Google Docs alternatives: European, French, open source
Google Docs is free, simple and proven. People leave it for three reasons: its documents are not real Word files, it struggles offline, and its data belongs to a US company. Here are the serious alternatives, and what each one solves.
Create an account Create my account My documents See the table
In short Which one should you choose?
You work for the French state
Docs from La Suite numérique: free for you, hosted in France (SecNumCloud), open source. A block editor, closer to a wiki than to a word processor.
Privacy first
CryptPad (France) or Proton Docs (Switzerland): end-to-end encrypted; even the host cannot read your documents.
An open-source suite on your servers
Collabora Online, ONLYOFFICE or Euro-Office, often with Nextcloud: spreadsheet and slides included.
.docx files written with outsiders
Paginel: real Word files, guests with a code, an offline desktop app. No editable tables or suggestion mode yet.
In detail What really changes
French alternatives
- Docs, from La Suite numérique: built by DINUM with Germany, open source (MIT licence), hosted in France under SecNumCloud. Open to French state employees; outsiders join through a shared link. Co-editing,
.docx,.odtand PDF export. It is a block editor, in the style of Notion. - CryptPad: from XWiki SAS in Paris, open source, end-to-end encrypted. Free on public instances; €5 to €100 a month on CryptPad.fr. Word import and export, with limited fidelity.
- Paginel: a paged word processor, compatible with Word, hosted in France. See Google Docs vs Paginel.
European alternatives
- Proton Docs (Switzerland): end-to-end encrypted, co-editing with cursors, comments and suggestions, sharing with people without a Proton account;
.docx, PDF and Markdown import and export. - Nextcloud Office (Germany): Collabora Online inside Nextcloud, and now Euro-Office; self-hosted or through a provider.
- Infomaniak kSuite (Switzerland): ONLYOFFICE hosted in Switzerland, free plan with 15 GB.
- Euro-Office: a European version of ONLYOFFICE launched in 2026 by IONOS, Nextcloud and others, open source (AGPL).
Elsewhere
- Zoho Writer (India): free, co-editing, offline mode,
.docximport and export. A good product, without a European angle. - Word for the web: free, faithful to Word’s format, but at Microsoft. See Word vs Google Docs.
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. - 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.
- Paginel is not open source: its code is not published.
The table Google Docs alternatives side by side
| Paginel | La Suite Docs | CryptPad | Proton Docs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company, country | Paginel, France. | DINUM (French state), with Germany. | XWiki SAS, France. | Proton AG, Switzerland. |
| For whom | Everyone (free beta). | French state employees; others self-host it. | Everyone. | Everyone. |
| .docx files | Yes (lead) Read and written faithfully. | Partly Import and export. | Partly Import and export, limited fidelity. | Partly Import and export. |
| Page layout, PDF | Yes (lead) Pages, headers, footnotes; PDF view. | Partly Block editor; PDF export. | Partly Rich text. | Partly Rich text; PDF export. |
| End-to-end encrypted | No No: the server merges the changes. | No | Yes | Yes |
| Offline | Yes (lead) Desktop app. | Partly Announced by the project. | Not verified. | Not verified. |
| Open source | No | Yes Yes (MIT). | Yes Yes (AGPL). | Partly Open-source apps. |
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.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a European alternative to Google Docs?
Yes: Proton Docs (Switzerland), CryptPad and La Suite Docs (France), Collabora Online, ONLYOFFICE and Euro-Office, and Paginel (a Word-compatible word processor, in beta).
What is an open-source alternative to Google Docs?
CryptPad, La Suite Docs, Collabora Online, ONLYOFFICE and Euro-Office are open source. Paginel is not.
Can I invite someone without an account?
Google Docs does it too: a link open for editing lets people write without an account, as an “anonymous animal”. In Paginel, guests enter with a code and their name, for as long as you choose. Proton Docs and La Suite Docs allow it through a link as well.
Why not CryptPad or Proton Docs?
If privacy comes first, they are excellent choices: end-to-end encrypted, which Paginel is not. Their documents are rich text, further from a laid-out Word file.
Try Paginel
The beta is open and free: create your account in a minute.
Create an account Create my account My documents See pricing
Other comparisons
- Word alternatives Free, online, offline: six ways to work without a Word subscription.
- 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.
Sources
Prices and features of other products checked on the date above, on their official pages. They change often: check before you decide.