Typing on your computer is such a wonderful thing, but most users of various word processing services never think about it. Only those who had to use a typewriter may understand it. Whenever you mistype the word, when using a typewriter – the page is spoiled. You need to retype. Deleting and typing the word again is definitely easier. 

Speaking of word processing services, there are thousands of them. But most computer users are using either Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Whenever you have a paper assignment at college, you will use one of them. If you submit your paper to buy essay writing service for editing or proofreading, professional editors will most likely use Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Still, which one of them is a better word processing service? 

On the one hand, Microsoft Word has been around for almost four decades. Longevity generally signifies quality. Google Docs has been around since 2006. So, depending on what you think of aging well, you have thirty-eight years vs. sixteen, as of the time of writing. 

But there are other traits, aside from age, which can help you determine which one is better. So, let’s check what Microsoft Word and Google Docs have in common. What differentiates those two word processing services – and which one is better?

Accessibility

While at first, it seems that both services are widely accessible, there’s one big difference. Microsoft Word cannot be purchased as a standalone program – you can only get it as a part of the Microsoft 365 package. A package that currently includes Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, OneNote, and Microsoft Access. 

Also, although it may depend on the plan you choose, you can have this service only on one device. For example, if you want to have Microsoft Word on two devices, you need to install the package on both of those devices. There is, however, Word Online, which also comes as a part of the package, but it’s not the full version of Word. 

Things are absolutely different when it comes to Google Docs. It’s a word processing service that works entirely online, so you don’t have to purchase or download any software to use it. All you need is a Google Chrome browser and a Google account. 

And it is available on any computer, including:

• Microsoft
• Mac OS X
• Linux

And regardless of the computer, you get access to all of the features of Google Docs. As you might have guessed, Microsoft Word is available only to owners of Microsoft computers. Which definitely makes Google Docs a far more accessible service than Microsoft Word. And it makes Google Docs an ultimate winner in this category. 

Price

Google Docs is almost entirely free. If you want some extra features or buy extra space, you will have to pay $5 per month. It’s a minuscule price that almost anyone can allow. This is the price that gives you access to G-Suite, which is more suitable for business rather than for regular users. 

• Permanent license $149,99
• Yearly subscription for one computer $69,99
• Yearly subscription for five computers $99,99

Those are the prices for getting started with Microsoft Word. Of course, when it comes to subscriptions, you can pay a monthly fee, which doesn’t look that scary at first glance. It’s $6,99 a month for one computer and $9,99 for five. But there are three business plans that cost from $6 to $12,50 a month. And again, here you are receiving the whole package. 

Google Docs easily wins in this category as well. You get most of the things that you need for free. And the price for extra space and G-Suite is more than reasonable. And, once again, you can get access to Google Docs online from any computer that is at your disposal, while Word is available only for Microsoft products. 

Tools

While Google Docs has a user-friendly interface and has all the tools that you generally need at your display, it doesn’t compare to the number of tools that Microsoft Word provides its users with. Microsoft Word also has more fonts to choose from than Google Docs. The only problem with Microsoft Word is finding the tools. Anytime you change one thing, the whole toolbar changes. 

While you can always customize the toolbar, it can be really difficult for newbies and casual users. But, despite the problematic interface, Microsoft Word definitely wins when it comes to the tools you may need to format your document. Thus, it’s the first category when Google Docs loses to Word. 

File Saving

If you have ever worked with Microsoft Word, you surely know how important it is to make sure that you clicked the save button. Most likely, you’ve recovered several documents in your life. So, whenever you closed the Word program without saving the text or in case of a power outage, you kept your fingers crossed, hoping that you would be able to recover your file. 

Things are more manageable when it comes to Google Docs, as the service automatically saves your work every few minutes. So, in case something terrible happens, you will have to write the last sentence or two once again instead of writing the whole document again. Moreover, you can get access to your document from your smartphone and make any changes to the file. 

So, if you don’t want anything to happen to your document, you should definitely stick with Google Docs. Microsoft made several improvements in its word processor, but it’s still not close to saving the file in real-time. So, you need to stay vigilant when working with Word. 

File Formats

When working with Microsoft Word, you can save documents in DOCX. If you use Word Online, you can download them in PDF, DOCX, and ODT formats. When working with Google Docs, you can download your files as DOCX, PDF, ODT, RTF, TXT, EPUB, and HTML. 

Moreover, you can easily upload a DOCX document created with Microsoft Word to Google Docs and change and edit it. You can even download it in any of the formats available. There’s only one thing that makes Word better than Google Docs. You can edit PDF files using Word. Uploaded PDFs can be viewed in Google Docs, but they can’t be edited. 

The PDFs are the only flaw of Google Docs. But, considering all the formats that you can download your files in Google’s offering definitely wins. Word Online allows more formats than its desktop version, but still, it’s a far cry from what Google Docs’ users have at their disposal. 

Bottom Line

For more than three decades, Microsoft Word was the leading word processing service in the world. But it seems that Google Docs can easily snatch its wings and take the crown away. The five aspects mentioned don’t give a complete picture. Google allows more third-party integration than Microsoft Word. 

The latter wins over in terms of individual users, while the former is more frequently used for collaborative writing. You can remain a loyal devotee of Word or be an aficionado of Google Docs. And the latter seems to be winning. But it is quite possible that Word will add more features and become more appealing. Till then, Google Docs remains a better service.