Tired of sharing your text documents with Google? Proton is launching its own text editor that looks just like Google Docs.

Proton expands its ecosystem of privacy-friendly web tools with Docs, an online word processor. Just like Google Docs or the web version of Word, you can share documents with colleagues and work on them in real time. The word processor is available free of charge to anyone with a Proton Drive account.

Similarities to Google Docs are not far to seek, and this is not entirely unconscious. Most Proton solutions often resemble Google counterparts in appearance and functionality. Proton’s main selling point is that the technology is not owned by Google or any other major commercial tech giant.

Swiss banking secrecy

The downside to using Google Docs or Microsoft 365 is that by definition you are also sharing the documents with the owner of the platform. This way they know exactly what is in your documents. Even American companies are subject to laws that allow the US government to access user data if it deems necessary, even users outside the US.

There is none of that at Proton. Proton is a Swiss company and swears by Swiss banking secrecy. The company states in black and white that it never has access to the contents of user files, not even the metadata. Proton stores your documents in a safe that is stored with end-to-end encryption.

Proton Docs is part of Proton Drive, the alternative to Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. Proton’s offering also includes a mail app with calendar, a VPN service and a password manager, all of which meet the same privacy and security conditions.