Macintosh Word Processors

By Randy B. Singer

For some reason there is a prevalent belief among Macintosh users that their only choices for a word processing program are Microsoft Word and Apple’s own Pages. Many bemoan the fact that Word is too complex a program for them, and that Apple’s Pages, once a powerhouse, has been regressed to a simpler state in recent years. These users would like an alternative to the two obvious choices. Maybe something easy (or just easier than Word) to use, yet fairly full featured. Or maybe just a decently competent program that they don’t have to pay for.

Well, good news! There are lots of word processors for the Macintosh. They range from very powerful to very easy. There are completely free options. There are even options that vie with Microsoft Word for features. This site endeavors to point you to all of the current options.

Note: This site does not list text editors (which are not word processors), specialized programs such as script-writing software, writing aids, etc. Just general word processors are listed here. Please don't e-mail me and tell me that I've left out your favorite text editor.

Just about all Macintosh word processing programs offer at least nominal compatibility with files in the Microsoft Word format. (Word format being the de facto standard among business people. Many users have to be able to exchange files in Word format with Word users.) While Microsoft Word itself is the only program that can guaranty one hundred percent compatibility while reading or exchanging files with other Word users, in most cases, if you stick to fairly simple documents, most of the below programs can be used to read and create compatible Word format files.

Here is where to get Word and Pages:

Microsoft Word (stand alone, no Office, no subscription) ($160)
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/p/word/cfq7ttc0k7c7/

Microsoft Office (includes Word, Excel, and Powerpoint)
http://www.mactopia.com

There is the mistaken impression among many users that the latest version(s) of Office are only available via a subscription. This is not the case. There are still versions available that you only have to pay once for.

Microsoft Office 2021 Office Home and Business ($250)

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/buy/microsoft-365?tab=2
(scroll down page and look at the bottom middle)

Microsoft Office 2021 Home and Student ($150)

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/buy/microsoft-365?tab=2

(scroll down page and look on your right)

If you have the older Microsoft Office 2016, because it is 32-bit it won’t run under Catalina or later because Catalina will only run 64-bit applications. However, Microsoft quietly released a free updater for Microsoft Office 2016 to make it 64-bit and Catalina compatible!:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3187505/office-2016-for-mac-64-bit-upgrade

Pages (Free) (Pages was previously a commercial product that came free with new Macs. Now it is completely free and anyone can download the latest version.)
https://www.apple.com/mac/pages/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pages/id409201541

New Paradigm Word Processors!

Several products have begun to emerge that represent a paradigm shift for word processors. These new word processors focus on creating documents more by the chunk, rather than by the page or entire document. I've decided to list them separately from all the traditional word processors, HERE.

Other Word Processing applications (listed more or less in order from most powerful to least powerful):

RagTime (729 €)
An integrated multi-function program for professionals. Sort of like the gone and much lamented AppleWorks, only on steroids. It includes the integrated capabilities of: a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, graphics, page layout, PDF, HTML (web), database, address-book, etc.
http://www.ragtime.de/start.html?lang_id=en

Papyrus Author (free and Pro versions available) (free/$15/month)
Easy to use (even fun), yet supremely powerful. Includes many unique features to make writing easier for professional writers.
https://www.papyrusauthor.com/ (English version)
https://www.papyrus.de/ (German version)

Softmaker Office 2021 ($80 flat fee, or by subscription, your choice)
similar to Microsoft Office
https://www.softmaker.com/en/softmaker-office
A really slick Office suite extremely similar to Microsoft Office. Excellent file compatibility with Microsoft format files! The commercial version of FreeOffice.

FreeOffice (free)
similar to Microsoft Office
https://www.freeoffice.com/en/
Comparison chart of the differences between FreeOffice and Softmaker Office 2021:
https://www.softmaker.com/en/comparison-freeoffice-softmaker-office
A really slick Office suite extremely similar to Microsoft Office, but free! Excellent file compatibility with Microsoft format files! Extremely similar to Softmaker Office (and from the same developer), with a few less features that you likely don't need. Worth having, and highly recommended!

