Comparison

Amethyst Writer vs BookWrite

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

Head to head
About

Amethyst Writer

A minimalist writing app designed for novelists, offering a private and distraction-free environment to craft stories. Organize your work, preview your manuscript, and export your finished novel with ease, all on your mobile device.

Highlights
  • Scene-by-scene or chapter writing
  • Organize work into Parts and Acts
  • Add front matter
  • Full manuscript preview
  • Search across all writing
  • Project organization for characters/locations
  • Absolute privacy and local storage
  • Automatic iCloud backups
Features
Read full description

Simple. Private. Always with you. Amethyst is a minimalist writing app for novelists. We give you the tool and remove the friction, so you can just write. Built mobile-first, so there is nothing standing between your idea and the blank page. Write any time the idea strikes, preview your novel with beautiful formatting, and export your finished product. All on the go. Your readers are waiting: • Write scene by scene, or open a whole chapter and write straight through. • Organize your work into Parts and Acts. Reorder your outline whenever the shape of the book changes. • Add front matter — title page, dedication, epigraph — when you're ready for it. • Preview the finished manuscript end to end in a single view. • Search across everything you've written. • Keep characters and locations in Projects, so you stop losing track of eye colors and birth dates. Amethyst is built for novelists by novelists: • Absolute privacy. We don't collect personal information. No account, no login, no telemetry, no keystroke tracking. • Every word is written to local storage the moment you type it — no connection needed, ever. When you're connected, Amethyst backs up automatically. • Quiet metrics. Daily and weekly word counts, streaks, and your most productive days at a glance. Set a goal app-wide or per novel — or ignore all of that and just write. • Your words, exportable. Send a draft out through the iOS Share Sheet, AirDrop, or Files, to a beta reader, an editor, or a publisher. Nothing is locked in. Your data is yours: Amethyst never sends your novels or projects to third parties, and Shinano Labs will never sell or share your usage data. Your backups are store securely in your own iCloud storage, always available but always private. You can delete your account securely at any time (though we'd be sad to see you go!). Shinano Labs never has access to your writing or your profile data. Your stories deserve a home that respects your time and your privacy. Start your next chapter today. LEGAL STUFF • Privacy: https://www.shinanolabs.com/privacy-policy • Terms: https://www.shinanolabs.com/terms-of-service • Our Stance on Generative AI: https://www.shinanolabs.com/our-position-on-ai

About

BookWrite

This app transforms your writing experience by allowing you to craft books with customizable aesthetics, from cover design to page style. It offers tools for organizing stories, drawing, illustrating, and exporting your work in various formats. It also includes features to help you maintain writing habits and ensure your work remains private.

Highlights
  • Customizable book aesthetics (cover, pages, pen)
  • Locked diary with Face ID/passcode
  • Drawing and illustration tools
  • Story organization (plot board, story bible)
  • Export to PDF, EPUB, TXT, audiobook
  • Writing goal tracking and prompts
  • Privacy-focused with no ads or tracking
Features
Read full description

Step through the door of an old bookshop and write. Open ScribeMe and you're standing at the door of a bookshop. Push it open, step inside, and your library is waiting on the shelf - every book you've written, standing spine-out, in whatever order you like. MAKE A BOOK, NOT A DOCUMENT Choose how a book feels before you write a word: hardcover, leather, cloth or paperback; the colour of the boards; cream, white or parchment pages; and the pen in your hand - fountain pen, ballpoint, pencil or marker, each with its own ink and weight of line. Pick a typeface with real character. Every cover gets its own grain, so no two books on your shelf look alike. Tall, square and wide picture-book shapes are all here. A DIARY THAT LOCKS Any book can be locked with Face ID or your passcode - a private diary that stays private. Night pages give you dark paper and light ink for writing after bedtime. WRITE, DRAW, ILLUSTRATE Real styling: bold, italics, centred lines, scene breaks. Draw straight onto the page with Apple Pencil or a fingertip, and add photo illustrations wherever you like. Draw your own cover, too. ORGANIZE A REAL STORY Chapters with a contents sheet. A plot board that lays your pages out at a glance. A story bible that interviews your characters and remembers your places. Story templates - three acts, hero's journey, fairy tale, mystery - that scaffold the chapters for you. Find and replace, and search across the whole shelf. TAKE IT OFF THE DEVICE Export a typeset PDF with cover, dedication, contents and illustration plates. Print a fold-at-home booklet. Make an EPUB ebook, a plain-text file, or an audiobook read aloud. Back up your whole library to a single file and carry it to another device. KEEP GOING Daily goals, streaks, milestones and writing sprints. A home-screen widget with your shelf and your streak. An evening writing prompt if you want one. Read a finished book with a real page curl, or have it read to you. YOURS, AND PRIVATE No account, no sign-up, no ads, no tracking, no subscriptions, and nothing is ever collected. Your books live on your device. Turn on iCloud sync (beta) and they sync through your own private iCloud - still nobody else's. Automatic version snapshots mean nothing you write is ever really lost. Everything in ScribeMe is included, free. It always will be. Made for iPhone and iPad.

Screenshots

Amethyst Writer4 screens
BookWrite2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: BookWrite at 5.0 against Amethyst Writer's 2.0. BookWrite also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3). Amethyst Writer's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs fortnightly). On price, ratings volume, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Amethyst Writer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. BookWrite asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BookWrite holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Amethyst Writer ships an update every 3 days, BookWrite fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
Amethyst Writer versus BookWrite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAmethyst WriterBookWrite
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better18.1
Further details — not scored
Size34 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDamien Anthony LavizzoRichard Wheatley

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Amethyst Writer

Subscriptions2
  • Amethyst Plus - Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Amethyst Plus - Yearly$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • Amethyst Plus - Lifetime$19.99
None

BookWrite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Amethyst Writer free?
Amethyst Writer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BookWrite free?
BookWrite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Amethyst Writer or BookWrite?
BookWrite is rated higher. Amethyst Writer averages 2.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while BookWrite averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Amethyst Writer or BookWrite have ads?
Neither Amethyst Writer nor BookWrite shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Amethyst Writer or BookWrite?
Amethyst Writer ships an update every 3 days, and BookWrite fortnightly. Most recently, Amethyst Writer was updated on October 31, 2026 and BookWrite on November 6, 2026.

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