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Surveyed on 17 October 2026

Google Docs or Extypis: which is better for writing a novel?

Google Docs is Google's free word processor, which many authors use for their first novel; Extypis is a workshop made for writing a book, with a free account, then a monthly subscription. Here is how each one answers the questions people ask when they write a novel, what its users say about it, and the rounds Google Docs wins are on the board.

Engraving: in her study, a writer holds a bound book while a long ribbon of paper, fed out by a brass telegraph ticker, unrolls down to the floor.

How this page was made

Every line about Google Docs was read on 17 October 2026 in Google's help center, on its plan pages for France and on the listings of its apps, always from the angle of writing a book. User reviews come from the US, UK and French App Stores, writers' forums and published tests, each with its link; those from the stores are mostly about the phone apps. Extypis prices and limits are read live from our pricing page. Google Docs is free: on the paid side, it is compared with the Google AI Pro plan, the cheapest one that adds Gemini to Docs.

Google Docs in figures

The store ratings are for the phone and tablet apps; Google publishes no rating for the web version.

Google Docs on a computer: on the left the panel of the document's tabs, nested across several levels, in the middle a page with an image, a heading and text.
Google Docs with its document tabs, where many authors keep one chapter per tab. Screenshot: Google

What matters to you

Take out what does not concern you: the board and the score keep only your criteria.

Rounds won

Extypis9Google Docs4

9 for Extypis, 4 for Google Docs. 6 draws, which do not count in the score.

Free: the free Extypis account (1 project, at most 15,000 words per project, 2 exports per month) against Google Docs with a free Google account and its 15 GB of storage.

What do I pay?

  • How much do I pay, and for how long?

    Extypis

    You pay nothing, with no time limit, with 1 project and at most 15,000 words per project

    Google Docs

    Nothing, with no time limit, with a Google account

  • How many books can I write, and how long?

    Extypis

    You get 1 project, and a project holds up to 15,000 words in 10 sheets
    Better answer

    Google Docs

    As many documents as your 15 GB hold, each up to 1.02 million characters

How do I write and organise my novel?

  • While I write, do I see the pages of my book?

    Better answer

    Extypis

    Yes, on a computer: you write in the pages of the book, headers and numbers included, at the size, margins and font of your PDF

    Google Docs

    Paper pages, in Pages mode, at the size and margins you set; its help pages offer no book format

  • Can I see my whole story scene by scene, and reorder it?

    Better answer

    Extypis

    Yes, up to 10 sheets per project: each scene is a card with its summary, and moving the card moves the text

    Google Docs

    With tabs: one per chapter or scene, up to 100, moved around in the side panel; no cards and no summaries

  • Can I keep sheets for characters, places and objects?

    Better answer

    Extypis

    Yes: characters, places, objects, events and your own categories, with their fields, images and documents

    Google Docs

    No: you keep your notes in other tabs or other documents

  • If I name a character, even by a nickname, does the app find them?

    Better answer

    Extypis

    Yes, everywhere in the book, as soon as the nickname is on their sheet; a tab suggests the names in the text that have no sheet yet

    Google Docs

    Through search only: you search for the name, then the nickname, in the text

  • Can I see the relationships between my characters and the timeline of the story?

    Better answer

    Extypis

    Yes: a map shows the links you write between sheets, and a timeline places each event at its date in the story

    Google Docs

    No: Docs has neither a relationship map nor a timeline

  • Can I go back to an earlier version of my text?

    Extypis

    Yes: you freeze a version of each sheet, compare two versions side by side and restore the one you want

    Google Docs

    Yes: the history keeps versions by itself, plus 40 that you name, and each one can be restored

  • Can I write with other people, or have my text corrected by an editor?

    Extypis

    No: a project has a single author, and your readers comment on the published version
    Better answer

    Google Docs

    Yes: live co-writing, comments and Suggesting mode, where you accept or reject each change

And AI?

  • Can I write with no AI at all?

    Extypis

    Yes: one setting removes every AI tool from the screen; only importing a manuscript still goes through an AI

    Google Docs

    Yes: with a free account, Gemini does not write in Docs

  • If I want AI, what does it cost me?

    Better answer

    Extypis

    Nothing to start with: 300 credits given once

    Google Docs

    Nothing is given: Gemini in Docs requires the Google AI Pro plan, €21.99 per month

Where and when can I write?

  • Can I write on the train, with no network?

    Extypis

    Only in a tab that is already open: the text waits for the network to come back
    Better answer

    Google Docs

    Yes, if you have prepared it: in Chrome or Edge, with the Google Docs Offline extension turned on beforehand

  • Can I write on my computer, then on my tablet?

