# Ulysses: Writing App — user reviews > 1,254 indexed App Store user reviews of Ulysses by Ulysses GmbH & Co. KG, rated 4.60/5 from 2,091 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ulysses-writing-app/id1225570693/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ulysses-writing-app/id1225570693.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 1,723 · 4★ 156 · 3★ 48 · 2★ 35 · 1★ 129 ## What do users think of Ulysses? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Seamless syncing across devices - 👍 Simple, distraction-free writing experience - 💡 Powerful organization and formatting features - 🦋 Beautiful, customizable interface - ✨ Excellent for focused writing **Cons** - 💰 Expensive subscription model - 🐛 Occasional sync issues - 🔒 Concerns about data privacy and lock-in - 📚 Limited support for advanced formatting (tables, formulas, etc.) - 🤔 Steep learning curve for some users **Commonly reported bugs** - Unexpected data loss or file corruption - Slow performance on older devices - Unreliable iCloud sync - Formatting issues when exporting to other formats **Most requested features** - Improved collaboration and sharing features - Better integration with reference managers and citation tools - More flexible export options and compatibility - Customizable keyboard shortcuts - Ability to hide Markdown syntax ## Newest reviews (10 of 1,254) ### 3/5 — Only 3 stars *2026-08-12, version 40.3* Ulysses is one of the most polished writing apps on macOS, yet it continues to use absolutely hideous, always-visible Markdown markup and refuses to give users the option to decide for themselves whether they want to see all those formatting symbols or not. ### 3/5 — Feature drift *2026-08-08, version 40.3* Used to be great. It has drifted far from its original philosophy. ### 3/5 — i want to love this app *2026-08-03, version 40.3* i want to love this app - it is very simple. but honestly, the user interface lacks…nothing seems to be in a logical place. despite being so “simple”, the functions appear illogically laid out. i tried to get used to the app - i’ve written now 1 partial manuscript, have 2 other ones, and now a 4th that has the complete draft. i wouldn’t say it’s horrible but just one up from that. the concept is great though. today my struggle is scoping a search to -not a sheet- a group - there is a pulldown menu AND an icon, but the search only scopes to the current sheet - and no - i am not confusing the two…this is basic stuff that should work. ### 4/5 — Nice software, but… *2026-07-24* I do like Ulysses and think it’s a fine piece of software. However, I’m not keen on my writing being held hostage in a database should I ever cancel my sub. For that reason, I have actually cancelled my sub and switched to iA Writer, mainly because that app stores everything in easily readable plain text files. Whilst the Ulysses DB can be exported to plain text, it’s a bit fiddly, probably by design. There are some features missing in iA Writer like goal setting, but there are decent single payment apps that can plug that gap. Over the years, I also don’t think Ulysses has advanced enough to make the sub worthwhile. I get that they don’t want to bloat the software with pointless features, but given the app’s focus on creative writing, some proper development of story outlining tools might be helpful. So, not a terrible app by any means. I just think, for me, it’s outlived its usefulness. **Developer response:** Thank you for your thoughtful feedback! We're glad to hear that you enjoyed using Ulysses and appreciate you sharing what would make the app more useful for your workflow. We have forwarded your request for a more comprehensive planning or story outlining mode to our development team. Regarding your concern about access to your texts: your writing is never locked away if you cancel your subscription. Even without an active subscription, you can still open your library in read-only mode and export your texts in any available format. Additionally, if you prefer working with plain text files, you can embed an external folder in Ulysses and store your content as Markdown (.md) files. Thank you again for taking the time to share your experience. If you have any further ideas that would make Ulysses a better fit for your specific writing journey, don't hesitate to get in touch with our team at help@ulysses.app. Your feedback helps us improve. — Andrea ### 3/5 — It’s not a word processor, and in the end, that’s a problem *2026-07-18, version 40.2* I have been using Ulysses for about 6-7 years. I have 3 books in print, not best sellers, but published professionally and