app writing for pc

Best free writing app of 2024

Bring your words to life with the best free writing apps

Best overall

Best for markup, best word alternative, best word processor, best for mac, best online.

• How we test

The best free writing apps serve up more than just text tools - they also offer betters ways to manage and organize all your ideas, outlines, and projects. 

1. Best overall 2. Best for markup 3. Best Word alternative 4. Best word processor 5. Best for Mac 6. Best online 7. FAQs 8. How we test

Like the best free word processors , writing apps help you get your thoughts on the page without breaking the bank (or your train of thought). But we’ve also made sure they’ll make it easier to save, share, and sync all your documents and keep them safe, whether you need a desktop writing app for work, school, or play. 

If you struggle to stay focused, we’ve tested some of the best free writing apps come with distraction-free layouts or gamification challenges to keep you in the zone. We’ve also reviewed those built for professional document creation, with advanced business features such as speech-to-text transcription and online collaboration tools. 

Our picks cover the best apps for writing on the web, Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS - so you’re always ready whenever and wherever creativity strikes. 

<a href="https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/" data-link-merchant="literatureandlatte.com"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Scrivener: best writing software for authors Scrivener is packed with all the features a novelist needs, helping you track plot threads, store notes on characters and locations, structure your work and (most importantly) get some serious work done. It's not a free writing app like the tools below, but it's well worth the investment if your budget will allow it.

The best free writing app of 2024 in full:

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

1. FocusWriter

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

FocusWriter helps writers combat one of their biggest challenges: distractions. One of the best free writing software tools out there, it's specifically designed to let you just concentrate on your writing. 

The stripped-back interface is deliciously sparse - ideal for when you just need to get your head down and write - and not dissimilar to a moderately powerful version of Notepad, featuring support for TXT, basic, RTF, and ODT files. 

Even the toolbar is hidden until you actually need it. Just swoop your cursor to the top on the screen to reveal a barren menu, from basic formatting to themes and timers.

Features are light within the software, but FocusWriter isn’t made for heavy editing sessions. It’s designed to make the act of writing flow seamlessly onto the page. 

Elsewhere, the writing app boasts the ability to add themes and your own background images, which can help you stay motivated. 

The Daily Progress tool is a sweet extra, adding Duolingo-style gamification that lets you track your daily writing streak. For when it’s oh-so-easy to slip onto social media when you can’t find the perfect word, it’s a nice way to keep you within the app. 

Available for Windows, Linux, and macOS, the writing software also comes as a portable download, no installation required. So, you can pop it on a USB stick and plug it into any computer you’re working on. 

Read our full FocusWriter review .

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2. WriteMonkey

WriteMonkey is another piece of free writing software that cuts down on the clutter to deliver uninterrupted writing sessions. 

The free word processor, cleverly described as zenware, is unbelievably pared back compared to more traditional writing apps. 

There’s very little in the way of distracting ‘screen furniture’, which means you’re better positioned to concentrate on the writing process. And absolutely nothing else. 

But don’t let that stripped-back approach fool you. As one of the best free writing apps, WriteMonkey is still rich with the sort of core features that matter to writers. 

However, most options are hidden in a context menu (so you’ll need to right-click to view it). It also only supports TXT files, which may limit those looking to read, write, or edit across multiple formats. It is, at least, a portable download, letting you take it wherever you need.

If you’ve enjoyed Markdown, the simplified text-editing language that lets you format, annotate, classify, and link as you type, then great. WriteMonkey’s inner workings will instantly chime. 

First-timers should spend a little time with this free writing software, to uncover that intuitive simplicity. 

Read our full WriteMonkey review .

3. LibreOffice Writer

Writer, the open-source, free writing software, serves almost all general writing needs.

LibreOffice is a near-perfect example of free office software - a familiar, feature-rich take on the office suite. What the veteran software package lacks in Microsoft polish (its interface is undeniably old-fashioned, for starters), it makes up for in its price-point: free. For that, you get access to six tools: Calc, Impress, Draw, Base, Math, and Writer. 

Earning it a slot on our list of best free writing apps is the fact that LibreOffice Writer packs the full editing toolbox. 

This isn’t just a note-taking app for staving off distractions when you’re deep in the zone; it’s for when you’re in pure writer-mode. 

If you’re at all proficient with Microsoft Word, you won’t have any problems using the Writer software. Layouts and functions are almost identical, and there’s support for DOC and DOCX file types, making it efficient to switch out of the Microsoft garden.

This free writing app is ideal if you’re hunting for a tool that almost perfectly replicates the Word experience without the cost. 

Read our full LibreOffice review .

4. Microsoft Word

When it comes to word processors, Microsoft Word is probably the baseline against which all others are compared. It’s the one most of us use at school, home, and work. It’s familiar, comfortable - and it’s available free on the web and mobile devices. 

That may not be the best way to write your masterpiece (unless you’ve hooked up a Bluetooth keyboard). But it’s a great way to jot down ideas on-the-go. When we tested the browser-based version we found it could be a bit slow at first, and we were typing faster than the words appeared on screen. This settles down (mostly) after a minute or so. 

Microsoft’s free writing apps on Android and iPhone had no such issues. Using these was velvety smooth. We especially appreciated the option to switch between mobile view and desktop view, so we could gauge how the document would appear in full-screen. 

As with Google Docs, you’ll need to sign up with a Microsoft account. And, like Google, that also lets you use free versions of PowerPoint, Excel, and the like. While Word offers one of the best free writing app experiences, there’s no denying that the paid-for upgrade is superior, offering more tools, and a true desktop app. 

Read our full Microsoft Word review .

Author promises to make it easier to ‘think, write, and cite’. It’s a promise capably delivered, with a clean interface and bags of writing features designed to make it easy to go from first draft to final copy. 

If you're an Apple user in search of the best free writing apps on macOS, this one demands your attention. 

Concept Maps is one of the best features. It’s a great mind-mapping tool to visualize and lay down all your thoughts while they’re fresh in your head without constraint. You can worry about whipping them into shape later. 

Students and report writers will appreciate Author’s ‘fast citing’ tools - speeding up assignment-writing by correctly adding and formatting citations, references, and contents. 

A paid-for upgrade of the writing software that offers exporting options is available. However, unless you need automatic formatting on export, you can stick with the free version. 

6. Google Docs

Google Docs is a great free writing platform for any writer. It’s an extremely clean, quick word processor available in the browser, on desktop, and phone and tablet apps. So, you can take notes wherever inspiration strikes. 

Docs is more or less Google’s spin on Microsoft Word. The interface is a bit more simple than the professional office software - although it’s no less powerful. 

You’ll find heaps of writing tools, including a pretty accurate speech-to-text transcription tool (just enunciate and don’t talk too fast). Keyboard shortcuts are very well-supported. 

For best results, you’ll need an internet connection, though documents can be used offline. They’ll be synced, and in our experience, that happens swiftly behind the scenes. 

To take advantage of the free writing app, you’ll need a Google account, which may be a deal-breaker for some - but that also opens up the rest of the Google-stuff in the Google-sphere, such as Sheets, Slides, and . With a free account, you get 15GB of storage, which should be more than enough for word documents. A Google One subscription upgrades your storage space, amongst other things. 

Additionally, Google Docs is great if you want to collaborate with one or more other writers. Just be warned to stay in Google Docs for that, because exporting the data into Word or other writing applications can result formatting errors.

Read our full Google Docs review .

Best free writing app: FAQs

What's the difference between a writing app and an ai writer.

AI writers vs writing apps - what's the real difference?

Artificial intelligence is growing in a big way - and when it comes to writing, it's ChatGPT that's been snatching all the headlines of late, with its ability to generate short- and long-form content based on user prompts.

Generally, an AI writer will write your content for you, based on its current learning (although often without 'understanding' the context). A writing app simply lets you write your way, in your own voice. 

Some platforms, such as Canva , have even integrated AI into its Canva Docs and Canva PDF Editor services. However. its Magic Write tool acts as a writing assistant, serving up suggestions and ideas, leaving real writers to work their magic on the content. Though usually hiding in the back-end, you can also find AI integrated in other ways across other the best PDF editor apps (and even the best free PDF editor apps, too).

As always with AI-generated content, whether it's the written word or an artwork masterpiece, human involvement is usually necessary and always desirable. Even if you're using the best AI writers out there, editing and proofreading is essential to give the content accuracy and emotional resonance.

How to choose the best free writing app for you

When deciding which free writing app is best, start by figuring out what sort of writing you want to do. 

Do you need a handy tool for quick scribbles and jotting down ideas here and there, or are you using the writing software to write and edit an epic novel? Tools like FocusWriter and Write Monkey are great for getting thoughts on the page without friction.

It’s also worth considering if you need a writing app with a distraction-free design, so you can concentrate on what really matters to you. Again, FocusWriter performs admirably here, but as a result, you lose core typography and editing functions. Unlike LibreOffice, this isn’t the best Microsoft Office alternative if you need those tools. In that scenario, it may be worth considering looking at some of the best free office software , which includes MS Word-style apps, alongside other tools similar to Excel, PowerPoint, and so on. 

Access is an important factor when using your writing software. A tool like Scribus needs to be downloaded to your machine. Lightweight apps like FocusWriter, however, offer a portable download that can be downloaded to a USB and carried with you. 

Check what file formats your chosen writing app supports, too. While some let you create and edit the common DOC and DOCX files, others only allow TXT or RTF documents.

But most of all, it’s important to choose the best free writing app for your unique creative flow. 

How we test the best free writing apps

Testing the best free writing apps and software, we assess how easy it is to get your words down on the page with the least amount of friction. Portable writing apps rank high, because they let you use the program on whatever computer or laptop you’re using. 

We also look at performance for its intended audience. For distraction-free writing apps, do they really foster focus? For word processor-style software, does it offer good formatting and editing options? 

Most importantly, we expect to see free writing apps that are genuinely cost-free - no-one wants to stumble across hidden fees and charges in the contracts. 

We've listed the best laptops for writers .

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Steve is TechRadar Pro’s B2B Editor for Creative & Hardware. He explores the apps and devices for individuals and organizations that thrive on design and innovation. A former journalist at Web User magazine, he's covered software and hardware news, reviews, features, and guides. He's previously worked on content for Microsoft, Sony, and countless SaaS & product design firms. Once upon a time, he wrote commercials and movie trailers. Relentless champion of the Oxford comma.

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15 BEST Writing Apps & Software for Windows PC (2024)

Writing Apps are applications that help you to manage and boost writing stories, emails, ideas, social media posts, articles, and more. These programs have a user-friendly interface that helps you to manage your files. Following is a handpicked list of Top Writing Software, with their popular features and website links. The list contains both open source (free) and commercial (paid) software. Read more…

Grammarly is a widely used writing enhancement tool. It offers numerous writing styles, suggestions for grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. It offers a useful knowledge base for grammar learning.

Best Text Writing Apps & Software

1) Grammarly

Grammarly is a widely used writing enhancement tool. It offers numerous writing styles, suggestions for grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. You can use this tool via the website, as a browser extension or as an app that you download to your computer.

• It helps enhance your writing skills by highlighting grammatical mistakes and areas of improvement.
• Works with every type of website with ease.
• Detect contextual mistakes.
• Genre-specific suggestion abilities.
• It offers a useful knowledge base for grammar learning.
• Helps writer to boost their writing style.
• Make text corrections across different websites and platforms.

Supported Platform: Web and browser extension.

Visit Grammarly >>

Free Forever

2) Prowritingaid

Prowritingaid is a tool that offers world-class grammar and style checking facility. It helps you to edit documents faster. This software includes more than 1000s of style to improve your writing.

• It enables you to fix the writing style issue.
• Prowritingaid shows spelling and grammar mistakes.
• It has word explorer facilities to find the right word.
• It is one of the best writing apps for Windows that offers a consistent report to reduce mistakes.

Supported Platform: Mac, Web, and Windows.

Visit Prowritingaid >>

14-Day Free Trial

Surfer is an easy to use writing app that helps you to generate a whole content strategy in a few clicks. It allows you to develop data-driven content.

• Helps you to craft content marketing strategy through generating guidelines and insights for a single article.
• One-click content guidelines to make search engine results by storm.
• Help you identify content gaps and structural defects.
• Generate a content strategy according to your business needs.

Visit Surfer >>

30-Day Money-back Guarantee

4) Final Draft

Final Draft is a writing app that enables you to write and format screenplays for televisions. It enables you to collaborate with other people in real time.

• Allows you to store various versions of lines.
• It auto-fills commonly used locations and names.
• You can insert images on title pages.
• It enables you to write screenplays without using the keyboard.
• Eliminate distractions using night mode.

Visit Final Draft >>

30-Day Free Trial

5) Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is a writing app that helps you to transform documents into web pages. It offers a real-time translation facility with just one tap. This program enables you to read and edit documents attached to the email.

• Provides templates for resumes and forms.
• You can read documents, PDF, letters, and scripts on your mobile device.
• It enables you to save a document as a PDF file.
• Share your file with others with a few taps.
• Support editing with rich formatting.
• Manage permission for documents
• You can comment in the documents.

Supported Platform: Android, Mac, iOS, and Windows.

Visit Microsoft Word

Frase is software for speech recognition. This application allows you to talk, and your words will appear on the screen. It helps you to make documents without using a keyboard.

• It allows you to control your PC by voice with accuracy and speed.
• This tool is faster than typing text with a keyboard.
• It can be used by students, enterprise users, and professionals.

Supported Platform: Windows, iOS, and Mac.

Visit Frase >>

5-Day Trial for $1

7) Scrivener

Scrivener is an ideal creative writing apps. It provides a management system for documents, metadata, and notes. This application helps you to organize and research the document for easy access.

• It highlights the phrases that you need to work.
• You can add comments and annotations.
• This software allows you to indent block quota.
• Make heading large and bold.
• You can import plain text files, and Word documents, PDF documents, and more.

Visit Scrivener >>

30-Days Free Trial

8) Calmlywriter

Calmlywriter is free writing software. The design of this program is minimal. This online application is design to help you to focus on your writing skills. It has a “focus mode” option that can highlight the paragraph you are writing.

• You can get the support of full-screen mode.
• It is simple to use.
• You can on or off typewriter sound.
• Supports syntax to format headers, bold, italics, as well as bullets.
• It allows you to use keyboard shortcuts.
• Spell check via a browser.
• It provides a word counter.
• You can export to PDF file.

Link: https://www.calmlywriter.com/

9) JotterPad – Writer, Screenplay, Novel

JotterPad is an Android application that is designed especially for writers. It is one of the best writing apps which has a plain text editor helping you to write books, poems, novels, essays, etc. The tool enables you to focus on converting your thoughts into a plain text file.

• You can quickly search for phrases.
• Supports Markdown (Text to HTML conversion tool).
• It allows you to count words.
• This tool helps you to control the version of the document.
• Write or edit the text in the cloud.
• Print or publish your work to PDF.
• It has a built-in dictionary to search for words.

Supported Platform: Android.

Link: https://jotterpad.app/

10) Google Doc

Google Doc is an online application that helps you to format text and paragraphs. It is one of the best writing app that contains numerous fonts and images. This tool offers templates for writing documents. You can use the application to create and make changes in files anywhere anytime.

• You can access it from a Phone tablet or computer.
• You can make changes in the document in real-time.
• Supports chat and comment in the file.
• Convert Google Doc file to Word file or vice versa.
• You can search quotes, text, and images in the Google Doc Android app.
• Supports a wide range of add-ons.

Supported Platform: Web, iOS, and Android, and Mac.

Link: http://docs.google.com/

11) Ginger software

Ginger is one of the oldest writing enhancement tool. It will help you to correct text as you type, picking up many common grammatical errors like punctuation, sentence structuring, subject-verb agreement, writing style, and wording. Apart from the usual grammar, the checker offers a set of unique little features in it like text reader, translator, trainer, etc.

• Ginger software is well efficient Grammarly checker tool to detect misspelled words.
• It is one of the best free Grammarly alternative app which helps you to correct all errors at once and also allows you to undo all changes with just one click.
• This program allows you to do the switching between US and UK English languages.
• Ginger punctuation checker helps you to check punctuation mistakes in your content.
• You can add your words to the personal dictionary to consider them as errors in the future.
• Identify document errors and correct them.
• Fast and effective spelling and grammar check.
• Help improve users’ English writing skills.

Supported Platform: Windows, iOS, Mac, and browser extension.

Link: https://www.gingersoftware.com/

12) Readable

Readable is a word processor that helps you to test readability, grammar, and spelling of your text. It is one of the best writing app which supports integration with API into your content management software. You can paste your text into this tool, and it will give you instant analysis. It also recommends improvement.

• Provides readability score in a spreadsheet.
• It can analyze the quality of the text.
• This tool can check the density of the keyword.
• The application gives readability alerts.
• It provides team management facility.
• Readable allows you to share text, file scores, and websites.

Supported Platform: Web.

Link: https://readable.com/

13) iA Writer

iA Writer is a text editor that gives users a clean, simple, and distraction-free writing experience. This tool can be used devices like smartphones, tablets, and more.

• Supports keyboard shortcuts.
• It can highlight the current sentence and word you are typing.
• You can connect to cloud services like Google Drive and Dropbox.
• It has easy to use writing interface.

Supported Platform: Mac and Windows.

Link: https://ia.net/writer

14) Writing Challenge

Writing challenge is a tool that provides an easy way to improve writing. You can write stories step by step. It helps you speed up your writing by adjusting the timer.

• This tool helps you to generate creative ideas.
• It provides many combinations to start your stories.
• This software offers an option to suggest in your story.

Supported Platform: Android, Mac, and iOS.

