Decoding Proton Docs and Zoom Docs suites, mounting a challenge to Google Docs

After many years of unfettered dominance, Google Docs may have a genuine competition to worry about. For writers able to get work done on a document editor within a web browser, Google’s Docs, Sheets and Slides represented the benchmark tool, even though Microsoft tried, with a similar digital paper proposition with Microsoft 365 (formerly Office). In the past few weeks, a more meaningful challenge has been mounted by tech companies you wouldn’t have immediately known. Zoom Docs and Proton Docs may prove significant since they’re an extension of platforms that already have a large user base.
Popular video conferencing platform Zoom, not content with being known for just that, has rolled out Zoom Docs. The privacy focused software company Proton, that already has Mail, Pass password manager and Drive cloud storage, is adding Proton Docs to that proposition. HT has earlier detailed Proton’s efforts to build an ecosystem of apps and services that becomes a viable alternative for Google or Microsoft’s services. From our experience with Proton Docs and Zoom Docs, the checklist is being ticked off successfully more often than not, but there is still some way to go before either is able to add all functionality you’d expect.
Proton’s expected privacy focused approach extends from Drive to Docs as well, within which the latter resides. “Online document editors have become a core productivity tool, used for everything from private journals to sensitive business strategies. The problem is that most companies offering document editors today are the same Big Tech companies that collect and monetize your private information,” Anant Vijay, the Product Lead for Proton Mail and Drive, said in a statement.
Its integration follows a template that works, for storage and editing in one place. The first iteration of Proton Docs has most basics you’d expect – rich text formatting options, document collaboration and multiple format support. The main toolbar placed atop the document has a clutter free layout, and unless you are used to the Microsoft Word desktop app, the limited font style support wouldn’t be much of a problem. A word count meter anywhere in sight, which may be a problem if you’ve to keep tabs on how much you’ve written.
For now, Proton Docs is available within Proton Drive on the desktop web browser, and not via the Proton Drive app for Android, Apple iPhone or the iPad. That must change, if there has to be parity with Google Drive. Secondly, though Proton Docs is available from the free subscription tier much like Google Docs, the latter’s free plan includes 15GB storage space across email, photos and cloud storage. Proton’s free plan includes only 1GB space, and chances are that’ll fill up soon. Your paid subscription choices include the Mail Plus (this bundles 15GB storage) for ₹280 per month, or Unlimited ₹ ₹719 per month with 500GB storage.
Zoom would hope for a large chunk of its video meetings app users (as of the latest numbers by research firm Statista, Zoom has 55.91% videoconferencing share globally; Microsoft Teams is second, with 32.29% share) begin to use Zoom Docs. Much like Proton’s pitch, the idea is a singular workplace for different tasks. And since its available from the free tier upwards, users will get a fair idea of whether this works for them or not.
It’s a rather clean interface that greets you, with two distinct elements for accessing most features – there’s the main toolbar at the top, and three tabs below that can invoke an AI assistant, quickly insert a data table, or choose from templates.
The latter is important if Zoom Docs, assuming they’ll be eyeing a significant uptake among workplace teams, have classified templates according to different functions – some examples are project and product, human resources, task tracking, research and analysis as well as planning and strategy. The other big pitch is, integrating Zoom Docs files within Zoom calls.
“Zoom Docs can be used for documentation, wikis, project planning, and more. Its easy-to-use design adapts to your needs, incorporating information from meetings and allowing you to embed content from third-party apps like Google Drive, YouTube, Figma, and X to help you easily create, collaborate, manage projects, and stay organized,” Zoom’s chief product officer Smita Hashim said in a statement.
There may be a case for subscribing to a Zoom Pro plan, if you may be able to draw value from the integrated AI Companion. Some of its areas of strength include translations, summarising a document, converting something into a cogent list and change the tone of what you’ve written. This is something Google Docs is also layering up with, if you’ve subscribed to the Google One AI Advanced plan (that costs ₹1,950 per month). Zoom’s Workplace Pro plans that unlock the AI Companion are priced upwards of ₹1,100 per month per user.
As online document editors, Proton Docs and Zoom Docs do still have some catching up to do. Proton doesn’t have any AI intervention for now, and for some users, that may be a shortcoming. Both Zoom and Proton have overlooked word count as a visible element when you’re working on a document. Your mileage with document version comparisons may vary too, while there doesn’t seem to be a way to work on these offline (that’s a limitation, for the duration you may be without a Wi-Fi or mobile data connectivity).
And unlike Google Docs, both platforms are still to tick off the smartphone compatibility, with apps for Android and iPhone, as well as mobile browser optimised versions. Not just for smartphones, but tablets too, because a lot of users are finding those within their workflows as second computing devices. Google Docs has been around long enough to have become a habit. Microsoft couldn’t break that habit, despite Office. Proton and Zoom may need to persist longer, to convince users to switch lock, stock and barrel.