Comparison

WriteOn Lite vs Writing Shed Pro

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

Head to head
About

WriteOn Lite

This app helps writers create and manage their writing projects, from novels to short stories. It allows you to track progress, set word count goals, and monitor daily writing statistics. Share your achievements on social media or export your work via email.

Highlights
  • Novel and short story writing
  • Progress tracking
  • Daily word count goals
  • Chapter word count breakdown
  • Social media sharing
  • Customizable day/night modes
  • Project backup and restore
Features
Read full description

WriteOn Lite lets writers use their iPhone or iPad to write their novel, short story, or other writing project and track their progress at the same time. Notebook computer too heavy to lug around? Want to write a scene or chapter while you're out and about sans computer? Have unexpected down time while waiting on someone else? Going to a write-in after work or school and don't have the room to lug your notebook computer? Writing on the go has never been easier! Whether you're writing flash fiction or a novel, on your own or as part of a challenge like NaNoWriMo or the 3-Day Novel Contest, WriteOn Lite can handle your writing needs. Have multiple writing projects going on at the same time? No problem! Have multiple writing projects each with many chapters? Still no problem! But that's not all! WriteOn Lite lets you track your writing progress on each project. Name your project, set a target date and a target word count and the app will calculate how many days you have left until your target date and how many words you need to write each day to meet your goal. The statistics screen tells you at a glance how much you've written, how many days you've written, how many words you wrote each day on average, and the percentage complete for your project. WriteOn Lite also lets you see all the word count for each individual chapter for your project on the Chapters screen. See at a glance which chapter may need beefing up, or which chapter can use a bit of trimming :) Want to send a copy of your project to your friend or loved one? Go right ahead and send it via email! Tweet about your daily writing progress. Or post on Facebook with your daily word count. Keep your various social streams informed. Rub your progress in their faces even! WriteOn Lite also has an option which allows you to switch between customizable day and night modes. You can set the text colour and the background colour you want for each mode and switch to the appropriate one - for instance, when you're working at night while a loved one sleeps next to you. Additionally, WriteOn Lite allows you to backup all your projects via e-mail, to DropBox or any other iOS app which supports receiving data from another app. You can later restore these backups by simply tapping on the attachment on e-mail or selecting the backup file in another app and selecting the option to open the file in WriteOn. Your writing projects are always safe with WriteOn! WriteOn Lite is ad-supported, but has the same functionality as the paid version. If you don't like the ads, there's a one-time in-app purchase which allows you to remove all ads from the app forever!

About

Writing Shed Pro

A comprehensive writing studio for poets, novelists, and playwrights. Offers genre-specific tools, a distraction-free editor, and manuscript analysis to refine your work. Seamlessly syncs across devices and supports various export formats.

Highlights
  • Genre-specific project types
  • Distraction-free editor
  • Manuscript Analyzer
  • Poetry form support
  • Screenplay and stage play formatting
  • WYSIWYG pagination
  • Submission tracking
Features
Read full description