Link: https://www.writingchallengeapp.com/

15) Ulysses (for Mac)

Ulysses is a tool that helps you to manage you’re your projects. It is one of the best free writing software which enables you to work anywhere, anytime. This tool helps you to transform the text into a PDF file. You can export text file HTML for use on the web.

• This software offers a clean and distraction-free environment.
• It helps you to enhance plaintext.
• Ulysses has a hierarchic group that enables you to organize your writing project.
• Collaboration, for example, with your colleague using Dropbox.
• Export text file to Markdown, HTML, or rich text.
• Publish stories to Medium and WordPress.
• Provides live preview to see how your output will look like.
• It has numerous styles and themes.

Supported Platform: Mac and iOS.

Link: https://ulysses.app/

Why use writing apps?

Writing apps are used because:

• They help you to make writing easier.
• It offers numerous writing styles, suggestions for grammar, vocabulary, syntax.
• Applications identify document errors and correct them.

What are the general features of writing apps?

The best writing software have the following features:

• Writing apps solve grammatical errors like punctuation, sentence structuring, subject-verb agreement, writing style, and wording.
• It helps you to make writing easier.

Writing Apps are applications that help you to manage and boost writing stories, emails, ideas, social media posts, articles, and more.

Here are some of the Best Writing Apps & Software:

• Prowritingaid
• Final Draft
• Microsoft Word
• Calmlywriter
• 11 Best FREE Grammarly Alternatives (2024 Premium Apps)
• Grammarly vs Ginger – Which is Better?
• 21 BEST Word Processing Software (2024)
• Grammarly vs ProWritingAid: Which to choose?
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• 10+ BEST Privacy Policy Generators for your Website (2024)
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• Is a New iPad Pro Coming Soon?
• Get It Now: Spring Tech Deals at Amazon

The 10 Best Writing Apps of 2024

Useful tools for novelists, playwrights, editors, and other wordy types

• The University of Phoenix
• Payment Services

If you're serious about writing, consider getting serious about your writing tools. These writing apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS , and Android put your words into the right format, adding polish and professionalism to your creations.

Best Word Processor for All Genres: Microsoft Word

Hundreds of templates make creating any document simple and fast.

Easily add charts, graphs, and images.

Built-in translation tools.

Overwhelming interface.

Full app is expensive.

Only one person can edit shared documents at a time.

No writing tool list is complete without Microsoft Word. This word processor is the best option for all genres, complete with hundreds of templates to choose from, endless formatting tools, and a robust online support system. From a poem to an e-book to a novel, Word can help you do it all. You can even create your own Word templates .

Word is available for macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android devices. You can start with a free trial of Microsoft 365, which includes other Microsoft applications as well. If you choose to purchase, packages range from $69.99 a year to a one-time payment of $149.99. If those prices are too high for you, you can also use Word for free .

Download For:

Best Tool for Long-Form Content: Scrivener

Keyboard shortcuts make writing a breeze.

Templates are ready-made to jumpstart your creativity.

Easy to manage and rearrange pages and chapters.

Has a learning curve.

Spelling and grammar check are not enabled by default.

Intended for users who have an intermediate understanding of word processing.

Do you write long-form works like novels or non-fiction books? If so, you need a tool that performs some of the low-level tasks for you. Scrivener offers ready-made templates that eliminate the need to spend time on tedious formatting tasks.

This application also includes features for storing details about your characters and other critical background information, writing sections and placing them in your manuscript later, and viewing a detailed outline built from synopses that you write for each chapter. If you don't like the flow, you can move chapters around. When you're ready to publish, Scrivener makes it simple to compile and export a completed manuscript.

Scrivener is available for macOS, Windows, and iOS. You can try it free for 30 days. After the trial, a standard license costs $59.99 or $50.99 for students.

Best Screenwriting Application: Final Draft

It has everything professional screenwriters need to meet industry standards.

Powerful story mapping tools.

Integrates with Storyboard Pro.

May not be great for beginners due to the hefty price and steep learning curve.

You must sign in to the platform each time you use it.

No support for real-time collaboration.

Final Draft is used by 95 percent of film and television productions. Why? There are hundreds of templates to choose from and Final Draft automatically paginates and formats your script to the industry standard, allowing you to focus on writing.

With advanced tools, the program allows you to easily brainstorm and collaborate as well as plan set pieces or store character research with customized visualizations.

Final Draft offers a free 30-day trial. After that, the cost is $199.99. The program works with both macOS and Windows and also offers a mobile app for iOS devices.

Best Organizational Companion: Evernote

Add photos, audio snippets, and more.

Robust collaboration tools.

Search for text in PDFs, images, scanned documents, and handwritten notes.

Only 60 MB of monthly upload space is available for free.

May include more features than you need for simple note taking.

Free version limits you to two devices.

To electronically capture ideas on the fly, use a text-based note app on your device. For an enhanced organizational experience, we recommend Evernote. It enables you to collect many types of input, including whiteboard photos, website screenshots, different document formats, audio recordings, and your handwriting. You can separate items into different notebooks for multiple projects.

Evernote is free to download for both Android and iOS devices, or you can use it online. Users can upgrade to Evernote Premium for $7.99 per month or Evernote Business for $14.99 per user per month.

Best Application for Distracted Writers: FocusWriter

The tool is easy start using as soon as it downloads.

Free with no catches.

Simple, intuitive interface.

There are no editing functions outside of cut and paste.

Need another word processor for editing purposes.

No mobile version.

Given all the distractions in the world and especially online, it's easy to get off track during your writing time. FocusWriter allows you to focus and get your work done. The interface is basic, with all the tools hidden beyond a screen until you need them, so it's just you and the document in front of you. Hidden timers and alarms alert you when it's time to stop.

Best Writing Software for Bloggers: Google Docs

Changes to your documents save automatically, so no more lost work.

View the history of edits and track changes.

Collaborate in real time.

The Google Docs app for mobile devices is slower than the desktop version.

Limited options for adding charts and other visuals.

Fewer formatting features than premium word processors.

One of the best things about Google Docs is how easy the program makes it to collaborate with others. No more "version shuffle" as you send drafts and revisions back and forth in email.

When you share a document with your blog editor, they can insert suggestions, comments, and changes right there. Then, when it's time to implement the changes, accept the revisions and close comments about issues you resolved. You can even use Google to work on Microsoft Word documents.

Google Docs is a free online tool that's also available as an app for Android and iOS devices.

Best Writing App for Novelists: Werdsmith

Keeps track of your writing goals and tells you how close you are to reaching them.

Lots of helpful templates and formatting options.

Publish your writing to the web from the app.

Must purchase a membership to use the novel and screenplay features.

Text formatting tools could be more intuitive.

Not worth the price if you don't regularly use all the features.

Werdsmith is a portable writing studio, complete with instant formatting for novels and screenplays. You can even use it to publish your online writing portfolio. Werdsmith features a clean design, it's easy to use, and it's the perfect place for keeping your notes and finished work. The goals and stats function helps keep you motivated.

Werdsmith is free to download and use for iOS devices. In-app purchases are offered through a membership for $4.99 per month. Members receive four new themes, novel and screenplay writing tools, hundreds of writing prompts, and more.

Best App for Journalists: Dictation

It's designed for one thing: dictation. This simplicity makes it an easy tool to use on the go.

Accurate transcriptions.

Helps prevents strain on your joints and back.

Without the pro version, you'll see an ad after each dictation you create.

Doesn't integrate with word processing apps, so it can be tedious to use.

No word counter.

For journalists who interview individuals for news stories and features, a good dictation tool is a must-have. Dictation is a speech-to-text app that translates voice to text for mobile devices. It can also be used to dictate any voice while on the go. It's perfect for capturing your brilliant ideas as well.

Dictation is free to download for iOS devices. Dictation Pro, which costs $44.99 per year, removes ads and allows you unlimited app usage.

Best Application for Editors: TextEdit

When the full-scale capabilities of a word processing program are unnecessary, TextEdit fills in the gap.

HTML and JavaScript support.

Save files in various formats (.DOCX, ODF, and others).

Only available for macOS devices.

No third-party plugins.

Formatting issues when you copy-and-paste.

This simple tool is perfect for editing documents, including Word files, on the fly and converting them into other formats seamlessly. Need to change a Rich Text Format (RTF) document to another format quickly? TextEdit is the perfect app for that. You can also easily create and edit HTML documents for the web.

TextEdit comes standard with macOS.

Best App for Song Writers: Lyric Notepad

Record yourself performing and attach the file to your song.

Counts syllables and tracks rhyme schemes to help you maintain your flow.

Inexpensive pro version.

The interface is a bit clunky.

No way to back up your lyrics to the cloud.

No search tool.

For poets, rappers, songwriters, and lyricists, inspiration can strike at any moment. That's why it's important to have a tool available at your fingertips. Lyric Notepad goes beyond typical word processing tasks to track rhyme and syllable schemes, help you find new words, and record your lyrics, all in one app. The built-in notepad allows you to add notes about your songs as you write and the metronome helps you easily keep time.

Lyric Notepad is free to download for both iOS and Android devices.

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Best Writing Apps for Windows and Mac

Krystal N. Craiker

For writers, technology is a major asset. You no longer have to rely on countless journals, loose pages, and scribbled notes to write a book, article, or essay.

There are hundreds of writing apps available, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the choices. How do you know which writing apps are worth the money? Which applications are right for your needs as a writer?

As an author and content writer, I have a genuine passion for writing technology. It’s become a bit of a joke in my fiction group that I’m always switching programs to find The One True Writing App.

Let me save you the trouble of trying every new option that comes your way. Check out all the reasons you need a writing app, what to look for, and what the best programs on the market are for every writer’s needs.

What Is a Writing App?

Top 3 benefits from using writing apps, features to look for in the best writing apps, 9 best writing apps for windows and mac, conclusion on the best writing apps.

A writing app, short for writing application, is any software designed for writing. That seems obvious, but these days writing apps go far beyond a traditional notepad application.

Today, writing applications support multiple areas of the writing process: brainstorming, plotting, drafting, editing, and even formatting.

Not every writing application does all these steps. Each app has its strengths and weaknesses, so it’s important to understand what you need for your personal writing process.

Keep in mind that no app is perfect because every writer is different. But I’ve selected the apps that are pretty close to perfect—depending on your needs.

Why use a writing app? Is it really worth giving up your trusty pen and paper for a piece of technology?

Absolutely. Even the most basic writing apps will help you improve your writing process.

1. Organization

The best feature of a great writing app is that everything you need can be safely stored all in one place. Writing apps can hold all of your notes, dabbles, outlines, and drafts in one place.

Basic writing apps focus solely on word processing and aren’t designed with long documents in mind. With basic writing apps, you can use headings for easy navigation, or you can save things to one folder for your project. More advanced apps will allow you to quickly navigate between your notes and your draft.

You’ll never have to wonder where you jotted down that one great scene. You don’t have to worry about grabbing the wrong journal when you go on a writing retreat, or about suspicious coffee stains blurring your outline.

2. Efficiency

Whether you’re drafting a book or a blog post, writing is a multi-step process. A great writing app will save you several steps, making the entire process flow that much easier.

Can you brainstorm, write, edit, edit again, format, and send to your editor all with one program? Some writing applications will get you pretty close. But the best writing apps allow you to combine at least two steps of the writing process into one program.

3. Big-Picture Views

It’s easy to get stuck on one part of a manuscript or article. You’re zoomed in, thinking about how to fix a plot hole or improve your prose. It’s difficult to view your project as a whole when you’re hyper-focused on one piece.

When you have outlines, notes, and quick navigation to other sections in one app, it’s much easier to take a step back. You can focus on cohesive writing with excellent pacing when it’s all right in front of you.

Everyone has different requirements for their perfect writing software, which is why there are so many great apps on the market. But there are a few features that make a great writing app, no matter what your individual needs are.

Easy to Learn

Writing has enough steps—you don’t want to spend a ton of time learning a new app. Look for a writing program with a simple user interface. You should also look for plenty of tutorials or in-depth help pages.

“Easy to learn” is difficult to classify because everyone has different comfort levels with new technology. It’s a great idea to try out a trial or free version of a new writing app when possible.

Cross-Device Accessibility

A great app will be accessible on different devices and platforms, so your writing will sync no matter where you are. What happens if your main computer dies? Can you pick up your manuscript where you left off?

Cloud-based programs are great, but be sure they also have offline access in case you’re writing in a cabin in the woods. Mobile apps are fantastic when you want to jot down the perfect scene during a trip to the grocery store.

Security is two-fold when it comes to writing apps. First, you want a reliable program that won’t leak your personal information or sell it to partners.

But, you also want your writing to be safe. You don’t want your drafts to disappear. Be aware of how writing apps store your data. If there’s a glitch, you want your work to be easily recoverable.

One-Stop Shop

The more your writing app can do, the better. It will save you time and money when you don’t need multiple programs for every step of the process. Look for an app that can manage at least two steps of the writing process.

Great Customer Service

It’s guaranteed that issues will arise with any technology. But a great customer support experience makes all the difference. You may not get a chance to try out customer service before you buy, so check out reviews from people who have.

So, what writing apps make the cut? It really is hard to choose, but I’ve picked some of the best writing applications for all levels and all types of writers.

1. ProWritingAid

Before I worked at ProWritingAid, I was a loyal user. So when I say ProWritingAid is one of the best writing apps , I mean it.

ProWritingAid is so much more than a grammar checker. It’s truly a writing app because it doesn’t just tell you what to change. It helps you improve your skills with stylistic feedback, document goals, tutorials, articles, webinars, and more.

You can create sub-docs in the web editor if you’re working on longer documents with multiple sections. It’s easy to stay organized.

You can write directly in the web editor and edit as you go. You can also use one of the many integrations, like the Chrome Extension or ProWritingAid Everywhere .

ProWritingAid gives you the type of feedback you get from critique groups or line editors. You can set goals for dozens of document types. It’s great for anyone who writes, not just professionals.

ProWritingAid also has some of the highest security qualifications, so you can guarantee that your writing and your personal information are safe.

2. Google Docs

There’s nothing wrong with a simple writing app, so Google Docs is a great option. And you may not realize just how customizable the program is for your writing needs.

It’s easy to create folders to store notes, outlines, or drafts. You can create sub-folders, too.

For example, you might have a folder for your entire book, then a sub-folder for character profiles. You can use separate files or headings in one document to navigate between chapters and scenes.

Let’s say you use the same outline for all your quarterly reports at work. You can create templates for yourself and quickly make a copy. There is even a templates gallery from Google for certain document types.

Google Docs’ biggest strength is in collaboration. Share your document across teams at work, with your critique group, or with your editor. Leave in-line comments or toggle between editing and suggesting modes.

You can even add extensions to turn Google Docs into a true one-stop shop. Try ProWritingAid’s Google Docs extension to edit and improve your writing.

3. Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word has been around for a long time, and there’s no shame in keeping it old school. It’s a powerful and reliable word processor.

When you’re writing a long document, like a book or thesis, you can use headings and the navigation pane to rearrange sections. Your formatting options are practically endless with Microsoft Word, although there is a learning curve.

You can use Microsoft OneDrive to save all your work to the cloud and access it on different devices—even your phone! There’s also a web version of Microsoft Word and other Office products if you’re writing on a device like a Chromebook.

While Word has a built-in spell checker, it’s very basic. Use ProWritingAid’s Word integration for in-depth editing right in your document.

4. Scrivener

Scrivener remains the gold standard for novel-writing software, even with new competitors. Scrivener users have brand loyalty and for good reason. It’s a powerful tool that you can use for plotting, drafting, and formatting.

There’s a big learning curve to get the most out of all of Scrivener’s features, but it’s a great app for in-depth planners. Plus, you can find templates from other writers if you aren’t quite sure where to start.

The dual-pane layout allows you to pull up multiple scenes or notes at the same time. Scrivener uses a corkboard layout that is great for visual thinkers.

An advantage of Scrivener is that it’s a one-time payment rather than a subscription. But you can only use your license on one computer at a time. Scrivener also has an iOS app that syncs in real time, but it’s not available for Android users.

Scrivener will backup to whatever location you choose on your computer, and it creates backups every few minutes. I always recommend saving your projects to a cloud storage folder, like OneDrive or Dropbox. This way, if you need to put your license on a new computer, you can pick up where you left off.

Another great feature is the formatting tool. You can format for eBooks, paperbacks, or agent queries with a click of a button. You can also integrate ProWritingAid Everywhere with Scrivener to edit directly in the app.

Are you a student? Scrivener has dissertation templates. You can store your research and your drafts all in one place.

5. Campfire

Campfire is making a name for themselves as one of the most powerful novel-writing apps. Campfire has a focus on worldbuilding, with features such as languages and maps for fantasy and sci-fi writers.

But any writer can benefit from Campfire’s writing features. Create plot timelines, detailed character profiles, and more. The manuscript feature allows you to write directly in the same program that you take notes, plot, and build your world bible. Crafting a series? Digitally link elements in the same fictional world to access across all your books.

Because Campfire is so customizable, there’s a learning curve for each module. Luckily, there are amazing, short video tutorials. You can even publish your work on your Campfire profile, and there’s a collaboration feature to share with other users.

Campfire has recently launched their mobile app, and it just gets better with every update. You can use a desktop version of the writing app, work in your browser, or work on your phone.

I can vouch for their excellent customer service. I encountered a strange glitch, and they responded in a timely manner with a fix.

One thing that sets Campfire apart from competitors is their a la carte pricing. If you’re writing historical fiction or contemporary romance, you might not need a species module or a language module.

Only pay for what you need—although you do get a limited amount of every module for free to see how it works.

6. LivingWriter

LivingWriter is another great novel-writing app. It’s got a clean interface and easy-to-use manuscript feature.

This app has amazing plotting features, much like Campfire and Scrivener. But LivingWriter focuses on plot structure more than the others. There are common plot templates you can use to outline your story. Even nonfiction writers can draft their book in this app.

