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DIRECTORY

Best Drafting Writing Apps in 2025

Showing 59 writing apps that match your search.

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

Base price:

$59.99 one-time payment

Premium price:

Flexible corkboard

Structure outliner

Metadata and target setting

Print and export functionalities

★★★★ Performance

★★★★★ Features

★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.0 on Reedsy

yWriter is a word processor which breaks your novel into chapters and scenes, helping you keep track of your work while leaving your mind free to create. yWriter was designed by an author, not a salesman!

Platforms: Windows, Android, iPhone, iPad, PC

Best for: Drafting, Book, Story, and Free

Website: http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter7.html

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

Track progress

Organize by scenes and chapters

Storyboard view

★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★★ Value

Also rated 3.5 on PC Magazine

A tool for thoughtful writing. See your work in new ways, think with an integrated concept map, and export with an automatic reference section, all in a distraction free environment.

Platforms: Mac

Best for: Drafting, Book, Story, Essay, and Free

Website: https://www.augmentedtext.info/author

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

Light and dark mode

Focus mode

Integrated concept map

★★★★ Performance

★★★★ Features

★★ Accessibility

★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.4 on TechRadar

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Cold Turkey Writer transforms your computer into a typewriter, which forces you to do nothing but write.

Platforms: Windows, Mac, PC

Best for: Drafting, Book, Story, and Free

Website: https://getcoldturkey.com/writer/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

$9.00 one-time payment

Distraction-free writing

Timer block

Word count block

★★★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.0 on TechRadar

LibreOffice is a free and powerful office suite, and a successor to OpenOffice.org (commonly known as OpenOffice). Its clean interface and feature-rich tools help you unleash your creativity and enhance your productivity.

Platforms: Mac, Windows, PC

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

Website: https://www.libreoffice.org/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

Full-feature word processor

Customizable fonts and other styles

★★★★ Performance

★★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.5 on TechRadar

The most enjoyable desktop app for writing a thesis or paper.

Platforms: Windows, Mac, PC

Best for: Drafting and Essay

Website: https://www.monsterwriter.app/

Base price:

$34.99 one-time payment

Premium price:

Distraction free

Insert citations and cross-references

Automatic typesetting

★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★★★ Accessibility

★★★ Value

Also rated 3.8 on the App Store

A focused environment where you can write freely. With iA Writer, you can gain unparalleled insight into your writing structure, detect superfluous words and clichés, and navigate through your documents and notes with ease.

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

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

Website: https://ia.net/writer

Base price:

$49.99 one-time payment

Premium price:

Focus mode

Markdown & syntax highlight

Style check

Wikilinks

★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

★★ Value

Also rated 4.0 on PC Magazine

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

Base price:

$6.99 monthly

Premium price:

$9.99 monthly

Sharing and real-time collaboration

Premium templates and stickers

Dictation and transcription

★★★★ Performance

★★★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.5 on TechRadar

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

The Internet's best write-reward system! Write one hundred words, get an image of a kitten!

Platforms: Online

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

Website: https://writtenkitten.co/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

Kittens!

★★★★★ Performance

★★★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★★ Value

Step-by-step guided essay-writing directions written by a college English professor and includes explanations and examples to help you write a college-level essay including the following: introduction paragraph, supporting paragraphs, and conclusion paragraph.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad

Best for: Outlining, Drafting, and Essay

Website: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/guided-essay-writer/id11731...

Base price:

$1.99 one-time payment

Premium price:

Essay writing tips

Help documenting sources

Easily check progress

★★★ Performance

★★★★ Features

★★★ Accessibility

★★★ Value

Also rated 5.0 on the App Store

Bear is a beautiful, flexible writing app for crafting notes and prose.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad

Best for: Note-taking, Drafting, Book, Story, Essay, Blog, and Free

Website: https://bear.app/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

$14.99 yearly

Focus & dark mode

Encryption

Convert into PDF and Word Docs

Cross note links & tags

★★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★★ Accessibility

★★★ Value

Also rated 4.3 on the App Store

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

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