Comparison

Zoho Writer vs Novelist

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

Head to head
About

Zoho Writer

Create and edit documents with a clean, distraction-free interface. Collaborate with others in real-time, import and export various file formats, and access your work across all devices. Your changes are automatically saved and synced.

Highlights
  • Create and edit documents
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Import/export MS Word, PDF, ODT
  • Sync across devices
  • Offline access
  • Automatic saving
Features
Read full description

Simple, slick word processing app to create and edit documents, and collaborate on them with your friends. Sync docs across devices and access them wherever you go.   Writer is carefully designed to create a clean, blank paper-esque writing experience across your smartphone, tablet and computer. And it's free forever! Collaborate with your team - Join discussions, even when you're away from your desk. Add your thoughts to documents, reply to friends' comments, or just appreciate them by clicking "like."   Work with multiple formats - Import and edit your existing Microsoft Word documents. Take stories off your world by exporting it as an MS Word, PDF, ODT, HTML, or TXT file.   Get access to the full-blown web version - One of the best advantages of using Writer is that it features a powerful word processor on the web. It's incredibly easy to jot down notes on the move, and continue working on it on the web when you're back to your desk. Create beautiful looking documents - Format your documents. Add images, tables, and more. Work offline - Apart from a "Make available offline" option, 20 of your most recent documents will available offline by default too!   Forget saving documents - Forget clicking save, and manual back up. Your changes are saved and synced across all your devices as you make them. What's stopping you now? Get started. Write away!

About

Novelist

This app provides a comprehensive suite of tools for authors to write, organize, and plot their novels. It offers features for scene creation, story structuring, goal setting, and manuscript export. The platform is designed to support the entire novel-writing process, from initial ideas to the final draft.

Highlights
  • Plotting with customizable story elements
  • Scene writing with rich formatting
  • Story organization into acts and chapters
  • Word count goals and deadline scheduling
  • Manuscript export in EPUB, ODT, HTML
  • Autosave and version history
  • Companion web app
Features
Read full description

Join over 200k authors writing their next masterpiece with Novelist! Novelist is the all-in-one app for writing your novels—completely free with no ads or in-app purchases. We give you the freedom to create without limits. Whether you're plotting, outlining, organizing, or scheduling, Novelist provides powerful tools to help bring your story to life. Key Features: ▪ Plot: Organize your story elements like on a board. Easily edit, move, merge, reorder, and add notes, tags, metadata, or images. Everything is customizable. ▪ Write: Craft scenes directly in the app. Annotate or write with rich formatting tools. ▪ Organize: Structure your story into acts, chapters, or any format you like. ▪ Schedule: Set word count goals or deadlines to stay on track. Advanced Tools: ▪ Autosave, find/replace, add comments, and restore previous versions from history ▪ Mention story items directly in your text for quick reference ▪ Split your screen with reference panels to inspect items while writing ▪ Track your progress daily with detailed stats ▪ Real-time preview without leaving the app ▪ Export and share your manuscript in EPUB, ODT, or HTML formats ▪ Enjoy an interface optimized for large screens ▪ Write on any browser with the companion web app ▪ Create templates for book series to streamline your workflow ▪ Backup and restore locally or with Google Drive ▪ Switch to dark mode for comfortable writing during long sessions Your story, your way—with Novelist.

Screenshots

Zoho Writer4 screens
Novelist4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Novelist at 79% against Zoho Writer's 30%. Novelist also leads on rating (4.4 vs 2.9) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Zoho Writer's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 weeks). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Novelist holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 140 and 214 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 30% of Zoho Writer's written reviews are positive against 79% of Novelist's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Zoho Writer ships an update every 3 weeks, Novelist every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Zoho Writer versus Novelist: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZoho WriterNovelist
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.9 (140 ratings)4.4 (214 ratings) — better
Positive reviews29.8% of reviews79.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings140214 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size132 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZoho CorporationAlessandro Riperi