Once you’ve plotted, you can link your outline and other elements to scenes in your story. Character names will link to their individual profile—so if you’ve forgotten if your love interest has green or blue eyes, you can find the answer quickly.

You can navigate and drag-and-drop scenes using a sidebar or a cork board layout. You can also create mind maps if you’re more of a visual plotter. Set writing goals for yourself, and share chapters and scenes with your writing buddies.

LivingWriter also has an excellent mobile app for both iOS and Android.

Dabble is a great writing application option for people who want something fancier than Microsoft Word but not as in-depth as other novel software.

Dabble allows you to store all your notes and backstory alongside your manuscript. The interface is clean and simple.

This app has one main plotting tool: a drag-and-drop plot grid. You can easily see where your plot lines merge at a glance. Video tutorials will show you how to use this plotting device.

Dabble also boasts a focus mode, which is perfect for easily distracted writers. There’s a desktop app and a browser version, both with full functionality, so you can write on any device, online or offline.

8. Final Draft

We can’t forget the screenwriters among us! The industry standard for screenwriters and playwrights is Final Draft.

Final Draft will provide the formatting for you as you write. You can even include dual dialogue (when multiple characters speak at once).

Need a visual for the prop master? Quickly insert images directly into the screenplay. The collaboration and editing tools are also easy to use. Insert in-line comments and track changes from co-writers, directors, and editors.

Final Draft is available on any Mac or PC, and you can activate your license on two computers at once. After it’s downloaded, you can write offline or online. IPad and iPhone users can also download the Final Draft app for on-the-go writing.

The company also offers discounts for students, teachers, military, and first responders.

9. Rocketbook

Some writers really prefer to handwrite their notes and first drafts. But transcribing those notes can be a time-consuming hassle.

Enter Rocketbook. With a special notebook and pen, you can handwrite lists, conference notes, plot ideas, or whole scenes.

Then use the Rocketbook app on your phone to sync your notes to a cloud storage of your choice. You can send your writing to multiple locations at once—you can even email it to people.

The app can search your handwritten notes for keywords. It will also transcribe your handwriting into typed formatting with just a click.

Plus, Rocketbook is reusable, so it’s better for the environment.

It’s hard to decide on the best writing app for yourself. Luckily, most of these apps have free trials or limited free versions, so you can check them out and see if they are right for you.

What are your favorite writing apps? What features do you look for in a writing program? Let us know in the comments.

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Krystal N. Craiker is the Writing Pirate, an indie romance author and blog manager at ProWritingAid. She sails the seven internet seas, breaking tropes and bending genres. She has a background in anthropology and education, which brings fresh perspectives to her romance novels. When she’s not daydreaming about her next book or article, you can find her cooking gourmet gluten-free cuisine, laughing at memes, and playing board games. Krystal lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband, child, and basset hound.

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Grammarly: AI Writing and Grammar App

Improve your writing with all-in-one communication assistance—including grammar check, generative ai, and more. with comprehensive feedback on spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, and writing style, grammarly is more than just a proofreader. it’s a tool that helps you write with confidence, find the best words to express yourself, and communicate your ideas with ease. grammarly’s generative ai capabilities allow you to produce contextually relevant drafts, ideas, replies, and more on demand. ➤ terms and conditions by installing the app, you agree to and acknowledge: www.grammarly.com/terms www.grammarly.com/privacy-policy ➤ how it works grammarly analyzes your sentences as you write and adds color-coded underlines to words and phrases where you can improve your writing. you can apply grammarly’s suggestion with a single click, or expand the suggestion to learn more about it. ➤ go beyond grammar grammarly’s advanced spelling checker and grammar checker go far beyond the built-in tools of word processors. grammarly can detect not only misspellings, but also commonly confused words used in the wrong context, like “affect” and “effect.” in addition, it can flag and fix complex grammar and punctuation issues like sentence fragments, comma splices, and subject-verb disagreement. but great writing is about much more than just grammar and spelling. that’s why grammarly also helps you streamline wordy phrases and rewrite sentences that are likely to confuse readers. it also suggests word choice improvements to help keep readers engaged, and helps you adjust your tone to ensure you come across the way you intend. for students: now available, our free auto-citations feature generates citations for online sources in seconds, without you having to enter any info manually or leave the web page. get pre-formatted citations ready to go, whether you use apa, mla, or chicago. ➤ what’s included ~ free the free version of grammarly includes basic writing suggestions designed to help you produce clean, mistake-free writing. • grammar checker • spelling checker • punctuation checker • tone detector • auto-citations ~ premium grammarly premium includes everything available for free, plus an expanded range of writing feedback designed to help you produce high-quality writing that makes an impact. • clarity-focused sentence rewrites • tone adjustments • vocabulary improvements (word choice, formality level) • fluency suggestions • generative ai features • additional advanced suggestions ➤ works where you write grammarly is designed to work seamlessly while you write in desktop applications and sites across the web—as you move between apps, social media, documents, messages, and emails. grammarly for windows works across: • word • outlook • linkedin • and more ➤ trusted by millions of users “grammarly ensures your messages are professional and grammatically correct by offering spell-checking, tone suggestions, and even vocabulary hints.” —forbes “it’s the go-to service for fixing grammar, punctuation, and awkward sentences for professionals, college students, and people who write for a living—which is pretty much everyone, even if you don't think of yourself as a writer.” —inc “unlike basic spell checkers, grammarly is a complete writing assistant app. it’s wonderful for anyone who needs help writing.” —pc mag, by installing the app, you agree to and acknowledge: https://www.grammarly.com/terms, https://www.grammarly.com/privacy-policy.

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The 5 Best Writing Apps for Windows

If you write professionally (or aspire to), you probably already know that the writing itself is only a part of the whole process.

To create a piece of writing that impacts your readers takes a lot of steps: research, outlines, drafts, edits, more drafts, proofreading, and getting feedback from editors.

If you have buckets of cash, you can hire a team of proofreaders and editors. But if you’re more like everyone else, you probably want to find cost-effective ways to better writing.

The good news is that software has come a long way in terms of helping writers. The web is full of free writing software ( Libre Office writer , Google Docs , Zoho Writer ), and it’s hard to know whether you should pay for something or not.

Today there are a lot of paid writing tools available and a wide variety of costs.

Our  content marketing agency  produces over 300+ articles/month, so we use these tools on a daily basis.

We’ve already covered the complete range of best free and paid writing tools  here. However, some of those writing tools are exclusive to Mac, iOS (iPhone, iPad) or Android, so this review covers Windows writing software exclusively.

Let’s review the best five writing apps for Windows as reviewed by our team.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prowritingaid, 1. scrivener.

No matter if you are writing for school, a business pitch, a script, or attempting the great American novel, Scrivener has you covered.

In fact, it’s the software that bestselling author Tim Ferris  used to write several of his books.

The Scrivener desktop app offers a wide range of tools and templates, and although it costs a little more ($49 for a lifetime license after a 30-day trial), the value is clear.

The most important features of Scrivener include:

• premade writing templates
• an easy-to-use text editor
• in-depth organization tools for large writing projects
• a distraction-free writing aid

Let’s look at some of Scrivener’s features in a little more detail.

Preloaded writing templates

Writing templates can be a huge timesaver if you find yourself staring at the blank screen trying to get started.

Scrivener offers more than a dozen writing project templates  for blog posts, novels, short stories, poetry, screenplays, and more. And they’re all available in the Windows version.

And of course, if you can’t find what you need, you can create your own templates and save them.

‘Snapshot’ Restore Feature

If you tend to rewrite different sections of your content, then the ‘Snapshot’ will be a huge help for you.

With Snapshot, you can save the latest version in a folder before you delete or modify it. Then it is easily accessible should you change your mind and want to revisit your past genius.

Using Snapshot, you can save as many versions as you want. You can reopen older versions and compare them side-by-side.

Drag and Drop Editor

Scrivener also offers three different ways to organize content:

Corkboard and Outliner help break down larger books or blog posts by headings and sub-headings. Similar to Evernote , it gives an excellent visual overview. It feels like having a whole bunch of post-it notes that you can drag, drop, and reorder the format as you please.

Full-Screen Mode

If you are the type of person who finds it hard to keep focus, you will love the distraction-free ‘Full-Screen Mode’ option. The desktop app offers a pretty simple yet effective tool that enlarges your while minimizing everything in the background.

You can even customize how much of your screen you want to cover and how blurry the background appears.

Lots of Export Options

Scrivener has, by far, the most export options of any Writing App for Windows. Through the app, you can upload directly to sources such as:

• Final Draft (for screenwriting)
• Google Docs
• Google Drive
• Microsoft OneDrive
• Microsoft OneNote
• Script Studio (for screenwriting)

A lot of writers will start a blog post by gathering their notes on Evernote. Afterward they transfer their drafted pieces to Google docs for proofreading or sending to WordPress. Scrivener makes all these steps easier with simple import and export options.

30 Days of Use Trial

The coolest part about the Scrivener software is that it offers 30 days of use trial of the full version. That means you can use it for 30 non-consecutive days. So if you use the program one day a week, it will last 30 weeks. Or if you use it every day, it will last 30 days.

If you decide to upgrade and purchase a license, the cost is $45 for a lifetime license or $38 for a student license. This one time cost makes it one of the most affordable text editors and grammar tools on the market.

Check Out Scrivener →

Read the full review

2. ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid aims to up the ante when it comes to helping you become a better writer. Yes, it offers proofreading tools that fix simple mistakes.

Best of all, there is no download needed. ProWritingAid integrates into many different writing programs (Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, Google Chrome, and Google Docs, to name a few).

While the premium package offers some valuable formatting extras, the free version boasts features such as proofreading, grammar checking, and sentence structure. It’s probably the best Grammarly alternative  out there on the market today.

Grammar, Spelling, and Plagiarism Checker

ProWritingAid checks for grammar and spelling mistakes, but it adds more dimensions to your writing projects by looking for:

• writing cliches
• repeated words
• passive voice

The Premium Plus version includes a plagiarism checker , which is a hugely valuable tool to ensure you haven’t accidentally copied someone else’s writing.

Readability & Style Index

ProWritingAid references the Flesh-Kincaid reading score for readability analysis:

It also offers a writing style index to weed out common writing problems such as passive voice or excessive adverbs:

Yes, there is a free version of ProWritingAid. However, you can only check 500 words at a time (which can get annoying fast), and it only offers 19 free reports.

The cost for ProWritingAid premium is $70 annually or a lifetime license fee of $240. They do offer a 14-day money-back guarantee in case you are worried you won’t like it.

If you want to add the Plagiarism feature, it is an additional cost. The Premium Plus plan starts at $80 a year and is $340 for a lifetime license.

Check Out ProWritingAid →

3. Autocrit

If you are interested in writing stories, screenplays, or a novel, Autocrit is a worthwhile choice for a writing app for Windows users.

Not only will it help with writer’s blindspots like word choice and repetitive phrasing, but it will also give you instant feedback on the ‘quality’ of your writing.

Autocrit’s software will offer you an overall readability score based on several key factors.

That’s why AutoCrit goes to painstaking efforts to provide tailored suggestions and benchmarks based on the type of writing you’re doing. For example, the ‘acceptable threshold’ of adverbs might be different for general fiction vs. B2B, nonfiction stuff.

Autocrit’s distinct advantage is that it’s the only Writing App for Windows that analyzes your wording and flags pacing or momentum issues in your writing. Especially for stories, this can be a huge help.

Tidying Up Tools

The ‘Unnecessary Filler Words’ report inside AutoCrit should be an essential tool for every professional and aspiring writer. It will help you remove unnecessary words to make your writing much more concise.

AutoCrit does include a grammar checker, but it is not as useful as other tools such as Grammarly Premium . It’s advisable to use the tools together for the best effect.

You can think of Autocrit as a virtual writing coach. It provides real-time feedback and flags writing and formatting issues you can fix on the fly.

You can also improve your skills by learning from teachers or mentors like  MasterClass  offers.

Great for Fiction and Screenwriting

For fiction writers, it might be the best option available on the market outside of a human editor.

It can also help write screenplays, however, make sure to check out our review of the best screenwriting software  to learn what else is out there.

In terms of cost, Autocrit does offer a ‘Free Forever’ version with limited functionality. There are no word limits, and it has unlimited online storage.

For the paid versions, there are two options:

• Professional, which costs $30/month
• Elite, which is more expensive at $80/month

Most of the more useful writing tools are only available as part of the Professional package, and Elite offers some considerable bonuses, such as tips and tricks from professional authors and editors.

Check Out AutoCrit →

Read the full review.

4. Write! App

In some respects, Write! App is like a minimalist version of Scrivener. The user interface is spotless and simplified, which makes distraction-free writing its stronger selling point.

Distraction-Free Writing Tools

If getting off track while trying to write is an issue, the Write! desktop app helps you stay focused with two different options:

‘Full-Screen Mode’, which blocks everything except your document outline writing area.

‘Focus Mode’ that de-emphasizes everything on your screen except the sentence or paragraph you’re currently working on.

Best of all, you can combine both options.

Write! App also offers built-in cloud sync, giving you access to the same shared library from any device you use.

Plus, there are no limits on the number of files you can save. (However, cloud sync feature will cost you an additional $4.95/year).

Collaboration Features

One of the biggest downsides with several of the Writing Apps is no collaboration features. The ability to upload and share documents via a link is a big plus for the Write! App.

Multilingual Editing

Another great feature of the Write! App is the ability to do spell checking in up to 35 different languages. This can be very handy for any bi-lingual writers or those who are translating text.

The cost of the Write! App is probably the most enticing feature.

At $24.95 for a full license, it’s an excellent option for students or writers on a budget. For an additional $4.95 a year, the latest versions of all your documents are saved to the cloud for easy access.

If you just need a simple writing app, which removes distractions, helps with formatting, and can spell check in over 35 languages, then the Write! App is a great option.

Check Out Write! App →

Or read the full review

5. iAWriter

iA Writer is another simple writing app focused on minimizing distractions.

Thanks to its simplicity, iA Writer is one of the easiest Writing Apps for Windows available. It has a simple, clean user interface.

The only functionality of the app is actually writing, so distractions are minimal.

Their ‘Focus Mode’ allows you to just the current paragraph or sentence highlighted, and places everything else in the background.

iA Writer also offers a nifty Typewriter Mode’ which keeps the cursor on the same line and rolls the text up as you type, like an old-school typewriter.

iA Writer also has preloaded templates available to make the job of writing easier. Or, you can even create your own. This makes it a great free screenwriting software, or free blog writing tool.

Integration

iA Writer integrates perfectly with both Dropbox and iCloud. It also enables publishing to WordPress and Medium or as an HTML page.

However, if you don’t want to immediately publish the only two export options available (outside of WordPress or Dropbox) are PDF and DOCX. This limitation means there are no EPUB or Final Draft options.

iA Writer Pricing Plans

The iA Writer Windows license is reasonably priced at $19.99. They also offer a 14-day trial.

iA Writer is a good, simple writing app. It provides a basic text editor, and can also pull in spell checking features from Windows software.

If you’re looking for software that helps you take notes or for working on a blog post, it can be a great option.

Keep in mind that overall it’s a pretty limited writing app. You can’t really organize larger projects. It also lacks some key features and export options that don’t make it a well-rounded writing app like Scrivener or even the Write! App.

Check Out iA Writer →

It might seem like using a simple word document with spell check and a grammar checker might be enough for you to get started writing. And that’s true.

You can even look at combining several free writing apps such as Google Docs and Grammarly to do a similar job.

But if you want to improve your grammar, formatting, readability, pacing, and whole slew of other writing skills, then consider a writing program to help. We’d recommend checking out  Wordable  to publish  Google Docs to WordPress  in 1-click, instead. It will not only clean and properly format your HTML, but also compress images, open links in a new tab, automatically set featured images or create a table of contents, and lots more.

All these Writing Apps for Windows will add depth, finesse, and impact on your writing. And best of all, they will save you time and money in the long run.

Get long-term ROI.

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Typewriter. Ring-binder. Scrapbook. Everything you need to craft your first draft.

Get your thoughts onto the page and explore the connections between them.

Join the conversation. Ask a question or just get to know your fellow users.

What we’re working on, interviews with users, and general prolixity.

Typewriter. Ring-binder. Scrapbook. Scrivener combines all the tools you need to craft your first draft, from nascent notion to final full stop.

Scrivener takes tools familiar to writers everywhere and integrates them in new and exciting ways.

Start a new chapter: Scrivener 3 is now available for macOS and Windows.

No matter what you write, Scrivener brings together all of your notes, research and writing so that it's always at hand.

For writing. And writing. And writing.

Scrivener is the go-to app for writers of all kinds, used every day by best-selling novelists, screenwriters, non-fiction writers, students, academics, lawyers, journalists, translators and more. Scrivener won't tell you how to write—it simply provides everything you need to start writing and keep writing.

Available for

Grow your manuscript your way.

Tailor-made for long writing projects, Scrivener banishes page fright by allowing you to compose your text in any order, in sections as large or small as you like. Got a great idea but don't know where it fits? Write when inspiration strikes and find its place later. Grow your manuscript organically, idea by idea.

MORE FEATURES

See the forest or the trees

Whether you plan or plunge, Scrivener works your way: hammer out every last detail before typing a word, or carve out a draft and restructure later. Or mix your methods and do a bit of both. In Scrivener, everything you write is integrated into an easy-to-use project outline. So working with an overview of your manuscript is only ever a click away, and turning Chapter Four into Chapter One is as simple as drag and drop.

Research within reach

Need to refer to research? In Scrivener, your background material is always at hand, and you can open it right next to your work. Write a description based on a photograph. Transcribe an interview. Take notes about a PDF file or web page. Or check for consistency by referencing an earlier chapter alongside the one in progress.

