Proton Docs vs Zoho Writer

Proton Docs

• People who want documents the provider itself cannot read
• Lawyers, doctors and advisers drafting confidential client documents
• Existing Proton Drive users who want a document editor in the same account

Zoho Writer

• Individuals who want a free word processor on every device
• Businesses generating contracts, letters and forms from CRM data
• Teams already using Zoho WorkDrive or Zoho Workplace

Proton Docs

• There is no standalone Docs plan: it is part of Proton Drive, and the paid plans differ in storage and bundled Proton services.
• A document can be no larger than 25 MB.
• In the Windows and macOS Drive apps a document is only a placeholder file that opens in the browser at docs.proton.me.
• The free plan's 5 GB of storage is shared with the files and photos kept in Proton Drive.

Zoho Writer

• There is no standalone paid Writer plan; the pricing page sends businesses to a Zoho WorkDrive subscription for the paid edition.
• Document automation is metered: 200 free credits a month per organization (1,000 on the paid edition), then $0.05 a credit, falling to $0.01 at high volume.
• WorkDrive plans start at 3 users; buying 1 or 2 seats means contacting Zoho's sales team.
• Zia's grammar, spelling and style checks cover English, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.

Proton Docs

End-to-end encryption

Documents are encrypted on your device before they are uploaded, and only you hold the keys, so nobody else can read them. Proton says that includes Proton itself.

Real-time collaboration

See who else is viewing or editing a document and follow their cursors live. Every update stays end-to-end encrypted.

Suggestions and comments

Collaborators can propose edits as highlighted suggestions to accept or reject, and discuss a passage in threaded comments attached to the text.

Sharing controls

Invite people by email or with a sharing link, including people without a Proton Account, choose whether they can view or edit, and revoke access at any time.

Import and export

Opens .docx, .txt, .md and .html files stored in Proton Drive for editing, and downloads documents as .docx, .html, .txt, .md or .pdf.

Rich text editing

The toolbar covers text styles, fonts, colors and highlights, code blocks, numbered, bulleted and check lists, quotes, dividers, images and tables.

Zoho Writer

Real-time collaboration and review

Documents are shared with set permissions and edited together in real time, with tracked changes to accept or reject, comments with @mentions and document versions.

Zia writing assistant

Zia generates, rewrites, shortens and summarizes text, checks grammar and spelling in English, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese, and translates into more than 70 languages.

Document automation

Merge, fillable and sign templates generate personalized documents, PDFs and web forms from business data, with a visual flow builder. Generating documents uses credits.

Word and Google Docs compatibility

Writer imports, edits and saves DOCX and Google Docs files along with RTF, ODT, TXT, HTML and PDF. Imports are limited to 50 MB for DOCX and 10 MB for other formats.

Offline mode and apps

Desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux have a full offline mode, and there are iOS and Android apps. Changes made offline sync when you are back online.

Plagiarism check and publishing

An in-document plagiarism checker reports the degree of overlap with links to matching sources, and documents can be published to WordPress, Medium or Blogger from Writer.

Proton Docs

• Proton Free$0

  5 GB of storage for files, photos and documents, with the online document and spreadsheet editor.

• Drive Plus$3.99

  per month, billed yearly at $47.88 ($4.99 billed monthly)

  Proton Drive with Docs, 200 GB of storage and 10 years to recover previous file versions.

• Drive Professional$7.99

  per user / month, billed yearly ($9.99 billed monthly)

  Team plan for Proton Drive with Docs: 1 TB per user, user access management and sync across devices and users.

• Proton Unlimited$9.99

  per month, billed yearly at $119.88 ($12.99 billed monthly)

  500 GB of storage plus Proton VPN, Proton Mail, Proton Calendar and Proton Pass alongside Drive and Docs.

• Proton Duo$14.99

  per month, billed yearly at $179.88 ($19.99 billed monthly)

  Everything in Unlimited for up to 2 users, with 2 TB of storage and advanced account protection.

• Proton Family$23.99

  per month, billed yearly ($29.99 billed monthly)

  3 TB of storage for up to 6 users, with the Proton premium products that are included in Duo.

Zoho Writer

• Free$0

  The full word processor on web, desktop and mobile, with unlimited documents and 200 free automation credits a month per organization.

• WorkDrive Starter$2.50

  per user / month, billed annually ($3 monthly); min. 3 users

  Zoho WorkDrive with the Zoho Office Suite, including Writer, 1 TB of team storage for 3 to 10 users and 1,000 free automation credits a month.

• Workplace Standard$3

  per user / month, billed annually ($4 billed monthly)

  Zoho Workplace: Writer, Sheet and Show alongside Mail with 30 GB per user, WorkDrive, Cliq and Meeting.

• WorkDrive Team$4.50

  per user / month, billed annually ($6 monthly); min. 3 users

  3 TB of team storage for 3 to 10 users, a 50 GB upload limit per file and data recovery for up to 120 days.

• Workplace Professional$6

  per user / month, billed annually ($7 billed monthly)

  100 GB of mail storage per user, 1 TB of team file storage for 3 to 10 users and the Connect intranet.

• WorkDrive Business$9

  per user / month, billed annually ($11 monthly); min. 3 users

  5 TB of team storage for 3 to 10 users, custom workflows, data loss prevention policies and an admin audit trail.

Proton Docs

• Annual discount

  20% to 25% off with yearly billing

  Billed yearly, Drive Plus is $3.99 a month instead of $4.99 (20% off), Proton Unlimited is $9.99 instead of $12.99 (23% off) and Proton Duo is $14.99 instead of $19.99 (25% off).

• Education

  Student discount on Proton Unlimited

  Students verified through Student Beans get 62% off Proton Unlimited for the first 12 months. The subscription then renews at the regular price.

• Nonprofit

  Reduced pricing for nonprofits

  Proton offers nonprofit organizations reduced pricing through a customized quote from its sales team. No fixed percentage is published.

Zoho Writer

• Annual discount

  Lower WorkDrive rates with annual billing

  WorkDrive Starter is $2.50 per user a month billed annually against $3 billed monthly. Team is $4.50 against $6 and Business $9 against $11.

• Annual discount

  Lower Workplace rates with annual billing

  Workplace Standard is $3 per user a month billed annually against $4 billed monthly, and Workplace Professional is $6 against $7.