European alternatives to Google Docs

Google Docs is a browser-based word processor where the document lives on Google’s servers rather than on a disk. Several people type in it at once, every keystroke is versioned, and comments and suggested edits turn review into a conversation attached to the text.

Leaving is harder than exporting. A .docx export carries the words but drops the comment threads, the suggestion history and the named-range links other Docs and Sheets point at. The deeper tie is the sharing graph: every document people have been given access to, every link pasted into an email or a calendar invite, and every file that assumes a Google account on the other end. Add Workspace SSO, Drive folder permissions and the add-ons teams have installed, and the migration touches everyone you share with.

Google Docs is part of Google Workspace, from Google LLC in Mountain View. The European alternatives below are both open-source office suites that can be self-hosted or bought as a managed EU service, and both read and write the Microsoft formats.