Getting it out there

Once you're ready to share your work with the world, compile everything into a single document for printing, self-publishing, or exporting to popular formats such as Word, PDF, Final Draft or plain text. You can even share using different formatting, so that you can write in your favorite font and still satisfy those submission guidelines.

Who uses Scrivener?

• Autobiographers
• Biographers
• Children's Authors
• Journalists
• Screenwriters
• Translators

I genuinely think this is the biggest software advance for writers since the word processor. Michael Marshall Smith , NYT best-selling author.

Scrivener gives you the freedom to make a mess, the confidence to know you’ll clean it up, and the semantic relationships to tie it all together in whatever way makes the most sense to you. Merlin Mann , indie writer, speaker, and broadcaster.

If there was a list of the top five greatest apps of all time in the Mac App Store, it would start with Scrivener and then there would be four other things. Andy Ihnatko , technology columnist.

As a writer's application, Scrivener is damn near perfect; it means outlines, treatments and then first drafts can be put together in the same application. Neil Cross , author and screenwriter.

Scrivener is worth every penny: quite simply, it’s the best writers tool there is. Zoe Margolis , best-selling author.

Scrivener is the biggest leap forward in writing software since the venerable days of WordPerfect, and believe me, I’ve tried them all. Antony Johnston , comics writer and novelist.

Scrivener has so many useful features, there’s almost too many to list. Mike Sussman , Writer-Producer.

I'd thought it was yet another hobby app at first but this is genuinely for working writers with real deadlines and monster workloads. Karen Traviss , #1 NYT best-selling author.

Scrivener 1.2.4 Requires iOS 12+ Release Notes

Scrivener 3.3.6 Requires macOS 10.13+ Release Notes

Scrivener 3.1.5.1 Requires 64-bit Windows 10+ Minimum display resolution 1024x768px Release Notes

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Free writing software: 24 tools to help you create better content, faster

Find the best brainstorming, researching, writing, and editing tools.

As a freelance writer, I try to keep my app costs lean, so I'm a sucker for free writing tools. But with so many writing apps on the market, it's hard to tell which free options are actually valuable.

I've done some of the legwork for you by bringing together some of the best free writing apps on the internet. All of the options listed here are tools the Zapier team or I have used and enjoyed.

For this roundup, I prioritized completely free tools and freemium apps with a forever free plan that was sufficient for actual regular use. Many of the options have paid plans, but those plans are generally geared toward power users.

Researching and note-taking software

Writing software

Editing software

Proofreading software

The best free writing software at a glance

Free writing tools for brainstorming and organizing your thoughts, best free writing software for expanding your ideas.

MindMeister (Web, iOS, Android)

If you like to perform mind mapping to get your thoughts on paper and connect them, MindMeister gives you a virtual space to do it. It includes templates for the traditional mind map as well as more specific layouts for frameworks like SMART goals, case studies, and content plans.

Want to learn more about mind mapping? Check out Zapier's list of the best mind mapping apps , or discover nine ways to use mind maps to jumpstart your projects.

MindMeister pricing: Free for up to 3 mind maps; from $5.99/month for premium plans , including features like unlimited mind maps, advanced exporting, and group sharing

Best free writing software for creating content outlines

Workflowy (Web, macOS, Windows, Chrome, iOS, Android)

Outlines are a writer's best friend , and Workflowy lets you go as deep or shallow as you want. This tool organizes your outline into bullet points that you can click to nest and expand however you want.

Workflowy pricing: Free for up to 250 bullets a month ; from $4.99/month for the Workflowy Pro plan with expanded features like unlimited bullets and uploads

Best free writing software for brainstorming together

When you need to write something in collaboration with others, the brainstorming process is one of the trickiest to facilitate with technology. Miro lets you plot out ideas with mind maps, Kanban boards, virtual sticky notes, and whatever strategy you use to get your thoughts down. The free plan allows for unlimited team members to brainstorm with at the same time.

If whiteboards aren't your preferred brainstorming method, explore Zapier's picks for the top brainstorming tools for more collaborative and solo apps.

You can even use Miro with Zapier (also free), so you can automate your brainstorming workflows. Here are a couple of ideas to get you started.

Create Miro widgets with new Trello cards

Add Miro cards from new rows on Google Sheets

Miro pricing: Free for 3 whiteboards with unlimited team members; from $8/user/month for plans with unlimited whiteboards and advanced collaboration features

Best free writing software for brainstorming topics

Ryan Robinson's Keyword Research Tool (Web)

Go to the Ideas tab of Ryan Robinson's Keyword Research Tool , and it'll provide ideas related to your query. Since it's a keyword tool first and foremost, these ideas are designed to be less competitive on search results, too.

If you're looking for keyword research tools specifically for their main purpose, check out Zapier's roundup of the best free keyword research tools .  

Keyword Research Tool pricing: Free

Best free writing software for brainstorming ideas with AI

ChatGPT (Web)

With the rise of AI , some writers use GPT-based apps to brainstorm ideas and build the base for an outline. ChatGPT is the best free option—and the one you know and love—or you can check out even more GPT-powered writing apps in Zapier's list of the best AI writing generators . 

You can also combine GPT with Zapier to send ideas to your favorite project management tool.

ChatGPT pricing: Free; ChatGPT Plus is $20/month

Best free writing software for brainstorming out loud

Your computer's dictation software (MacOS, Windows)

If you process your thoughts best through speaking, there's a brainstorming app already on your computer. Boot up Windows 10 Speech Recognition on Windows or Apple Dictation on Mac to record your thoughts as you brainstorm out loud.

For mobile and premium dictation app options, check out Zapier's list of the best text dictation software .

Windows 10 Speech Recognition and Apple Dictation pricing: Free

Free writing tools for research and note-taking

Best free writing software for keeping everything in one place.

Notion (Web, MacOS, Windows, iOS, Android)

Notion's balance of organization and spontaneity make it a great place to hold your notes, links, social media posts, transcriptions, and any other resources you need to write that draft. Plus, depending on your writing preferences, you can then write the draft itself in Notion—all for free. 

Add Zapier integrations to the mix to bring even more of your writing life together. Here are some pre-made workflows to get you started.

Save new tasks in Google Tasks in Notion databases

Add new Microsoft Outlook calendar events to Notion databases

If Notion doesn't meet your needs, try one of these Notion alternatives . Zapier also has a list of the best note-taking apps for you to browse.

Notion pricing: Free plan available; from $8/user/month for team plans

Best free writing software for finding free copies of paywalled research

Unpaywall (Web)

Have you ever come across a search result for the perfect research article, only to discover it's behind a paywall? Unpaywall gets you across those paywalls ethically by looking for legitimate free versions of paywalled academic research. It looks at sources like journals' open-access repositories and university and government databases, so you're never infringing copyright.

Unpaywall pricing: Free

Best free writing software for transcribing interview and video content

oTranscribe (Web)

oTranscribe simplifies the manual transcription process by placing your audio controls and a word processor on the same screen. This tool has keyboard controls and speed adjustment, so you can seamlessly transition between your audio and transcript.

If you're willing to pay a bit, here's Zapier's list of the best transcription apps and services .

oTranscribe pricing: Free

Best free writing software for collecting research from other people

Google Forms (Web, iOS, Android)

When you need original quotes or data from other people, a free survey tool or form builder will help you organize it all. Google Forms is an accessible choice for most people because it's completely free and works with the rest of Google Workspace.

Turn your form responses into Trello cards, Notion database entries, or any other nugget of info that serves you well with Google Forms' Zapier integrations .

Create Trello cards from new Google Forms responses

Share Google Forms responses in a Slack channel

Google Forms pricing: Free

Free writing tools for solo and collaborative writing

Best free writing software for collaborative writing.

Google Docs (Web, Chrome, iOS, Android)

Google Docs' straightforward interface and ease of use make it a great tool for writing solo, but this app really shines through its collaborative features . Its suggestion, sharing, and version history features put it on par with its paid alternatives at no cost to you.

You can connect Google Docs to all the other tools you use with its Zapier integration . Here are some ideas for free automations you might set up.

Create new Google Docs from text with new rows in Google Sheets

Create new Google Docs when Trint transcripts are ready

Not a fan of Google Docs or don't want to create a Google account? Find another great option in Zapier's guide to the best collaborative writing apps .

Google Docs pricing: Free

Best free writing software for messages and blurbs

WordCounter (Web)

Sometimes you need to write a small amount of text, such as a message or a blurb, without the pressure of accidentally hitting the Enter button too early. WordCounter acts as a combination clipboard and editor with a word count that saves your work in your browser cache for the next time you visit.

WordCounter pricing: Free

Free writing tools for editing

Best free writing software for finding the perfect word.

OneLook Reverse Dictionary and Thesaurus (Web)

OneLook Reverse Dictionary and Thesaurus offers all the synonyms you could dream of like a regular thesaurus, but it stands out in its reverse dictionary capabilities. Enter a phrase—or even a full sentence—to get words that match that meaning. This feature comes in handy when you want to write more concisely or find that word that's on the tip of your tongue.

OneLook Reverse Dictionary and Thesaurus pricing: Free

Best free writing software for finding the right word—anywhere

Power Thesaurus (Web, Chrome, iOS, Android)

As a freelance writer, I find myself needing to switch up words when I write on various platforms across the internet. Power Thesaurus gives me synonyms, antonyms, definitions, and other forms of word assistance wherever I like to write. It can do the same for you—put it to use on its website, in your browser, on your phone, in Google Docs, in Word, and in Gmail.

Power Thesaurus pricing: Free for fundamental features; starting from $2.49/month for Power Thesaurus PRO , featuring filters and a wider selection of synonyms

Best free writing software for rewording what you write

Wordtune (Web, Chrome, iOS)

When you just can't get phrasing right in your writing, you might turn to a friend or editor to help you sort it out. Wordtune acts as that person by offering suggestions to reword, expand, and shorten your content using AI. It doesn't have as robust of a free plan as some of the other options on this list, but it provides enough if you need assistance here and there.

If you want more features and are willing to pay a monthly fee, you can put AI to work in your editing process with Zapier's list of the best AI rewording and grammar-checking tools .

Wordtune pricing: Free for up to 10 rewrites, three AI prompts, and three summaries a day; from $9.99/month for advanced plans featuring more rewrites, AI prompts, and summaries

Best free writing software for clear and concise writing

Hemingway Editor (Web, macOS, Windows)

Inspired by Ernest Hemingway's concise writing style, the Hemingway Editor points out opportunities to sharpen your writing. This tool highlights passive voice, complex sentences, and adverbs that make your work harder to understand. It also supplies a readability score to estimate how accessible your writing is to a broad audience.

Hemingway Editor pricing: Free for editing in the Hemingway web app; $19.99 for the Mac or Windows desktop app

Best free writing software for creating compelling headlines

CoSchedule Headline Studio (Web, Chrome)

CoSchedule Headline Studio helps you write compelling headlines by analyzing the sentiment and word balance in your titles. Type in a headline to get a score and test different variations based on the suggestions you get. The Google Chrome extension and WordPress plugin let you analyze headlines wherever you go.

CoSchedule Headline Studio pricing: Free for basic features; from $8/month to buy "Premium Headline" credits that give you access to an SEO score, AI writing features, headline suggestions, and word banks for a certain number of headlines

Best free writing software for finding and removing cliches

Cliche Finder (Web)

Cut cliches out of your writing using Cliche Finder . After you paste your text into the textbox and click the Find Cliches button, the tool will highlight any cliches in bold, red text. It's up to you from there, but the tool is 100% free.

Cliche Finder pricing: Free

Best free writing software for finding jargon in your text

De-Jargonizer (Web)

Another writing mechanism that gets in the way of clarity is jargon—terms that only people in a specific role will understand. The De-Jargonizer highlights potential jargon in your writing in orange in red for you to consider rephrasing.

Once you identify jargon in your text with the De-Jargonizer, you can get suggestions for rewriting it from Zapier's Corporate Jargon Translator , built using Zapier's free AI chatbot builder .

De-Jargonizer pricing: Free

Best free writing software for varying your wording and sentence length

Expresso (Web)

Two of the best ways to amp up your writing are to switch up your words and sentence length. Expresso helps you achieve both of these goals by breaking your writing down into metrics based on word usage and sentence length, such as frequently repeated words and average sentence word count.

Expresso pricing: Free

Best free writing software for comparing your writing to AI content

GPTZero (Web, Chrome)

Due to the complexity of the AI situation, it can be tricky to truly detect AI writing with an AI content detector . But, as one writer discovered in our guide to standing out from AI , these tools work well for picking out human content that sounds like AI due to repetitive phrases and generic writing. GPTZero is a free option that judges text based on perplexity (complexity) and burstiness (sentence variation).

GPTZero pricing: Free for documents up to 5,000 words and batch uploads of up to 3 files; from $9.99/month for plans with higher word and batch limits

Free writing tools for proofreading

Best free writing software for catching spelling and grammar mistakes.

Grammarly (Web, macOS, Windows, Android iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)

Check for spelling and grammar mistakes everywhere you write with Grammarly . It looks for even the nit-pickiest details, like missing dashes and incorrect prepositions. Stick to its web editor, add it to your favorite writing tool, or add the browser extension to check your writing wherever you go.

Grammarly pricing: Free for the basic spell- and grammar-checker; from $12/month for plans with advanced features like tone, vocabulary, and rewrite suggestions

Best free writing tool for proofreading short-form content

ProWritingAid (Web, macOS, Windows, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)

ProWritingAid's free plan can analyze less text at a time than Grammarly , but it includes a word explorer, thesaurus, and rephrasing tool on top of its grammar-checking features. These capabilities make it a better fit for writers who like to get really granular with their improvement. ProWritingAid's free plan could be a better option for you than Grammarly if your total word count usually clocks at 500 words or fewer.

ProWritingAid pricing: Free for a 500 word count limit and 10 rephrases per day; from $10/month for a Premium plan with no word count limit, unlimited rephrases, and advanced grammar improvement features like in-depth analytics of your writing

Best free writing tool for making MLA citations

EasyBib (Web)

This one's for the academics out there. Enter your paper's sources into EasyBib , and it'll organize them into an MLA bibliography for you. I had to give everything a once-over and make minor changes, but EasyBib helped me win my college library's bibliography contest back in the day by getting it all together.

EasyBib pricing: Free

Free writing software FAQ

Here are some questions lots of people have about writing apps and how to choose the right one.

What's a good free writing tool?

Tools like Google Docs and WordCounter are free forever and very functional. Other apps, like Grammarly or ProWritingAid, have free plans that offer basic features, with more advanced features available via a paid plan.

But there are a lot of free writing tools available that perform a wide variety of functions—everything from brainstorming to research and note-taking to writing to editing to proofreading.

What writing tool do most writers use?

There's a wide variety of writing tools out there, and which one a writer uses really comes down to preference. A lot of writers use Google Docs to write because they already use Google for so many other things—but some may prefer a tool like Notion, where they can combine writing with project management.

What makes a good writing tool?

In short, whatever helps you write! If a blank page and no distraction is what helps you actually get words down, then open a new Google Doc and go at it. If you need to organize your thoughts before you even think about writing, consider adding a brainstorming tool to the mix. Each writer's process is different, and it's all about finding tools that enable your writing, not add another roadblock to your process.

Sharpen your craft with your new toolkit

As is the case with many skills, it can be easy to focus too much on improving your writing through tools alone. You'll maximize the results you'll get from your apps with a solid foundation in writing techniques. Grab the tools that appeal to you on this page, then brush up on your core writing skills to become a killer prose machine.

Related reading:

The best journal apps

How to capitalize or change the case of your text in any app

How to write great copy: 11 copywriting tips

Copywriting vs. content writing: How to do each one well

How to write a business letter: Formatting + template

This article was originally published in June 2015 by Jane Callahan and has also had contributions from Jessica Greene. The most recent update was in August 2023.

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Melissa King

Melissa King is a freelance writer who helps B2B SaaS companies spread the word about their products through engaging content. Outside of the content marketing world, she sometimes writes about video games. Check out her work at melissakingfreelance.com.

• Content marketing
• Google Docs
• Google Forms

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Book Writing Software (2024): Top 10 for Writers

by Joe Bunting | 20 comments

Writing a book is hard. I've written fifteen books and at some point during each one I had the thought, “There has to be a tool, a piece of book writing software, that would make it easier to reach my writing goals.”

The good news is there  is  book writing software that can make the writing process and meeting your daily goals easier!

(The better news is that once you've found the right software, we have the best resources to help you finish your book, like this book idea worksheet , which will get you started on your book in just a few minutes. Get your free copy here. )

In this article, we will cover the ten best pieces of software for writing a book and look at the pros and cons of each. Click the links below to get our review on the best writing software.

Best Writing Software: Contents

• Google Docs
• Google Sheets OR Microsoft Excel
• ProWritingAid
• Publisher Rocket
• Microsoft Word
• Bonus: Note Taking Apps
• Bonus: Google Drive OR Dropbox

Worst Pieces of Software for Writing a Book

Before we discuss writing software that will help you write a beautiful book, it's important to understand (and eliminate) what will hurt your writing progress. At least while you're writing a book:

• Video Games.  Especially World of Warcraft (always, always, always!) but also Solitaire, Sudoku, Angry Birds, Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, and Wild Rift/League of Legends.

• Facebook, TikTok, and Other Social Media Software.  Do I really need to say more? Fortunately there's a piece of book writing software for avoiding this very distracting software (see Freedom below). You can't write a book if you spend you writing time publishing social media posts.
• Other Productive Software Not Directly Associated With Your Writing.  Yes, it's good to reconcile your bank account on Quickbooks or make sure you're up to date on your calendar app, but responsible, well-meaning work can easily be an excuse for a quick distraction that turns into a major distraction from writing your book.

