Comparisons
Choosing a word processor means choosing where your documents live and who you write them with. These pages compare Paginel with Word, Google Docs and European alternatives, without hiding what it does not do yet.
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- Word alternatives Free, online, offline: six ways to work without a Word subscription.
- Google Docs alternatives European, French or open source: who does what, and for whom.
- Word vs Google Docs The classic match-up, with Paginel as a third column.
- Word vs Paginel The same .docx file, two ways of working.
- Google Docs vs Paginel Google Docs-style co-editing, on real Word files.
- A European Word European alternatives to Word, and what “sovereign” means.
- A sovereign Google Docs Writing together online, with data in France or Europe.
- ONLYOFFICE, Collabora, LibreOffice The open-source suites against Paginel: complete on one side, simple on the other.
In detail What really changes
How we compare
- Facts about other products come from their official pages, cited at the bottom of each comparison, with the date we checked them.
- What we could not verify is not written.
- Each page says who another tool suits better, and what Paginel does not do yet.
- What does not exist yet in Paginel is marked “coming soon” or “planned”, never presented as done.
Honestly What Paginel does not do (yet)
- Paginel is in beta, open to everyone and free. It is a young product.
- Tables cannot be edited yet: tables in a
.docxshow as plain lines (cells separated by tabs), on screen and in the PDF. Saving into the original file keeps them intact. A document full of tables is not for Paginel yet. - No track changes and no suggestion mode. Comments exist in Paginel, but are not yet written into the
.docx. - Without Microsoft’s fonts, Paginel uses free fonts with the same metrics (Calibri becomes Carlito, Arial becomes Liberation Sans), unless the document embeds its own: the layout is close to Word, not guaranteed identical.
- Desktop app for macOS (Apple silicon) and Linux; Windows is planned, with no date. On phones and tablets: the browser only.
- A word processor, nothing else: no spreadsheet, no slides, no email.
The table Paginel, Word and Google Docs at a glance
| Paginel | Microsoft Word | Google Docs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free during the beta. Planned: a free plan, and €20 a year (VAT incl.) for unlimited use. | Word for the web free with a Microsoft account; Microsoft 365 Personal €99 a year in France; Office 2024, €149 once. | Free with a Google account; Workspace from €6.80 per user per month (excl. VAT). |
| .docx files | Yes Read and written by Paginel itself; what it does not change stays as it was in the file. | Yes The native format. | Partly Opened and edited without conversion; Docs itself flags the Word features it does not support. |
| Tables, track changes | No Not yet. | Yes Complete. | Yes Tables; suggestion mode. |
| Real-time co-editing | Yes Browser and desktop app, on the same document. | Partly File on OneDrive or SharePoint, with AutoSave on. | Yes The heart of the product, since 2006. |
| Offline | Yes Desktop app; changes merge automatically on reconnection, no conflicts to resolve. | Yes Word desktop, on files on your computer. | Partly Extension for Chrome or Edge, one account per profile; admins can turn it off. |
| Where your data lives | French company, hosted in France. | Microsoft (United States): European data stays in the EU (EU Data Boundary), but is subject to US law (CLOUD Act). | Google (United States): European data regions on some Workspace plans, but subject to US law (CLOUD Act). |
Yes : the highlighted word marks the lead on that point.
. Our rule: say when another tool will suit you better, and what Paginel does not do yet. Spotted a mistake? Write to us and we will fix it.
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