Compare
Grants: the alternative to Microsoft Word
What moving from Microsoft Word to Grants actually looks like in 2026.
Grants is what people use when Microsoft Word stops fitting. Below is the honest side-by-side - same product surface, different posture: hosted in Germany, no third-party trackers, one honest price - plus the migration mechanics that decide whether the switch lands in an evening or in a quarter.
At a glance
Word is excellent at one thing: any document. The trade-off for that flexibility is zero structure when you sit down to write an EXIST Gründerstipendium Ideenpapier. Grants ships the section structure (Idea, Innovation, Market, Team, Plan) reviewers actually open the PDF looking for - plus deadline tracking, status, and the 4-week revision window that gets a "zur Nachbesserung zurückgegeben" Antrag back into the awarded pile.
Switching
What moving from Microsoft Word actually looks like
The switch goes in three rough phases: export from Microsoft Word, import into Grants, and reorganise what came over. Most people allocate an evening for it. The export side is where the time goes - Microsoft Word hands you a CSV/JSON dump and the field mapping isn't always obvious; once that's resolved the import is a couple of minutes. We don't paywall the import path or pretend it's a pro-only feature, and you can run both side-by-side while you decide.
Grants vs Microsoft Word: feature comparison
When to pick which
Pick Grants when
final_v17_finalfinal.docx.Pick Microsoft Word when
Export from Microsoft Word
Find the export option in Microsoft Word's account settings. Most tools provide a CSV or JSON download. Save the dump locally - that's the source of truth for the next step.
Map fields in Grants
Open the import tool in Grants. Microsoft Word's field names rarely match Grants' 1:1; the import flags any unmapped columns so you can pair them up before anything commits.
Run the import
Run the import. Grants shows a preview of the first parsed rows in the import dialog so you can sanity-check the column mapping + a sample of records before anything commits. If you're nervous about a large dump, import a small subset first, verify it landed the way you expected, then run the full file.
Re-create your views, tags, saved searches
Microsoft Word-specific UI metadata (custom views, saved filters, in-app annotations) doesn't transfer with the data export. Spend an evening rebuilding the views you used most - usually a 30-minute job once you've done it once.
Cancel Microsoft Word when you're confident
Run both side-by-side for a couple of weeks if you want to be sure. When you're confident, cancel the Microsoft Word subscription from their side. Grants keeps your export option self-serve in account settings - no lock-in either direction.
Switching from Microsoft Word
The five questions we get most often before someone moves their data over.
Start with Grants
Free plan, no credit card. We host in Germany. Export + delete are self-serve.
Read next
Full Grants vs Microsoft Word
Where Word still wins, and where it costs you the grant.
Read
Grants vs Google Docs for grant applications
Honest comparison - co-editing wins, structure does not.
Read
Grants vs hiring a Förderberatung
When the percentage cut is the deal-breaker.
Read
Grants vs writing your EXIST application with ChatGPT
Why generic AI fails at the EXIST review.
Read