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DIRECTORY

Best Writing Apps in 2024

Showing 128 writing apps that match your search.

Freedom blocks distractions across all your Mac, Windows, Android, iOS, and Chrome devices so you don’t have to fight off the temptation of distracting pings, notifications, headlines, and emails.

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

Best for: Productivity, Journal, Book, Story, Essay, Poetry, Blog, and Free

Website: https://freedom.to/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

$2.50 monthly

Block the entire Internet

See the time you spend on sites

Set your daily limits on sites

★★★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.4 on Google Play

QuillBot offers you top-notch tools for perfecting your writing, from our Paraphraser and Summarizer to our Plagiarism Checker. At QuillBot, we’re committed to making writing painless by building the most robust writing and research platform in the world.

Platforms: Online

Best for: Editing, Proofreading, Essay, and Free

Website: https://quillbot.com/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

$99.95 yearly

Grammar checker

Paraphraser

Plagirism checker

Citation generator

★★★★★ Performance

★★★★ Features

★★★ Accessibility

★★★ Value

Also rated 4.6 on Capterra

Apple’s App of the Year with over 15 million downloads and 200,000 5-star ratings globally, Day One has reinvented journaling, letting you record your life as you live it. Securely save audio, video, photos, notes, and more wherever you are, whenever you want.

Platforms: iPad, Mac, iPhone, Android

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, and Free

Website: https://dayoneapp.com/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

$2.92 monthly

An award-winning interface

Syncs across devices

Automatic backups

Password secured

★★★★★ Performance

★★★★ Features

★★★ Accessibility

★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.8 on the App Store

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Gingko is a new kind of tool, that lets you shape your ideas with lists, outlines and cards, all in the same clean interface.

Platforms: Online

Best for: Outlining, Essay, Book, Story, and Blog

Website: https://gingkowriter.com/

Base price:

$9.75 monthly

Premium price:

$12.00 monthly

Drag-and-droppable lists

An intuitive outliner

Movable index cards

★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★ Accessibility

★★★ Value

Traditional word processors include dozens of options for formatting text, distracting you from what really matters: writing. Calmly Writer is an editor designed to focus on what you want to tell, with a simple, unobtrusive and ease-to-use user interface.

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Online, Chrome, PC

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

Website: https://www.calmlywriter.com/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

$10.99 one-time payment

Focus mode

Auto save

Light and dark mode

★★★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.5 on TechRadar

Plot your next masterpiece with Pluot, the writing planner packed with features and there for you whenever inspiration strikes.

Platforms: Android

Best for: Outlining, Worldbuilding, Book, Story, and Free

Website: https://pluotstudios.com/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

Plot template

Character profiles

Location template

Interlink elements

★★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.3 on Google Play

Most writers have at least one old notebook lying around somewhere, full of old story ideas, interesting characters, enchanting locations, or a myriad of other margin-scribbled thoughts. Notebook.ai is a worldbuilding tool that organizes, saves, and helps in fully fleshing out your fictional world, your way.

Platforms: Online, Chrome

Best for: Worldbuilding, Book, Story, and Free

Website: https://www.notebook.ai/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

$9.00 monthly

Create universes

Create characters

Create family trees

★★★ Performance

★★★★ Features

★★ Accessibility

★★★ Value

Reduce distractions, limit interruptions and complete tasks more efficiently – with Marinara online productivity timer.

Platforms: Online

Best for: Productivity, Book, Story, and Free

Website: https://www.marinaratimer.com/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

Pomodoro timer

Custom timer

Kitchen timer

★★★★ Performance

★★★★ Features

★★★ Accessibility

★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.8 on Google Play

Create beautiful handwritten notes, sketch your ideas, record audio, and organize your notes like never before.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, Book, Story, Essay, Poetry, and Blog

Website: https://www.noteshelf.net/

Base price:

$9.99 one-time payment

Premium price:

Create your own diary

Search your handwritten notes

Syncs across devices

★★★ Performance

★★★★★ Features

★★★★ Accessibility

★★★ Value

Also rated 4.4 on the App Store

Terminology is a browser for the English language – part dictionary, part thesaurus and part research tool. Terminology makes it easy to explore words and phrases, diving down to more and less specific terms - accessing the web and other apps for more detail and sharing.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad

Best for: Editing, Proofreading, and Essay

Website: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/terminology-dictionary/id68...

