Scrivener vs WriteFreely
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Manuscript composition in sections
- Research material integration
- Flexible outlining and reorganization
- Export to multiple formats
- Interactive tutorial
- Project-wide search
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“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.
WriteFreely
A minimalist blogging app for seamless web publishing. Write in a distraction-free editor and publish to your blog or any compatible writing community. Supports offline drafting and synchronization with your WriteFreely account.
- Distraction-free editor
- Offline drafting and editing
- Sync posts with WriteFreely account
- Publish to multiple blogs
- Dark mode option
- Open source platform
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WriteFreely for iOS gives you a seamless way to publish your thoughts on the web. Write your thoughts in its clean, distraction-free editor, and then publish to your blog or any writing community powered by the WriteFreely software. WriteFreely for iOS supports Write.as and self-hosted WriteFreely instances. If you're not hosting your own instance, visit https://writefreely.org/instances to find a community to join! # Just Write WriteFreely for iOS includes only what you need to write and publish, so you can focus on your words. It launches straight to the editor, so you can get your thoughts down before they vanish. # Write Offline Draft and edit blog posts offline on your iPhone or iPad, and publish whenever you're ready. If you don't publish a post, it remains safe and private on your device. # Stay Synchronized Log in to any WriteFreely instance you have an account on, and sync posts from your WriteFreely account to your device. # Publish Widely Publish to multiple blogs on your account, and move posts between blogs and Drafts with a few quick taps. # Light Customization Make it your own by choosing a default font for your posts, and whether or not you'd like to write in dark mode. # Freedom The WriteFreely platform is built entirely on open source software, from the server-side to this iOS app. Rest easy knowing you ultimately control your publishing tools, and visit https://writefreely.org/contribute to find out how you can contribute.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: WriteFreely at $11.99 against Scrivener's $23.99. Scrivener's advantage is ratings volume (2.6K vs 8) and chart position (#9 vs #199). On rating, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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
Scrivener costs $23.99 and WriteFreely $11.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.2 for Scrivener against 4.1 for WriteFreely. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Scrivener has 2.6K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 46% of Scrivener's written reviews are positive against 44% of WriteFreely's.
Scrivener ships an update every 3 months, WriteFreely every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and August 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Scrivener | WriteFreely |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $23.99 | $11.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.2 (2.6K ratings) — better | 4.1 (8 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 45.6% of reviews — better | 44.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.6K — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #9 — better | #199 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Literature & Latte | Musing Studio LLC |
Customer experience
Scrivener
WriteFreely
In-app purchases
Scrivener
No in-app purchases
WriteFreely
No in-app purchases