Customer experience

Zoho Writer

All ratings136 ratings
Positive40.4%
Neutral14.0%
Negative45.6%
Written reviews151 reviews
Positive29.8%
Neutral13.2%
Negative57.0%

Novelist

All ratings209 ratings
Positive84.2%
Neutral6.7%
Negative9.1%
Written reviews219 reviews
Positive79.5%
Neutral10.5%
Negative10.0%

User reviews

Zoho Writer

From 140 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface design
  • 🔒 Privacy-focused alternative to Google Docs
  • 📝 Good font variety and formatting options
  • 💾 Automatic document saving
  • 🌐 Cross-platform functionality (desktop, mobile, web)

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing
  • ⚠️ Severe data loss issues
  • 🐢 Significant lag and slow typing response
  • ❌ Missing core formatting features on mobile
  • 🔐 Permission and access errors

Novelist

From 214 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Amazingly different application
  • 🔒 Completely free, with no ads or in-app purchases
  • 👍 Well-organized all-in-one app for writing, plotting, outlining, and scheduling
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 👍 Helps with organizing and keeping things clean

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Confusing menu options and backup/restore process
  • 🐛 Glitches when editing text, cursor behaves unexpectedly
  • 🐛 Crashes or freezes on some devices
  • 🐛 Syncing issues between devices
  • 🐛 Lack of font customization options

Bugs and requests

Zoho Writer

Reported bugs

23 issues
  • App crashes on document open
  • Cursor jumps randomly in document
  • Keyboard disappears during typing
  • Punctuation disappears after saving
  • Text erased or goes missing
Show 18 more
  • Undo function behaves erratically
  • Diacritics cause app crashes and data loss
  • Apple Pencil input causes immediate crashes
  • Documents fail to load with permission errors
  • Data migration errors on new accounts
  • Offline mode loses documents on sync
  • Lag increases with document size
  • Copy-paste corrupts text formatting
  • App freezes on tutorial screen
  • Documents deleted after app update
  • Sync fails to reflect web version changes
  • Microphone input text disappears
  • App locks up during formatting operations
  • Blank page display in read mode
  • Random extra spaces between words
  • Cursor placement in middle of words
  • Update failure notifications
  • App crashes when using WorkDrive integration

Requested features

18 requests
  • Dark mode for mobile app
  • Text wrapping around images
  • Adjustable image sizing
  • Cover page and page formatting options
  • Document list view (not just icon view)
Show 13 more
  • Search within document contents
  • Ability to save to specific folders
  • Multi-select for batch operations
  • Select all functionality
  • Landscape view support
  • Split-screen iPad support
  • Cloud import from Dropbox/OneDrive
  • Track changes feature
  • Outline navigation on mobile
  • Font size customization
  • Margin adjustment controls
  • Document templates
  • Alphabetical document sorting

Novelist

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Backup/restore process can lead to data loss
  • Cursor and text editing issues
  • Crashes and freezes on some devices
  • Syncing problems between devices

Requested features

7 requests
  • Ability to import/export in various formats (PDF, Markdown, etc.)
  • Improved syncing and cloud integration
  • More font and formatting options
  • Ability to add images/illustrations to the book
  • Collaboration/co-writing features
Show 2 more
  • Spell check and grammar tools
  • Customizable keyboard in dark mode

In-app purchases

None

Zoho Writer

No in-app purchases

None

Novelist

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Zoho Writer free?
Zoho Writer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Novelist free?
Novelist is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Zoho Writer or Novelist?
Novelist is rated higher. Zoho Writer averages 2.9 out of 5 from 140 ratings, while Novelist averages 4.4 from 214 ratings.
Do Zoho Writer or Novelist have ads?
Neither Zoho Writer nor Novelist shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Zoho Writer or Novelist?
Zoho Writer ships an update every 3 weeks, and Novelist every 6 weeks. Most recently, Zoho Writer was updated on October 23, 2026 and Novelist on October 24, 2026.

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