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Why should I switch from Google Docs/Sheets to LibreOffice? What makes it stand out? Genuinely interested as a potential new user :)

lights0123 6y ago
Google Docs is intentionally pretty bare-bones. You get features in LibreOffice like: - text boxes in Writer - vector graphics support (pdf, svg, ...) - LibreOffice Draw, which there really isn't any equivalent to anywhere (it focuses on both drawing and text, while most vector drawing apps generally suck at text while Draw doesn't) - higher performance with very big spreadsheets ("this should have been a SQLite file") - Self-installed fonts However, I do typically just use Google Docs when I don't need any of those. The recently added autocomplete feature finally did it for me.
npteljes 6y ago
It's a comprehensive and capable offline office suit, that is also open source. For a better matching alternative check out ONLYOFFICE's private offering. They have nice online editors, a small free storage and everything is free software.
II2II 6y ago
It all depends upon your needs. If you were originally an Excel/Word user who switched to Docs/Sheets, for reasons other than cost, you would probably be better off sticking with Google's product. This is particularly true if you use Google's products for collaboration. LibreOffice is better for people who are looking for a powerful office suite and primarily deal with printed documents (or handle electronic documents much like printed ones). It is best compared to Microsoft Office: Writer is very similar to Word, though Writer is better thought out in my opinion; Calc is very similar to Excel, though Excel seems to have better options for data visualization.
davidgerard 6y ago
Vastly better DOCX handling. A word processor and a spreadsheet that do their jobs thoroughly when you need that sort of thing.
stjohnswarts 6y ago
I just wanted google out of my life so it fits the bill. I don't do anything all that fancy with documents and it gets the job done.

lights0123 6y ago

Google Docs is intentionally pretty bare-bones. You get features in LibreOffice like: - text boxes in Writer - vector graphics support (pdf, svg, ...) - LibreOffice Draw, which there really isn't any equivalent to anywhere (it focuses on both drawing and text, while most vector drawing apps generally suck at text while Draw doesn't) - higher performance with very big spreadsheets ("this should have been a SQLite file") - Self-installed fonts However, I do typically just use Google Docs when I don't need any of those. The recently added autocomplete feature finally did it for me.

npteljes 6y ago

It's a comprehensive and capable offline office suit, that is also open source. For a better matching alternative check out ONLYOFFICE's private offering. They have nice online editors, a small free storage and everything is free software.

II2II 6y ago

It all depends upon your needs. If you were originally an Excel/Word user who switched to Docs/Sheets, for reasons other than cost, you would probably be better off sticking with Google's product. This is particularly true if you use Google's products for collaboration. LibreOffice is better for people who are looking for a powerful office suite and primarily deal with printed documents (or handle electronic documents much like printed ones). It is best compared to Microsoft Office: Writer is very similar to Word, though Writer is better thought out in my opinion; Calc is very similar to Excel, though Excel seems to have better options for data visualization.

davidgerard 6y ago

Vastly better DOCX handling. A word processor and a spreadsheet that do their jobs thoroughly when you need that sort of thing.

stjohnswarts 6y ago

I just wanted google out of my life so it fits the bill. I don't do anything all that fancy with documents and it gets the job done.