OnlyOffice (free for personal use)
https://www.onlyoffice.com/
Extremely similar to Microsoft Office. The Web site talks a lot about this being a server-based and Web-based product, but it also works perfectly as a stand alone non-networked non-Internet product. Includes some amazing advanced features, such as encryption, language translator, optical character recognition (OCR), and a photo editor!

Polaris Office ($80)
https://www.polarisoffice.com/en/#
https://www.polarisoffice.com/en/personal/mac
Office suite of products similar and compatible with Microsoft Office. Includes PDF viewer, editor, and converter.

SoleOffice ($30)
https://soleoffice.com
Microsoft Office Suite replacement.

Open Office siblings
(Apache OpenOffice, NeoOffice, LibreOffice)
(See below.)

WPDS Office (free/Premium/Business/Professional versions available) (free/$30/year/$80/$120)
similar to Microsoft Office
https://www.wps.com/mac/
https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1468073139?mt=8
(This product is advertised as “free”, but basically the free version is just a demo of the premium product for a limited time after which it is a crippled product. Equivalent suite of products to Microsoft Office with clones of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint; also includes lightweight PDF editor, but no equivalent to Outlook.)

LyX (free) (some assembly required)
https://www.lyx.org/
download:
https://www.lyx.org/Download#toc4
screenshot:
https://www.lyx.org/images/about/aqua.png
Sophistocated word processor for creating stylized works.

Nisus Express/Pro ($20/$65)
The professional version of Nisus has become a very powerful word processor. Some consider it a worthy, and even a more desirable, competitor to Word. Users rave about it.
http://www.nisus.com/
Features in Pro version:
https://nisus.com/pro/
Free video tutorials:
https://nisus.com/support/pro/videos.php
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kaz_3Bsdjbs&list=PLE69hDiWZ52qJhLSSluU-P3pMPIIXou16

Adobe InCopy (Subscription)
A program whose main focus is to allow for close collaboration between writers, editors, copy editors and designers. InCopy is almost always used in conjunction with Adobe InDesign, either using its own built-in integration tools or using a 3rd party workflow database (e.g. K4, WoodWings).
http://www.adobe.com/products/incopy.html

Mellel ($59)
A fairly powerful word processor. Best known for its ability to superbly handle foreign languages that are read from right to left.
http://www.mellel.com/

Growly Write (Free)
A surprisingly competent free word processor! Includes columns, stylesheets, advanced placement of graphics in text, drop caps, tables, hot links, borders, etc. Yet is still easy to use! Sadly, includes no footnote capability. This product is worth downloading just because it is free.
http://www.growlybird.com/write/index.html

Scrivener ($45)
A lightweight word processor that specializes in allowing you to most efficiently work with your research/ideas and create complex works through composing and arranging ideas and integrating them easily.
http://www.literatureandlatte.com/
http://www.literatureandlatte.com/latest/scrivener-3-released

MonsterWriter ($35)
https://www.monsterwriter.app
Allows you to write freely and apply formatting afterwards.

Write 2 ($9)
A lightweight word processor that includes stylesheets, headers and footers, tables, and columns.
http://write.myownapp.com/

Bean (Free)
A very basic word processor. No stylesheets or footnotes. Not completely compatible with Word format files.
http://www.bean-osx.com/Bean.html

iText Express/Pro (free/$12)
A fairly new product that this author has not looked at.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/itext-express/id416550249?mt=12
http://www.jp-lightway.com/appstore/english/iTextExpress/
http://www.jp-lightway.com/appstore/english/iTextPro/

Calligra Suite (Free)
An open-source project based on KOffice. Can’t be downloaded as a turn-key program. Requires some assembly. Can import but cannot export Word format.
https://calligra.org/
https://userbase.kde.org/Calligra/Download#Mac_OS_X

OPEN OFFICE SIBLINGS

Apache OpenOffice, NeoOffice, and LibreOffice are three different "office suite" products, like Microsoft Office, but they are all based on the same open-source codebase that originated with the commercial product StarOffice, which was purchased and then put into the public domain by Sun (now owned by Oracle). These programs are more or less clones of Microsoft Office (though they are more like the Windows version than the Macintosh version).