Set aside time for your writing every day and then stay focused. If you need a game, make writing your daily word count your game. If you want more “likes” on social media, imagine how great getting five-star reviews on your book will be.

If you need to check your bank balance several times a day, think about what your bank balance will be when you stop checking it constantly, finish your book, and become a successful author. Now let's talk about some book software for authors that can help you with your book writing process.

The 10 Best Pieces of Book Writing Software

First, there is no such thing as the perfect book writing software. No amount of key features or book writing templates or editing features will write a book for you. Still, these ten book writing software options can help. Take a look at the pros and cons of each:

1. Scrivener (Word Processor)

Scrivener  is the premier book writing app made by writers  for  writers. Scrivener's “binder” view allows you to break up your book into chapters and sections and easily reorganize it with drag and drop interface.

You can also get a high-level view of your book using the corkboard and outliner modes, allowing you to view book chapters, sections, or individual scenes as index cards. Project targets let you create word count goals and then track your progress daily. Its composition mode can help you stay focused by removing all the clutter.

Scrivener has formatting features for publishing (e.g. on Amazon or Barnes & Noble), as well as basic features for distraction-free writing, and has templates for novels, nonfiction books, screenplays, and more.

You can read our  full Scrivener review here .

To be fair, Scrivener also has its weaknesses. Formatting is more complicated than it needs to be and collaborating isn't easy, meaning it loses its effectiveness as soon as you bring on an editor (we recommend Google Docs for collaborating).

You can sync with your iPhone/iPad, but only through Dropbox, making it not as easy as it should be. It also has something of a learning curve, especially for its advanced features. But it more than makes up for that by being so helpful in the early stages of the writing process. Again, here are the pros and cons for Scrivener.

Pros of Scrivener:

• Easily manage a large book writing project (or screenplay) in the binder view
• Get a high-level view of your book's structure using corkboard and outliner views
• Manage your writing productivity with project targets and deadlines
• iPhone and iPad app

Cons of Scrivener: 

• Formatting can be overly complicated
• Learning curve
• ​Syncing with Dropbox isn't always easy
• No Android app

We believe in Scrivener so much, we published a book about how creative writers can write more faster using it. It’s called  Scrivener Superpowers .  If you’re using Scrivener or want a tutorial to save yourself time as you learn how to use it for your creative writing, you can  get Scrivener Superpowers here . You can also learn more about how to use the software with one of these resources:

• Scrivener Superpowers  by M.G. Herron
• 3 Reasons I Love Scrivener
• Microsoft Word vs. Scrivener

Cost: $59.99 for Windows, Mac

Scrivener  is the premier book writing app made by writers  for  writers. It's powerful set of tools allow you to write, organize, edit, and publish books.

• Easily manage writing projects
• Made by writers for writers
• Corkboard and outliner views
• Project targets and deadlines
• iPhone and iPad app
• Complicated formatting
• Steep learning curve
• ​Syncing isn't always easy

2. Dabble (Word Processor)

Similar to Scrivener, Dabble is a word processor that gives you the power to organize and rearrange scenes and chapters using drag and drop, manage your word count goals to keep to a deadline, and plot like a pro. (Screenshots seen here are in the optional dark mode.)

Dabble has a plot grid that allows you to easily see a macro view of your story. You can rearrange as needed, find plot holes easily, and make notes on each plot point as detailed as you like. 

Collaboration is easy. You simply add a co-author and they will be sent an invitation. They must also have a subscription or they will only be able to read the document. 

You can insert images in any scene or note, or add title images to chapters or full page images within or between chapters. You can even set cover art for the manuscript. 

Focus mode in Dabble is automatic. Simply start typing and everything else fades away. No need to worry about saving every few minutes either.

Dabble is cloud-based and automatically saves as you go. You can access your manuscripts everywhere: in your browser, on your phone, or in the desktop app. As you're writing, you can make notes and comments.

Don’t want to type? You can dictate. And when you’re done writing, there’s a Read to Me feature that reads your manuscript to you!

Cost : Subscription plans range from $10/month to $20/month; Lifetime access cost is $499; 14-day free trial 

Dabble is a word processor designed specifically for books. It gives you the power to organize and rearrange scenes and chapters using drag and drop, manage your word count goals to keep to a deadline, and plot like a pro. 

• Easy Learning Curve
• Streamlined collaboration
• Cloud-based syncing
• Built-in Dictation
• Easy Exporting
• Word count targets and deadlines
• Plotting tool
• Subscription service
• Lifetime access cost is high
• Only simple formatting options

3. Google Docs (Word Processing)

While Scrivener and Dabble are a great book  writing  software, once you get to editing and getting feedback, it begins to fall short. That's why Google Docs has become my go-to piece of book writing software for collaborating with editors, beta readers, and other writers.

It's free, easy to use, and requires no backups since everything is in the cloud.

Best of all are its collaboration abilities, which allow you to invite your editor to the document and then watch as they make changes, which are tracked in suggestion mode, and leave comments on your story (see screenshot below).

I also like the outline feature in the left sidebar. You can display it by clicking View > Show Outline. Then format the chapters and main sections of your manuscript as headings to make them appear in the document. You can then easily visualize and even click through your book to navigate it. This feature isn't as useful as Scrivener and Dabble's binder, but it makes navigating your book much easier.

While not the best for brainstorming, writing, or organizing your book, Google Docs, the free word processor available in Google Drive, is the single best word processor for collaborating with co-writers, beta readers, or editors.

• Real-time collaboration with editors, beta readers, or other writers
• Suggestion mode
• Outline View
• Few large-document organization features
• No productivity features
• Usually requires an internet connection

4. Google Sheets OR Microsoft Excel (Spreadsheet)

If you’d told me when I was first trying to become a writer that one of my most-used tools in my book writing software toolkit would be a spreadsheet, I would have told you I didn't major in English to have to use a spreadsheet.

But now, as I'm finishing my fifteenth book, I realize that I use spreadsheets almost daily. Spreadsheets allow you to get a sense of the elements of your book at a glance, and when you're working on a 300-page document, distilling it down to useable information becomes very necessary.

You might use spreadsheets for:

• Character tracking
• Breakdown of scenes
• A Foolscap/Beat sheet

Google Sheets is perfect for this because it's free and you can quickly share your documents with your writing partners, editors, or beta readers to get feedback.

Microsoft Excel is another great option, but Excel lacks the real-time editing with other users and is overall lacking in the collaboration functions. Still, if you already have Excel, it's a great way to quickly get started plotting your book or managing your project.

• Real-time Collaboration : Work with editors, beta readers, or co-authors in real-time.
• Speed : It's fast and responsive, which is useful for quickly developing an outline or managing a project.
• Cost-effective : It's so cost-effective it's free!
• Handling External Spreadsheets : Managing spreadsheets from other sources like Excel can be annoying.
• Internet Dependency : Although there's an offline mode, the overall experience is better with an internet connection.

• Familiar : If you already own or have used Microsoft Office, it should be familiar to you.
• Advanced Feature : Excel is slightly more powerful than Google Sheets (although for most writing related tasks, you will likely not need advanced features).
• Offline Access : Unlike Google Sheets, Excel doesn't require an internet connection, which is handy for working on-the-go.
• Cost : Unlike Google Sheets which is free, Excel comes with a cost as part of the Microsoft 365 Office Suite.
• Collaboration : Although Excel has collaborative features, they're more streamlined in Google Sheets.

5. Vellum (Book Formatting/Word Processing)

If you want to turn your book into an eBook, it's not that hard. Scrivener, Word, Pages, they all can format eBooks and print books. But that doesn't mean they'll look good. In fact, it takes a lot of skill and effort to format a printed book that looks good on any of those word processors.

That's why I love Vellum so much.

Vellum makes beautiful books.

Vellum picks up where Scrivener, Word, and Pages leave off, giving you a tool to make great looking eBooks and print books, usually in under an hour. The most important part of this is the previewer (see the image below), which lets you see how each formatting change or book edit you make will appear on Kindle, Fire, iPhone, Nook, and other eReaders.

It also has stripped-down, option-based formatting, which is perfect for designing both eBooks and print books. I really love this writing app!

Vellum is a book formatting tool to quickly and easily create beautiful eBooks and print books, often within an hour. It features a book previewer which allows you to see how your book will look on various eReaders and in print, and offers a simplified, option-based formatting to format beautiful books faster.

• Ease of Use: Easy to navigate and use, even for inexperienced writers.
• Quick Formatting: The simplified, option-based formatting lets you create books in as little as an hour.
• High-Quality Aesthetics: Delivers visually beautiful books.
• Book Previewer Tool: View how your book will appear on various eReaders as you work.
• Platform Limitation: Restricted to Mac users.
• Style Restrictions: Limited design and styling options can be a drawback for some.
• Cost: Higher price point compared to some other formatting software.

6. ProWritingAid (Grammar/Spell Check)

Can a grammar checker replace an editor?

Definitely not. But if you ask Alice Sudlow, our in-house editor, she'll tell you, “If you don’t have access to an editor (or if you do, but you don’t want to hire them to edit your emails or Facebook posts), software that performs grammar checks like  ProWritingAid  is an accessible, affordable alternative.”

If you struggle with grammar mistakes, sentence structure, spelling, or even writing style, ProWritingAid can help. It goes far beyond your built-in spellcheck. You should still learn grammar skills, but ProWritingAid can help you start to see the patterns and grow as a writer.

There's a free version that's very good. It can even be installed into your browser or Word processor, so you can check your grammar wherever you write.

The paid version, just $96 a year with our discount link (33 percent less than Grammarly ‘s price), gives you additional support on sentence structure, style, and vocabulary. Learn more about how writers can get the most out of ProWritingAid here .

• Grammar and Style Correction: Gives "as-you-type" grammar corrections as well as comprehensive style analysis to help you write clearer, more engaging prose.
• Writing Insights: You can learn a lot about your writing style with their detailed reports on readability, sentence structure, and more.
• Integration: You can integrate it with nearly any other writing tool or word processor..
• Subscription Cost: While more affordable than other options, there is a subscription cost for for full access.
• Overwhelming Feedback: Not all the feedback is useful, and without knowledge of the book writing process, you may get distracted by the amount of feedback.
• Internet Requirement: You must have an internet connection for most types of feedback.

• Easy to Use: User-friendly design (slightly more easy to use than ProWritingAid in my opinion).
• Spell-Check and Grammar Check: Detailed spelling and grammar check functionality.
• Goal-Setting Feature: It can help you tailor suggestions based on writing goals.
• Broad Integration: Works with many platforms (the Google Docs integration isn't very good though).
• Cost: While the free plan is robust, the premium plan is more expensive compared to ProWritingAid.
• Google Docs Integration: Lacks a fully functional integration.
• Big Picture Feedback: Does not provide as much overarching edits and style-based feedback as ProWritingAid.

7. Publisher Rocket (Book Marketing App)

How do you know if your book will sell? Wouldn't it be nice to know if there is a market for your book  before  you start writing? How do you find the most readers on Amazon for your published book? For all of these questions, Publisher Rocket has an answer.

Read our  full Publisher Rocket review here .

Publisher Rocket a book marketing research tool that helps you understand what readers actually want  and  how to connect with them with your books. Here are some things you can discover in Publisher Rocket:

• What phrases Amazon buyers are actually searching for.
• The psychology of how readers choose to buy books.
• How much money readers are spending on certain niches and topics.
• How much money specific books are making per month (for example, books that might be competing with yours).

I've personally used Publisher Rocket to take mid-list books to #1 bestseller status on Amazon. It's an amazing tool, perfect for anyone working on a book.

We also like KD Spy, another Amazon research tool (check out our review here ). You can compare and contrast the two tools below:

• Target Popular Keywords: Helps writers find specific phrases readers are using on Amazon to discover books.
• Market Understanding: Offers a clear view of what books are competing with yours (and how many sales they make, historically).
• Category Identification: Find the most relevant Amazon categories for your book.
• Cross-Platform Compatibility: Works on both PCs and Macs.
• Learning Curve: May require some time and education to fully utilize all features.
• Cost: One-time purchase required.
• Amazon-Centric: Tailored for Amazon, may not be as effective for other platforms.

• Amazon Category Research : Analyze Amazon book categories to understand competition and profitability.
• Keyword Tools : Provides niche and seed keywords to help in market understanding.
• Competition Snapshot : Ability to get an overview of your competitors.
• Traffic Light System : Visual cues to understand keyword difficulty and category competitiveness.
• Limited Keyword Data : Doesn't provide Amazon search numbers.
• Browser Extension : Limited to browser usage, not a standalone software.
• Basic Keyword Tools: Keyword functionalities are quite basic compared to Publisher Rocket.
• Dependent on Amazon : Insights are tailored for Amazon, may not apply to other platforms.

8. Atticus (Book Formatting/Word Processing)

Once you've  written  your book, how do you turn it into something people can actually  read ? If you're self-publishing, you need a tool like Atticus.

Atticus is a book formatting and word processing tool that allows you to take your manuscript and quickly and easily format it for publishing, including print and eBook formats.

But Atticus is more that just a formatter. It's an all-in-one solution for writers, giving you the organization features of Scrivener, the cloud collaboration features of Google Docs,  and  the book formatting abilities of Vellum. Yes, that's just as cool as it sounds!

It also works on all platforms, whether you're working on Windows, Mac, Chromebook, or even Linux. While I still love and use Vellum (see below), the benefit of Atticus is that it works for everyone, not just Mac users. Learn more about Atticus in my full review.

• All-in-One Solution : Combines writing and formatting capabilities seamlessly.
• Multi-Platform Availability : Available on PC, Mac, Linux, and Chromebook.
• Cost-Effective : Priced lower than some competitors like Vellum while offering similar capabilities

Cons: 

• Learning Curve : While intuitive, mastering advanced features may require some time.
• New Software : Being relatively new, it might have fewer features compared to established software, with some desired features planned for future updates.
• Crude Formatting : Out of the box formatting options aren't as refined as Vellum and will require more tweaking.

Atticus is a complete book writing and formatting tool that merges the capabilities of an online word processor with plug-and-play book formatting features. It can function as a one-stop solution for authors, with collaboration tools between authors, editors, and book designers, to take your book from idea to finished, publishable product.

9. Freedom (Productivity App)

One question writers always ask me is, “How can I stay focused enough to finish what I write?” I have too many thoughts on that for this article, but as far as using writing software to encourage focus goes, I recommend Freedom. It's my favorite writing tool for a distraction-free writing experience.

Freedom allows you to enter focus mode, blocking your biggest distractions, including both websites and mobile apps, for a set period of time. So when you mindlessly escape your book to scroll through Facebook, you'll find the site won't load.

You can also schedule recurring sessions, so that at a scheduled time (e.g. Mondays from 6 am to 10 am), you won’t be able to access the sites on your blocklist, even if you try.

There are other apps like this that we've written about before, notably Self-Control for Mac and StayFocused for Windows. But Freedom goes further, allowing you to block sites on both your computer  and  your phone, and enabling recurring sessions.

You can learn more about  how writers can get the most out of Freedom on our review here .

Freedom is a productivity app that can help writers in stay focused by blocking distracting websites and mobile apps for a designated period or during specific schedules, like during your morning writing time.

• Distraction Blocking : Helps you concentrate on writing by blocking distractions.
• Scheduled Focus Sessions : Schedule your focus mode in advance for recurring undistracted writing sessions.
• Mobile Device Syncing : Getting it working with mobile devices can be a bit challenging.
• Bypass Possibility : It's possible to find ways around its blockers if one tries hard enough.

Cost: $29 / year for Pro version, which I use and recommend (there's also a free trial available)

10. Microsoft Word (Word Processor)

Again: no piece of book writing software is going to write your book for you. If you're looking for the next “shiny new toy” to help you write your book, it might be an excuse to avoid doing the hard work of writing.

Most of us learned how to use computers by using Microsoft Word, or a program like it. Word gets the job done. Sure, Scrivener is a little better for books, but I wrote my first book on Word and it's fine.

I wrote a long review of  the pros and cons of using Word to write books —the main problem is that as your document grows, it becomes more and more difficult to work with, whereas with Scrivener, it becomes easier—but the point is, if Word is what you have, don't let that stop you from finishing your book.

You don't need a fancy tool to plan a book in the early stages, like if you draft a character description for your protagonist, or in the editing stages, like if you want to make comments on scene details.

As Jeff Elkins said in  his review of Word , “If you aren’t already putting in the hard work to be the kind of writer you want to be, it doesn’t matter what new writing software you invest in. It is not going to help.”

Microsoft Word is the industry standard word processing software. While limited in its features for writing books, it provides a familiar platform for writers to create, share, and review their work.

• Familiar Interface : Known and used by many, making collaboration easier.
• Extensive Features : Provides a wide range of writing and formatting tools.
• Cost : Requires a subscription to Microsoft 365.
• Lack of Book Writing Features : Despite its extensive feature set, it lacks specialized tools for book writing included with applications like Scrivener or Dabble.
• Lack of Real-Time Collaboration : While it offers some collaboration features, it falls short in real-time collaborative editing compared to some cloud-native applications like Google Docs.

Cost: $69 / year with Microsoft 365 (includes Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, and other Microsoft software)

Note:  Another word processor we can't recommend is yWriter, which while it has a cult following and was designed by a fellow novelist, seems to be out of development and has no support for Mac/OSX.

BONUS #1: Google Drive OR Dropbox (Cloud Backup)

There's nothing worse that finishing a great writing session and going to save your work, then your computer crashes and you discover you've lost your best writing. It's enough to send any writer into the throes of grief and depression. There's a simple solution, though: save a copy of ALL your writing to the cloud using Google Drive, Dropbox, or BOTH.

