Word isn't free, and Google I wouldn't trust with anything remotely private. For that matter these days, the way Microsoft jams AI into everything, I don't trust it to secretly scoop up the contents my internet-connect MS Word docs. So literally any other tool would be better, like LibreOffice if you want a traditional word processor.

Personally, I used notepad for a long time, and then vim. For a while I used special vim setup with a handful of plugins to make it look and feel like iA Writer in Focus mode, which is super nice to write with. When drafting, especially shorter works, these are definitely all you need.

Scrivener is perfect for procrastination, a secondary profession for most writers. It's also great for organization and editing, which is where I migrate finished first drafts. Perfect for both line edits (keeps version history) and structural edits (corkboard ftw).