# Essayist: Academic Writing App — user reviews > 174 indexed App Store user reviews of Essayist by Essayist Software Inc., rated 4.50/5 from 404 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/essayist-academic-writing-app/id1537845384/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/essayist-academic-writing-app/id1537845384.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 321 · 4★ 28 · 3★ 13 · 2★ 5 · 1★ 37 ## What do users think of Essayist? Overall sentiment: neutral **Pros** - 🚀 Easy to use - 👍 Helpful for academic writing - 🚀 Saves time on formatting - 👍 Accurate citations - 👍 Intuitive interface - 👍 Useful for college students **Cons** - 🐛 Bugs and crashes - 💰 Expensive subscription - 🔒 Privacy concerns - 🔒 Locked features behind paywall - 🔧 Limited functionality - 🔧 Formatting issues **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes when trying to add references - Formatting issues when copying and pasting - Inability to edit title pages and section headings - Inconsistent behavior across devices (iPad vs. Mac) - Issues with in-text citations and reference lists **Most requested features** - Add more citation styles (e.g. MHRA, Vancouver) - Improve table and image handling - Integrate with reference managers like Zotero - Add grammar and spell check tools - Allow more customization of templates and formatting - Improve export functionality to preserve formatting ## Newest reviews (14 of 174) ### 3/5 — How do you delete the title pages?? *2026-02-06, version 1.17.7* I do not need a title page for many assignments but need to use this formatting and program. There seems to be no way to delete the title page. Frustrating. ### 4/5 — great for academic writing! *2026-01-18* i got essayist not too long ago with the hope that i would be able to use it for AP lang essay practice formatting and time-control wise — and i was not disappointed! though, obviously, i will not be able to use this for the test itself, its extremely convenient for control of the little, irrelevant details that i would not need for the essay itself. however, i would love if i could change the template itself or add another as the "works cited" section title on the MLA template is bolded and therefore does not fulfill my requirements. also, i would love if there was a completion log in order to prove against AI as it becomes a leading cause of suspicion especially among those of my age. all in all though, i greatly appreciate this app (i use an ipad pro with bluetooth keyboard) and believe that with these features, it would elevate the app to significantly more worth the money :) ### 4/5 — Missing In-Text Citation *2025-12-11, version 1.17.6* Great app. 1. Consider implementing a feature in reference manager where user can toggle on/off for in text citing, e.g. [1] in article that reference to full citation in reference list. In-text citation appears in the article reference list and reference manager. 2. Implement feature where user can use touch on iPad/ click and drag on macOS to move references around like blocks of text like Reminders or Notion apps. 3. User can toggle the running index numbers in square brackets to be dynamic or static similar to Excel (range referencing) app. ### 3/5 — Hmmm… *2025-12-11, version 1.17.6* Something weird going on. App of the year with less than 50 reviews on Apple and no independent user reviews online. ‘Try for free’ means subscribe and you get a free week, not actually try it for free - not sold enough to do that. ### 4/5 — Cool *2025-12-10, version 1.17.6* I like the way the citations go in with the references, its a little jumbled in the works cited, also my last name is hyphonated and I cannot have in correct MLA format, kind of annoying ### 3/5 — Not intuitive *2025-12-09, version 1.17.5* I thought that it would be more automated in things like formating citations, endnotes vs footnotes, works cited or bibliography, hanging indentions and stuff like that ### 3/5 — Helpful but Need More *2025-12-08, version 1.17.5* I would like to Zotero integration, which would make things easier. There also needs to be more templates to make it work the price. ### 3/5 — Citation Maker is Clunky and Inconsistent *2025-12-07* Just tested out the free trial. For me, the killer feature would be the citation generator. However, implementation is not there yet. First, several journal articles that I tested could not be found in the search (by author, title, DOI), and also didn’t work properly with manual entry. Second, the reference page is not editable, so you are totally reliant on the citations being generated correctly. Frankly, without this feature working, there’s no reason to use this app. Incidentally, this is the second App of the Year this year that I tested out, and found to be quite clunky