This tutorial looks at the best writing apps, including how they work, how much they cost, and how they compare. No longer is writing just something journalists and novelists do for a living. Today, writers of all levels can make a living by publishing all kinds of content online, thanks to the Internet. We’re talking about blogs, opinion pieces, business writing, and many other things that have found a new place in a world where content is king.
So, the people who made the content have also found new content to live, a way to get known and make money with the help of what they published. Content sells, of course, and you don’t need a degree in the arts or writing to become a well-known blogger, novelist, or even an independent journalist today.
What you do need, though, is the ability to write interesting content that can keep people interested. It’s easier to say than to do. Since anyone can write on the Internet, there are a lot of both well-known and aspiring writers there. In a sea of similar content, it’s very hard for your work to stand out. This problem can only be solved by being the best writer in your group, not just a good one. If you are a good enough writer, a creative writing application or tool will do the rest to turn you into a great writer.
What is an app or tool for writing?
A writing app is a tool, program, or piece of technology that helps you improve your writing quality. A powerful AI powers it. With its wide range of features, a creative writing tool can help a writer improve the overall content of their work by checking for spelling mistakes, correcting grammatical mistakes, and suggesting content changes to make the work more interesting.
This article will offer some of the most popular and best writing apps free available to writers today. We will detail each tool’s best features, any problems it might have, and how much it will cost you. Our ultimate goal is to make it easier for you to make decisions.
After reading our article, choosing a writing tool that fits your needs will be easy.
Yes, indeed! Even though there are a lot of similar but more advanced music writing apps, Microsoft Word is still the most popular professional writing tool. On the other hand, if you are worried about the safety of your text, you can use Google Docs, which is an online version of this well-known writing software. Google Docs can be an irreplaceable writing tool for anyone who needs to access their copy on mobile devices (some people on our team think it’s one of the best writing apps for Android) or laptops regularly. Even if your device’s battery dies at the worst possible time, all of your data will be automatically saved in the cloud.
What font do writers use to write?
Even though Times New Roman is Microsoft Word’s default font, most of my clients want me to use 11 pt Arial (a more plain alternative to Times New Roman). It is thought to be easier to see and can be changed to fit any text size. To make your work look as professional as possible, we would focus that you use the Arial font.
What Format Should I Pick?
Up and down, left and right paragraph indents, which are usually set by default, are best for the overall format of your copy. You should also use a single-line gap, and don’t forget the headlines. Use proper headline styles in your text instead of making the text bigger and bolder to make it look more professional.
Does Proofreading Need to be Done?
Definitely. Sometimes, links added to the text lead to information sources that are outdated or have changed. It would be best if you also took the time to look over your copy after editing. This will help you find any mistakes you made while writing and fix them.
Compare the best writing apps of 2023
| Writing app | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Reedsy Book Editor | Free | Writers who want to create a professional-grade book |
| Scrivener | Free trial for 30 days, $45 license fee | Novelists who want max organization |
| Ulysses | $4.99/month or $39.99/year subscription | Writers seeking an easy-to-pick-up interface |
| Plottr | Flat fee of $25 | Novelists concentrating on outlining their books |
| iA Writer | Free trial for 14 days, $29.99 for Mac, $19.99 for Windows | Writers who prefer simplicity over style |
| yWriter | Free | Authors who think in terms of scenes |
| Storyist | Free trial for 15 days, $59.99 license fee | Beginner screenwriters |
| Final Draft | Free trial for 30 days, $249.99 license fee | Professional screenwriters ready to level up |
| Grammarly | Free | Writers seeking a triple proofread |
| ProWritingAid | Free trial with limited features, $70/year subscription | Long-form writers hoping to hone their personal style |
| Hemingway | Free online, $19.99 license fee | Authors who value crisp prose |
| Readable | Free online, $4/month for Readable Pro account | Short-form writers who need their work to be easily digestible |
| NaturalReader | Free | Writers who need fresh eyes for editing |
| FocusWriter | Free | Overstimulated writers who want to get back to basics |
| Freedom | Free trial for 7 sessions, $6.99/month or $30/year | Internet-addicted writers seeking an intervention |
| Evernote | Free basic plan, $4.99/month for premium | Writers who want a catch-them-all |
| Reedsy Prompts | Free | Writers seeking inspiration |
Top 20 Writing Apps And Software For 2023
1. Reedsy Book Editor
Price: Free
Runs on: Web
Best for: Authors who want a beautiful, distraction-free writing to write and have their work typeset into a professional-interface book
The advanced typesetting features of the Reedsy Book Editor will also save you hours of work when it comes time to format your book for publication. You can create complicated front and back matter and export it as a clean, professional file that can be uploaded immediately to any ebook retailer or print-on-demand provider. The Reedsy Book Editor is an all-in-one writing, formatting, and typesetting tool. You can use it for free right away.