Here's my process:  I have all my Scrivener book files saved on a folder on Google Drive on my computer. Then, Scrivener automatically backs up every few minutes to a Dropbox folder. That way, I know I will always have the document I need, no matter what happens. Best of all, both of these apps have free plans, making it extremely foolish NOT to use them.

Pros of Drive:

• Universal cloud backup
• Automatically syncs
• Free or inexpensive

Cons of Drive:

• Setup is a bit tricky the first time
• Maybe you WANT to lose your writing when your computer crashes

Cost: Free with Paid options

Sign up for Google Drive here »

Sign up for Dropbox here »

BONUS #2: iOS Notes OR Evernote OR Ulysses OR Bear (Note Taking)

When I'm writing for a long time, I like to get up and go for a walk. Sometimes, I wish I could continue writing while I walk. Other times, I find myself brainstorming ideas while I'm not at my computer, typing it up on my phone, and then wanting to easily move what I wrote to my laptop without having to go through the hassle of emailing it back and forth to myself.

That's where note taking apps like Ulysses and Evernote come in.

iOS Notes, Ulysses ,  Evernote , and  Bear  are note taking apps that allow you to sync between all your devices, so you have what you need wherever you are, ideal for jotting down ideas or thinking through your book while you're out and about.

While Scrivener recently released an iOS app which allows you to sync between devices, their process is clunky and requires you to purchase both the mobile and desktop apps. These note taking apps make the process much more seamless.

Like Scrivener, they all have a binder-like sidebar that allows you to move documents around. None of them are designed specifically for books, so they may take a little configuring to make it work for you, but once you have one set up the way you want, it's very intuitive.

And while I hate Markdown, a markup language that allows you to format your text, I actually like the paired-down formatting options Ulysses and Bear give, especially for brainstorming. Overall, I wouldn't convert from Scrivener to any of these apps, but as supplements, they work great.

Pros of Evernote:

• Sync notes between devices
• Write as you go
• Capture ideas

Cons of Evernote:

• Free plan is limited
• Becomes clunky as you get more notes
• Better for note taking than managing a large writing project

iOS Notes  Cost: Free with any iOS device

Get the app here »

Evernote  Cost: Free with Paid options

Ulysses Cost: $45 Note: Ulysses is only available for Mac, either in the App Store or from their website.

Bear Cost: $1.49 monthly / $14.99 yearly Note:  Bear is also only available for Mac, either in the App Store or from their website.

Bonus #3: Hemingway App (Style Checker)

Most writers think their sentences are easier to read than they are. You think you're coming across clearly, that your writing makes sense, but then someone reads it and comes away with something totally different. Hemingway App (sometimes called Hemingway Editor) helps with that.

Hemingway App is a free website that checks readability. You can copy and paste your writing into the website's input box. Then it will grade your writing based on your used of   adverbs , passive voice , and sentences as units . Hemingway App is useful, but even the best book writing software can’t replace a good editor.

Pros of Hemingway:

• Fast, easy style advice

Cons of Hemingway:

• Somewhat arbitrary advice
• Hemingway himself would fail

Cost: Free!

Try out Hemingway App here »

The 30+ Tools Every Writer Needs

Writing is no different, and while the right software is important, it's just one of the many tools you need as a writer.

That's why we published a list of all of our favorite tools for everything related to being a writer.

You can  download our tools for writers guide for free here .

The Most Essential Book Writing Software

Imagine it's three thousand years ago.

You're sitting around a campfire with some of your family and friends, tired from the day's work. You begin to tell a story. It's one you've told before, told a hundred times. You can see faces around the fire, the children with their eyes wide, the men and women who have heard the story before but still enjoy it because it brings meaning to their lives.

Storytellers—writers—have existed since the beginning of humanity. They didn’t always have book writing software. They didn't have the printing press or the internet. They didn't always even have the alphabet to write their stories down. Instead, storytellers had their imaginations, their voices, and a rapt audience. Y

ou don’t need book writing software to write a great story. Book writing software can make the process a little faster or easier, but the truth is great stories will always exist, no matter what kind of software we have.

The only three things essential to writing a great book:

• Your imagination
• A desire to tell your story

That’s all you need. Do you want to write your book? If you do, then do it. Write it. Nothing is stopping you except you.  So go get writing.

What pieces of book writing software do you use?  Let us know in the comments .

The world is full of powerful software to help you write your book. In the end, though, all these tools are just that—tools. The stories you imagine and your discipline to put the words on the page are far more important.

So for this practice, set aside all the fancy software. Eliminate all the bells and whistles and open up your computer's native text editor (TextEdit for Mac or Notepad for Windows).

Take fifteen minutes to write without any distractions.

Continue your work in progress, or start a new story based on this prompt: A student discovers one of their teachers is not what they appear to be.

When you're done, share your writing practice in the Pro Practice Workshop . And if you share, be sure to leave feedback for your fellow writers!

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

Join over 450,000 readers who are saying YES to practice. You’ll also get a free copy of our eBook 14 Prompts :

Popular Resources

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Microsoft Editor

Write with style and confidence

Write more clearly and concisely, anywhere you write, with help from Microsoft Editor.

Use the free Microsoft Editor grammar and spelling checker now to see how it works.

Get intelligent writing assistance

Write with confidence across documents, email, and the web. With features that help strengthen your spelling, grammar, and style, Microsoft Editor is your intelligent writing assistant.

Grammar and spell check

Catch misspellings and check for grammar, capitalization, and punctuation errors.

Go beyond the basics

Check for clarity, conciseness, and formality with the premium features . In-app learning tips provide background and suggestions on things such as vocabulary and punctuation. 2

Write clearly and concisely wherever you write most

Check your spelling and grammar and polish your writing style across social media, email, and documents. Use Editor in Word, Outlook, Gmail, LinkedIn, and Google docs, among many other applications.

More languages, more options

Communicate in more than 20 languages, including English, Spanish, German, and French, with intelligent grammar, editing, and spelling suggestions. Select up to three languages to spell check at the same time.

Do more with Editor

Create your own dictionary so Editor won’t mark certain words as misspelled.

Check your document for content that’s similar to text online and cite the original source.

Identify phrases that would benefit from simpler wording, switch to active voice instead of passive voice, and avoid jargon.

Highlight issues like sentence fragments, missing words and punctuation, capitalization, and commonly confused words with the online grammar checker.

Edit, grammar, and spelling resources

Read grammar tips and tricks

Use Editor in Word for the web

Read spelling tips and tricks

Improve your writing

Write like a pro with Editor and Microsoft 365

• Enjoy intelligent writing assistance and advanced editing suggestions from Editor. 2
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Editor is better with Microsoft 365

Stay a step ahead with the latest advanced apps available with a Microsoft 365 subscription.

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Anytime phone and web support

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Everything in Microsoft 365 Apps for business, plus:

Web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook

Custom business email ([email protected])

Chat, call, and video conference with Microsoft Teams

10+ additional apps for your business needs (Bookings, Planner, Microsoft Forms, and others)

Automatic spam and malware filtering

Webinars with attendee registration and reporting

New: Collaborative workspaces to co-create using Microsoft Loop

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Frequently asked questions

What devices can i use microsoft editor on.

Currently, Editor is available on desktop devices including macOS and Windows. It is not available on mobile.

Where is Editor available for use?

Editor is currently supported in a variety of user-friendly locations including Google docs, Gmail, Outlook, Word for the web, the Word desktop app, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Outlook, among other places.

How do I get the browser extension?

The free browser extension can be downloaded  here for Edge  and  here for Chrome . It's free to use for spelling and grammar checking but you can get premium features by subscribing to Microsoft 365.

How is Editor a part of Microsoft 365?

If you subscribe to Microsoft 365, you receive premium features for Microsoft Editor wherever you use it, including the downloadable browser extension and Microsoft Word, among other places.

What languages can I have writing assistance in?

Editor supports basic guidance in more than 20 languages and spelling suggestions in more than 80. view the full list here .

Can I purchase Editor premium?

No, but you can subscribe to Microsoft 365 to get the premium version of Editor in combination with many other apps such as premium versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Learn more about Microsoft 365 products

Create impressive documents and improve your writing with built-in intelligent features.

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Connect, organize, and get things done with free personal email and calendar.

One cross-functional notebook for all your notetaking needs.

Easily store, access, and discover your individual and shared work files in Microsoft 365, including Microsoft Teams, from all your devices. Your offline edits will automatically sync next time you connect.

One app for all your chats, meetups, files, and tasks.

Get started

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The Best Writing App for Authors and Novelists

Start your book, plot your screenplay, write your papers, organize your manuscripts, and export it for publishing - all in one place.

Organize and Plot Your Manuscripts Easily

Leave your word processor in the dust. Spend less time planning and organizing documents. Spend more time growing your ideas into books, novels, and screenplays.

Organize Quickly with Drag and Drop

Order and reorder your sections, outlines, chapters, and elements without the hassle of copying and pasting.

On Screen Sidebar for Notes, Goals , and more

Quickly access notes, elements, goals, comments, and more from the sidebar. Everything on one screen means uninterrupted writing.

The   Boards

No more moving files, text, and post-its to organize your manuscripts. Get a god's-eye view of your writing. Intuitively drag and drop to plot. Manage your manuscript elements . Compile your research . All in one place.

See how the boards work

Find out more about the different Boards

No Credit Card Required

LivingWriter +     (100% Optional)

We believe great writing comes from an authentic human experience. But we do believe AI can assist you in writing and barreling through creative blocks.

Our AI Outline Generator helps you structure your books effortlessly. It offers a range of templates from Hero's Journey to Romancing the Beat, to Screenplays and Academic theses. It provides a guided approach to organizing your narrative, ensuring that your stories and books are well-structured and coherent. You can feed the Outline Generator as little or as much information as you want and it will give you a plot structure and outline specifically tailored to you and your elements, with your chosen template.

Our AI does not and will never store your data, it is deleted on every session. Your data will never be used to train our AI.

Smart Text and Auto-suggest

You won’t find this in any other writing app.

LivingWriter stores all your elements and auto-suggests them in your manuscript.

As you type any character names, location, objects, etc. our editor will auto-suggest your elements.

Clicking on your elements will allow you to quickly access notes and other info for each element.

Plot Quickly with Time-Tested Manuscript Outlines

You can use the same outlines used in world famous stories and movies right inside LivingWriter. We'll lead you through each step with detailed instructions.

With our AI Outline Feature, you can even use these templates to get assistance creating a narrative just from basic ideas you haven’t fleshed out yet!

No other writing app out there will do that for you.

The outlines include, the Three Act Structure, The Hero's Journey, The Story Circle, Romancing the Beat, and many more!

See All Available Outlines

Intuitive Writing Goals and Stats

Writing goals helps you create a vision for your manuscripts. Visually seeing your goals will make a difference in your writing pace. There's no novel writing software that shows you your goals as beautifully as we do. Goals and deadlines don't have to be scary, they can be motivating!

Chapter Goals

Quickly add and update word count goals per section of your manuscript

Easy integration and support for National Novel Writing Month

Manuscript Goals

Beyond word counts, you can add deadlines to your manuscript to keep yourself on track

Session Goals

Track your word counts automatically per writing session

Keep everything in one place. Your plot, research, and elements.

With the Plot Board, you get an intuitive, modern way to organize your plot. Simply drag and drop plot points, elements, and any other plot data you want into the board. Watch your manuscript map come to life in a clear, visual way.

Outlines Board

With the Outline Board, you get an intuitive, modern way to view your manuscript. Simply drag and drop anything inside the board to rearrange your book , change up your plot or just marvel at how much you've written so far.

Research Board

With the Research Board, you can add research sections for each topic in your book. In each section you can add files, images, notes, documents, and more. Simply drag and drop to arrange and rearrange.

Elements Board

With the Element Board, you can see all the elements in your manuscript for quick editing in detailed and simple views. In addition, you have access to freeform element boards to create family trees, branching timelines, and anything else you can imagine!

Tailored To Your Tastes

LivingWriter comes in both light and dark modes. You can easily switch between them with one click. This will come in handy when you're on a writing binge at night and your eyes start to hurt. You can keep using the best writing app in the world straight through to sunrise. In addition, LivingWriter offers various color theme options so you can customize the application to look the way you want it to.

Cloud Based So Your Creativity Doesn't Have to Stop

Many writing apps out there don't link to the cloud, so you're stuck working on just one device. But we know that writing novels online , and on any device is the future. LivingWriter doesn't lock your imagination to one place. With iOS/Android/MacOS and Windows apps completely synced to the web version, write wherever and whenever.

Integrated With

Get it all out there or Share it in pieces

You're midway through your thrilling murder mystery, but you get the feeling it's not suspenseful enough. Don't worry. LivingWriter is the only novel writing software with easy sharing and co-authoring features. Share your manuscript for just viewing or allow editing.

Share Specifically

With one click of a button share your whole book or individual chapters with your friends or an editor.

Share Everything

Your notes for your chapters and elements can be shared as well.

Seamless Exports of Your Manuscripts

We make it easy to export your manuscripts in any format you’d like. Currently we offer PDF, DOCX, direct to Google Drive and Dropbox, as well as Amazon Manuscript (which gives you Amazon Manuscript sizes to send direct to Amazon KDP). Export your entire manuscript, just your elements, notes, or specific chapter, easily and intuitively.

Seamless Imports Of Your Existing Work

Wrote half of your book already? All good. Import your existing manuscripts from other programs with a couple of clicks, and see how much easier it is to finish your second half on LivingWriter. If you're coming from other writing apps like Scrivener, don't worry. You'll be able to pick up on LivingWriter right where you left off.

No Lagging , No Matter The Length

Other writing programs weren't meant to hold your 100,000 word masterpiece. You’d have to split your book up into separate docs to keep it from loading forever. With LivingWriter, each chapter and subchapter is self-contained, meaning a speedy load of your whole manuscript every time.

Never hit save again

Even if your laptop decides to have a meltdown, rest assured that your work is safe.

LivingWriter automatically saves every letter you type. Writing software that's cloud-based is the future!

Your work gets saved constantly, safely, into our Amazon Cloud Infrastructure and then we back it up for you every 10 minutes.

Our Amateur Authors and Published Authors Love

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Best Writing Apps in 2024

Showing 127 writing apps that match your search.

Diarly is built for the best journaling experience. With every feature you will need and a beautiful interface, starting a journal has never been so simple.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad

Best for: Note-taking and Journal

Website: https://diarly.app/

Base price:

Premium price:

★★★★ Performance

★★★★ Features

★★★ Accessibility

Also rated 4.8 ★ on the App Store

Don't let your word processor drag your process down. Ironically enough, traditional word processors weren’t designed for writers. Dabble’s book-writing software was developed for writers, by a writer.

Platforms: Mac, Windows, Chrome, PC

Best for: Drafting, Book, and Story

Website: https://www.dabblewriter.com/

★★★ Performance

Create ebooks for every platform: Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, and more. Each specialized file can guide readers to buy your next book in their favorite store.

Platforms: Mac

Best for: Publishing, Story, and Book

Website: https://vellum.pub/

★★ Accessibility

Also rated 3.0 ★ on Reedsy

Learn more about Reedsy Studio .

NovelPad's online and offline novel writing software helps you organize, write, and edit your novel anywhere, on any device, from start to finish.

Platforms: Online

Best for: Outlining, Drafting, Editing, Proofreading, Book, and Story

Website: https://novelpad.co/

Writing Challenge

Stuck in front of a blank page? Need a boost of inspiration? Join us to overcome blocks and push your creativity to the max. With Writing Challenge, you will brainstorm new and fresh ideas and embrace freewriting in the funniest way ever.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android

Best for: Brainstorming, Story, Book, and Poetry

Website: https://www.writingchallengeapp.com/

Also rated 4.4 ★ on the App Store

Microsoft Word

Elevate your writing, create beautiful documents, and collaborate with others—anywhere, anytime.

Platforms: Online, Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Chrome, PC

Best for: Drafting, Essay, Journal, Book, Story, Poetry, and Blog

Website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/word

★★★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

Also rated 4.5 ★ on TechRadar

Ginger is more than a grammar checker, spell checker, and punctuation checker. Ginger is an all-in-one writing tool that includes Rephrase to empower you to write your best in ways that traditional online grammar checkers can’t.

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone, iPad, Online, PC

Best for: Editing, Proofreading, Book, Essay, Story, Blog, and Free

Website: https://www.gingersoftware.com/

Also rated 4.6 ★ on the App Store

Scrivener is the go-to app for writers of all kinds, used every day by best-selling novelists, screenwriters, non-fiction writers, students, academics, lawyers, journalists, translators and more.

Platforms: Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, PC

Best for: Outlining, Drafting, Editing, Publishing, Book, and Story

Website: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview

★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.0 ★ on Reedsy

Grammar Lookup

Grammarlookup.com uses artificial intelligence to check grammar and punctuation mistakes in your writing, eliminate spelling errors and highlight 1000s of style issues to make your writing exceptional among other writers.

Best for: Editing, Proofreading, Essay, and Free

Website: https://www.grammarlookup.com/

★★★★★ Performance

Also rated 4.7 ★ on Capterra

Do you have a story to tell? Unlike conventional word processors, Storyist helps you track your plot, characters, and settings, and keeps all of your writing organized and accessible—so you can focus on telling your story.

Best for: Outlining, Drafting, Book, and Story

Website: https://storyist.com/

★★★ Features

Also rated 4.0 ★ on PC Magazine

Traditional notes apps are great for writing, but getting things done requires something more. Clover’s Daily Notes introduce a new way of documenting thoughts, keeping track of tasks, and planning work within the context of your daily agenda.

Platforms: PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, and Free

Website: https://cloverapp.com/

Notes are just the beginning. Create and annotate anything, from study guides to storyboards. We've got an intuitive, minimal interface for you to start in seconds.

