Attente vs Google Docs
Most writers have drafted something in Google Docs: it's free, it's everywhere, and sharing is easy. A novel, though, is two thousand paragraphs in one scroll. Attente is built for that length, and keeps the manuscript on your computer.
Where Google Docs is strong
- Collaboration. Live co-editing, comments and suggestions with editors and co-writers.
- It's everywhere: any browser, any device, at no cost with a Google account.
- Familiar. Nearly everyone you'll share with already knows how to use it.
- Version history for every document.
Side by side
| Topic | Google Docs | Attente |
|---|---|---|
| Where your work lives | In Google's cloud | On your computer, in a folder you can see; works fully offline |
| Long work | One long document, or many separate ones | Binder, corkboard, outline, timeline and plot threads in one project |
| Story tools | None built in | Story bible, characters, world rules and continuity |
| AI | Gemini can draft and rewrite text, on eligible plans | Readers that suggest in the margin; nothing changes until you accept |
| Collaboration | Live co-editing and comments | Not yet: sharing and sync are on the way |
| Book output | Word, PDF, EPUB and more, formatted by hand | Typeset paperback, EPUB and a standard submission manuscript |
Which suits you
Choose Google Docs if…
You co-write in real time, you share drafts with people who live in Google Docs, or your pieces are short enough for one document.
Choose Attente if…
You're writing something book-length, you want your manuscript on your own computer and working offline, and you want AI that reads along rather than drafts for you.
Switching from Google Docs
Download your Doc as Word (.docx) and import it into Attente: paragraphs, italics, headings and scene breaks come across, split into chapters at the headings you choose.
Try Attente free for 7 days.
Download it for macOS, Windows or Linux, or open it in your browser. When it's earned its place, one licence covers every computer you write on.