2. FocusWriter
Price: Free
Runs on: Mac and Windows
Best for: Overstimulated writers who want to get back to basics
You think Hemingway and Ulysses were simple? You still haven’t seen anything. FocusWriter does exactly what it says on the tin: it forces you to focus on writing and nothing else. The interface looks like a sheet of paper, and since there are no fancy formatting options or research notes to play with, you can only write.
You can still use the toolbar at the top to change the font, track your progress, and even set a timer for writing sprints, but it hides these features, so they aren’t in the way. FocusWriter might be the answer you need if in-app distractions are your Kryptonite.
3. Scrivener
Price: Free trial for 30 days, $45 license fee
Runs on: Mac, iOS, and Window
Best for: Novelists and other writers of long works who want a complex, well-organized interface It is hard to find a list
of software for writing books that don’t include Scrivener, and for a good reason: it’s both simple and very complex at the same time. You can choose one of Scrivener’s templates (a novel, an essay, a screenplay, etc.) and start organizing immediately with Scrivener. The left sidebar has sections and virtual notecards for everything you can think of, and you can put these things in any order you want.
With more advanced features, you can keep track of what you’re researching, add front and back matter, and analyse the text itself as well. Scrivener is an excellent app for writing books and is perfect for any writer who pays close attention to details. Here is where you can find our full review of Scrivener 3.
4. Ulysses
Price: $4.99/month or $39.99/year subscription
Runs on: Mac and iOS devices
Best for: Formatting hacks for writers who want to speed up their work
When you look at Ulysses at first glance, you might mistake it for Scrivener, but when you look more closely, you can see that they are for different levels of experience and types of writing. While Scrivener is known for having a steep learning curve, Ulysses has many tutorials and features. Because Ulysses uses Markdown, it is especially helpful to use “Markdown” instead of manual formatting. For example, in Ulysses, you’d type # to create a header and > start a blockquote.
Even though it might not seem important, writers who learn Markdown will probably find that it helps them keep their “flow” while writing and makes editing much easier. Aside from this, Ulysses is a pretty standard writing app. It’s not as good at making outlines as Scrivener best writing apps for ipad, but you’ll have no trouble staying organized with keyword labels, split view, progress tracking, and all your projects in the sidebar.
5. Plottr
Price: Flat fee of $25
Runs on: PC and Mac
Best for: Authors looking for software to help them outline their books in a smart and smooth way
Plottr could be the best plotting software ever. Scrivener and Ulysses were built to be all-around writing programs, but Plottr was made with one main goal in mind: to help you plan and outline your story.
It shines in that end. Plottr makes it easy to build your story’s scenes, plots, and arcs. Its easy-to-use interface lets you visually organize, re-arrange, color-coordinate, and filter them until your plot starts to flow and make sense.
Helpful features like timelines, plot cards, and starter plotting templates (like the Hero’s Journey and Dan Harmon’s Story Circle) are built into the program to help you plot better. The software is made up of parts that work together to do the impossible: make plotting, dare we say it, fun.
Need more help on your way to becoming a better fiction writer? Check out this post for 6 steps on how to write a story.
6. IA Writer
Price: Free trial for 14 days, $29.99 for Mac, $19.99 for Windows
Runs on: Mac, iOS, and Windows (free trial available for Android writing apps)
Best for: Writers who choose plainness over style
Because it uses Markdown for formatting, iA Writer is often compared to Ulysses in reviews. But the interface is much easier to use and fits better with your screen. The goal of iA Writer is “to keep you focused on just writing,” which this simple design does very well.
