Compatibility

Compatibility with Microsoft Word and Google Docs

This is a quick comparison of document creation, formatting, design, collaboration, review, publishing, and AI-writing features of Zoho Writer, Microsoft Word, and Google Docs. While all these word processors are equally capable of creating documents, there are few subtle differences between them in certain aspects. The following table provides a feature-to-feature comparison between their capabilities and differences in detail.

Content creation

This section focuses on the various content creation capabilities offered by these word processors.
Feature 
Description 
Zoho Writer
Microsoft Word
Google Docs
Paragraph
Set indent, alignment, line, and paragraph spacing, drop cap, and more.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Images
 
Add images from your local files, cloud drives, URLs, and more.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Crop, rotate, annotate, and more.
Yes
Yes
Yes (Annotation is not supported)
Lists
Create ordered and unordered lists, image lists, heading lists, and more.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Tables
Insert and design tables and more.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Table and image captions
Add captions to tables and images for better visibility.
Yes
Yes
No
Equations and symbols
Insert symbols and equations.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Hyperlinks, bookmarks, end notes, and footnotes
Organize your documents better and add additional information.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Shapes and textboxes
Insert or draw various shapes and add textboxes.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Fields
Insert various types of fieldssuch as Date and Document Name, to create a form.
Yes
Yes
No
Charts
Insert, edit, copy and paste charts, and convert text to charts.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Autofields
Automatically display document information.
Yes
Yes
No
Media and web widgets
Insert videos and embed presentations and charts.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Watermark
Add a watermark to your documents.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Citation and bibliography
Cite from various sources in different styles.
Yes
Yes
Yes

Content formatting

Zoho Writer provides a range of formatting features, allowing users to customize their documents to meet specific aesthetic and functional needs of both businesses and individual users. 
Feature 
Description 
Zoho WriterMicrosoft Word
Google Docs
Text formatting
Bold, italicize, underline text, change font style, color, size of text, and more.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Text direction
Left to right (LTR) and right to left (RTL) support.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Format painter
Copy formatting from a character or paragraph and apply it to another.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Autocorrect and quick text
Add automatic correction rules and insert saved blocks of text at any place across documents.
 
Yes
Yes
Yes
(Quick Text is not supported)  

Advanced options

While both Microsoft Word and Google Docs offer various advanced document editing options to design engaging documents, Zoho Writer will catch up with them to provide them soon.
Feature 
Description 
Zoho Writer
Microsoft Word
Google Docs
Text effects
Add shadow, reflection, or glow.
No
Yes
No
Image effects
Add shadow, reflection, glow, soft edges, and more to images.
No
Yes
No
Formulas in tables
Include the ability to perform calculations with table values.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Table of contents
Include the ability to add a table of contents to the top of the document.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Table of tables & Table of figures
List the tables, figures, and images in your document.
Yes
Yes
No

Document design and layout 

Zoho Writer, Microsoft Word, and Google Docs offer a plethora of options to design visually appealing documents.
Feature 
Description 
Zoho Writer
Microsoft Word
Google Docs
Borders and shading
Include the ability to add page borders and shading.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Page layout
Select from various layouts, such as A4 and Letter.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Multi-column layout
Add multiple columns and orientations to documents.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Headers and footers
Add headers and footers across pages and customize them.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Page, column, and section breaks
Manually add page, column, and section breaks.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Page view and web view modes
Switch between page and web views.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Table themes
Add various built-in themes to tables.
Yes
Yes
No
Margins
Add and customize margins to document pages
Yes
Yes
Yes
Paragraph & character styles
Add various styles to your paragraph and characters.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Document themes
Add various built-in themes to your documents.
Yes
Yes
No
Outline mode
The ability to manage documents' structure and headings.
Yes (with Navigation Panel)
Yes
Yes
Cover page
Add a cover page.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Custom fonts
Add custom fonts and apply them to your documents' content.
Yes
Yes
Yes

Document collaboration 

Zoho Writer, Microsoft Word, and Google Docs offer many options to collaborate on your documents and leverage the collective wisdom and expertise of your team.
Feature 
Description 
Zoho Writer
Microsoft Word
Google Docs
Real-time collaboration
Create and review documents collaboratively.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Comments
Add comments, reply to, or resolve them.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Multi-reviewer comments
Multiple collaborators can add comments.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Track changes
Identify the edits made to the content. Choose to accept or reject them.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Email or publish documents
Send documents as an email, publish them to the web, or embed them in a blog.
Yes
Yes
Yes

Document review and proofing 

While all three tools offer functionalities to review and proof your document's content easily, Zoho Writer goes a step further to configure, review, and approve business documents using multi-stage workflows.
Feature 
Description 
Zoho Writer
Microsoft Word
Google Docs
Live word & page count
View the word and page count as you type.
Yes
Yes
No
Personal dictionary
Use your personal dictionary across documents.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Domain-specific dictionaries
Use built-in domain-specific dictionaries for medical and legal terms across documents.
Yes
No
No
Find & replace
Find and replace content across documents.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Thesaurus
Access your thesaurus across your documents.
Yes
Yes
No
Version history
View and compare the various versions of a document and revert to any version.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Document navigator
Navigate documents through headings, bookmarks, fields, sections, and more in your documents.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Document workflows
Built-in workflows to review and approve document content.
Yes
No
No
Comprehensive workflow history and audit trail.
Yes
No
No 

