Comparison

Scrivener vs Pythonista 3

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

Head to head
About

Scrivener

This app is a comprehensive writing tool designed for long-form manuscripts. It allows users to compose text in any order, manage research materials alongside their writing, and export to various formats. It supports flexible outlining and restructuring of content.

Highlights
  • Manuscript composition in sections
  • Research material integration
  • Flexible outlining and reorganization
  • Export to multiple formats
  • Interactive tutorial
  • Project-wide search
Features
Read full description

“The biggest software advance for writers since the word processor.” —Michael Marshall Smith, bestselling author Typewriter. Ring-binder. Scrapbook. Scrivener combines all the writing tools you need to craft your first draft, from nascent notion to final full stop. Tailor-made for creating long manuscripts, Scrivener banishes page fright by allowing you to compose your text in any order, in sections as large or small as you like. Got a great idea but don’t know where it fits? Write when inspiration strikes and find its place later. Grow your manuscript organically, idea by idea. Whether you plan or plunge, Scrivener works your way: meticulously outline every last detail first, or hammer out a complete draft and restructure later. Or do a bit of both. All text sections in Scrivener are fully integrated with its outlining tools, so working with an overview of your manuscript is only ever a tap away, and turning Chapter Four into Chapter One is as simple as drag and drop. Need to refer to research? In Scrivener, your background material is always at hand. Write a description based on a photograph. Reference a video or PDF. Check for consistency with an earlier chapter. On the iPad, open two documents side-by-side; on the iPhone, flip between research and writing with just two taps. Once you’re ready to share your work with the world, simply compile everything into a single document for printing, or export to popular formats such as Word, PDF, Final Draft or plain text. You can even share using different formatting, so that you can write in your favorite font and still keep your editor happy. FEATURES Get Started • Interactive tutorial project • Keep each manuscript and supporting materials in a self-contained project • Import Word, RTF, Final Draft and plain text files • Easily split imported text into separate sections Get Writing • Write your manuscript in sections of any size • View all sections as a single text using the “Draft Navigator” (iPad only) • Quickly navigate sections using the “binder” sidebar • Format with fonts and presets • Comments, footnotes, links and highlights • Simple bullets and lists • Insert images • Pinch-zoom to resize text • Full-screen mode (iPad only) • Typewriter scrolling mode keeps typed text center-screen (iPad only) • Write a screenplay using scriptwriting mode • Live word and character counts • Set word and character count targets • Find and replace • Customizable keyboard row provides quick-access buttons for formatting, navigation and punctuation • Comprehensive keyboard shortcuts for external keyboard users • Dark mode Find Your Structure • Write in any order and reorganize later • Write a synopsis for any text section and see it in the outline • Expand, collapse and drill down into sections of your project • Rearrange sections as index cards on the corkboard (iPad only) • Project-wide search • Track ideas using labels and status • Apply custom icons to your sections Refer to Research • Import research material such as image, PDF and media files • View research files or other sections right alongside your writing (iPad only) • Every section has its own notes area for jotting down ideas • Supports multitasking split screen mode (supported devices only) Share Your Work • Compile to a single document for sharing or printing • Use different formatting in your exported or printed document • Export to Word, RTF, Final Draft, PDF or plain text • Convert rich text to Markdown for sharing with Markdown apps • Create and email zipped backups of your projects Work Anywhere • Use Dropbox to sync between devices and with the macOS and Windows versions of Scrivener* • Copy projects between devices via iTunes * Requires a Dropbox account (not compatible with iCloud). SUPPORT You can contact us at ios.support@literatureandlatte.com, visit our forums at http://www.literatureandlatte.com/forum, or find us @scrivenerapp on Twitter.

About

Pythonista 3

Develop and run Python 3 scripts directly on your iPad or iPhone. This complete scripting environment includes popular third-party modules and allows access to iOS features like sensors, location, and photos. Automate your device with app extensions and integrate with Shortcuts and Siri.