The dark mode is also available (shown above), as is syntax highlighting for the different parts of speech in the toolbar on the right (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and so on). But the point of iA Writer is to make it easier to write, which is clear from how it’s set up. This is excellent writing for writers who have trouble staying focused and don’t like a lot of clutter.
7. yWriter
Price: Free
Runs on: Windows
Best for: Authors who like to break up their stories into small chunks do this
On the non-Apple side, there is yWriter, a book writing app for Windows similar to Scrivener. a writer has an easy-to-use interface that divides your story into scenes instead of chapters. This makes it easier for writers who get nervous easily. This app is also great for keeping track of your progress, with features like a storyboard to look over your story’s arc and reports you can create about your daily word count, the state of your draft, etc.
But the best thing about yWriter might be that it’s a free writing app, which is pretty amazing considering all it does. The only thing that’s “missing” is story templates, which skilled writers can ignore anyway. But we’d warn users not to ignore yWriter’s intended platform since the trial version for Mac has a lot of bugs and isn’t very reliable.
8. Storyteller
Price: Free trial for 15 days, $59.99 license fee
Runs on: Mac and iOS devices
Best for: Screenwriters who are just getting started
Now, let’s talk about apps that help you write screenplays. Even though Storyist is an excellent place to start when writing a novel, it shines when it comes to writing a screenplay or a play for the stage. When you start a new project, you’ll use a script template that’s easy to understand. Each new line will prompt you to choose action, character, dialogue, etc. This makes sure the formatting is right and keeps you aware of what you’re using, so you don’t use too much dialogue or forget to connect scenes.
Characters, setups, and images can also be organized using the sidebar tabs. This may be helpful for screenwriters who like to add strong visuals to their work. But Storyist only has a few features because it’s meant to be easy and cheap for beginners, while still providing a few formatting features that make you feel like a star in Hollywood.
9. Grammarly
Price: Free
Runs on: Web, including browser extension
Best for: Writers who need to double-check small things like articles and emails
Grammarly is the best way to check your spelling and grammar outside of standard word processors. Like any good editor, it highlights the mistakes and weak phrases in your writing. But Grammarly goes above and beyond by giving you a label and a detailed reason for each correction, so you’ll learn from your mistakes.
On top of these notes, Grammarly has many fine-tuned features to ensure your writing does exactly what you want it to do. You can “set goals” for your audience, formality level, and tone (happy, confident, urgent, etc.) and then analyze your text for terms like clarity, engagement, and delivery.
All of this adds up to a very well-rounded experience of writing. But we will say that Grammarly is better for short-form copywriting than long-form stories because of its goal-oriented interface and detailed suggestions.
So, Grammarly could be great for you if you write a lot of emails. But if you write books, the tools to follow might help you more.
10. ProWritingAid
Price: Free trial with limited features, $70/year subscription
Runs on: Web, Mac, and Windows
Best for: Long-form writers hoping to hone their personal style
People often compare ProWritingAid to Grammarly, but this app’s way of editing is a little bit more comprehensive. Even though it still points out major mistakes, ProWritingAid’s suggestions are more focused on enhancing your prose flow, such as by getting rid of passive voice and filler words, than nitpicking about grammar.
You’ll also find more ways to analyze your writing with ProWritingAid, such as stats about your vocabulary, sentence structure, and more that are generated automatically. ProWritingAid will tell you which words you use too much, where your ideas don’t match up, and how you can make your writing flow better. Overall, it’s a great tool to help you access your writing. Remember that you’ll have to pay to use all of its features.
11. Hemingway
Price: Free online, $19.99 license fee
Runs on: Web, Mac, and Windows
Best for: Authors who value crisp, clean prose above all
Hemingway is a must-have app for writers who like to keep things short and sweet. It is both a helpful tool and a clever tribute to one of the greatest authors of the 20th century. The editor only looks at prose and gives feedback on sentence length, word choice, passive voice, and adverbs. These are simple things, but they can make or break a piece.
The app uses different colored highlights to help cut the fat in each area. It also tells you the text’s reading level to ensure you’re writing for the right people. But that’s about all! Just like Hemingway’s writing prose was known for being straightforward, so is the design of this app.