AI features 

Zoho Writer offers various types of AI features to create content, provide contextual writing suggestions, and check plagiarized content when compared with other tools.
Feature 
Description 
Zoho Writer
Microsoft Word
Google Docs
Generative AI
Leverage AI to generate, modify, or rephrase content, and more.
Yes
Yes
No
Spelling & grammar checker
Check spelling and grammar as you type.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Style suggestions
Get suggestions for writing style, readability score, and more.
Yes
No
No
Plagiarism checker
Detect various forms of plagiarized content in your document.
Yes
No
No
Digitize forms
Convert paper and static PDF forms into interactive fillable forms.
Yes
No
No
Document translation
Translate a part of the document's content or the whole document based on users' needs.
Yes
Yes
Yes 

Content security 

Zoho Writer offers out-of-the-box security functionalities to secure your document's content compared with Microsoft Word and Google Docs.
Feature 
Description 
Zoho WriterMicrosoft Word
Google Docs
Password protection
Share or download documents with a password.
Yes
Yes
No
Secure content
Mask or lock important content to avoid exposing sensitive content.
Yes
No
No
Restrict editing
Avoid edits to the documents' content.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Hidden text
Hide important text in documents.
No
Yes
No 

Document generation and assembly

While MS Word offers the capability to generate personalized documents and collect data and signatures, Zoho Writer stands out from its competitors with its out-of-the-box integration with apps and products to generate documents and design personalized forms.
Feature 
Description 
Zoho Writer
Microsoft Word
Google Docs
Document merge
Generate documents in bulk.
Yes
Yes
No
Label and envelope merge
Generate labels in bulk.
Yes
Yes 
No
Templates
Various predefined document templates.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Fillable forms
Capture data by creating forms.
Yes
Yes
No
Digital signature collection
Collect eSignatures in documents with a built-in digital signature app, Zoho Sign.
Yes
Yes
No
Integration with various Zoho and other apps
Generate merge documents and fillable forms with data from various Zoho and third-party apps
Yes
No
No
Prefilled forms
Generate prefilled forms in bulk and share them with users to collect data
Yes
Yes
No
Post- generation workflows
Choose from a variety of output options for merged, filled, and signed documents
Yes
Yes
No

Desktop and mobile apps

Zoho Writer stands out from the competition with its desktop apps. This makes it easier to access your documents anytime, anywhere.
Platform 
Zoho WriterMicrosoft Word
Google Docs
Android
Yes
Yes
Yes
iOS and iPad Apps
Yes
Yes
Yes
Desktop app for Windows, MacOS, and Linux
Windows | MacOS | Linux
Windows | MacOS
No 

Productivity enhancers in Zoho Writer

While all the tools offer the ability to translate a document's content and publish to multiple platforms, Zoho Writer offers the added convenience of importing and editing PDFs, and turning static PDFs and forms into merge templates and fillable forms to send them for eSignature collection.
Feature 
Description 
Zoho Writer
Microsoft Word
Google Docs
PDF editor
Import, edit, and save PDF documents as new PDF or DOCX documents.
Yes
Yes
Yes
PDF to automation templates
Import a PDF and turn it into a merge, fillable, or signable template by adding appropriate fields.
Yes
No
No
Publish to multiple content platforms
Publish your document to Medium, WordPress, Blogger, Zoho Sites, and more from within your editor.
Yes
Yes
No
Integrations
Integrate with various business and productivity apps such as Zapier, Zoho Flow, Pexels, Unsplash, and ChatGPT.
Yes
Yes
Yes
 

Features unique to Zoho Writer 

Document creation and editing

  1. View and edit PDF files
  2. Exclusive desktop app for Linux OS
  3. Lock and mask sensitive information while sharing documents for collaboration

Document review 

  1. Track changes in No Markup or All Markup mode
  2. Comments with visibility control for the document owner, specific users, groups, and more
  3. Built-in document approval workflows
  4. Multi-lingual AI-driven writing assistant (English, Spanish, French, and Brazilian Portuguese)
  5. AI-driven content analysis and feedback with readability scores

Document automation

  1. No-code document automation
  2. Purpose-built templates (merge, fillable, and sign templates)
  3. Convert scanned paper forms into interactive fillable forms
  4. AI-based form field detection to repurpose static PDFs to interactive fillable forms
  5. Autogenerate prefilled forms in bulk
  6. Collaborative form filling modes
  7. Built-in digital signing capability via Zoho Sign
  8. Dynamically add additional signers or alternate signers
  9. Ready-to-use integration with Zoho apps as data sources  

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