sold internationally. Lately, Ulysses has been bugging me enormously because it’s essentially a Markdown XL application rather than a WYSIWYG word processor. The reason this is a problem is that when you are writing a long document, like a book, with lots of formatting requirements that are easier stay on top of as you are writing, rather than proofing it all at the end, the inability to switch to a WYSIWYG view becomes tiring and distracting. What do I mean by this? In Ulysses, every element of formatting requires a tag and tags are always visible. So if, for example, you italicise something, the italic format tag takes up a space in the text. There is no way to switch this off. You can hide the tags with a theme, but then you end up with lots of weird double spaces that - at least for me - are like a loose thread to a kitten. Those tags have to remain according to the developer, so I cannot ignore them and they bug me. Also, I sometimes fail to spot where format tags begin or end, which creates proofing issues later on when the text is exported. It’s not a problem for a 500 word essay but it becomes a royal pain when your word count is in the region of 200,000. My basic gripe is that having tags disrupt the text without being able to render them invisible, and retain normal spaces between words, is annoying. It’s like having Word’s hidden characters turned on, all the time. Seamless syncing across devices, and grouping your thoughts and ideas into sheets and folders is wonderful but less valuable now as I tend to write on the same laptop. Direct publishing to online services is probably great too, but I don’t use that feature. But first and foremost, this is a writing tool meant to free up and liberate the authorial mind and my experience is that Ulysses does not do this. Lately, I have taken to writing in OmmWriter and then pasting my new material back into Ulysses, but this is less convenient when, for example, I want to cross reference other material. It makes version tracking of sections of text more difficult. Before adopting Ulysses, I used Simplenote and I switched because I found that service did not sync reliably. I may revisit this choice after a long absence because I prefer using a lightweight editor to get the ideas down and I don’t want to get heavily vested in a complex piece of software like Scrivener. ### 4/5 — My Favourite Editor by Far *2026-07-15, version 40.2* Been using Ulysses for years at this point. It’s my favourite editor by far. It has so many capabilities that I barely scratch the surface. Performance is a bit shaky on Intel Macs nowadays, unfortunately. ### 4/5 — SiD *2026-07-01, version 40* A great app. Pricey given other options out there but it has powerful features while remaining incredibly intuitive. Great for research, writing, organising and will quickly become the first app you fire up every day. ### 3/5 — Confusing *2026-06-16, version 40* In the interest of being clean and correct, it’s often confusing and inefficient. ### 5/5 — A Great Writing Experience *2026-05-30, version 40* After some initial teething problems with sync, which Support worked through with me, Ulysses is now where I write. It’s brilliant. No need for any other apps. ### 5/5 — My Review of Ulysses *2026-05-29, version 40* Ulysses is an amazing app and I use it every single day. I write thousands of stories and it keeps them all where they’re supposed to be! I really love using it. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — I'm not looking to buy anything *2026-08-02, version 40.2* I got Ulysses because it had great reviews and I always struggle to keep writing my books. You would think I would actually be able to use the app once I download it at least some, because you don't have to actually buy the app, but once you download it you can't use it unless you buy it. I'm sure that once you buy it it can be a great help, but I'm not looking to buy anything, you know? ### 1/5 — Scam *2026-07-26, version 40.2* It’s not free. You have to pay $40 a month to type. It’s not worth it ### 1/5 — Pay To Use *2026-07-25, version 40.2* Alright come on, look don’t touch? What is this? Kindle? I thought this was a writing app until I found out you had to pay a yearly subscription for this thing. A seven day free trial, cool, but lets be real, nobody is finishing a novel in 7 days. I was expecting better from an app with “Writing App” in the name. The only thing good about this app is the ui. ### 1/5 — Price… *2026-07-22, version 40.2* It is so EXPENSIVE as a word app ### 1/5 — Subscription Apocalypse *2026-07-21* Sério, nada, mas NADA, justifica um editor de texto, por