Free picks · Web
Best free online writing tools (2026)
Every pick is listed under Writing in our directory, runs in a web browser and is completely free or has a free plan. We rank them by our rating and popularity, then favour tools made mainly for writing and apps built for the browser.
Short answer
The best free online writing tools are Beehiiv, Google Docs and Overleaf, the top three of 75 matches in our directory. 5 of the 10 picks are completely free and the other 5 have a free plan; 3 are open source.
Updated
Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com
At a glance
Counted from the top 10 picks, except the total.
- Matching tools
- 75
- Completely free
- 5
- Open source
- 3
- Browser-only
- 9
- Also have apps
- 1
Comparison table
“Free plan” means a free tier with paid upgrades. A dash in Licence means our directory does not list the tool as open source.
| # | Name | Pricing | Platforms | Licence | Why pick it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beehiiv | Free plan | Web | — | Newsletter platform with built-in growth, monetisation and analytics. |
| 2 | Google Docs | Free plan | Web, Android, iOS | — | Free online documents you can write and edit together in real time. |
| 3 | Overleaf | Free plan | Web | — | An online LaTeX editor for writing and sharing papers in the browser. |
| 4 | Reactive Resume | Free | Web | Open source | Build a polished, private resume for free in your browser. |
| 5 | Microsoft 365 web apps | Free plan | Web | — | Free web versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint with a Microsoft account. |
| 6 | Purdue OWL | Free | Web | — | Free, trusted writing guides and citation style help from Purdue. |
| 7 | Wiktionary | Free | Web | Open source | A free, multilingual dictionary written and kept up by volunteers. |
| 8 | ResumeMaker.Online | Free | Web | — | Free, AI-powered resume builder with ATS-friendly templates, job tailoring and no sign-up required. |
| 9 | ZoteroBib | Free | Web | Open source | Build a bibliography in seconds without an account or software. |
| 10 | Power Thesaurus | Free plan | Web | — | A fast, crowd-sourced thesaurus for finding the right word. |
Why each pick made the list
Every reason is taken from the tool's own listing: its categories, platforms, features, rating and pricing.
Our top web pick, rated 4.7/5, the highest here. Made mainly for writing, one of 9 such picks here. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it is easy to pick up (9 of 10 here). It is not in the Mac top 10 (not listed for Mac).
Watch out for: Design customisation is more limited than a full site builder
Number 2 of 10 for web, rated 4.7/5. Made mainly for writing, one of 9 such picks here. Use it in the browser, or on Android and iOS. Its listing says it syncs through the cloud (4 of 10 here) and is easy to pick up (9 of 10 here). It is not in the Mac top 10 (not listed for Mac).
Watch out for: Files live in Google's cloud and are not end-to-end encrypted
Number 3 of 10 for web, rated 4.7/5. Made mainly for writing, one of 9 such picks here. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it syncs through the cloud (4 of 10 here). It is not in the Mac top 10 (not listed for Mac).
Watch out for: Free plan allows one collaborator per project
Number 4 of 10 for web, rated 4.7/5. Made mainly for writing, one of 9 such picks here. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it is privacy-focused (2 of 10 here) and is easy to pick up (9 of 10 here). It is not in the Mac top 10 (not listed for Mac).
Watch out for: Fewer design options than a full design tool
Number 5 of 10 for web, rated 4.3/5. Made mainly for writing, one of 9 such picks here. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it syncs through the cloud (4 of 10 here) and is easy to pick up (9 of 10 here). It is not in the Mac top 10 (not listed for Mac).
Watch out for: Web-only: no free desktop editing
Number 6 of 10 for web, rated 4.7/5. Made mainly for writing, one of 9 such picks here. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it is easy to pick up (9 of 10 here). It is not in the Mac top 10 (not listed for Mac).
Watch out for: Pages are text-heavy
Number 7 of 10 for web, rated 4.6/5. Made mainly for writing, one of 9 such picks here. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it is easy to pick up (9 of 10 here). It is not in the Mac top 10 (not listed for Mac).