Best for: Note-taking, Book, Story, Journal, and Free

Website: https://notability.com/

Also rated 4.7 ★ on the App Store

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Notepad gets spellcheck and autocorrect in Windows 11

Microsoft’s Notepad underwent many changes to stay relevant in Windows 11. But despite being a text editor, it lacked a basic functionality—spell check. Microsoft Word has had a spellcheck feature for years, but not the trusty old Notepad. After feedback, Microsoft has finally released an update for Notepad that includes a spell-check feature.

Windows 11 testers in the Canary and Dev channel will receive an update via the Microsoft Store for Notepad version 11.2402.18.0. After installing the update, the spellcheck feature will become available.

You don’t need to configure anything in the app settings to enable the spellcheck feature. It is active by default and will highlight all your writing mistakes in real time. Moreover, it also adds an autocorrect feature to fix spelling mistakes.

All other trivial features, such as spelling suggestions for a mistake, are also available. You can press the Shift + F10 shortcut to open suggestions for a mistyped word or hover the cursor on the word.

You can also add incorrectly flagged words to the dictionary. Microsoft highlighted in its blog post that spell check supports multiple languages.

By default, the spell check feature works with text files and is turned off for coding-related files and log files. If you want to enable spell check in these files (to find errors in the comments section of the code or other text snippets), you can do so using Notepad settings.

Remember that the feature is still rolling out, and you may get it late. Notepad recently got the Explain with Copilot feature in the preview channels. Microsoft is also testing a Cocreartor feature to assist you in writing.

Cocreator can be your personal writing assistant

Microsoft has already added the Cocreator feature in the Paint app , which produces AI-generated images from user prompts and works on a credit system. The Cocreator feature in Notepad will work similarly, helping you generate text based on the prompts.

Windows Latest spotted some new files in the Notepad app package . It indicates that an AI assistant feature is indeed in the works.

After you exhaust the daily credits, the Cocreator feature will still work. However, text generation would become way slower.

Microsoft continues experimenting with infusing AI capabilities in Notepad, such as summarizing a chunk of text. However, when Copilot is just a click away, this can seem a bit redundant.

About The Author

Abhishek Mishra

Abhishek Mishra is a skilled news reporter working at Windows Latest, where he focuses on everything about computing and Windows. With a strong background in computer applications, thanks to his master's degree, Abhishek knows his way around complex tech subjects. His love for reading and his four years in journalism have sharpened his ability to explain tricky tech ideas in easy-to-understand ways. Over his career, he has crafted hundreds of detailed articles for publications like MakeUseof, Tom's Hardware, and more in the pursuit of helping tech enthusiasts.

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Tech journalist Chris Hoffman has learned a few things during his 30 years using Windows. Follow along as he shares tips, tricks, and in-the-know insights into the Windows ecosystem.

The best ways to run Android apps on a Windows PC

The built-in windows 11 feature was a failure, and microsoft is moving on from it. but you still have options..

Though Microsoft removed Android app support from Windows 11, there are still ways to run Android apps on your PC if you want. Here are the best ways to do so, whether you’re using Windows 10 or Windows 11.

What happened to the Windows Subsystem for Android?

When Microsoft unveiled Windows 11, one of its big features was support for running Android apps with the “Windows Subsystem for Android.”

That feature was delayed, and Microsoft ended up launching it quietly. You could install the Amazon Appstore from the Microsoft Store on Windows, and then you could install Android apps from the Amazon Appstore on your Windows PC.

But most Android apps aren’t available on the Amazon Appstore — instead, they’re on Google Play. Neither Microsoft nor Amazon really spent much time pushing or advertising these Android apps.

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Hobbyists filled the void with tools that let you install (or “sideload”) Android apps from elsewhere in APK form and ways to install Google Play Services in the Windows Subsystem for Android so it could run more applications. (Many Android applications expect Google’s software and won’t work properly without it.)

These third-party developers essentially did the work Microsoft and Google refused to do to make the software more usable.

This month, Microsoft quietly announced it was removing the Windows Subsystem for Android from Windows 11 . It wasn’t a huge loss because few people used it. And, while the software worked well, Microsoft never worked with Google to enable the kind of full Google Play Store support on Windows that Chromebooks offer. Android apps may have been a boon on Windows tablets, but Windows seems to be targeting “tablets” less than ever these days. In a world focused on laptops and desktops, Android apps aren’t a top priority.

You can still use the Amazon Appstore if you’ve already downloaded it on your Windows 11 PC — but only until March 2025.

The best way to run Android apps on Windows: BlueStacks 5

BlueStacks was the best way to run Android apps on PCs before Microsoft launched Android app support in Windows 11. Now, with Microsoft giving up on Android apps, BlueStacks is still the best way to run Android apps on Windows.

BlueStacks gives you full access to the Google Play Store, making it easy to install Android apps. It’s also completely free, though it does have ads for mobile games and similar things, and it runs on both Windows 11 and Windows 10. Those ads are a little annoying, but they’re the price you pay — did I mention it works well and is completely free?

Generally, you'll want to install and run BlueStacks 5 . BlueStacks offers two versions: BlueStacks 5 is the traditional application that runs Android apps on your PC. BlueStacks 10 is totally different: It’s an app player focused on running demanding mobile games “in the cloud.” If you want to run a particularly demanding mobile game on a lower-end PC, BlueStacks 10 might be a better bet. But, for broad Android app compatibility, go for BlueStacks 5.

BlueStacks comes with built-in access to Google’s Play Store in just a few clicks — no hacks necessary.

BlueStacks 5 is simple to set up — you can install it and launch “BlueStacks 5” from your Start menu to begin. In the BlueStacks app player window, you can click or tap “System Apps” and then select “Play Store” to launch the Google Play Store. Sign in with a Google account and you can then install and use Android apps on a window on your PC.

While BlueStacks is simple to use, it’s a fairly mature option packed with powerful options. For example, BlueStacks has a multi-instance feature so you can run multiple Android apps at once. Many competing similar apps aren’t anywhere near as polished.

Other ways to run Android apps on Windows

While BlueStacksis the best solution for most those looking to run some Android apps, there are other options, including:

• Google Play Games : Google offers a beta version of Google Play Games for PCs . It’s designed for running mobile games on Windows PCs and supports “over 100 games” as of March 2024, according to Google’s website. This may be a good solution if you want to play a specific mobile game on your PC, but it’s not a way to run any Android app.
• Google’s Android Emulator : Google offers an official Android emulator built into its Android Studio software . But this software is intended for developers, it’s not as easy to set up, and doesn't perform as well as BlueStacks in my experience.
• Other Android app players : There is a variety of other BlueStacks-style applications for running Android apps in a window. Many don’t have the Google Play Store built in, they might not deliver the same level of performance as BlueStacks, and they don't have the long history BlueStacks offers. I recommend staying with BlueStacks.

These solutions run Android apps in a player window — the BlueStacks App Player window, for example — rather than running individual apps in their own app-specific windows, like Windows 11’s built-in Android support used to. This is unfortunate, and that lack of taskbar integration is annoying, but there’s not a great answer for this.

Use Phone Link to use Android apps on your PC

There’s another solution, though. It involves using an Android phone — if you have one.

Basically, you can run an Android app on your phone and see it on your PC’s desktop, interacting with it using your mouse, keyboard, and even your touch screen, if it has one. But the heavy lifting is done on your phone.

Windows 11 and Windows 10 have built-in support for this. It’s available in the Phone Link app — assuming you have a compatible phone. It’s one of the many useful features included in Phone Link . You must be using a phone that comes with “Link to Windows (pre-installed).” Microsoft offers  a list of phones that come with this software , and it includes a variety of Samsung Galaxy phones as well as phones from OnePlus, HONOR, Asus ROG, and other manufacturers.

However, it does not include Pixel phones — I use a Google Pixel phone , so I don’t have access to this feature. (If there’s one theme here, it’s that Google and Microsoft don’t seem to be cooperating much!)

If your phone does support this feature, you just need to launch the Phone Link application — on first launch, it will guide you through a setup process — and look for Apps in the Phone Link window . You can even pin an Android app to your taskbar or Start menu for easy access.

If you have a phone without this software built-in, you don’t have the same level of polish in your available options. There are tools like AirDroid (screen mirroring) and Vysor to run Android apps on your PC and see them on your desktop, but I’m not sure there’s a huge demand for them.

Chromebooks still have Android app support, too

With Microsoft axing support for this feature, one thing is clear — if you want an operating system with first-class, integrated support for Android apps, ChromeOS may be your best bet. Chromebooks have built-in support for Android apps .

But Windows remains powerful and flexible, and even with Microsoft abandoning the Windows Subsystem for Android, there’s still a lot you can do with third-party software.

More importantly, Android apps are much more necessary on Chromebooks because ChromeOS isn’t compatible with as many applications . Between powerful native applications and high-quality web apps, Android apps just aren’t that important on Windows. Maybe it would be different if Windows had succeeded on touch-first tablets. But that dream of touch-first tablets is in the rearview mirror.

Now, Microsoft and the PC industry are all-in on AI PCs .

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10 Mac Writing Apps That Will Level Up Your Writing

Back in the early '90s, a study was conducted on how personal computing machines would impact student writing. On IBM, 50% of students produced "complex sentences" compared to Macintosh's 30%. In an analysis of the study, The San Jose Mercury News said, "The same icons, mouse, fonts, and graphics that make the [Macintosh] easy to use may well turn off the brain's creative-writing abilities" (via Human Progress ). How ironic then that today's Mac is widely regarded as the machine for writing. Author J.K. Rowling claimed the "MacBook Air changed my life," and Stephen King is known to have used both the iMac and the MacBook Pro to craft some of his legendary works. Chris Cleave — author of "Gold" — says it plainly: "I use a MacBook... same as every other writer."

It's impossible to choose just one reason writers love working on a Mac, so take your pick. They have lots of built-in features to help you to be more productive , and 97% of office users who make the switch claim that they feel like they get more done. It has surprisingly good voice dictation out of the box, a single-button "Do Not Disturb," and unparalleled battery life so there's no low-battery anxiety getting in the way of your next great American novel. But where the Mac really smashes the competition is with its many writer-focused software suites. If you're still in search of that end-game writing daily driver, then let us present some great options to choose from.

Ulysses easily takes the cake as Mac's best writing app for any project of any size. It's a Markdown editor — Markdown being a formatting language you should use instead of Microsoft Word's RTF  – so you can do virtually everything without your fingers leaving the keyboard. Writing, thanks to Ulysses' clean interface and Markdown formatting, is simple and distraction-free, without skimping on features like letting you open documents side-by-side. Everything — including research material like images — can be kept within the program, and it offers intuitive ways to cut up documents, merge them together, and bundle them into relevant groups. You can organize projects into nested folder structures and sync them via iCloud. Periodic, automatic backups even let you go back and restore previous document versions straight from the app.

That's just the beginning. Ulysses helps you polish up your prose with a proofreader, and export it in one click to your blog or your editor. It also has built-in goal tracking, to help you monitor your growing word count and better meet your deadlines. We could honestly write a dozen articles and still fail to chart the depths of Ulysses' features — which makes the trim 40 MB size all the more surprising. Ulysses is available only on Apple devices and costs $39.99 per year. It's not cheap, but it does support Ulysses' continued development, which has been going strong since 2003.

For those with devices outside the Apple ecosystem — and who are tired of feeling like everything charges a subscription fee — Scrivener is a breath of fresh air. You pay $59.99 one time and keep that version for life with all its future updates. Scrivener is a rich text editor, so unlike Ulysses, you're not forced to use Markdown if you find it unsightly. It also has much of the same functionality as Ulysses, letting you organize large projects like manuscripts into "ring binders" of nested folders and documents that you can stitch together or break up as needed. It even has a couple unique features, like a corkboard for planning and organization.

As wonderful as Scrivener can be, it's got one very noteworthy downside: cloud syncing issues. Scrivener has no built-in syncing feature, instead requiring you to do so via your own cloud storage service. Sadly, Scrivener's non-typical file structure doesn't play nice with most cloud clients. The devs are very open about the fact that using OneDrive, Box, Google Drive, and iCloud could cause data loss. Dropbox is the only recommended option, and even then you have to use it in a very specific way — speaking from personal experience, this still leads to frequent file corruption. We only recommend Scrivener for those who keep their files on a flash drive or a single computer.

One of  the best Mac notetaking apps  is Bear . The app has three main goals: to be lightweight and minimalist, beautiful, and support Markdown. It also comes with a unique "Hide Markdown" feature so you get the benefits without even knowing it's there. Despite being a primarily note-taking app, Bear is excellent for writers working on smaller projects who want a clean, simple interface. It uses an uncommon note organization feature — tags — ideal for those who want to write first and organize later. All you have to do is create a hashtag with a keyword anywhere in the document. That tag then appears in the sidebar and groups all notes with it, effectively creating a "folder" in Bear. You can even create nested tags (the Bear version of subfolders) for deeper organization.

Bear may not be for power users who require the deep customization and functionality of Ulysses and Scrivener, but it punches above its weight with its feature set. It lets you add tables and footnotes, insert all kinds of attachments, clip web pages, provide link previews, and more. The pro version lets you sync via iCloud, get access to more themes, and even search inside PDFs for text. Bear will likely be a bit pricey for some at $29.99 a year, but thankfully the free version — something Ulysses and Scrivener lack — is plenty capable. The only major downside we can think of is that there's no folder-only alternative to the tag organization feature.

Like Bear, UpNote is a notetaking app with enough features to easily make it a writer's cornerstone, and it's much cheaper than the competition – $0.99 per month or $29.99 for life. It's very similar to Bear with a focus on simplicity while still offering nested notebooks and folders for those who weren't sold on Bear's tag system. The note editor window works with Markdown and supports practically any text editing function: attachments, code blocks, text highlighting, you name it. Writers will especially love the automatically enabled file syncing, focus mode, and version history, among other things. There are a handful of features you won't find on other apps in this list, such as a sticky note window that always stays on top and collapsible lists.

Where UpNote really smokes the competition is its cross-platform compatibility. You can find it on all your Apple devices, plus Windows, Android, and Linux. That said, there are some downsides. There is no support for external cloud services, which could be problematic since UpNote does not and will not support end-to-end encryption — a must-have feature in things like encrypted messaging apps that makes it virtually impossible for unauthorized people to read your notes. Further, UpNote has potential sustainability concerns due to its uncharacteristically low price and lifetime plan for a live service. To be fair to the devs, they claim to have very lean operating costs and will raise prices and discontinue the lifetime subscription if necessary.

Every app on this list has some flavor of distraction-free writing mode, but none do it like iA Writer's marquee Focus Mode. It works by highlighting only the active sentence or paragraph you're working on. The philosophy, it seems, is to prevent writer procrastination, the sort where you compulsively proofread other sections of text after hitting writer's block. The app supports Markdown, too, so you can keep your hands on the keyboard as much as possible. Somewhat similar to Scrivener, iA Writer uses .txt files that you store in your regular documents folder, then organize and edit inside iA Writer — there are no proprietary file formats to hold your work hostage in a single app. iCloud is supported by default, but the app lets you source files from popular cloud storage providers like Dropbox and OneDrive.

iA Writer's features go plenty deep, same as Markdown apps like Ulysses and Bear, letting you customize all the typography bells and whistles you could want. And there's one new feature that's going to be incredibly useful in our AI-enabled world: authorship. In a nutshell, iA Writer Authorship grays out pasted-in text that originates from other writers or — importantly — from ChatGPT. Useful, since with OpenAI's next ChatGPT-5 release , it's going to become even more difficult for writers to remember what they wrote, and what was written by a bot. iA Writer is a one-time, $49.99 purchase on Mac, and supports all other major platforms.

Cold Turkey Writer

iA Writer does an admirable job of keeping you on track, but at the end of the day, you can easily exit fullscreen and get sucked into internet distractions. Short of unplugging your router, there's not much you can do to prevent that, which is where Cold Turkey Writer comes to your aid. It's a sister app to Cold Turkey Blocker, a program capable of denying you access to specific web pages and apps during focus sessions. Cold Turkey Writer takes this approach one step further. Once opened and enabled, it prevents you from leaving the editor until a certain amount of time has elapsed, or you've written a certain number of words.

If you trust yourself not to get distracted enough to exit the app, but need something that stops you from casually glancing at Dock or Menu bar notifications, you can use it as the ultimate distraction-free editor without setting a time limit or word count. It's a small, portable executable file you can run off a thumbstick, and the free version gives you all the most important functionality with no strings attached. Getting Pro for $9.00 unlocks "productivity hacks," like the option to disable the backspace and arrow keys to prevent yourself from compulsive editing. Pro also gives you access to dark mode, extra formatting options, and background soundtracks. Writer saves your work to a .txt file for you to do with what you will when finished.

The  Drafts  app takes the idea of managing local .txt files seen in Scrivener and iA Writer and jacks it up to eleven. It describes itself as a "launching-off point for text," or a "Swiss Army knife for text" rather than a text editor. Think of it as an overlay that grabs text from all your other apps so you can edit and organize it from a single location. It pulls from your email, your messages, and even your tweets, and lets you organize it all via Tags, Flags, or the built-in Archive. Similar to Bear, there's a "write first, organize later" mentality at play here. For writers who have hands in all sorts of cookie jars — that is, all sorts of apps –  Drafts may be the thing you've been looking for.

All this power may seem like it comes at a steep price, but that's where Drafts defies your expectations: it's totally free on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and even watchOS. Subscribing to Drafts Pro for $19.99 a year unlocks the feature set even further. You'll be able to customize actions and integrations with third-party apps, change themes and syntax, automate some of your processes, and set up a special Drafts email address to send text directly to the application. Our only complaint about Drafts is that there's a bit of a learning curve for new users.

