Comparison

Stesura vs OnlyOffice

OnlyOffice is a full open-source office suite — documents, spreadsheets, presentations — delivered as a self-hosted server or cloud service. It covers all word-processor features but embeds as an iframe rather than a component you control.

In short

A whole office suite in an iframe vs. a React component you own.

OnlyOffice genuinely covers every word-processor feature and you can self-host it. The price is the integration model: a UI you configure rather than own, inside an iframe, and spreadsheets and presentations coming along whether you wanted them or not.

If you need an office suite, take OnlyOffice. If you need an editor inside your product, wearing your UI, take ours.

What is OnlyOffice?

OnlyOffice is a comprehensive, self-hostable alternative to Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Its document editor is mature and feature-complete — pagination, headers/footers, track changes, and strong DOCX compatibility are all there. It integrates into web apps via a JavaScript API that renders an iframe; the official React component wraps the same iframe. That model makes it a good fit for enterprise portals needing a full office suite but a poor fit for teams that want a React editor they can customize, theme, or extend at the component level.

Best suited for

Self-hosted enterprise portalsOffice 365 / Google Workspace alternativesDocument management systemsOn-premise compliance environmentsMulti-file-type platforms (docs + sheets + slides)

Feature comparison

FeatureOnlyOfficeStesura

Real pagination

Yes

Legal / multi-level numbering

Yes

Per-section headers & footers

Yes

Footnotes, endnotes & cross-references

Yes

Track changes

Yes

Threaded comments

Yes

Stylesheets

Yes

Proofreading

Yes

DOCX import / export

Stesura's import/export is best effort: lossless is the goal, not a guarantee.

Yes

Partial

Collaboration

Yes

React component

OnlyOffice's official React component (@onlyoffice/document-editor-react) mounts the editor in an iframe.

Partial

Yes

Deep UI customization

Customization goes through OnlyOffice's configuration options and plugins API.

Partial

Yes

ProseMirror API

OnlyOffice uses its own editing engine, open source under the AGPL with commercial editions.

Yes

Spreadsheets & presentations

OnlyOffice is a full suite; Stesura is a document editor only.

Yes

When to use which

Choose OnlyOffice when

You need a full office suite — documents, spreadsheets, and presentations — in one product
On-premise deployment is required for data residency or compliance
Your users are migrating from LibreOffice or MS Office and need maximum familiarity
Deep React integration and UI customization are not requirements
You're building an enterprise portal that replaces Google Workspace or Office 365 self-hosted

Choose Stesura when

You're embedding a word processor in a React app — not a simple text box
You need real pagination with accurate A4/Letter page layout
Legal numbering, footnotes, cross-references, and TOC are required out of the box
DOCX import and export that minimises round-trip losses — without binding your model to Word
You want complete document editing without months of assembly work
Track changes, comments, and per-section headers/footers must all work on day one
You want the full ProseMirror API while skipping the infrastructure

This comparison is based on publicly available information as of October 2026 and reflects our honest understanding of OnlyOffice. Products change; if something is out of date or inaccurate, we'd genuinely like to fix it — email us at info@innovars.eu.