These are competing "projects" even though they are working with the same open-source OpenOffice code to create a Macintosh-native version. Not all of these products offer the same exact capabilities and/or performance. There are also some differences in how the graphic user interface looks in each program. These products nevertheless are very similar, and all are either free or very reasonably priced.

All three can open, modify, and save Office documents in their native formats. They will usually, but not always, do so perfectly. (The native format for Office documents is identical across platforms. That is, when you send an Office document created on a Macintosh to someone with a Windows PC, no translation of the document is necessary for them to open it, and vice versa.) If you like Microsoft Word, but don't like paying for it, any or all of these three programs are worth checking out.

Apache OpenOffice (Free)
The best known of the OpenOffice ports for the Mac, but ironically the least advanced. Until relatively recently, in fact, OpenOffice/Mac required X11 to run with a graphic user interface on the Macintosh. It is now fully native.
http://openoffice.onfreedownload.com/mac/free-download/
http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/

NeoOffice ($20 and entitled to unlimited free upgrades. $5 from Apple Store.)
Based on the OpenOffice code also, but more advanced and, most importantly more stable. I recently tested all of these, and NeoOffice was the most stable.
http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/neooffice/id639210716?mt=12
What makes NeoOffice worth $15 when the the other two mentioned here are free? In comparison to the other OpenOffice siblings, NeoOffice has implemented more features for the Macintosh:
http://neowiki.neooffice.org/index.php/NeoOffice_Feature_Comparison
...and in most instances is faster:
http://neowiki.neooffice.org/index.php/NeoOffice_Performance_Comparison
and it is more stable.
NeoOffice now $5 from Mac App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/neooffice/id639210716?mt=12

LibreOffice (Free)
The newest fork in the Open Office development field, which, unlike all the others, is being backed by a consortiom of big company sponsors, such as BROffice, Google, Novell and Red Hat. This project has just about eclipsed all of the other Open Office projects. It was quite unstable for a while, but recently it has become a really good product.
http://www.libreoffice.org/

Which of the three above programs are best? I'd try LibreOffice first, because it is free. If it isn't as stable on your model of Mac as you like, or if NeoOffice offers a feature that you would like that LibreOffice does not, I'd then go with NeoOffice.

NEW PARADIGM WORD PROCESSORS

These new paradigm word processing programs focus on using live checklists and templates to apply formatting to blocks of text. They focus on creating documents more by the chunk, or box, rather than by the page or entire document. Some of these products stress their collaboration features, others their similarity to note-taking apps.

Coda
https://coda.io/

Craft
https://www.craft.do/

Microsoft Fluid Framework
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/get-started-with-fluid-framework-preview-d05278db-b82b-4d1f-8523-cf0c9c2fb2df

Notion
https://www.notion.so/
(This product is, so far, the most popular of its genre.)

Skiff Pages
https://skiff.com/pages

If you have any additions to this Web site to suggest
I would very much appreciate hearing your suggestions.
Send them to:

Randy B. Singer
randy@macattorney.com

Other Web pages by Randy B. Singer that might be of interest to Macintosh users:

• Macintosh Routine Maintenance
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html

• Macintosh Slowdown Solutions
http://www.macattorney.com/sd.html

• Macintosh Beachballs!
http://www.macattorney.com/rbb.html

• Upgrading To The Latest Macintosh OS
http://www.macattorney.com/upos.html

• Free Macintosh Software
http://www.macattorney.com/free.html

• Macintosh Accounting Software
http://www.macattorney.com/accounting.html

• Macintosh Email Software
http://www.macattorney.com/mail.html

About The Author Of This Web Site

Randy B. Singer is:

- The head of The MacAttorney User Group
http://www.macattorney.com
with, at this writing, close to 10,000 members!

- A co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th and 6th editions);

- Author of the ABA publication:
The Macintosh Software Guide for the Law Office

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