Comparison of word processors

General information

This table provides general information about selected word processors.

Word Processor	Screenshot	Creator	Latest Stable Version	First Release	License
AbiWord		SourceGear Corporation	2.8.6  (June 13, 2010 (2010-06-13))	May 19, 1999 (1999-05-19)	Open source (GPL)
AppleWorks		Apple Inc.	6.2.9 January 4, 2004 (2004-01-04)	1984 (1984)	Commercial, Proprietary
Applix Word		Vistasource Inc.	6.0	1992	Commercial, Proprietary
Atlantis Nova		Rising Sun Solutions, Inc	1.0.0.70	Earliest copyright date in the About Window is from 2000	Freeware
Atlantis Word Processor		Rising Sun Solutions, Inc	1.6.5.0 (Jan 2010)	Earliest copyright date in the About Window is from 2000	Commercial, Proprietary
Bean		James Hoover	3.0.1  (December 24, 2011 (2011-12-24))	May 1, 2007 (2007-05-01)	Open source (GPL)
Calligra Words (formerly KWord)		KDE	2.2 (May 28, 2010 (2010-05-28))	1998	Open source (LGPL)
Celframe Office Write		Celframe	Office 2008 (2008)	2005	Commercial, Proprietary
CopyDesk		Quark, Inc.	7 (2007)	1991	Commercial, Proprietary
EZ Word		The Andrew Consortium	7.5 (1996)	1985	Open source (BSD license)
FrameMaker		Adobe Systems Incorporated	10.0 (January 11, 2011 (2011-01-11))	1986	Commercial, Proprietary
Gobe Productive		Gobe Software	3	Aug 1998	Commercial, Proprietary
Han/Gul (HWP)		Haansoft	7.0.2.226(2007)	1989	Commercial, Proprietary
Ichitaro		JustSystems	20 / Ichitaro 2010	1983	Commercial, Proprietary
InCopy		Adobe Systems Incorporated	5.0 (2007)	1999	Commercial, Proprietary
Jarte (Free and Pro)		Carolina Road Software, LLC	4.1  (March 29, 2010 (2010-03-29))	July 2001 (2001-07)	Freeware or Commercial, Proprietary
Kingsoft Writer (Free and Pro)		Kingsoft	2012 8.1.0.3016(November 9, 2011 (2011-11-09))	1989 (1989)	Freeware or Commercial, Proprietary
LibreOffice Writer		The Document Foundation	3.4.4 (November 9, 2011 (2011-11-09))	January 25, 2011 (2011-01-25)	Open source (LGPL)
Lotus Symphony		Lotus Software	3.0	2008	Freeware (Registerware)
Lotus Word Pro		Lotus Software	9.8.5 (2007)	1989 (Originally Samna Ami Pro)	Commercial, Proprietary
LyX		The LyX Project	2.0 (May 8, 2011 (2011-05-08))	1995	Open source (GPL)
Mariner Write		Mariner software	3.7.2	1996	Commercial, Proprietary
Mellel		RedleX	2.9.1 (Build 1) as of Jan 7, 2011	2002	Commercial, Proprietary
Microsoft Word		Microsoft Corporation	March 24, 2010 (2010-03-24)	May 2, 1983 (1983-05-02)	Commercial, Proprietary
Microsoft Works		Microsoft Corporation	9.0	October, 1987 (MS Works for DOS)	Commercial, Proprietary
NeoOffice Writer		Planamesa Software	3.2.1  (August 30, 2011 (2011-08-30))	June 22, 2003 (2003-06-22)	Open source (GPL)
Nisus Writer		Nisus Software	7.0 (Express)	1989	Commercial, Proprietary
OpenOffice.org Writer		Sun Microsystems	3.3.0  (January 25, 2011 (2011-01-25))	April 30, 2002 (2002-04-30)	Open source (LGPL)
Pages		Apple Inc.	4.1  (July 20, 2011 (2011-07-20))	January 11, 2005 (2005-01-11)	Commercial, Proprietary
PolyEdit		PolySoft Solutions	5.2	1998	Commercial, Proprietary
SSuite WordGraph		Van Loo Software	8.2	2002	Freeware
StarOffice		Sun Microsystems	9	1994	Commercial, Proprietary - LGPL Version is released as Open Office
StarOffice Writer from Google Pack		Sun Microsystems	8	1994	Commercial, Proprietary - LGPL Version is released as Open Office
Ted		Mark de Does	2.21 (October 2009)	1999	Open source (GPL)
TextEdit		Apple Inc.	1.7 (289.3)  (October 12, 2011 (2011-10-12))	Around 1993? as part of NeXT's OPENSTEP OS which later became part of Mac OS X	Open source (BSD license)
TextMaker		SoftMaker Software GmbH	2010	1987	Freeware or Commercial, Proprietary Freeware - SoftMaker Office 2006, Commercial - SoftMaker Office 2008 and later versions
WordFile4ME		Byron Software	4.55.21	Earliest copyright date in the Readme File is 1999	Commercial, Proprietary
WordPad		Microsoft Corporation	6.1.7600.16385	1995	Commercial, Proprietary
WordPerfect		Corel Corporation	X5  (March 23, 2010 (2010-03-23))	1980 (1980)	Commercial, Proprietary
Word Processor	Screenshot	Creator	Latest Stable Version	First Release	License

Characteristics

This table gives characteristics of each word processor.