Base price:

$1.99 one-time payment

Premium price:

Spelling suggestions

Offline US English dictionary

Add notes to any terms

Word browsing history

★★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★ Accessibility

★★★ Value

Also rated 4.7 on the App Store

We’re more than a doc. Or a table. Customize Notion to work the way you do.

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

Best for: Note-taking, Outlining, Journal, Book, Story, Essay, Poetry, Blog, and Free

Website: https://www.notion.so/product

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

Create wikis

Link to different pages

Hundreds of pre-made wikis

Create table of contents

★★★★ Performance

★★★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.0 on TechRadar

Keep peace of mind knowing your team's content is perfect.

Platforms: Online

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

Website: https://linguix.com/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

$170.00 one-time payment

Content quality score

Advanced language insights

Get help anywhere you need

★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★ Accessibility

★★ Value

Also rated 4.6 on Capterra

What makes a good writing app?

Put simply, what makes a writing app good for you will depend on the kind of writer that you are. 

  • If you’re an author, you might be interested in a writing app with outlining, planning, and formatting functionalities.
  • If you’re a student, you’re probably in the market for a writing app that blocks out distractions while you’re writing.
  • If you’re a screenwriter, you’ll want a writing app that’s specifically dedicated to writing screenplays.

Or, if you’re none of the above, worry not: that’s why we built this directory of writing apps. Whatever you need, we’ve gathered the outstanding writing apps of 2024 across multiple categories (drafting, editing, note-taking, etc) and platforms (Android, iOS, online browsers, etc) in one place. Feel free to use the filters to make your quest for the perfect writing app even easier!

So what are the best writing apps of 2024?

We can now put an end to the age-old debate of which writing app is best: Microsoft Word vs. Google Docs

The answer, of course, is neither! Hopefully, this directory will point you towards a much better match that actually fulfills your writing needs. We objectively evaluated each writing app based on four metrics.

  • Performance: How seamlessly does the writing app do what it’s purported to do? How good is the user experience, from top to bottom?
  • Features: How many bells and whistles are built into the app to augment its use?
  • Accessibility: Is it widely available on many different operating platforms (e.g. iOS, Windows, mobile, desktop, etc)?
  • Value: Is it worth the cost that it would take to download it?

Here are some general recommendations to give you a headstart.

The best writing app for authors

If you’ve been searching for an all-in-one outlining, writing, formatting, and typesetting tool, look no further than Reedsy Studio. Used by over 50,000 authors every month, it’s publishing’s most trusted companion to take them from a first draft to a professionally exported manuscript.

💰 Price:  Free

🚉 Runs on: Web

The best writing app for note-takers

Evernote is the king of written organization. In addition to its free organizational templates, Evernote also gives you impressive tagging capabilities, an omnipresent Web Clipper, and the ability to share notes with collaborators, so that you’ll never forget anything again.

💰 Price:  Free basic plan, $4.99/month for premium

🚉 Runs on: Mac, iOS, Windows, and Android

The best writing app for screenwriters

Along with standard scriptwriting features, Final Draft enables you to measure character traits using its inclusivity analysis feature, and tweak your “beat board” until you find your perfect arrangement. And when you’re ready to bring in editors, you can all work simultaneously in real time.

💰 Price: Free trial for 30 days, $249.99 license fee

🚉 Runs on: Mac, iOS, and Windows

I’ve found the perfect writing app. What next?

Congratulations! Now the fun part begins: actually writing the project that you’ve got in mind.

For authors, this means that you have a long and exciting road ahead. In addition to a writing app, we recommend that you arm yourself with some writing knowledge before you embark on it: whether it’s an understanding of story structure or careful thought put into your character creation, all of it can help you realize your goal of a novel.

If you don’t know where to start, check out the list of free resources below. Good luck, and happy writing!

Free online materials

RBE | Writing App For You Interface | 2024-09

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