10 open-source alternatives found

Best Open-Source Alternatives
to Google Docs in 2026

Stop paying for Google Docs. These free, open-source tools give you full data ownership, no vendor lock-in, and deploy for as little as $5/month on your own VPS.

Top pick

linkwarden

20.2k ⭐ · AGPL-3.0

View

Open Source vs Google Docs: Full Comparison

Feature	Open Source	Google Docs
Free to use (forever)
Self-hosted / private data
Open source (auditable code)
No vendor lock-in
Docker / 1-click deploy
Unlimited users / events
Custom domain & branding
Managed updates & backups
Built-in CDN & scaling
Enterprise SLA & support

Deploy linkwarden in Minutes

Follow these steps to get your self-hosted instance up and running.

1
git clone https://github.com/linkwarden/linkwarden
Clone the repository
2
npm install && cp .env.example .env
Install dependencies and configure env
3
npm run build && npm start
Build and launch the application
4
Configure reverse proxy (nginx/Caddy)
Point your domain at the app

Deploy on DigitalOcean — $5/mo

$200 free credit for new users

Best Value · Sponsored

Deploy linkwarden on Vultr

Starting at $5/mo · $100 free credit for new users · One-click Docker deploys · SSD storage · 99.99% uptime SLA

Get $100 free credit View Plans — from $5/mo

All Open-Source Alternatives to Google Docs

Sorted by GitHub stars — the most popular community-backed options first.

linkwarden

Productivity

20.2k

⚡️⚡️⚡️ Self-hosted collaborative bookmark manager to collect, read, annotate, and fully preserve what matters, all in one place.

Alt to Google DocsTypeScriptAGPL-3.0

Oct 2026

GitHub

docs

Notes & Docs

16.9k

Docs is an open-source text editor: web-native, made for real-time collaboration, cleanly structured documents and sub-documents with full ownership of your data. Built to scale with Django and React.

Alt to Google DocsPythonMIT

Oct 2026

GitHub

TREK

Auth & Security

14.9k

A self-hosted travel/trip planner with real-time collaboration, interactive maps, PWA support, SSO, budgets, packing lists, and more.

Alt to Google DocsTypeScriptAGPL-3.0

Oct 2026

GitHub

SparkleShare

File Storage

5.0k

Share and collaborate by syncing with any Git repository instantly. Linux, macOS, and Windows

Alt to Google DocsC#GPL-3.0

Oct 2026

GitHub

rustpad

Database

4.1k

Efficient and minimal collaborative code editor, self-hosted, no database required

Alt to Google DocsRustMIT

Oct 2026

GitHub

hocuspocus

Backend / BaaS

2.6k

The Yjs CRDT WebSocket backend for conflict-free real-time collaboration in your app.

Alt to Google DocsTypeScriptMIT

Oct 2026

GitHub

univer-workspace

Database

2.3k

An open-source Office workspace where people and AI agents create, collaborate, and review together.

Alt to Google DocsTypeScriptApache-2.0

Oct 2026

GitHub

paca

Project Management

2.0k

AI-native, free, open-source alternative to Jira, Trello, ClickUp & Monday. Built for Scrum teams where humans and AI agents collaborate as equals — on the same board, the same sprints, the same goals. Self-hosted. Fully customizable via config and plugins.

Alt to Google DocsGoApache-2.0

Oct 2026

GitHub