Most of the writing tools I tested in the last few days were paid. And even if there were any free tools, they lacked many key attributes that their paid counterparts were offering. But if there’s any tool out there that provides you the same qualities of a premium writing software without costing a penny, that would be Zoho Writer. Welcome to my Zoho Writer Review.
To be honest, it won’t be an exaggeration to call it a better alternative to many prominent word processors, whether it is MS Word, Libre Office Writer, or Write App.
Now, I’m sure you might be wondering; what made me say so? What’s so special about this app and its updates? If you have an internet connection, you can use any number of apps.
Well, go through the following section, and you’ll know why.
Let’s go.
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Our Verdict
Zoho has everything that you could find in a typical premium writing app. And it is 100% free, so there’s no reason I will deny using this web-based word processor or not suggesting it to others.
Zoho Writer Best Free Writing App
PROS
- Clear and crisp interface
- Collaborate with writing partners
- Wide range of export options
- Works with all the devices
- Storyboard and templates
- Dedicated writing assistant
- Cloud synchronization
CONS
- ZERO flaws with this online service
Grammarly Best All-Around
PROS
- 86% out of 86% accuracy
- 16+ billion database
- 150k+ word limit
- 5 devlice limit
- Includes plagiarism
- 1-hour response
CONS
- Only supports English
- Expensive without our link
Grammarly Premium Walkthrough Video
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Zoho Writer Pros
When you try a free tool, your expectations are always low. But Zoho Writer was a different case.
It surpassed all my expectations and went above and beyond to make itself a one-stop-shop that worked on every word processor and office suite (It’s much better than MS word). In my opinion, it’s one of the best updates tools out there. Here is a detailed breakdown of the sections where the web-based application passed the test in flying colors.
#1 Clear and crisp interface
This is the first thing you notice when you open the app – a blank page with some menu on the left side with the option to create a new document on the top right corner.
All you need to do to get started is, click the blue button on the top right corner to create a blank document and start typing.
#2 Collaborate with writing partners
The collaboration feature of Zoho Writer impressed me the most. You can invite your friend or colleague to collaborate on a project, and both of you can edit the file formats at the same time.
Similarly, you are free to share your writing in the online word processor with whoever you want and get feedback from them or even start a dialogue with the person who left the comment.
#3 Wide range of export options
Zoho Writer provides one of the broadest range of options of any of the online apps when it comes to exporting your files as different formats.
It supports Docx, RTF, txt, HTML, ODT, PDF, and ePub format for e-readers. Besides this, you can also add the WordPress integration that allows you to post your content to WordPress, CRM, or bloggers pages directly.
#4 Work with all the devices
Zoho Writer is one of the very few software which is compatible with all the different types of devices under the sun.
It has desktop apps for Mac and Windows and also offers a dedicated phone app for iOS and Android. Apart from this, you can also download Zoho Writer as a Chrome and Firefox extension, and access electronic signatures to boot.
#5 Storyboard and templates
There’s a long list of integration options available with Zoho Writer applications, and one of them is ‘Notebook.’ It lets you take notes and script your ideas quickly.
Zoho Writer also boasts the broadest template collection among any writing app I tested to date (even more than Google Docs).
There are dozens of presentations templates ranging from resumes to business letters, screenplays to press releases and whatnot.
You name it; this writer app has it.
#6 Dedicated writing assistant
Zia is the AI-powered assistant that Zoho added to Writer to provide better writing and editing functionality to users. It’s like a built-in grammar checker tool that evaluates your whole writer document for contextual grammar, readability, and writing style.
And the best part is, its collaboration and productivity apps feature work silently in the background and checks for any error automatically. For example, as soon as I copy-pasted a few word documents, it started flagging mistakes like this:
#7 Cloud synchronization
When it comes to providing a complete experience to the users, Zoho Writer leaves no stone unturned. And a befitting example is synchronizing your files with your respective cloud storage service.
Sure it doesn’t have its own cloud space to offer, but you can integrate Google Drive, Box, Dropbox, Evernote, or OneDrive to store your files in the cloud automatically.
#8 Create and save versions of the content
Versioning and formatting options are things that you don’t usually expect to see in a free tool. But as I mentioned earlier, Zoho Writer is a different case.
When you click on “File” in the top left corner, you can point the “Create a version” option in the drop-down menu.
It allows you to lock the current version of your copy before making any changes or going into review mode on to it so that you can still come back if you don’t like the changes.
#9 Organize content is a few clicks
I was also damn impressed by Zoho’s ability to organize content and facilitate collaborative work. Under its navigation bar, you can see the whole outline of your content.
So, click on any heading or sub-heading, and it takes to that part straight away.
Though you can’t interchange sections by drag and drop like Scrivener, you still have the excellent ‘ol cut and paste option open for simple formatting that’s social media-friendly.
Zoho Writer Cons
Zoho Writer is impeccable. There are zero flaws with this online service. I don’t know about Yuri Boyka (any Undisputed series lover here?), but Zoho Writer is the most complete software at the moment.
Zoho Writer pricing plans and payment options
Zoho Writer is available for free, even with its two-factor authentication. And by free, I mean absolutely free, not even any hidden cost for the tab word processing tool.
Do I recommend Zoho Writer?
Yes, yes, yes. There’s no reason I will deny using this web-based word processor or not suggesting it to others. It has everything that you could find in a typical premium writing app, and it can work and spell check on any device regardless of the operating system.
And above all, it’s is 100% free. So you don’t lose anything.