Comparison

Zavala vs WriteTimer

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Zavala

This app offers a modern approach to outlining, providing a full suite of features. It supports gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and multiple windows for efficient organization and content creation. Easily import and export in various formats, sync across devices, and customize your outlining experience.

Highlights
  • OPML Import & Export
  • Markdown Export
  • iCloud Syncing & Sharing
  • Nested Tags
  • Image Embedding
  • Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Drag and Drop
Features
Read full description

Zavala is a modern take on a traditional outliner. It is a full featured app. It takes full advantage of your device by leveraging gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and multiple windows. Other features: * OPML import & export * Markdown import & export * HTML import & export * iCloud syncing * iCloud sharing with other iCloud users * Encrypted outlines and encrypted iCloud sync * Nested Tags for organizing Outlines * Support for embedding images * Print support * Drag and drop * Text formatting * Links * Completed items * Notes * Customizable fonts and sizes * Backlinks * Shortcuts support * Web clipper share extension * Typewriter scrolling * Automatic row numbering including Decimal and Legal numbering

About

WriteTimer

This app helps writers establish a consistent writing routine through focused sprint sessions and progress tracking. It offers word count logging, achievement milestones, and customizable progress rings without requiring accounts or collecting user data.

Highlights
  • Focused sprint timer with custom durations
  • Word count tracking with WPM calculation
  • Daily, weekly, and yearly progress rings
  • Writing streak and achievement tracking
  • Session notes and project tags
  • No accounts or ads, data stays on device
Features
Read full description

Writers of all types deserve a dedicated timer. WriteTimer helps you build a daily writing habit with focused sprint sessions, word count tracking, achievement milestones, and beautiful progress rings — no accounts, no ads, and no data ever leaving your device. HOW IT WORKS Choose a session length or dial in a custom duration and press play. A full-screen countdown begins, with three animated progress rings showing your daily, weekly, and yearly writing time at a glance. Completed sessions are logged automatically. Need more time mid-sprint? Tap any preset to add minutes to a running timer without interrupting your flow. TRACK YOUR WRITING After each session, log a note about what you worked on, how many words you wrote, and even add a customizable tag. WriteTimer calculates your words-per-minute pace automatically and saves everything to your session history. Browse your history sorted by date, word count, or project tag. Tap any session entry to edit its note, word count, or tags from a single screen. The Stats tab shows daily, weekly, and yearly writing totals alongside a seven-day activity chart. BUILD YOUR HABIT WriteTimer tracks your writing streak day by day and awards achievements as you hit milestones — your first session, your first word count, consistent weeks, and more. A customizable daily reminder notification nudges you to open the app and write. FEATURES • No subscriptions - pay once for lifetime • Sprint timer with 7 presets and a custom duration option • Add minutes to any running session without stopping • Three animated progress rings — daily, weekly, and yearly goals • Automatic session logging for any session over one minute • Word count tracking with live words-per-minute calculation • Session notes to capture what you worked on • Project tags to organize sessions by book, blog, or project • Sortable session history — by date, word count, or tag • Writing streaks to build and maintain your habit • Achievements to mark your milestones • Five hand-crafted color themes you can customize • Fully customizable progress ring colors • Six completion sounds to mark the end of each sprint • Daily reminder notification at a time you choose • Stats view with a seven-day writing activity chart YOUR PRIVACY WriteTimer collects no data whatsoever. There are no accounts to create, no analytics running in the background, and no third-party SDKs of any kind. Everything — your sessions, word counts, notes, tags, and streaks — lives entirely on your device. BUILT FOR WRITERS Whether you're working on a novel, a blog post, a screenplay, or a daily journal practice, WriteTimer gives you the motivation and structure to sit down, focus, and write. Every session is logged. Every word is counted. Every streak is worth protecting.

Screenshots

Zavala2 screens
WriteTimer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Zavala at Free against WriteTimer's $2.99. Zavala also leads on ratings volume (68 vs 2). WriteTimer's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 weeks) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Zavala is free to download; WriteTimer costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

WriteTimer holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Zavala has 68 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Zavala ships an update every 2 weeks, WriteTimer every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Zavala versus WriteTimer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZavalaWriteTimer
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.8 (68 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews87.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings68 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVincode, IncDark Wren Creative, LLC

Customer experience

Zavala

All ratings68 ratings
Positive97.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews65 reviews
Positive87.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative9.2%

WriteTimer

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Zavala

No in-app purchases

None

WriteTimer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Zavala free?
Zavala is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is WriteTimer free?
WriteTimer costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Zavala or WriteTimer?
WriteTimer is rated higher. Zavala averages 4.8 out of 5 from 68 ratings, while WriteTimer averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Zavala or WriteTimer have ads?
Neither Zavala nor WriteTimer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Zavala or WriteTimer?
Zavala ships an update every 2 weeks, and WriteTimer every 4 days. Most recently, Zavala was updated on October 17, 2026 and WriteTimer on October 10, 2026.

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