melhor que seja, ter uma ASSINATURA que custa 250 reais por ano. A era do modelo de negócios de Assinaturas, onde querem que gastemos 10 mil reais por ano em 50, 100 assinaturas para cada pequeno app que faz parte do nosso cotidiano, está destruindo qualquer relação positiva que eu possa ter com software. **Developer response:** Thank you for sharing your perspective. We understand that when you use many different apps and services, costs can quickly add up, and managing multiple subscriptions can be challenging. However, Ulysses is more than a simple text editor—it's a professional writing environment with advanced organization, flexible export, writing goals, blog publishing, grammar and style checking, and many other features. Given its functionality and ongoing development, we believe the subscription is fair. You can find a full feature overview at ulysses.app/features. As a small, independent European team, subscriptions help us continuously improve Ulysses, provide customer support, and keep the app up to date. If you're looking to get more value from your subscriptions, Ulysses is also included in the Setapp bundle at no additional cost. We also offer discounts for students and academic staff. If you have any questions, we're always happy to help at help@ulysses.app. — Andrea ### 1/5 — Needs mandatory subscription *2026-07-19, version 40.2* Hell no ### 1/5 — “Free” with in app purchases is misleading *2026-07-07, version 40.1* Downloaded it assuming it was like most apps that are free but offer in app purchases. One normal practice is: basic usage of the app is there, but more advanced features have to be paid for. The name of this app includes “writing app” so you’d think that writing would be a basic feature and extra stuff is the paid stuff? nope. It’s “Read only” unless you pay. So instead of clicking on either the “Read only mode” button or the “back” button, I just hit Cmd+Q and then “Cmd+backspace” and confirmed that it was being moved to the trash with a double tap on my watch. if you’re fine with such a ridiculous limitation, then check it out, but don’t bother expecting any sort of chance to actually try the app out. ### 1/5 — Useless *2026-07-07, version 40.1* Downloaded the app and when I open it it just stops with a blank screen with the logo in the middle. Deleted and reloaded and the same thing happened. ### 1/5 — Blocked from purchase *2026-06-08, version 40* Annoyingly I’m being blocked from purchasing this app. I’ve tried multiple times on different Apple devices. It says I have no previous purchases to restore, however, when I attempt to pay for the app monthly or yearly it reports that I’m “not eligible for this offer”, assuming that’s in reference to the included 7 days trial. Here’s my problem, I’m happy to purchase without the trial, but there’s no option to do this. I’ve tried contacting their support services multiple times. It’s frustrating because I don’t want to have to look at alternative apps, but I’m starting to think I have no choice! ### 1/5 — Performative subscription slop *2026-05-28, version 40* genuinely why is there even a subscription to write when you can literally do it anywhere for free ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Great App *2026-08-12, version 40.3* This is very helpful for pre writing technical papers. Lets you restructure easily before dealing with Latex. Support is very responsive too. And they are churning out new features and export formats. ### 5/5 — Big Fan *2026-07-30, version 40.2* I really enjoy this app. I love the layout of it and I find it very supportive for me as a writer and someone with lots of ideas frequently. This app is helpful in having a space to express and organize them. I also really love that it can be in dark mode (night mode) with a dark background. ### 5/5 — 简洁好用 *2026-07-29, version 40.2* 喜欢写小说，有时候也写些杂七杂八的文，页面简洁，专注码字，多本书目独立管理，很满意 ### 5/5 — Best Ever *2026-07-28, version 40.2* I use this App everyday and for just about everything! ### 5/5 — End game for novelists *2026-07-14* I think I have tried virtually every all-in-one writing app oriented at people who do big writing projects like books. Scrivener, Zettlr, Atlas, etc. Ulysses beats them all, for me. It is the perfect blend of feature-rich, well-designed UI, and minimalist, streamlined writing. Every time I think another app can do it better (or cheaper) than Ulysses, I find myself crawling back and falling in love with it all over again. Writing with it is just so smooth, I never have to think about saving or doing backups, and writing on mobile is just as delightful. No other app does exporting as easily or beautifully