Ulysses vs Chalk Draw
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ulysses
A distraction-free writing environment for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It offers robust document management, seamless syncing, and flexible export options for writers of all kinds. Includes a proofreader and editing assistant.
- Distraction-free editor
- Unified document library
- Cross-device sync
- Built-in proofreader
- Flexible export options (PDF, DOCX, eBook, HTML)
- Direct publishing to blogs
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Ulysses is your one-stop writing environment for Mac, iPhone and iPad. Its pleasant, focused writing experience, combined with effective document management, seamless sync, and flexible export, make Ulysses the first choice for writers of all kinds. ++ Apple Design Award Winner ++ “The app is amazing. An absolute delight to use. Well done.” – David Hewson, Bestselling Author (The Killing) ### A Text Production Powerhouse Ulysses’ markup-based, distraction-free editor lets you focus on your most important task: Write, edit, and write some more. Formatting is kept for later, so you can completely immerse yourself in the text. Ulysses’ uniquely streamlined toolset covers the entire writing process, and its clean and simple interface will boost your productivity. From first to final draft, from prologue to closing chapter – Ulysses keeps you in the flow, so you can get stuff done. ### All Your Texts, All the Time Everything you’ll ever write is stored in Ulysses’ unified library. You can manage projects of all kinds and sizes, be it novels, diaries or study notes – they are always saved, and automatically in sync. And since Ulysses offers feature parity across macOS and iOS, it doesn’t matter where you are or when inspiration hits: All its tools, and all your texts, are always at your fingertips. ### Built-In Proofreader and Editing Assistant Write with confidence, thanks to Ulysses’ integrated grammar and style check. Available for over 20 languages, it analyzes your text and offers informed suggestions for capitalization, punctuation, semantics, redundancy, style and more. ### Create eBooks, DOCX, PDFs and HTML Ulysses’ export is flexible enough to cover any writer’s needs: Transform your text into beautiful PDFs, Word documents or eBooks. Or export HTML code, ready to be used anywhere on the web. You can even choose between a variety of pre-made formatting styles for all kinds of purposes, or create your own and share it with other users. ### Publish to WordPress, Ghost, Substack & More Do you blog? Ulysses’ offers best-in-class publishing to WordPress, Ghost, and Micro.blog. You can post to WordPress, Ghost and Micro.blog from right within the app – complete with images, tags, categories etc. All offer a built-in preview to proofread before submission. Ulysses also supports copy paste publishing to Substack and Basecamp. ### Pricing Ulysses requires a subscription. We offer monthly and yearly subscription plans. They include a fully functional trial, so you can test Ulysses (including export and sync). There’s also a special discount for students. All plans unlock the app on Mac, iPhone and iPad, and feature full synchronization. ### Questions Please visit ulysses.app for more information. You can also reach us via help@ulysses.app or on Twitter @ulyssesapp – we’re happily awaiting your feedback! Terms of Use: https://ulysses.app/app-terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://ulysses.app/app-privacy-policy
Chalk Draw
Transform your device into a digital chalkboard for writing and drawing with colored chalk. Ideal for educational purposes, professional explanations, or casual games.
- Digital chalkboard simulation
- Colored chalk drawing
- Writing functionality
- Educational tool
- Drawing tool
- Game board
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Chalk Draw is a new application that turns your iPhone/ iPad into a genuine chalkboard! The application lets you write and draw everything you want on the board, using colored chalks.This application is very useful in many situations: teach your child math, explain graphs to your colleagues, or simply play tic-tac-toe. Let your children play with Chalk Draw and teach them how to draw their first butterfly. Thank you for taking the time to report any bugs or to request an enhancement to Chalk Draw application. Feedback is very important to us. We will do our best to answer queries. Email us at drawerfree@gmail.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Chalk Draw at free with in-app purchases against Ulysses's subscription. Chalk Draw also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.0). Ulysses's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 months). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Ulysses sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Chalk Draw sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Ulysses against 4.5 for Chalk Draw. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.1K and 3.6K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 67% of Ulysses's written reviews are positive against 59% of Chalk Draw's.
Ulysses ships an update every 3 weeks, Chalk Draw every 5 months. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Ulysses | Chalk Draw |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (2.1K ratings) — better | 4.5 (3.6K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 67.1% of reviews — better | 59.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.1K | 3.6K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 274 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ulysses GmbH & Co. KG | An Banh |
Customer experience
Ulysses
Chalk Draw
User reviews
Ulysses
From 2.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Seamless syncing across devices
- 👍 Simple, distraction-free writing experience
- 💡 Powerful organization and formatting features
- 🦋 Beautiful, customizable interface
- ✨ Excellent for focused writing
Room to improve
- 💰 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
Chalk Draw
From 3.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Realistic chalkboard experience
- 💡 Useful for online teaching and communication
- 🚀 Simple and easy to use
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent ads disrupting usage
- 💡 Limited color options
- 🐛 Compatibility issues with Apple Pencil
Bugs and requests
Ulysses
Reported bugs
4 issues- Unexpected data loss or file corruption
- Slow performance on older devices
- Unreliable iCloud sync
- Formatting issues when exporting to other formats
Requested features
5 requests- 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
Chalk Draw
Reported bugs
2 issues- App crashing on restart
- Drawing not registering accurately with Apple Pencil
Requested features
4 requests- More color options
- Gallery/history of drawings
- Sound effects for a more immersive experience
- Undo/redo functionality
In-app purchases
Ulysses
- Monthly Plan7 Days trial$5.991 Month
- Yearly Plan$29.991 Year
- Yearly Plan7 Days trial2 variants$39.991 Year
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- Yearly Plan1 Year trial$39.991 Year
- Student Offer$10.99
- Perpetual License$199.99
Chalk Draw
- Upgrade PRO version$1.99







