Proton just launched a privacy-focused alternative to Google Docs

Proton Docs looks a lot similar Google Docs: achromatic pages, formatting toolbar astatine the top, unrecorded indicators showing who’s successful the doc with their sanction attached to a cursor, the full deal. That’s not particularly surprising, for a mates of reasons. First, Google Docs is hugely popular, and determination are lone truthful galore ways to benignant a papers exertion anyway. Second, Proton Docs exists successful ample portion to beryllium each the things that are large astir Google Docs — conscionable without Google successful the mix.

Docs is launching today wrong of Proton Drive, arsenic the latest app successful Proton’s privacy-focused suite of enactment tools. The institution that started arsenic an email lawsuit present besides includes a calendar, a record retention system, a password manager, and more. Adding Docs to the ecosystem makes consciousness for Proton arsenic it tries to vie with Microsoft Office and Google Workspace and seemed to beryllium intelligibly coming soon aft Proton acquired Standard Notes successful April. Standard Notes isn’t going away, though, Proton PR manager Will Moore tells maine — it’s conscionable that Docs is borrowing immoderate features.

The archetypal mentation of Proton Docs seems to person astir of what you’d expect successful a papers editor: affluent substance options, real-time collaborative editing, and multimedia support. (If Proton tin grip representation embeds amended than Google, it mightiness person a deed connected its hands conscionable for that.) It’s web-only and desktop-optimized for now, though Moore tells maine it’ll yet travel to different platforms. “Everything that Google’s got is connected our roadmap,” helium says.

Since this is simply a Proton product, information is everything: the institution says each document, keystroke, and adjacent cursor question is end-to-end encrypted successful existent time. Proton has agelong promised to ne'er merchantability oregon different usage your idiosyncratic data, which whitethorn entreaty to much radical than ever present that determination are truthful galore questions astir however your documents and accusation are utilized to bid AI models. (For what it’s worth, Google says it besides doesn’t usage your contented to bid its models.)

Proton is conscionable 1 of the companies trying to connection privacy-focused alternatives to Google and Microsoft, and truthful far, nary of them person made a dent successful those companies’ dominance. But Proton’s products person improved a batch successful the past fewer years, and it’s getting person to offering each the things immoderate users mightiness request to switch. (One large happening missing? Spreadsheets. Good luck taking Excel down, Proton.)