So far, every app we've mentioned is either paid or has some of its best features locked behind a paywall. A brief, weeklong trial may not be enough for someone who wants to give novel writing a shot — especially those on a tight budget. Manuskript mimics the functionality of greats like Ulysses and Scrivener for the low, low price of $0.00, and includes many features they don't. In addition to the same folder organization and distraction-free editor mode common to Mac writing apps, Manuskript adds things like character-building sheets, plot outlines, a world-building item tracker, and a word frequency analyzer to avoid overusing certain words. Manuskript markets itself toward fiction writers, particularly planners rather than pantsers. It incorporates the "snowflake method" that allows writers to additively build up small ideas into a full-blown novel.

The app isn't just free, it's open-source, letting you use, modify, and distribute the code if you so choose. That said, there are some caveats. Manuskript, per its own words, is in the "early development stages." The devs recommend creating frequent backups since it's unstable, beta software — though you should always back up your Mac to iCloud as a matter of principle. If you use Manuskript and want it to continue improving, please donate to the developer.

iWriter Pro

Not to be confused with iA Writer, iWriter Pro is yet another Markdown-focused app — seeing a theme here? This app aims for a balance between simplicity and power in a subscription-free package. Same as Scrivener and iA Writer, iWriter Pro uses your local on-device .txt and .md files,and syncs them via iCloud. Other cloud storage services work too, but be warned that you may lose out on some iCloud-specific functionality. iWriter Pro includes many expected features such as Markdown syntax highlighting, typewriter mode, and split-view mode for working on two files at once. Many of the baseline backend components seen in competitors are found here, too, such as autosave and file versioning. Preview mode appears as a split screen inside the text editor, unlike most on this list, so you can see a more aesthetically pleasing view of your Markdown document as you write without having to open a separate export window.

Long story short, iWriter Pro keeps things clean and uncluttered without shortchanging you on the most important fare. It's one of the cheapest non-subscription options on this list at $9.99 for macOS. For an extra $2.99, you can get iWriter on your iPhone and iPad to take that writing on the go — though it appears there have been no updates for the latter two platforms since September 2021.

Obsidian has been making waves primarily among notetakers, but we think it offers something special to writers — especially fiction authors. Big shots like Brandon Sanderson, who need to keep track of dozens of characters and world-building details, often rely on a personal Wiki as their fictional world's concept database. Wikis take time to get used to, but Obsidian takes far less. The basic principle underpinning every aspect of the app is that you can link text in one document to other notes simply by adding double square brackets. It's that simple. Over time, as you link more and more notes together, you begin to create "Maps of Content" or MOCs. Then, you can see a visual representation (not unlike neurons in the brain, hence Obsidian's marketing about being your "second brain") and better understand how the information links together.

For writers who need to link character descriptions to character sheets, items to worldbuilding sheets, and lingo to fictional slang lists, Obsidian is a game-changer. It could, if you're willing to invest the time, be your Wiki and writing app all in one. Obsidian is free on Mac. Paying for the Sync version lets you sync it cross-platform for $8 a month. The app supports syncing via your preferred cloud storage, such as iCloud, but you'll have to set that up yourself.

How we chose the apps for this list

The primary deciding factor for this list was how strongly each app supports the Mac platform, with bonus points for cross-platform options on iPad and iOS. The writer has personal experience with many of these choices and gave special preference to the ones that proved to be the most intuitive and capable of delivering on their marketing promises. Markdown was also given special consideration, as it's a vital tool for transferring your writing to other platforms and easily exporting to other formats.

At SlashGear, we believe in monetarily supporting developers to keep their projects alive in the long term. That said, we tried to keep a balance between free, one-time payment, and subscription options to avoid alienating readers on tighter budgets. This list is not comprehensive, and many more apps exist — or will exist — that may better scratch your writing itch than these.

These 5 Apps Made My Switch From Mac to Windows Possible

Windows 11 is a great operating system, but coming from macOS, it can take some getting used to. These apps made the transition easy.

Switching from one operating system to another isn’t as difficult as it used to be, but what you miss are the little things. The apps on this list helped make my move from macOS to Windows much more comfortable.

1 Flow Launcher

The Windows start menu got much more useful in Windows 10 than it had been in previous versions. The bad news was that the start menu took a step backwards in Windows 11, at least for certain workflows.

Flow Launcher takes strong cues from macOS’s Spotlight, as well as aspects of the Windows start menu and other launchers like Alfred. Hit a predefined key combination, and a text window pops up letting you search apps, files, and even the web all from one place.

Of course, Flow launcher doesn’t stop there. You can run system commands like Shutdown, run shell programs, and run your own scripts. The launcher even functions as a simple calculator without having to open another app.

You can easily customize the look and feel of the app, helping it blend in with your system or just stand out. The app also supports community-made plugins, so you can expect more features to come in the future.

Download : Flow Launcher (Free)

2 Ditto Clipboard Manager

There is a fairly powerful clipboard manager built into Windows 11. Simply press the Windows key + V key combination, and you pull up a history of everything you’ve copied recently. For most people, this works perfectly.

That said, if you’re looking for a more powerful clipboard manager, Ditto is the app you’re looking for. This can keep clipboards in sync across multiple computers, display thumbnails of copied images in the clipboard list, and other useful features.

Download : Ditto Clipboard Manager (Free)

There are plenty of apps available to expand snippets into larger text fragments or even full-blown paragraphs. If all you need is some minor snippets expanded, the text replacement built into macOS is fairly powerful. This is less true of Windows.

The good news is there’s an easy fix for this in AutoText. This is a simple free app (though a commercial license is available) that makes for easy to use text expansion, perfect for everything from quick email replies to code snippets.

If you require extensive templating or other similarly advanced features, you may need to turn to a pricier alternative like TextExpander . For simple uses, though, AutoText works like a charm.

Download: AutoText (Free, $22.95 commercial)

Windows 11 has built-in screen tinting features it calls Night Light to make your screen easier on your eyes at night. Unfortunately, unlike similar offerings from mobile operating systems and macOS, you can’t do much to customize this feature.

For years, f.lux has been at the top of the game when it comes to precisely controlling your screen tint. Not only will f.lux let you apply much more extreme settings to the tint than you’ll typically find, but you can get quite granular about when and how your screen changes.

While the built-in Windows Night Light abruptly changes your screen tint at the scheduled times, f.lux changes the tint so gradually that you barely notice the color of your screen changing. I typically find that I only really notice if I get up and leave my desk and return.

This isn’t a feature many people will use, but f.lux even lets you control certain Philips Hue lights to control your in-home lighting with the app. Not a feature for everyone, but still handy to have available.

Download : f.lux (free)

5 PowerToys Awake

Windows (and, to be fair, most other operating systems) can be very aggressive about dimming and shutting off the display. If you’re on a laptop and looking to save battery life, this can be handy. Assuming you’re sitting or standing at a desk most of the day, this can quickly get annoying.

On macOS, I used an app called Caffeine to keep my screen awake. That app isn’t available on Windows, but there is an app built into Microsoft’s PowerToys utility simply called Awake that does the same thing.

It’s a simple app, sitting in your System Tray and quietly running in the background. Simply right-click on the app to tell it how long to keep your computer running for a set amount of time, or simply indefinitely.

This is a great utility if you want to keep your screen on occasionally, but not all the time, as you don’t have to touch your display or battery settings.

Download : Microsoft PowerToys (free)

Windows 11 is absolutely great out the box, and it may stand the test of time as one of the best Windows releases. That said, if you’re used to certain workflows and ways of doing things from another operating system, it can take some getting used to.

I found these few simple tools and utilities made my move incredibly easy. If you’ve already made the move, and you’re looking for more powerful tools, take a look at our roundup of the best utilities for Windows power users .

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How to get started with Windows’ free ‘new Outlook’ app

Microsoft is making the new Outlook available free of charge, regardless of the Office package. You do not need a Microsoft 365 subscription or a Microsoft Office licence. It can be installed on Windows 10 and Windows 11 as well as in macOS.

Anyone using Outlook 2021 from the Office package can switch to the new version via the slider “Test the new Outlook.” However, classic Outlook will remain on the system and can continue to be used in parallel. If you do not use Office, you can install the new Outlook free of charge. Although this is publicly available, it is still undergoing major development as many functions are still missing. New functions are therefore constantly being added.

The term “The new Outlook” is therefore somewhat misleading. Although Outlook is new, it will not replace the classic Outlook from the Office package in the near future. The initial aim is to replace the classic UWP apps Contacts, Mail, and Calendar in Windows 10 and Windows 11. In the future, however, it is not unlikely that the desktop version from the Office suite will also be replaced. However, this is not yet clear.

Many functions that professionals use are still missing and in various places the operation is not as skilfully solved as in desktop Outlook. Examples of this are categories, search folders, and flags for emails. There is also currently no offline support, no POP3 support, and no option to integrate PST files.

This is set to change in the coming months. Microsoft 365 accounts from Exchange Online can be connected to the new Outlook, but this does not work with all subscriptions. In our tests, Microsoft 365 accounts with their own domains could not be connected, but test accounts could.

It can therefore happen from time to time that an account cannot be connected. However, there are usually no problems with IMAP accounts, iCloud, Gmail, and Microsoft accounts.

The new Outlook replaces apps in Windows 10 and Windows 11

The new Outlook allows you to manage emails, calendars, and contacts in a centralized interface. These three apps will therefore be removed from Windows and merged in Windows 10/11. Outlook will no longer be used for task management, where Microsoft has long offered the To-Do app, which is also available for iOS and Android.

The To-Do app is also able to integrate tasks from Exchange and Exchange Online. The new Outlook is based on WebView2, i.e. a browser-like view. Put simply, the new Outlook is a web app.

New Windows 11 devices will automatically receive the new Outlook from 2024. Windows 11 computers that are already installed will receive the product via Windows Update or via the Microsoft Store. The UWP apps Contacts, Calendar and Mail have not (yet) been removed.

As soon as the new Outlook is installed on a PC with Windows 10 or Windows 11, the icon “Outlook (new)” appears in the Start menu. The new Outlook app can also be downloaded as “ Outlook for Windows ” from the Microsoft App Store.

There are discussions about data protection in the new Outlook

The new Outlook synchronises all email accounts in Outlook with Microsoft servers. This also applies to email accounts that are not hosted by Microsoft. This is not only about the content of the messages, but also about the user name and password for all accounts. Of course, this raises some discussion and anyone who doesn’t want this should stay away from the new Outlook.

Setting up the new Outlook

After installation and startup, you can enter the first email account that you want to connect to Outlook. Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online), and IMAP accounts are no problem.

It doesn’t take long to set up a new account and requires you to confirm a few windows on data protection. You will then receive a summary and tips on the options you have with the new Outlook.

The interface is easy to understand and much clearer and simpler than the desktop Outlook. You can access the Outlook settings via the cogwheel icon at the top right.

Under “Accounts” you can see the accounts already connected. Use “Accounts -> Email accounts -> Add account” to add further email accounts to the new Outlook. You can customize existing accounts with the “Manage” button for the respective account. Here you can remove the account or set an account as the primary account. You can use the primary account to send emails if you have not selected any other account.

You can also make changes to the calendar and contacts here. Microsoft has renamed the contacts in the new Outlook to “People.” After setting up Outlook, it makes sense to work through all the settings one after the other and adapt them to your own requirements.

Working with Outlook: Emails, calendar, and contacts

Outlook creates a separate area in the inbox for each email account, which you can expand and collapse. Favorites can be found at the top. Here you can pin folders, such as the inbox of the individual mailboxes. This means you don’t always have to scroll through the entire window if you use several mailboxes.

The context menu is supported throughout. Here you will find various actions for managing emails. Examples of this are categories and flags. Although these do not work as comprehensively as in desktop Outlook, they still offer an important option for managing emails.

You can use the icons “Calendar” and “People” to display and manage the appointments and contacts of the currently open email account in Outlook. You can also use the Office apps icons on the left-hand side to switch directly to the web-based Office applications. These are available if you have logged in with a Microsoft account or use a Microsoft account as your email account.

You can also customize the view of the ribbon using the small arrow on the right-hand side. If you select “Classic ribbon,” you will see more commands and have access to the commands available for the selected folder or calendar.

This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

Author: Thomas Joos , Autor

How-To Geek

How to update apps on windows 11.

Use Microsoft Store, your app's built-in update option, or a command in Command Prompt.

Quick Links

How to update microsoft store apps, how to update non-microsoft store apps, how to update apps using command prompt, key takeaways.

• To update Microsoft Store apps, open the Store app, select "Library," and choose "Update" next to an app or select "Update All."
• To update non-Microsoft Store apps, use the update option in the app or download the latest app installer and install the app.
• To update apps from command line, use the winget command in an elevated Command Prompt window.

Keeping your installed apps up to date is important, and Windows 11 makes it super easy to update both Microsoft Store and non-Microsoft Store apps. We’ll show you how to use graphical methods, as well as a command-line method to bring your apps up to date.

If your app or apps were downloaded from Microsoft Store, you can update them individually or all at once using the Store app.

To do that, open the Start Menu, search for Microsoft Store , and launch it.

In the Store’s left sidebar, select "Library."

On the Library page, in the Updates and Downloads section, you’ll find the apps due for an update.

To update a specific app, next to that app’s name, click the "Update" button. To update all your apps at once, at the top of the page, click the "Update All" button.

Wait for the Store to download and install the updates for your apps. Once that’s done, you can launch your apps.

How to Enable Automatic Updates in Microsoft Store

Microsoft Store can automatically update your apps if you’d like. To enable that option, in the Store’s top-right corner, click the profile icon and select "Settings."

In Settings, turn on the "App Updates" option.

In the future, to prevent the Store from automatically updating apps, turn off the "App Updates" option. We recommend keeping the option turned on, but if you’re on a metered connection, you might not want the Store to use so much of your internet data.

To update an app that doesn’t come from Microsoft Store, use an option within the app or visit the app developer site.

Many apps, like VLC Media Player and Spotify, offer an option within the app to download and install the available app updates. For example, in VLC, you can choose Help > Check for Updates in the menu bar to find, download, and install the latest updates.

Similarly, in Spotify, you can select Help > About Spotify and choose "Click Here to Download" if an update is available.

Some apps, like 7-Zip, don’t offer the update option in the app. In these cases, you’ll have to visit the app developer’s site, download the latest app installer, and run the installer to replace the current app version with the latest one. This will bring your app up to date.

If you prefer command line methods over graphical ones, use the winget (Windows Package Manager) command in Command Prompt to update your apps. This command lets you update apps individually or all of them at once.

To use it, open the Start Menu, search for Command Prompt , and select "Run as Administrator."

In the "User Account Control" (UAC) prompt, select "Yes."

To list the apps that are due for an update, type the following command and press Enter:

winget upgrade

You’ll see the installed apps, their current versions, and the latest versions you can update them to.

To update a specific app, run the following command, replacing AppName with the name of the app. Make sure to enclose the app name in double quotes.

winget upgrade “AppName”

The command will begin updating the specified app. You’ll see the live progress on the CMD window. It’ll let you know when the app is updated.

If you want to update all the apps at once, use the following command:

winget upgrade -h -all

Here, the "h" parameter tells the command not to show each app’s update progress but display the final results. The "all" parameter ensures all the apps are included. Once the apps are updated, the command will notify you.

And that’s how you bring bug fixes and possibly new features to the apps installed on your Windows 11 PC. Enjoy!

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HP PCs - How to reset your computer to factory settings (Windows 11, 10)

Resetting your computer to factory settings might be necessary if the operating system is damaged, the hard drive is corrupted, the computer is infected by a virus, or you are transferring ownership of the computer. HP System Recovery removes all hard drive data and reinstalls the original operating system.

HP Cloud Recovery is available for HP PCs manufactured in 2016 and later. HP Cloud Recovery allows you to download recovery software to a USB flash drive. If your computer is not supported by HP Cloud Recovery, go to HP PCs - Reset the computer for more information.

Preparing for system recovery in Windows

Before performing a system recovery, review the topics that might prevent the need to run a recovery or might help to ensure a successful recovery.

Correct startup or boot issues

Many startup or boot issues are caused by minor problems that are easily corrected. Before recovering your computer, try to determine if other, non-destructive, corrective actions will fix the problem.

For more information, see HP PCs - Computer does not boot or start .

Back up important files

HP recommends that you back up your files on an external drive or CD/DVD on a regular basis. Scheduled backups can help you recover some, if not all, of your information in the event that something happens to the original files on your computer.

Factory resetting your computer destroys all the files on the hard drive . If you did not back up your files before running a factory reset, the computer might display a prompt to make a backup copy of your files before the reset performs any action that erases or deletes files.

For more information on backing up your important files, see HP PCs - Back up your files (Windows 11, 10) .

Complete a Microsoft System Restore

If your computer develops a problem, perform a Microsoft System Restore before performing a system restore.

The Microsoft System Restore function returns the computer to a restore point, which resets all of the settings for the operating system to those settings that existed at the time the restore point was created. No personal data files, such as email, documents, or pictures are lost. For more information on Microsoft System Restore, see HP PCs - Using Microsoft System Restore .

Know which type of recovery to perform

There are several different types of recovery. See the following tables for more information on recovery options.

Perform a system recovery in Windows

Identify the correct recovery tool for your computer and find step-by-step instructions for performing a recovery or reset.

Select a recovery process for Windows

Use one of the following links based on the type of recovery or reset that you want to perform:

Solve common Windows recovery issues

The most common cause of recovery issues is interruption of the process or turning off the computer before the recovery and setup is complete.

For more information, see HP PCs - Reset the computer .

Update your computer after system recovery

After performing a system recovery, HP recommends installing updates through Windows Update.

For more information, see HP PCs - Updating drivers using Windows update (Windows 11, 10) .

Additional support options

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