12. Evernote Web
Price: Free basic plan, $4.99/month premium plan.
Runs on: Web, Mac, and Windows
Best for: organizing and creating written content of all sorts.
When it comes to catering to all types of multitalented writers, Evernote is possibly the most excellent free writing app. Its user interface contains many creative writing apps templates for creating content such as essays, novels, and simple classroom note-taking.
All of the templates we’ve covered so far are free to use for writers. Aside from the templates, writers may cooperate on writing projects with other users, talk with them, and even categorize their content. Its most compelling selling point is its web clipper feature, which allows users to save any site extract they come across.
13. Readable
Price: Free online, $4/month for Readable Pro account
Runs on: Web (no browser extension yet)
Best for: Short-form writers who need their work to be easily digestible
Readable’s main goal is the same as Hemingway’s: to make your prose easier to read. On the other hand, readable has a few more bells and whistles that may help writers who want a more in-depth analysis of a text. This app does reading more than pointing out run-on sentences and other signs of purple prose. It also collects a lot of valuable data, from the time of a text to how long it takes to read it. You’ll also get scores on the Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, and other readability scales.
As with ProWritingAid, you’ll need to upgrade to get full access to features like keyword density and quality control. If you create content for a living, you might want to look into this, but the free version of Readable should be fine for writers whose work doesn’t depend on SEO.
When it comes to catering to all types of multitalented writers, Evernote is possibly the most excellent free writing app. Its user interface contains many creative templates for creating content such as essays, novels, and simple classroom note-taking.
All of the templates we’ve covered so far are free to use for writers. Aside from the templates, writers may cooperate on writing projects with other users, talk with them, and even categorize their content. Its most compelling selling point is its web clipper feature, which allows users to save any site extract they come across.
14. Microsoft Word
Price: It comes included in the Microsoft Office app, Free trial for 30 days is available. Billed at $99.99/year for a family plan, $69.99/year for the personal plan, and $149.99 for student plan.
Who hasn’t heard of or used this Windows writing apps at some point in their lives? If you haven’t heard of Microsoft Word, you must be living under a rock. Despite the presence of other writing apps for chromebook on the market, MS Word has retained its position thanks to frequent upgrades and improved features that keep up with the times.
Most users have never known a means to writing apps for Windows other than MS Word, which is an intrinsic feature of Microsoft Office.
It is very easy to use and provides users with a simple list of features such as convenient font size, style, and color formatting, easy page alignment, convenient bifurcation of content with headers, footers, page, and section breaks, use of many clip arts, word art, and colors to make your work stand out, find and replace, and a plethora of other features that make it a must-have tool for any writer.
15. Google Docs
Best for: web-based writing and secure storing of content online.
Price: Free
In many respects, Google Docs is a simple web-based writing tool with all the features you’ll need to write content online. You may write content, format it, and save it on your personal Google drive for future reference, just as in MS Word.
The ability to keep your written content in a secure cloud database is one of the reasons Google Doc is so popular. With Google Docs, you can be confident that your content is secure and unaffected by loss or theft.
Apart from that, it’s a simple writing tool that allows writers to interact with other Google users in real-time to edit and comment on written content. The ability to write content using voice rather than traditional typing is maybe the most intriguing, yet it’s a function that’s rarely used. Don’t hesitate to test out this exciting feature.
16. NaturalReader
Price: Free
Runs on: Web, Mac, and Windows
Best for: Writers who need fresh eyes — or rather, ears — for editing
Reading your work aloud is a great way to find awkward wording and spelling mistakes. But what if you already know your writing so well that when you read it yourself, you skip over these problems?
When that happens, you can use NaturalReader, the best text-to-speech reader we’ve found next to a real person. Just copy and paste your writing into the text box, choose a voice and reading speed, and follow along with the larger text at the bottom. You can pause, rewind, fast-forward, and change the other settings at any time. It’s all very simple and easy to understand. (Make sure you are paying attention and not daydreaming.)
We’d recommend NaturalReader to anyone who needs to proofread a short piece since it might not make sense to run your whole book through the app. Still, if you have the time, go for it!
Let’s talk about writing apps that help you focus and stay organized. The hardest part of writing is often getting yourself to sit down and start. When you have writer’s block, these apps will help you get rid of distractions, get your thoughts in order, and organize new ideas.