Word Processor	Grammar checker	Cross referencing	Bibliography	Graphic editing	Mail merging	Spell checker	Smartfont typography	Math support	Conditional text
AbiWord	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
AppleWorks		?	?		Yes	Yes
Applix Word		?	?
Atlantis Word Processor		?	?			Yes
Bean	No	?	?	No	No	Yes
Celframe Office Write	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
CopyDesk	No	?	?		No	Yes
EZ Word		?	?
FrameMaker	No	Yes	?	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Gobe Productive		?	?
GNU TeXmacs	No	Yes	Yes	Yes (only own graphics)	No	Yes	No	Yes
Groff		?	?
Han/Gul	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Ichitaro	Yes (for Japanese)	?	?			Yes (for Japanese)	No
InCopy	No	?	?		No	Yes			Yes
Jarte	No	?	?	No	No	Yes	No
KWord	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
LibreOffice Writer	Yes (with extensions)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
IBM Lotus Symphony	No	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Lotus Word Pro	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
LyX	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes
Mariner Write	No	?	?	No	Yes	Yes	No
Mathematica	No	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mellel	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Word	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Microsoft Works	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
NeoOffice Writer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nisus Writer		?	?
OpenOffice.org Writer	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pages	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PolyEdit		?	?			Yes
StarOffice Writer	No	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ted	No	?	?	No	No	Yes
TextEdit	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
TextMaker	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes
WordFile4ME		?	?
WordPerfect	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Word Processor	Grammar checker	Cross referencing	Bibliography	Graphic editing	Mail merging	Spell checker	Smartfont typography	Math support

Operating System Compatibility

This table gives a comparison of what operating systems are compatible with each word processor in their last version.

Word Processor	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	BeOS/Zeta	AmigaOS/MorphOS	UNIX	other
AbiWord	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (AOS: through X11 engine)	Yes	SkyOS
AppleWorks	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Applix Word	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Atlantis Word Processor	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Bean	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Celframe Office Write	Yes	Yes with Winehq	Yes with Winehq	No	No	No	No	No
CopyDesk	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
EZ Word	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
FrameMaker	Yes	Version 7.1 and earlier	No	No	No	No	Version 8 and earlier	No
Gobe Productive	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
GNU TeXmacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Groff	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Han/Gul	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Ichitaro	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
InCopy	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Jarte	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
KWord	Yes (Alpha)	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
LibreOffice Writer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
IBM Lotus Symphony	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Lotus Word Pro	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
LyX	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Mariner Write	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Mathematica	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Mellel	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Microsoft Word	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Microsoft Works	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
NeoOffice Writer	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Nisus Writer	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
OpenOffice.org Writer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	OpenVMS
Pages	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
PolyEdit	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
SSuite WordGraph	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
StarOffice Writer	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Ted	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Atari ST
TextEdit	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
TextMaker	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
WordFile4ME	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
WordPerfect	Yes	No	No (since 2000)	No	No	No (last : AOS up to WP4.1 in 1987)	No (since 1994)	OpenVMS1
Word Processor	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	BeOS/Zeta	AmigaOS/MorphOS	UNIX	other

1. can run unsupported Version 5.1

Import or Open capabilities

This table gives a comparison of the file formats each word processor can import or open.

Word Processor	HTML	LaTeX	ODF .odt	RTF	Word .doc	WordPerfect	OOXML .docx	SXW	UOF
AbiWord	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Atlantis Word Processor	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Bean	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Celframe Office Write	Yes	Yes with Plug-ins	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes with convertor	No	Yes
CopyDesk	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
FrameMaker	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
GNU TeXmacs	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Ichitaro	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
InCopy	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Jarte	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
KWord	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
LibreOffice Writer	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
IBM Lotus Symphony	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Lotus Word Pro	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
LyX	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	with external program	No	No	No	No
Mariner Write	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Mathematica	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Microsoft Word	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Microsoft Works	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
NeoOffice Writer	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
OpenOffice.org Writer	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pages	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
PolyEdit	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
RedOffice	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
SSuite WordGraph	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
StarOffice Writer	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ted	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
TextEdit	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
TextMaker	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
WordPerfect	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Word Processor	HTML	LaTeX	ODF .odt	RTF	Word .doc	WordPerfect	OOXML .docx	SXW	UOF

Export or Save capabilities

This table gives a comparison of the file formats each word processor can export or save.

Word Processor	HTML	LaTeX	ODF .odt	PDF	RTF	Word .doc	WordPerfect	OOXML .docx	UOF
AbiWord	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial (Linux ver.)	Yes	Yes	Yes disabled [2]	Yes	No
Atlantis Word Processor	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Bean	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Celframe Office Write	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes with convertor	Yes
CopyDesk	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
FrameMaker	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
GNU TeXmacs	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Ichitaro	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
InCopy	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Jarte	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
KWord	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
LibreOffice Writer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
IBM Lotus Symphony	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Lotus Word Pro	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
LyX	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Mariner Write	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Mathematica	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Microsoft Word	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Microsoft Works	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
NeoOffice Writer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
OpenOffice.org Writer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Pages	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
PolyEdit	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
RedOffice	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
SSuite WordGraph	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
StarOffice Writer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Ted	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
TextEdit	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
TextMaker	Yes	No	Yes	Yes (ver 2008)	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
WordPerfect	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Word Processor	HTML	LaTeX	ODF .odt	PDF	RTF	Word .doc	WordPerfect	OOXML .docx	UOF

See also

• List of word processors
• Comparison of spreadsheets
• Comparison of text editors
• Comparison of TeX editors
• Comparison of office suites
• Office suite
• Online office suite

External links

• Chronology of Events in the History of Microcomputers
• Comparison of Word and LaTeX in scientific writing
• Top 8 Free Online Word Processors
• Online word processors: A hands-on comparison