    Extypis

    Yes: a browser is enough, and you find the same text everywhere, with nothing to sync

    Google Docs

    Yes, with its iPhone and Android apps, which are free but lack styles and the table of contents update

How do I get, print and share my book?

  • Where do I write the dedication, the preface and the copyright page?

    Better answer

    Extypis

    On a computer, you write them on the pages of the book, in their place, and you type the publisher and the ISBN on the copyright page

    Google Docs

    By hand: you type each page and place the page breaks yourself

  • Do I get a PDF ready for the printer?

    Better answer

    Extypis

    Yes: Extypis typesets the PDF with LaTeX, in A4, A5 or Letter, up to 2 exports per month

    Google Docs

    A PDF at the paper size and margins of the document, with no book format and no print settings

  • Can I get an EPUB for an e-reader?

    Extypis

    Yes, up to 2 exports per month
    Better answer

    Google Docs

    Yes, with no limit, from the Download menu

  • Can I publish my book in the app, so people read it online and send comments?

    Extypis

    Yes: the book has its reading page, open to everyone, and readers with an account comment paragraph by paragraph

    Google Docs

    Yes: you share the document in comment mode with each reader, or you publish it on the web as read-only

  • Can I show that I wrote my text myself?

    Better answer

    Extypis

    Yes, for the typing: the “human origin” certificate says what was typed, pasted or moved, and is shared by a link; it does not say where the ideas come from

    Google Docs

    No: the history dates your changes, without saying what was typed or pasted

  • Can I bring in a manuscript started elsewhere?

    Extypis

    Yes: Word, PDF, EPUB, Markdown or HTML, as long as the manuscript fits in 15,000 words

    Google Docs

    Yes: a Word, OpenDocument, RTF, text or HTML file opens as a single document, with no split into chapters

What authors like about Google Docs

A summary of what comes back in published reviews, each with its link. We paraphrase rather than quote.

What bothers authors, and how Extypis answers

The complaints that come back, from the most frequent to the rarest. Opposite each one, what Extypis does, including when it does no better.

  1. The complaint

    Nothing to structure a book: no scene board, no outline, no goals, no character sheets, and a long manuscript is browsed by scrolling.

    Holly Smith-Williams, April 2025 · TechRadar, December 2024 · A.R. Knight's blog, December 2017

    Extypis's answer

    A scene board, a narrative outline, sheets found in the text, a timeline and writing goals: this is what Extypis adds around the text.

  2. The complaint

    The phone and tablet apps do less than the web version: no styles, reduced comments, a table of contents that cannot be updated.

    Google Docs on the App Store (United Kingdom) · Google Docs on the App Store (France)

    Extypis's answer

    The phone and the tablet open the same Extypis as the computer, in the browser; only writing in the pages of the book needs a computer.

  3. The complaint

    Very long documents slow down or crash on a phone, and authors split their novel into one document per chapter; others keep a single 110,000-word document with no trouble.

    Mythic Scribes, September 2017 · Google Docs on the App Store (United Kingdom)

    Extypis's answer

    A book is sorted into chapters and scenes within one project: you open the scene you are working on, or several in a row.

  4. The complaint

    Page layout for print is weak: unexpected page breaks and footers, capricious indents, few fonts, so a finished manuscript often goes through another piece of software.

    Holly Smith-Williams, April 2025 · A.R. Knight's blog, December 2017 · Google Docs on the App Store (United States)

    Extypis's answer

    The PDF is typeset by LaTeX, at the size and margins of the pages where you already write, with its headers and page numbers.

  5. The complaint

    Offline has to be prepared beforehand, and only in Chrome or Edge, with one account per profile, and very large files sometimes sync badly.

    Help: working offline · A.R. Knight's blog, December 2017

    Extypis's answer

    Extypis does not open offline either. A tab that is already open keeps your text until the network comes back, with no setting to prepare.

  6. The complaint

    Reviewing is judged worse than in Word, and writing with several people becomes confusing when many edit at once.

    Google Docs on the App Store (United States) · Holly Smith-Williams, April 2025

    Extypis's answer

    Extypis has no writing with several people. To review on your own, its revision mode shows what has changed since the start of a pass, and you keep or revert each change.

  7. The complaint

    Google's AI costs €21.99 per month on a personal account, and users complain of AI tools added with no obvious way to remove them.

    Help: Gemini in Docs · Google Docs on the App Store (United States) · Google Docs on the App Store (United Kingdom)

    Extypis's answer

    Extypis AI costs 13 € per month, and the no-AI mode removes it from the screen in one click.

