Ulysses vs selectd
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 effective document management, seamless sync, and flexible export options for writers of all kinds. Includes a built-in proofreader and editing assistant.
- Distraction-free editor
- Unified library for all texts
- Seamless sync across devices
- Built-in proofreader and editing assistant
- Flexible export to PDF, DOCX, HTML
- Publishing to WordPress, Ghost, Substack
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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
selectd
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Selectd: Your Personal Productivity & Career OS Say goodbye to fragmented tools. Selectd is the ultimate all-in-one productivity suite and career tracker designed for high performers. Whether you're structuring your daily focus, building powerful habits, or managing a complex job search pipeline, Selectd brings everything into one beautiful, private, and powerful app. No Subscriptions. Ever. We believe you should own your tools. Selectd Pro is a one-time payment for lifetime access. Task Management & NLP Dump your thoughts quickly with our intelligent inbox. Simply type "Review notes for 30m" and Selectd’s Natural Language Processing will automatically parse the duration and prep it for scheduling. Timeboxing & Pomodoro Focus Take control of your day with the visual Schedule Timeline. Drag tasks into your day, sync external calendar events, and launch the built-in Pomodoro Focus Timer directly from your schedule to enter deep work. Daily Habit Tracker Consistency is everything. Build custom daily routines with the built-in Habit Tracker. Set target counts, track your daily streaks, and stay accountable with smart "Streak Saver" reminders so you never lose momentum. Visual Kanban Job Pipeline Manage your career moves with a professional swipe-to-move pipeline. Track jobs from "Interested" to "Offer", save resumes, and manage contacts. Use Voice Intelligence to add jobs hands-free ("Add Senior Designer at Apple"). Deep AI Analytics & Insights Stop guessing what works. Selectd tracks your productivity momentum, job response rates, and pipeline health. Discover your most productive days and best-performing application sources. Smart Reminders & Calendar Sync Never miss a beat. Set smart reminders for tasks, interviews, and habit check-ins that sync directly to your native phone calendar. Selectd will even alert you when active tasks or jobs go stale. 100% Private & Offline-First Your data is your business. Selectd is built on a local-first architecture (SQLite), meaning your data stays securely on your device. It’s lightning-fast and works completely offline. Upgrade to Selectd Pro Unlock unlimited tasks, habits, job tracking, advanced analytics, and the Pomodoro focus timer with a single lifetime purchase. Download Selectd today and design your future! Privacy Policy: https://selectd.co.in/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Ulysses at Free against selectd's $2.99. selectd's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Ulysses is free to download; selectd costs $2.99 up front. Ulysses sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and selectd sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Ulysses ships an update every 3 weeks, selectd every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ulysses | selectd |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (2.2K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 67.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2.2K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 272 MB | 60 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ulysses GmbH & Co. KG | Akash Selvakumar |
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
selectd
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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
selectd
- Selectd Pro7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Selectd Pro Lifetime$29.99









