for windows with a very simple and easy-to-use interface.

This software has been specifically designed to write, in comparison with other text editors this has been created as a better choice for this task, you will definitely notice it when you open the program since it will only show an area to start writing, leaving out many common tools for text editing.

If you run the program in window mode it will show the toolbar on the top of it, but If you run it on full screen the toolbar will disappear, removing every distraction, but you will still be able to access the tools by right-clicking your mouse.

This software has also some common features among the text editors such as spell check, and it also has some curiosities such as the possibility to put different sounds while writing, for example, an old keyboard typing sound, which could be more immersive for some people and make them more focused on their writing. Writemonkey is a comfortable, quick, and easy-to-use program. Since it leaves out many features of a typical text editor, it is way lighter than those, which makes it work faster and more efficiently If you don't need to make use of that tools.

5. Microsoft Excel Online

Microsoft Office Excel Online is an online data spreadsheet that can be used by different users in an online sharing method or more likely real-time co-authoring capabilities enabling collaboration between colleagues. It was developed by Microsoft as a way of doing data spreadsheets on an online platform. Since Microsoft Office Excel is about data entry which it must be done through scan and most of its users are accountants, statisticians, and financial experts, because of it being in an online platform editing can be very easy and efficient especially if there has been a technical error in the data entry making it very easy for a colleague to correct the error since he/she is in the online platform and an authorized person to view and edit the spreadsheet. Overall this new Microsoft Office Excel Online is perfect for accounting firms because they usually deal in data entries making it an exceptional tool for data entry specialists.

6. SmartSheet

Smartsheet is a "software as a service" or in short SaaS that offers work management and collaboration. Using a tabular user interface it will assign tasks, manage calendars and track project progress. It was developed by Smartsheet Inc and was first released in 2006. It can be used in web platforms, Android, and iOS. The application is available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese, German, Italian, and Russian. This application has content management, process management, and project resource management that can manage your work in more easier and accessible ways. You have the support of the team seamlessly in a 360-degree environment. You can have access to Brandfolder which will manage your digital assets. You can use automation to do many tasks there to minimize the workload. It also comes with powerful integration and adds-on to assist you. Using a solution center, you can do any task related to IT. Anyone can get started as a free user but once the 30 day trial period is finished, you will need to be a paying customer, and it's about $7 a month on a yearly subscription. Usually used by mid-sized companies and information technology-related industries.

7. FocusWriter

FocusWriter is an open code software designed by Grame Gott, which was created as an alternative to other text editors to make our writing easier and free of distractions. It's interface is absolutely clean,and in comparison with other text editors it doesn't show a toolbar until we put the cursor on the top of the screen. The software offers some interesting features such as spell check, autosave, support of .txt, .rft and .odt documents, timers, and customizable themes. This software is perfect for those of us who like working in a very clean space where we can't do anything else but focus on our work. FocusWriter not only has a clean interface, it also has some tools such as highlighting one part of the text while attenuating the rest, so you are even more focused in the part you are reading, writing or editing. It is definitely a very comfortable tool that can be used for many purposes while staying concentrated and efficient.

8. WPS Office Writer Free

WPS Office Free Writer is a free alternative software program for Microsoft office, it is available for Windows, Android, IOS, and Linux making it available for cross platforms. Its functions are similar to the Microsoft office making it very easy to use and having a friendly user interface, perhaps its most notable function is being able to open an MS word file without compromising the content of the document making it usable in any type of platform. Most of the users of this software would include people who are using small devices such as a smartphone, and tablet who cannot fully display an entire Microsoft office file due to hardware configurations and since it is free the user will no longer have to worry about the subscription fees, and premium contents since the free version are already packed with great features perfect for everyday use making it one of the greatest software applications.

9. LibreOffice Writer

LibreOffice is an open code productivity software that was launched in 2010. It was developed by some members of the OpenOffice.org comunity, who thought that users should be have the freedom to execute, copy, study and change the software they distributed for free. It was developed in C++, Python, and Java code languages. This software is a powerful text proccessing tool, compatible with other softwares such as Microsoft Word and with different operative systems such as Windows, Linux or Mac OS. It can be used as a tool to edit texts from your computer, and If you have never used it you may think it is a copy Microsoft Word, but it has some particular features that Word doesn't have. The main difference between Word and LibreOffice is that Microsoft Word is a software that belongs to Microsoft's office suite, which means you have to pay for using it, while LibreOffice is a free to use software. Furthermore, LibreOffice allows you to encode a document through GPG protocol, which reduces the risk of unauthorized people getting your information, which is a feature that Word doesn't have. Therefore, If you don't want to spend money on a safe and powerful text editor, you should definitely check LibreOffice's website, I'm sure you won't be dissapointed.

