Google Docs alternative

The Google Docs alternative that keeps your files.

The notes, drafts and plans you open Google Docs for — in an editor where every doc stays a portable .md file on your machine, not their servers. Offline, free, no account. The cloud is there only when you choose to share.

Download for Mac — freeSee everything it does
Local by default · cloud when you choose · no account required
The everyday swap

The documents you keep in Google Docs, on your machine.

Write notes, draft documents, keep plans. It formats as you type — no **symbols** to learn — and saves a clean file you can open in any other editor tomorrow.

Notes & drafts

A blank page that just works — headings, lists, quotes, tables, all formatted as you type.

Plans & docs

Checklists, tables with aligned columns, code blocks with highlighting — kept intact in plain .md.

Your folder, your files

Saved to ~/Documents/Pinrom Docs (or anywhere you like). No browser tab, no sign-in.

The difference Google can’t copy

Google can’t make local-only the default.

Google Docs only works signed in, with every document on their servers — the cloud is the product and the margin. “Your files never leave your machine” is something they’d have to break their own model to offer.

Pinrom Docs starts from the other end: the file is yours, on your disk, as plain .md. Clouds shut down, change owners, change policies — a folder of plain files on your disk doesn’t.

Credit where it’s due

Where Google Docs is still ahead.

Pinrom is desktop-first and single-player today. If these are what you need most, Google Docs is the better pick right now.

Real-time collaboration, today

Many cursors, comments, suggestions — live. Pinrom’s real-time editing is coming as the cloud tier, but Google has it now.

Runs anywhere with a browser

Nothing to install, automatic sync across every device. Pinrom is a Mac app first, with Windows, Linux and iPad on the way.

A mature ecosystem

Add-ons, templates and deep integration with the rest of Google Workspace. That breadth is real.

Side by side

Pinrom Docs vs Google Docs.

Pinrom DocsGoogle Docs
Files stored on your machine always on their servers
Works fully offline~ limited offline mode
No account needed to write sign-in required
Format as you type (WYSIWYG)
Saves as a portable .md you own~ export only; native format is proprietary
Reads & writes Markdown natively~ import/export, not the working format
Private share link unguessable, revocable
Recipient can read without an account~ depends on link settings
Comments on shared docs
Real-time co-editing~ coming
Price free free tier

✓ yes · ~ partial / coming · ✕ no. Sharing is live: reading a shared doc needs no account; commenting and editing sign in with a free one.

No lock-in, either way

Your docs move both ways.

Paste from Google Docs and the structure comes with it. Google imports and exports .md natively, so a doc you write in Pinrom opens cleanly in Docs too. The exit is always open — that’s the point.

Questions

The honest answers.

Is Pinrom Docs really free?

Yes — the whole desktop editor is free, for personal and work use. Paid only covers later cloud-scale collaboration, which a single writer never needs.

Can I use it at work?

Yes. There's no per-seat catch on the editor; it's free at home and at work.

Will it mess up my formatting?

No. It round-trips clean .md — headings, tables, code blocks and nested lists survive, with nothing generated under the hood you didn't write.

What about working with other people?

Sharing is live today: create a free account, share a doc, and send a private link — the person you send it to reads and downloads it with no account at all. Commenting or editing on a shared doc needs a free account on both sides, because a comment has to belong to someone. Real-time co-editing is coming as the paid tier.

Does my document go to the cloud?

Only when you choose to share it. Until then it never leaves your machine.

Free · macOS

Try it on your own files.

Download the editor and open your first .md — no account, no upload, nothing to leak.

Free at home and at work · Windows & Linux coming · iPad next