Best Word App for Android, iPhone and PC: Free Picks

A word app, in the sense most people search for, is an app for typing a document: a letter, a CV, an assignment, a report. You do not have to pay for one. The free choices differ in where they run, whether they need the internet, and how well they get on with Word files that other people send you.

We went through the Google Play and App Store listings and each maker’s own site. The version of this article from 2019 mixed word processors with a notepad, a diary and a dictionary. This one keeps to apps for writing documents, and six of the old ten are still here.

Word apps compared

Google Docs: free on everything

Google Docs is the one to try first. Google says anyone with a Google account can create documents in it, and the app is on Google Play and the App Store, with the same documents open in a browser on any computer. That includes a Chromebook.

The listing says it opens Microsoft Word files, lets several people edit and comment at once, and has an offline mode for when there is no connection. The Google Play page carries no ads label and no in-app purchases label. Paying for Google Workspace adds Gemini writing help, which you can ignore.

Microsoft Word: when it has to be a Word file

If a school, an employer or a client insists on a .docx file that looks exactly right, write it in Word. The mobile app is on Google Play and the App Store, free to install, with templates for CVs and letters, PDF conversion, comments and tracked changes. Both listings say a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription unlocks the full experience, and that is what the in-app purchases are.

There is also a browser version. Microsoft’s own page offers Word, Excel and PowerPoint free on the web with a Microsoft account. On a laptop, that is the way to use Word without paying.

If you were counting on WordPad, it has gone. Microsoft’s list of removed features says WordPad was taken out of Windows from Windows 11 version 24H2, and it points people to Word for rich text documents and Notepad for plain text.

Pages: iPhone, iPad and Mac

On Apple devices, Pages is free and made by Apple. The App Store listing says it opens and edits Word files and exports to Word, PDF and EPUB, and that you can also reach your documents from a PC through iCloud.com.

Pages is now part of Apple Creator Studio, a paid bundle of Apple’s creative apps. The listing is clear about what that means for an ordinary user: creating, viewing and editing documents, and working on them with other people, does not need the subscription. The subscription covers premium content and extra intelligence features.

Free on a PC with no internet

LibreOffice is the answer when you want a full word processor installed on the computer and working with no connection. It is free and open source, and its site offers downloads for Windows, Mac and Linux. Writer is the word processor in the suite. LibreOffice’s help pages say it opens Word’s .doc and .docx files in Writer and can save in those formats too.

On Android, the foundation’s own app is only a viewer. The editing app built on LibreOffice is Collabora Office, which is also on the App Store. Its listing says it opens and saves Word files and OpenDocument files, and admits the app is still in active development. Google Play shows no ads label and nothing to buy.

WPS Office runs almost everywhere: its download page lists Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iPhone. The listing says it edits Word documents and syncs files between phone, PC and Mac. The free plan is called WPS Standard. On Google Play the app carries both the ads label and the in-app purchases label, and WPS’s price list puts the removal of adverts in its paid plan, WPS Pro+.

ONLYOFFICE Documents is a free office app for Android and iPhone that edits text documents and spreadsheets stored on the phone, with or without a connection. The same company gives away a desktop suite for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Plain writing apps on Android

These three are for getting words down, not for page layout. They save plain text or Markdown, not Word files, so use them for drafts and move the text into Docs or Word when it needs formatting.

Markor works completely offline and keeps your notes as ordinary text files in a folder you choose, which means any other program can open them. It can turn a document into HTML or PDF. The listing says there are no ads and no unnecessary permissions, and Google Play shows nothing to buy.

Pure Writer is built around not losing your work. Its listing describes a history record and automatic backup that let you recover text after an accidental deletion or a dead battery, along with a word count, find and replace, and Markdown.

Writer Plus is the barest of the three: plain text files in folders, Markdown headings and lists, a word and character count, a night mode and shortcuts for a Bluetooth keyboard.

Which to pick

• Android phone or tablet: Google Docs. Add Word if you are sent .docx files that must keep their layout.
• iPhone or iPad: Pages if you stay on Apple devices, Google Docs if you share with people who do not.
• Mac: Pages, which is free. LibreOffice is the free alternative that is not tied to Apple.
• Chromebook: Google Docs, or Word in the browser.
• Windows PC with good internet: Word in the browser.
• Windows PC with patchy internet: LibreOffice.
• A long draft on a phone: Markor or Pure Writer.

For help with the writing itself, see our guide to grammar apps for Android. If the document is a CV, job search apps is the next stop.

What happened to the old list

Google Docs, Microsoft Word, WPS Office, Markor, Pure Writer and Writer Plus are all still on Google Play and are covered above.

The other four entries were never word processors. BlackNote was a notepad, Daylio is a mood journal, Dictionary.com is a dictionary and Power Thesaurus is a thesaurus. Google Keep, which shared an entry with Docs, is for short notes. Daylio, Dictionary.com, Power Thesaurus and Keep are all still on Google Play. An app called BlackNote is there too, from a developer named Notas Notepad, but we could not tie it to the BlackNote of 2019.

Quick answers

What is the best free word app for Android?

Google Docs. It is free with a Google account, opens Word files, works offline and shows no ads label on Google Play.

Is Microsoft Word free?

In a browser, yes: Microsoft offers Word for the web free with a Microsoft account. The phone apps are free to install, and a Microsoft 365 subscription unlocks the rest.

What is the best word app for a Mac or an iPad?

Pages. It is free from Apple, reads and exports Word files, and does not need the Creator Studio subscription for ordinary writing.

Is there a free word app for a PC that works offline?

LibreOffice. It is free, open source and installs on Windows, Mac and Linux. WPS Office and ONLYOFFICE also have free desktop versions.

Does Windows still come with WordPad?

No. Microsoft removed WordPad starting with Windows 11 version 24H2.