What Google Docs does better

  • It is free to write in, with no limit on documents within your 15 GB. The free Extypis account stops at 1 project and 15,000 words per project.
  • It lets several people write live, with comments and Suggesting mode. Extypis has one author per project.
  • You can write offline in Chrome or Edge, once the mode is prepared, and it has free iPhone and Android apps.
  • It exports to EPUB, Word or PDF with no limit.
  • Almost everyone already has a Google account: sharing a chapter with a reader asks nothing more of them.

What Extypis does that Google Docs does not

  • It keeps sheets for characters, places and objects, and finds their names and nicknames everywhere in the text.
  • It draws the map of the relationships between your sheets, places events on a timeline, and shows the story scene by scene on cards.
  • You write in the pages of the book, headers and numbers included, and Extypis typesets the print PDF with LaTeX.
  • You write the dedication, the preface and the copyright page in their place, with the publisher and the ISBN.
  • It publishes your book on a reading page, and issues a “human origin” certificate that says what was typed, pasted or moved.
Extypis on film, in 20 chapters. Click a chapter to jump to it.

Moving from Google Docs to Extypis

In Google Docs, choose File, then Download, then Microsoft Word (.docx); if your novel is spread over several tabs, export all the tabs. Then import the file into Extypis: it is split into chapters and scenes, and the characters who come back often already have their sheet, filled with what the text says about them. Your readers' comments do not carry over. The free account imports a manuscript as long as it fits in 15,000 words; beyond that, importing requires a subscription.

The questions people ask us

Can you write a novel in Google Docs?
Yes, and many authors do: a document holds up to 1.02 million characters, and tabs let you keep one chapter per tab. Docs has no character sheets, no scene board, no outline and no book layout, however (surveyed on 17 October 2026).
Is Google Docs free?
Yes, with a Google account, whose 15 GB are shared with Gmail and Google Photos. More storage is paid through Google One, from €1.99 per month, and Gemini in Docs requires the Google AI Pro plan, €21.99 per month.
Does Google Docs work offline?
Yes, in Chrome or Edge, provided you have turned on the Google Docs Offline extension and Drive's offline mode beforehand; the phone apps offer it too. Extypis does not open offline, but a tab that is already open keeps your text until the network comes back.
What is the difference with Extypis?
Google Docs is a free word processor, excellent for writing with other people. Extypis is made for a book: sheets found in the text, relationship map, timeline, scene board, writing in the pages of the book and a PDF typeset with LaTeX; it is free up to 15,000 words per project, then costs 9 € per month.
Does Google Docs export to EPUB?
Yes: File, Download, then EPUB. Docs also exports to Word, PDF, OpenDocument, RTF, text and web page. Extypis exports to PDF, Word, EPUB, Markdown and HTML.
How do I move from Google Docs to Extypis?
Download your document as Word from Google Docs, all tabs included, then import it into Extypis: it is split into chapters, and the characters who come back often already have their sheet. The free account imports a manuscript of at most 15,000 words.

Sources

The pages opened on 17 October 2026 to write each line about Google Docs.

User reviews

2026-10-17

See also Extypis compared to Microsoft Word · Extypis compared to Reedsy Studio · Extypis compared to Scrivener · Extypis for writing a novel · The Extypis pricing grid

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The writing studio novelists were missing

Outline, characters, places and objects, the links between them, mind map, scene board, export: everything lives in one place. Plus an AI that knows your story, whenever you want one.

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The whole studio

Everything our writing app puts in your hands

Five areas, from the first outline to the file ready to send: everything you ask of a writing app. Here is what each one covers.

Hold your story, from outline to final page.

Narrative tools you won't find elsewhere — turn a tangle of ideas into a structure that holds.

An AI that suggests, you decide

The AI permanently sees your whole project — outline, sheets, scenes already written. Every rewrite, every completion, every suggestion, every cover stays consistent with your entire work, and at no extra cost or setup. You approve every word.

Estimates if you only use this feature. Credits are shared across every AI tool.

Daily writing comfort

Everything that makes long-form writing sustainable: shortcuts, templates, anchored notes, versions, goals.

Analyse and refine your prose

Style tools that go beyond the spell-checker: readability, poetic meter, repetitions, connectors, passive voice.

What you write is what you export.

Your text is laid out as you type, in the format of your PDF. All that is left is to pick the file format, or to publish on Extypis.

Lifetime updates

Every future Extypis innovation included, no extra cost, no paywall.

Backing an indie project

Extypis is an independent, self-funded project — no ads, no venture capital.

Human support

Got a question? You talk directly to the creator, never a chatbot.