as Ulysses. There is a bit of a learning curve when you first use it, but once you get over that hump, it's all smooth sailing. I've been using it for almost three years now, and I plan to continue for the foreseeable future. I'll admit, I do wish there was a way to hide the markdown since I really don't like seeing it (or seeing the unsightly spaces when you use a theme that semi-hides it) but that's a very small gripe in the grand scheme of things. The pricing is also a bit steep, but again, there's just nothing else on the market like this, and the developers have done a very good job keeping it lightweight and polished for long-term use. The only thing that would make me seriously reconsider using it is if there was a subscription price increase. If you're reading this, Ulysses devs, thank you so much for the app. It's become a daily driver for me, and I would cry if it was discontinued at some point. **Developer response:** First of all, thank you so much for this kind review. We're really glad to hear that Ulysses fits your writing so well and that it beats the competition for you. It especially means a lot that you called out the minimalist UI and the features — that's exactly what our small team pours its energy into every day. On hiding the markup in the editor: I've forwarded your request to the team. In the meantime, are you currently using a theme that shows the markup fairly prominently? If you'd like something closer to a clean, WYSIWYG feel, the theme "Barely There" minimizes the markup nicely. It's free at styles.ulysses.app. On pricing: totally fair to bring up, and I'd love to understand it a bit better. Ulysses works out to about 10 cents a day, so I'm curious whether it's the amount itself that feels like a lot, or more that subscriptions in general add up once you're juggling several. If it's the latter, it might be worth checking out Setapp, Ulysses is part of that bundle, so it could be a good way to get more value across the subscriptions you're already paying for. We also offer a discount for students and academic staff, so if you're eligible, it's worth applying. Behind the app is a small European team who build every feature you enjoy and are paid fairly for their work, and we set the price hoping people who use Ulysses daily, like you, would find it a fair trade. That said, if there's anything specific that would make it feel more worth it, I'd genuinely like to hear it, feel free to reach out anytime at help@ulysses.app. ### 5/5 — Love it *2026-07-07, version 40.1* I’ve used Ulysses for years and love its integration into apples products. It makes writing a joy and helps boost focus. It has everything built in you need to write your articles, books, blogs or anything else. ### 5/5 — The most useful app I’ve owned in decades *2026-07-04, version 40.1* 435,000 words and 5 books has given me a deep appreciation of the magic of Ulysses. I have been using word processing since 1979 (5 years before the mac was introduced). When I started writing novels I went on a hunt for a better tool. Using apps like Word or Pages were fine for a single chapter, but unwieldy as the manuscript grew. Then I switched to Scrivener. Much better and overall I was pretty happy with it except for one crucial thing: it’s poor sync across devices (I’m a 100% Apple person). The transition to Ulysses was a bit awkward, primarily because the developers take a different approach to writing management. It took a couple of weeks to get into the workflow approach that the program encourages. Over time, things smoothed out. What is extraordinary — and a total winner is the perfect sync across both my MacBooks, my iPad pro, and even my iPhone. Brilliant! The series of novel I worked on span a period of over a decade. With all five books inside Ulysses it was a breeze to move back and forth across all the manuscripts. I have always sought out the best tech for any kind of projects (and built several successful companies around that principle). When I hear other novelists talk about writing in Word I simply roll my eyes and know that I’m twice as efficient. ### 5/5 — Worth It! *2026-07-04, version 40.1* Very helpful for pre writing technical papers. I can see why there is such fandom! ### 5/5 — App So Good I Want to Work For Them *2026-07-04, version 40.1* I love everything about this app. The only app I will write in. I love the UI and the features. Best purchase I ever made as a writer. Will subscribe year after year. Can’t wait to see what else they add to it. ### 5/5 — Not bad *2026-06-02, version 40* Not bad --- *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 2026-08-30.*