Watch out for: Quality varies by language
Number 8 of 10 for web, rated 4.6/5. Made mainly for personal productivity, it is the only pick here that covers writing as a second use. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it syncs through the cloud (4 of 10 here), has AI features (the only one here) and is easy to pick up (9 of 10 here). It is not in the Mac top 10 (not listed for Mac).
Watch out for: Some advanced career tools may require an account
Number 9 of 10 for web, rated 4.7/5. Made mainly for writing, one of 9 such picks here. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it is privacy-focused (2 of 10 here) and is easy to pick up (9 of 10 here). It is not in the Mac top 10 (not listed for Mac).
Watch out for: Meant for one bibliography at a time
Number 10 of 10 for web, rated 4.6/5. Made mainly for writing, one of 9 such picks here. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it is easy to pick up (9 of 10 here). It is not in the Mac top 10 (not listed for Mac).
Watch out for: Ads for free users
Running these on Web
Counted from each pick's listing type and platforms.
- By listing type, the 10 web picks are 7 web apps (Beehiiv, Google Docs, Overleaf, Reactive Resume and 3 others) and 3 websites (Purdue OWL, Wiktionary and Power Thesaurus).
- Browser only, nothing to install: Beehiiv, Overleaf, Reactive Resume, Microsoft 365 web apps, Purdue OWL and 4 others.
- 1 pick also has an app listed for another platform, and 1 of 10 has a phone app (iPhone or Android).
How this list compares
The same search on other platforms. Only the differences are named.
- Free writing apps for Mac
None of these 10 web picks makes the Mac top 10. 10 are on this list only: Beehiiv (not listed for Mac), Google Docs (not listed for Mac), Overleaf (not listed for Mac), Reactive Resume (not listed for Mac), Microsoft 365 web apps (not listed for Mac), Purdue OWL (not listed for Mac) and 4 more. In their place the Mac list has LibreOffice, Handy, Hugo, Pandoc, MuseScore Studio, ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors and 4 others; LibreOffice, Handy, Hugo and 5 others are not listed for the web.
- Free writing apps for iPhone
1 of these 10 web picks also makes the iPhone top 10.
- Free writing apps for Android
1 of these 10 web picks also makes the Android top 10.
- Free writing apps for Linux
None of these 10 web picks makes the Linux top 10.
More matches
65 more free online writing tools in our directory; the next 20 by our ranking are below.
- Hashnode · Free plan
- Scribbr Citation Generator · Free
- GitBook · Free plan
- Merriam-Webster · Free plan
- RhymeZone · Free
- FlowCV · Free plan
- OneLook · Free
- readme.so · Free
- Hemingway Editor · Free plan
- Neocities · Free plan
- Reedsy Studio · Free plan
- Convert Case · Free
- Typst · Free plan
- WordHippo · Free
- Diffchecker · Free plan
- QuillBot · Free plan
- Tables Generator · Free
- DeepL · Free plan
- LanguageTool · Free plan
- Linguee · Free
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best free online writing tool?
- Beehiiv is our first pick. Newsletter platform with built-in growth, monetisation and analytics. Beehiiv has a free plan, with paid plans that unlock more features or usage.
- Are these writing tools really free?
- Yes, every pick is free to start. Reactive Resume, Purdue OWL, Wiktionary, ResumeMaker.Online and 1 other are completely free. Beehiiv, Google Docs, Overleaf, Microsoft 365 web apps and 1 other have free plans with paid upgrades.
- Which of these writing tools are open source?
- Reactive Resume, Wiktionary and ZoteroBib are tagged open source in our directory, so you can read the code of each and, depending on the licence, self-host or modify it.
- Which are easiest for beginners?
- Beehiiv, Google Docs and Reactive Resume are rated beginner-friendly, along with 6 other picks. 1 pick takes more time to learn.
- How many free online writing tools are in the directory?
- 75 match: listed under Writing, available in a web browser and free to start. This page ranks the top 10 and names up to 20 more under More matches. The Writing category page has every listing, paid ones included.
Keep exploring
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