and unpolished. ### 3/5 — Good, but not for me *2025-12-05, version 1.17.5* I really want to love this app. It handles citations and a reference library wonderfully. But being $80 a year and limiting me to Times New Roman and Arial, possibly my two least favorite typefaces, is a deal breaker. Allow me to write my own documents in whatever typeface I want to. ### 4/5 — Solid app for academic writing *2025-11-27, version 1.17.5* The user interface is minimal and intuitive. The citations are formatted fairly accurately and easy to build with the reference manager. It does a lot of the formatting for those pesky technical details required according to the most updated editions of Style guides. This app helped me write my English essay with confidence, and the layout made it feel natural and tidy but still had all the tools I needed to finish the assignment. Only problem is that the cost of a subscription was way outside my budget as a student. kinda wish I was rich, because i would definitely reccommend Essayist to any other post-secondary students out there ### 2/5 — Not a serious app *2025-11-25, version 1.17.3* It's like a very expensive, digital monocle. Makes you look like you're doing real work, but all you're really doing is squinting at a 130 dollar minimalist screen, wondering where you went wrong in life. For this price you could just buy the Chicago Manual of Style and used it to prop open a window. You'd get a breeze and better formatting. ### 3/5 — 3 stars for functionality and -2 for lack function *2025-11-22, version 1.17.3* Very aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, provides a nice writing experience. I just don’t understand why a subscription is required $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year is insane. Sometimes I think iOS is a dumping ground for subscription “get rich” apps for developers and this app is a great example, no offense. ### 2/5 — Was expecting a lot more *2025-11-21, version 1.17.3* I guess I was just expecting something more than just making it easier to cite sources, and the price kind of threw me off judging you could do all of this on google docs (which is free). Just not for me I suppose ### 3/5 — Essay *2025-10-03, version 1.17.1* This app was great for writing but the annoying part was that it wasn’t giving me a choice for a blank page it always made me to choose a style ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Unable to action *2026-04-23, version 1.17.8* Can you help? I’m paying for this app and unable to load content. ### 1/5 — Terrible app Expensive & doesn’t work with college website *2026-04-17, version 1.17.10* Learn from my mistake and Save your money ### 1/5 — Export equations to word is unusable *2026-01-07, version 1.17.8* If your work is highly equation based, the convert to Word is basically unusable because you have to manually copy and paste all your equations to Word. ### 1/5 — I really wanted to like this *2025-12-13* For context, I’m attempting to use this primarily as a reference manager replacement for Zotero (Whom I imagine have to be on their list of direct competitors). in that context, this app is neat packaging on a practically unfuncitonal tool. Other than putting a word processor in a reference manger theres nothing new. And Zotero’s word plugin effetely does the same thing. While Essayist does insert and manage references better. It’s just not better enough to overlook all the other deficiencies. Deficiencies like the inability to simply drag and drop a PDF into the reference manger. Instead it makes you go to add first. A minor inconvenience magnified by the inability to import multiple references from Zotero at once (BibTEX Import just doesnt work when trying to import more tax 1 reference, and doesn’t import the PDF file as well). This makes it practically impossible to use this tool as a replacement for Zotero (unless you have hours to manually import hundreds or thousands of references, THEN import their PDFs 1 by 1 without being able to drag and drop). I love the idea of this app and desperately want it to be useful (for my context) but even if it were free I would never be able to use it as is let along paying a monthly (or yearly) subscription. I could never recommend this to anyone that already has a functional reference manager even though on paper this app sounds great. ### 1/5 — Don’t get it *2025-12-09, version 1.17.3* Default black text on a black background is just poor UI plain and simple to the have to pay so it’s visible is insidious. Don’t waste your money on this sup par app that is clearly a cash grab. ### 1/5 — Great Idea, Lots of Bugs *2025-12-08, version 1.17.5* I was really excited when I saw this app and thought it would be great for my doctoral work. However, I quickly got fed