10. FreeOffice TextMaker

FreeOffice is the free version of SoftMaker Office, which was developed in 1987 by a german company called SoftMaker Software GmbH. This free version was launched in 2006 and is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac OS. FreeOffice is an ofimatic suite that includes text processing, spreadsheet and presentation sheet tools as a free alternative to Microsoft Office softwares, but being compatible with them at the same time. It has very similar features to those Microsoft programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) , allowing you to edit, write and save documents in microsoft formats. The software includes four different components, text maker is the word porcessor, plan maker the spreadsheet, softmaker presentations the presentation tool, and basicmaker a programming tool. If you are looking for a software similar to those of Microsoft office but you don't want to spend money on it FreeOffice is definitely a good choice. You could do your documents at home with it and then bring them to your workplace or study place and open that documents in microsoft applications.

11. Zoho Sheet

Zoho Sheet is an online spreadsheet application used for data entry and statistical jobs and it was developed by Zoho Corporation. The entire application is very similar to a Microsoft Excel and WPS spreadsheet making it very useful for accountants, statisticians, and mathematicians that deal with numbers all day. Its key feature is its online feature suitable for colleagues that have similar projects that need in-depth scanning and checking making it easier for editing and correcting any technical errors. It is very secure and the Zoho sheets are very safe to use for corporations that handle sensitive financial data. The entire user interface is much easier to understand and used since some of its users can be beginners and are starting with the data entry. Overall the Zoho Sheet is very reliable secured and safe making it more appropriate for newbies and most of all it can be downloaded for free on their website.

12. Google Sheets

Google sheets are considered to be a spreadsheet program as part of google's free web-based google document editor that is being offered by the tech giant Google. It is available on the web application, desktop application for windows, and mobile application for android users. Google Sheets is similar to Microsoft's Excel making it completely compatible for users. It is mostly used for data entry and data organizations, people who use google sheets are usually accountants, statisticians, and mathematicians since organizing numbers is more efficient in google sheets because of the ready-to-use tables inside the software. Using google sheets is much easier than any other software since it can be saved automatically because it can be synced with the user's Google account which makes it safe and secured for doing delicate data projects. Most of all it is free to used the user does not have to pay any subscription fee which makes using very worthwhile.

13. Apache OpenOffice Calc

Apache OpenOffice Calc is a spreadsheet application that is used for professional data miners and data entry. It was developed by Apache Software Foundation. It is more likely like a Spreadsheet capable of data entry and is mostly being used by accountants, statisticians, and mathematicians. Its key features include organizing data entry and data presentations that can be used for corporate meetings making it very useful for projects that are being done in a hurry. Most of all it is free and easy to use perfect for newbies who are just starting with data entry workloads, One of its key features includes being able to be fully compatible with Microsoft Excel without damaging any contents of the file and being able to send it with another user, even with older versions of Microsoft Excel. Overall the Apache Openoffice Calc is a great alternative for users who are on the go and having trouble learning the Microsoft Excel.

14. Airtable

Airtable is a collaborative software that was founded in 2012 by Howie Liu, Andrew Ofstad, and Emmett Nicholas. This online platform is pretty easy to use and it allows you to create and share databases. This software has 5 different features that are used for different purposes. The bases, which you can start form zero and use any of the templates that you can find in the software. The tables, used for compiling a list of data about a particular subject, each base can have one or more table. The fields, these are the equivalent of a column in a spreadsheet, and are designed to coherence to the data. The records, which are the equivalent to a row in a spreadsheet. And at least the views, which allow you to create customized views of the data, perfect to see specific things of the database. Airtable is a very complete and comfortable to use software, and a very good tool for database management. It can be used for many different purposes even for business or just for digitalizing your daily processes and manage your time.

15. WPS Spreadsheets

WPS Spreadsheets is an office suite made for Windows, Mac, Linux, IOS, and Android. It was developed by Kingsoft, the spreadsheet is one of the three components as the WPS Writer, WPS Presentation, and WPS Spreadsheet. Some of its features are very similar to Microsoft Excel but it is on the lighter side such as its interface making it more suitable for smartphone users since not everyone can bring his/her laptop anytime which makes it a great substitute. Most of its users are people who use their smartphones more frequently such as data encoders that are in the field instead of in the office and are on the go best of all the software is free and can easily be downloaded via Playstore and Appstore. Overall the software is a great substitute when to Microsoft Office especially if the user only has his/her smartphone on her hand and best of all the software is free and has no hidden charges.

16. Microsoft Publisher

Microsoft Publisher is a software made for desktop publishing developed by Microsoft although it is similar to the famous Microsoft Word it differs in certain page layouts and design. It is best used for writing and publishing academic, and business papers due to its design and interface that is easy to use for writing compositions, it is also best for publishing materials because it can be outlined with the appropriate citations and format. Most of the users of this software application are academic writers who published books and research papers such as thesis and dissertations who are in need of constant revisions on their contents and even in the format. It is an all-around publishing application that has been very helpful in creating wonderful and informative content that is being read by different people around the world. Overall this is a very useful application that still needs to be in MS office packages.