Proton Docs vs. Google Docs: Should You Switch?

After building out its email, VPN, cloud storage and password management services, Swiss-based privacy-focused company Proton is now turning its attention to document editing in the cloud. And the recently launched Proton Docs might have enough features and privacy protections to convince you to give it a try.

The new Proton Docs joins the Proton Drive service already available, offering users encrypted cloud storage for photos, videos and other types of files. Sharing options are built right in and Proton Drive can be accessed via a web browser or through the dedicated mobile apps.

What you get in Proton Docs

The main advantage of using Proton Docs over Google Docs is privacy: the contents of your files and even your keystrokes and cursor movements are all end-to-end encryptedso no one but you can get to them (not even Proton staff). It certainly makes your files more secure against hacks and data leaks.

In the interest of balance, we should of course point out that Google also has very robust security measures in place around your data, although not quite at the level of end-to-end encryption. Your files in Google Drive are not used to train AIand Google has a very good track record of keeping hackers out, but at the same time it is a company largely funded by targeted advertising and user profiling.

Google is also based in the US, a country with more lax supervisory rules than in Switzerland, where Proton’s headquarters and data centers are located. “Thanks to our open-source end-to-end encryption, you are the only one who has the key to read and share your documents,” Proton explains in a statement. blog post. “Not even Proton has access to the content or metadata of your documents (such as file names).”

In addition to the privacy-first approach, Proton Docs already has a whole host of useful features. Collaboration and sharing tools – essential for an online word processor – are already active, as are text formatting, image and table handling, and support for lists, code blocks and expandable quotes.

Since this is an online app that runs in a browser tab, everything is saved instantly and there is decent support for other file formats, including Word files and files written in Markdown. The interface is clean and uncluttered, and easy to navigate, and after spending some time in the Proton Docs interface you may find the Google Docs equivalent a little too busy in comparison.

What you don’t get in Proton Docs

There’s no doubt that Google Docs has an edge over Proton Docs in the depth and breadth of its capabilities, as you’d expect from an online word processor that has had the edge for almost two decades. For now, Proton Docs only offers the basics, plus all that extra privacy protection.

For example, there are more fonts and more layout options in Google Docs, as well as useful tools like pasting sizes. Proton Docs doesn’t yet have a word count feature, or text translation, or spelling and grammar checking – and there’s no Gemini AI helper to produce text or rewrite what you’ve written.

You can’t place diagrams or digital signatures in Proton Docs, and you can’t edit page headers and footers. Unlike Google Docs, there is no choice between a print layout (where you can see the page boundaries) and a pageless layout. You only get the latter, which might be preferable if you’re not actually going to print. The supporting Proton ecosystem isn’t quite on the level of Google’s either, in terms of Gmail, Google Drive and all the other connected apps.

If this sounds like we’re being overly negative about Proton Docs, that’s not the case: it’s fast and sleek, and it gives you more guarantees when it comes to privacy and security than the Google Docs equivalent. It will likely win many converts and will no doubt be updated regularly, but you should be aware of the areas where it is currently lagging.

You can get started with Proton Docs with a free Proton account, which gives you 5 GB of cloud storage space for all your files. Upgrading to one of the paid plans, which start at $4.99 per month, gives you more space and benefits with other Proton products (including additional email addresses and email filters).