up with all of the bugs. Great idea in concept, but so many bugs. ### 1/5 — Import of BibTex file does not work on iOS *2025-11-19, version 1.17.3* Possibly the file is too large (hundreds of references). The import from Google Scholar also failed. ### 1/5 — would be awesome if it worked *2025-09-23, version 1.17.0* this app would be extremely useful but unfortunately if i click on the screen to write the whole thing just freezes and crashes so that does feel like a significant issue …. ### 1/5 — Garbage *2025-09-18, version 1.17.0* This app is not working you can’t even copy and paste .Don’t waste your money. ### 1/5 — Bugs *2025-05-09, version 1.15.5* Wasted over an hour trying to get this program to keep my page titles listed but it changes them to the paper title every time I try to order them. This also reflects in the TOC. You can not write a paper with this app, it isn’t possible. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Perfect for my needs! *2026-08-19* I am a new graduate school student so I am getting back into the mode of school work. One thing that I love about this app is the simplicity. It’s an interface that has very little distractions. The reference search within the app is wonderful. No, it’s not a one stop shop, but it cuts down on time creating references from scratch. Also, the auto paper formatting is a plus. That is what I primarily use the app for and everything else is secondary. I don’t want to spend time formatting papers from scratch. I can just open the app and start typing. It is 80 bucks a year, but MS Word is more. Yes, Mose schools offer MS Word for free, but MS Word is overkill and I don’t care to use it. I can export to PDF and keep moving. I will update during the second year of grad school. **Developer response:** Hi! Thank you very much for your kind words and we're so happy to hear you like Essayist! Please don't hesitate to email us (contact@essayist.app) should you have any feedback or suggestions. Kind regards, Till ### 5/5 — Perfect for my needs! *2026-08-13* I am a new graduate school student so I am getting back into the mode of school work. One thing that I love about this app is the simplicity. It’s an interface that has very little distractions. The reference search within the app is wonderful. No, it’s not a one stop shop, but it cuts down on time creating references from scratch. Also, the auto paper formatting is a plus. That is what I primarily use the app for and everything else is secondary. I don’t want to spend time formatting papers from scratch. I can just open the app and start typing. It is 80 bucks a year, but MS Word is more. Yes, Mose schools offer MS Word for free, but MS Word is overkill and I don’t care to use it. I can export to PDF and keep moving. I will update during the second year of grad school. ### 5/5 — Test 12 June 2026 *2026-06-12, version 1.17.10* Jim ### 5/5 — Amazing for University Essay Writing *2026-03-27, version 1.17.10* I am a student with AuDHD. I have loved using this piece of software. It has helped me create and maintain a pool of references I can use when the need arises. It sets out every thing perfectly, although it does lack a lot of common Australian referencing styles which I strongly suggest the makers add. Also the subscription is wildly to expensive for students. For paid academics I can see the price as being reasonable, but for students who do not work and are on social security payments this amount seriously affects their budgets. Not cool. ### 5/5 — A lifesaver for college classes *2026-01-31, version 1.17.9* It seems like every professor wants a different writing style for every course, and this program has saved me many a time! (MLA will always be the superior writing style IMO) ### 5/5 — TRY IF YOUR A UNIVERSITY STUDENT *2025-11-18, version 1.17.5* This app is amazing for any students that are in university and have to write a lot of essays for their classes. They offer different styles of writing that you will most likely need like APA 7, Chicago, MLA, etc. I would say that you do need to pay if you want to be able to access their entire citations generator tool (Which is my favourite part). The references are so easy as it connects to Google Scholar to access articles that you are trying to reference. Once you added it to the reference list it is then so easy to put in any in text citations as the application allows you to pick from your reference list to click on which in text citation to use (or you can use multiple). ### 5/5 — MISS *2025-11-11, version 1.17.5* Miss ### 5/5 — S_O_P *2025-09-25, version 1.17.2* good ### 5/5 — ASD *2025-09-21, version 1.17.1* ZXCZXC ### 5/5 — Essayist Academic Writing App *2025-09-18, version 1.17.0* Five Star --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-10.*