Highlights
  • Powerful code editor with syntax highlighting
  • Interactive prompt with code completion
  • Integrated visual debugger
  • Offline Python documentation
  • UI editor for prototyping
  • Share sheet and system-wide keyboard extensions
  • Shortcuts app integration
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Pythonista is a complete scripting environment for Python 3.10, running right on your iPad or iPhone, so you can develop and run Python scripts on the go. Like Python itself, "batteries are included" – from popular third-party modules like requests, numpy, matplotlib, pandas (and many more) to modules that are tailor-made for iOS. With Pythonista, your scripts can access sensor/location data, your photo library, contacts, reminders, the clipboard, and more, allowing you to harness the full potential of both Python and iOS. Pythonista is designed with a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for anyone to get started with coding, regardless of skill level. The complete Python documentation is also available for offline reading in the app. Pythonista is not just for learning and practicing Python – it's also a powerful tool for automating iOS with multiple app extensions. You can invoke scripts directly from the share sheet or a custom system keyboard in almost any app, and integrate scripts with Shortcuts and Siri. With Pythonista, it's easy to run your scripts whenever you need them, without having to switch between different apps. Features: > Powerful code editor with syntax highlighting, code completion, and scripting support > Interactive prompt with code completion, command history, and support for showing images > Integrated visual debugger and object inspector > Complete offline documentation with quick lookup directly from the editor > Various beautiful light and dark color themes, and a theme editor to make your own > UI editor for quick prototyping > Integrated PEP 8 style checker and code formatter > Supports most of the Python standard library and additional modules for graphics, sound, and iOS integration (for example clipboard, contacts, reminders, photos, ui...) > Many popular third-party modules included, for example requests, numpy, matplotlib, pandas, Pillow... > Lots of included examples > Universal app for iPad and iPhone > Share sheet extension for running scripts from almost any app > Scriptable system-wide keyboard to use Python in any app that edits text > Advanced integration with the Shortcuts app, allowing you to use Python scripts as actions in shortcuts and personal automations. Please note that Pythonista is not designed to enable the installation or download of additional modules written in compiled languages (C/C++). While many popular native libraries are included and work out-of-the-box, it is generally not possible to install additional modules with C/C++ dependencies. The name "Pythonista" is used with kind permission from the Python Software Foundation.

Screenshots

Scrivener4 screens
Pythonista 34 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Pythonista 3 at $9.99 against Scrivener's $23.99. Pythonista 3 also leads on review sentiment (73% vs 46%) and rating (4.5 vs 4.2). Scrivener's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 19 months). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Scrivener costs $23.99 and Pythonista 3 $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pythonista 3 holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.6K and 1.5K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of Scrivener's written reviews are positive against 73% of Pythonista 3's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scrivener ships an update every 3 months, Pythonista 3 every 19 months. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Scrivener versus Pythonista 3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScrivenerPythonista 3
Price$23.99$9.99 — better
Rating4.2 (2.6K ratings)4.5 (1.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews45.6% of reviews73.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.6K — better1.5K
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 19 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#6 — better#17
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB853 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLiterature & Latteomz:software

Customer experience

Scrivener

All ratings2,595 ratings
Positive77.6%
Neutral6.9%
Negative15.6%
Written reviews711 reviews
Positive45.6%
Neutral17.0%
Negative37.4%

Pythonista 3

All ratings1,522 ratings
Positive85.3%
Neutral3.9%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews538 reviews
Positive73.4%
Neutral6.7%
Negative19.9%

In-app purchases

None

Scrivener

No in-app purchases

None

Pythonista 3

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Scrivener free?
Scrivener costs $23.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pythonista 3 free?
Pythonista 3 costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Scrivener or Pythonista 3?
Pythonista 3 is rated higher. Scrivener averages 4.2 out of 5 from 2.6K ratings, while Pythonista 3 averages 4.5 from 1.5K ratings.
Do Scrivener or Pythonista 3 have ads?
Neither Scrivener nor Pythonista 3 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scrivener or Pythonista 3?
Scrivener ships an update every 3 months, and Pythonista 3 every 19 months. Most recently, Scrivener was updated on October 8, 2026 and Pythonista 3 on October 7, 2026.
Which is more popular, Scrivener or Pythonista 3?
Scrivener currently peaks at #6 in the App Store charts, and Pythonista 3 at #17. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

Other comparisons