Free, open-source alternatives to Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is a word processor for writing and formatting documents, from letters to long reports, with styles, comments, tracked changes and shared editing through Microsoft 365. The open-source apps below do the same core job on the Mac: they create and edit formatted documents, and they open Word's .docx files alongside their own formats.

LibreOffice Writer, part of the LibreOffice suite, uses OpenDocument Text as its native format and covers styles, templates, tracked changes and PDF export, and it saves .docx as well. ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors works with the Office Open XML formats natively and uses a tabbed, ribbon-style toolbar that feels closer to Word. Apache OpenOffice Writer is a slower-moving alternative that opens .docx but saves Word files only in the older .doc format. Complex layouts can shift when a file moves between apps, so check important documents before sending them.