WRITING SHED PRO A complete writing studio for poets, novelists, playwrights and prose writers on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Writing Shed Pro brings drafting, planning, revision and publication into one workspace. Choose Poetry, Fiction, Drama or Prose and receive tools and project structures designed for that form. WRITE IN MANAGEABLE SECTIONS Break large works into poems, scenes, chapters, episodes or prose sections. Focus on one piece at a time, rearrange material as your work develops, then assemble everything into a complete manuscript. The rich-text editor includes: • Paragraph and character styles • Comments, footnotes, links and images • Document-wide spelling review • Search and replace • Version history and undo • Word, character and line counts • Page layout and print preview POWERFUL FICTION PROJECTS Build novels from chapters and scenes, organize short fiction as scene sequences, or structure verse novels into books and episodes. • Create character and location profiles • Connect characters and locations to scenes • Link plot elements to the scenes they affect • Choose Freeform, Three-Act or Monomyth structures • Reorder scenes and move them between chapters • Keep planning, research and manuscript text together POETRY TOOLS BUILT FOR POETS Develop poems, organize collections and prepare work for submission. • Choose from an extensive catalogue of poetic forms • Create custom forms • Analyse syllables, stress patterns, rhyme and structure • Use British or American pronunciation support • Organize poems into collections and chapbooks • Track drafts, submissions and publications • Assemble complete poetry manuscripts DRAMA FOR STAGE AND SCREEN Write plays and screenplays using lightweight markup while Writing Shed Pro formats scene headings, characters, dialogue, parentheticals, transitions and stage directions. • Organize scripts into acts and scenes • Maintain character and location information • Switch between writing and formatted presentation • Import and export Fountain files • Exchange work with Final Draft using FDX • Print professionally formatted scripts FLEXIBLE PROSE PROJECTS Create essays, memoirs, articles, journals and non-fiction without forcing the work into a fiction or poetry structure. • Divide work into flexible sections • Arrange and reorder material freely • Keep notes and research with the project • Apply consistent styles • Add references, citations, glossary entries, notes and an index • Combine sections into a unified manuscript BUILD THE COMPLETE MANUSCRIPT Turn separate files into one publication-ready document. • Add configurable front and back matter • Generate a table of contents • Build notes, citations and a bibliography • Create a glossary, index and table of figures • Control margins, headers, footers and page numbers • Preview the finished work as real pages MANAGE SUBMISSIONS AND PUBLICATIONS Build submission packets, track destinations, dates and outcomes, and maintain a history of where each piece has been sent or published. IMPORT, EXPORT AND PRINT • Import Word, RTF and Markdown • Export Word, RTF, HTML, Markdown and PDF • Export complete manuscripts to ePub format • Import and export Fountain and Final Draft files • Print files, collections, submissions or manuscripts • Transfer complete projects using the WSP format WORK ACROSS YOUR DEVICES Keep projects, formatting and supporting information synchronized across iPhone, iPad and Mac. Start on one device and continue on another. WRITING TOOLS, NOT WRITING RULES Writing Shed Pro gives every kind of writer a purpose-built environment for developing ideas, managing complex projects and producing finished work. TRY IT FREE for ten days, then upgrade to get full access to all features. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: [https://appworks.pro/wp-admin/post.php?post=136&action=edit]

Screenshots

WriteOn Lite4 screens
Writing Shed Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: WriteOn Lite at 4.6 against Writing Shed Pro's 4.0. WriteOn Lite also leads on ratings volume (7 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.4). Writing Shed Pro's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs monthly). On price, review sentiment, 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. WriteOn Lite sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Writing Shed Pro sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

WriteOn Lite holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: WriteOn Lite has 7 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

WriteOn Lite ships an update monthly, Writing Shed Pro every 2 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
WriteOn Lite versus Writing Shed Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWriteOn LiteWriting Shed Pro
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (7 ratings) — better4.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings7 — better1
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.4
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB203 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPink Zombie Studios Inc.Keith Lander

Customer experience

WriteOn Lite

All ratings7 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral14.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Writing Shed Pro

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

WriteOn Lite

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$4.99
8 purchases

Writing Shed Pro

Subscriptions1
  • Manuscript Analyst1 Month trial$2.991 Month
One-time7
  • 10-Day Free TrialFree
  • Poetry Writer$9.99
  • Writing Shed Pro – Full Access$19.99
Show 4 more
  • Prose Writer$19.99
  • Fiction Writer$19.99
  • Drama Writer$19.99
  • All In Bundle$39.99

Questions

Is WriteOn Lite free?
WriteOn Lite is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Writing Shed Pro free?
Writing Shed Pro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, WriteOn Lite or Writing Shed Pro?
WriteOn Lite is rated higher. WriteOn Lite averages 4.6 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Writing Shed Pro averages 4.0 from 1 ratings.
Do WriteOn Lite or Writing Shed Pro have ads?
Neither WriteOn Lite nor Writing Shed Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, WriteOn Lite or Writing Shed Pro?
WriteOn Lite ships an update monthly, and Writing Shed Pro every 2 days. Most recently, WriteOn Lite was updated on October 24, 2026 and Writing Shed Pro on October 24, 2026.

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