17. Freedom
Price: Free trial for 7 sessions, $6.99/month or $30/year
Runs on: Mac, iOS, Windows, and Android
Best for: Internet-addicted writers who can admit they have a problem
This writing Apps a straightforward interface can’t keep you from distracted by distractions outside of that interface. So, it would be best if you had Freedom, software that blocks apps and websites, so you don’t waste time on the Internet and social media, which is a problem for all of us.
Freedom lets you set timed blocks, plan blocks ahead of time, and even “pause” before going to distracting sites. It covers all the bases when it comes to possible distractions. Users can make their list of distracting websites and desktop apps and link Freedom to their phones to block distractions there.
But perhaps the best thing about Freedom is that it makes you feel free. Between the soft branding and the limits you set for yourself, you won’t feel limited but rather relieved that you can finally get some writing done.
18. Evernote
Price: Free basic plan, $4.99/month for premium
Runs on: Mac, iOS, Windows, and Android
Best for: Multitalented writers who want a single space to collect all their thoughts
Evernote is another one of the best free writing apps out there. It helps you organize your written work in a whole new way. Evernote makes administration not only easy but also fun. It has dozens of templates, from taking notes in class to planning your own life to putting together a novel.
Evernote lets you tag everything into specific categories, share your notes with collaborators, and even chat with them in the app. Again, all of these features are free with the basic plan. One of its best features is the Web Clipper, which lets you save any piece of interesting web content. More than anything, Evernote is a work-saving app made to be flexible and easy to use for all kinds of writers and their projects.
19. Reedsy Prompts
Price: Free
Runs on: Web
Best for: Writers who just need a spark of an idea to get started
Okay, this one isn’t an app, at least not yet. But after comparing Reedsy Prompts to other writing apps like Writing Challenge and The Brainstormer, we can honestly say that it has much more to offer. One thing is that you’ll get five new writing prompts every week, not just on the Reedsy Prompts page but also in your email inbox. And if you write a short story based on one of these prompts, you could win $50 in our weekly contest!
Still, if the prompts for a given week don’t inspire you, you can check out the 700+ prompts on the Reedsy Prompts page. There are a lot of different ways to use them. Even though you can only enter the contest with one of the week’s five featured prompts, we’re always excited to see what our users come up with. So, if you use one of the prompts to write a story, please let us know.
Whether it’s a 300-page book, an instructive article, or a personal essay, writing Apps is all about creating something amazing and unique to share with others. This may be anything from an informative article to a personal essay. We hope these apps will help you with your writing Apps and also help everyone who reads your work.
20. Final Draft
Price: Free trial for 30 days, $249.99 license fee
Runs on: Mac, iOS, and Windows
Best for: Professional screenwriters who are ready to level up
As long as we’re talking about Hollywood, Final Draft is the program for you if you’re already an excellent screenwriter and you’re tired of how limited “beginner” apps are. In addition to the conventional features for scriptwriting such as line-by-line formatting and other settings, Final Draft also provides a multitude of options for comments, collaboration, content analysis, and more!
With the inclusivity analysis feature, you can keep track of parts of your story and measure your character’s traits. You can change things on your “beat board” until you find the perfect arrangement for you. When you’re ready to add editors, you can all work on the same thing simultaneously. And if you want to sell your script, Final Draft makes it easy to export the file.
Final Draft’s only flaw is that it costs $250. A struggling screenwriter may not have that money, no matter how good the software is. If this sounds like you, use Storyist or a similar app for now, but remember Final Draft for when you’re ready to move up.
And what if you want to upgrade not only your tools but also your whole text? Well, that’s why the next part is about apps for editing.
People say that all writing is rewriting. If you’re ready to start “rewriting” your project, or if you prefer to edit as you write because you’re a perfectionist or want to save yourself some work later, these five apps will let you edit to your heart’s content.
Conclusion
With all of the above modern writing software apps, it’s much easier to focus on writing without worrying about formatting, editing, and proofreading. Try out at least one of the writing apps we’ve talked about to see what you might be missing out on now that could help you get more done.
You can also check another article like Write for Us Technology