What “without AI” means here
Compose does not currently offer a button that writes a paragraph, rewrites your sentence or summarises your document with generative AI. No paid plan adds those writing features.
That is a description of the product as it exists now. It is not a promise about every future version of Compose.
There is no separate AI mode hidden behind an account or subscription. Compose simply does not offer generated prose while you edit. It can format material you provide, but it does not generate prose for you.
What Compose does instead
The editor gives you formatting, headings, Find, Outline and document structure. Shelf holds research notes. Citations format sources, Review records feedback, Versions provides recovery points, and export creates other formats.
These tools organise or transform information you provide. They are not a hidden text-generation layer.
For example, Find can locate repeated wording and Commands can take you to an action quickly, but neither decides what your sentence should say. The judgement stays with the writer.
Review suggestions come from people
A Suggested edit in Review contains replacement wording entered by the person creating the Review item. Compose can apply or reject that suggestion, but it does not invent the proposed wording.
The same is true for Review Notes. They are comments attached to selected text, not generated critique.
This keeps the review decision visible: one person proposes the change and another person can accept, reject or revise it.
Citation formatting is not AI writing
Compose formats citations from the source details you save. If you enter a DOI, Compose asks Crossref for publication details and tries DataCite if needed.
A DOI is a standard identifier for a publication. Looking one up retrieves source details; it does not send your document to an AI model or ask a model to write the reference.
Network use and AI are separate questions
Some Compose features use online services, including account actions, DOI lookup and images loaded from a web address. A network request by itself does not mean AI is being used.
If privacy matters for a particular feature, check what it sends and why. The local-first Guide explains the main network exceptions in more detail.
A better question is: what information leaves the device for this action? Compose documents those exceptions where they matter.