Zavala vs WriteTimer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- OPML Import & Export
- Markdown Export
- iCloud Syncing & Sharing
- Nested Tags
- Image Embedding
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Drag and Drop
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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
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
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
Zavala is free to download; WriteTimer costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
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.
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.
| Parameter | Zavala | WriteTimer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (68 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 87.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 68 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Vincode, Inc | Dark Wren Creative, LLC |
Customer experience
Zavala
WriteTimer
In-app purchases
Zavala
No in-app purchases
WriteTimer
No in-app purchases









