Scrivener vs Writing Space
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
Read full descriptionHide 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.
Writing Space
This app is a distraction-free word processor designed for writers. It offers customizable themes, rich formatting, and progress tracking to help users finish projects faster. Share or publish your work online with ease.
- Distraction-free writing mode
- Customizable themes and templates
- Rich text formatting options
- Progress tracking with word count
- Automatic backups and cloud sync
- Inline notes for thoughts
- Dark mode
Read full descriptionHide full description
Writing Space is a powerful writing tool for students, teachers, authors, and bloggers. It is a customizable word processor with a library of user-friendly templates, stunning fonts, and rich formatting options. Writing Space is designed to help you write in a more focused way, so you can finish your writing projects faster and achieve more. Share your writing with your friends and family or publish it online. - Distraction-free writing mode, so you can focus on writing your book with minimal distractions. You can also create lists, insert links, and highlight text with ease. - A library of customizable themes to help you design your book. You can choose from a variety of professionally designed templates, or you can create your own from scratch. - A well-polished word processor packed with all of the features you need for a pleasant writing experience. - Track your progress with Writing Space's word count feature. Set a daily writing goal and know exactly how much you have left to write. - A rich set of formatting options. Change the font, size, color, style, and alignment of your text. - Publish your work online and let everyone read your stories. Writing Space supports PDF or self-publishing. - Dark mode. - Automatic backups - never lose your writing again. Sync your writing with your Google or Apple account, or sign up with just your email. - Inline notes - write your thoughts without including them in your final published copy. - Track your progress with Writing Space's word count feature. Set a daily writing goal and know exactly how much you have left to write. ----------------------------------- If you choose to purchase the Full Access subscription, payment will be charged to your iTunes account, and your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Auto-renewal may be turned off at any time by going to your settings in the iTunes Store after purchase. Current Full Access subscription price starts at $1.29 USD/week. Prices are in USD, may vary in countries other than the U.S. and are subject to change without notice. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active subscription period. If you don’t choose to purchase the subscription, you can simply continue accessing the sample content. Terms of Use: https://www.meali.co/tos.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Writing Space at Free against Scrivener's $23.99. Writing Space also leads on rating (4.4 vs 4.2) and update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). Scrivener's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and chart position (#10 vs unranked). On review sentiment, 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
Writing Space is free to download; Scrivener costs $23.99 up front. Writing Space sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Scrivener asks for nothing beyond the download.
Writing Space holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.6K and 1.6K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 46% of Scrivener's written reviews are positive against 44% of Writing Space's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Scrivener ships an update every 3 months, Writing Space monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Scrivener | Writing Space |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $23.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.2 (2.6K ratings) | 4.4 (1.6K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 45.6% of reviews — better | 43.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.6K — better | 1.6K |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #10 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 171 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Literature & Latte | Mealico LLC |
Customer experience
Scrivener
Writing Space
Bugs and requests
Scrivener
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Writing Space
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes when trying to upgrade
- Chapters and writing disappearing
- Inability to type after using backspace
- Bluetooth keyboard compatibility issues
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to import/export files
- Implement cursor movement and text selection
- Integrate grammar/spelling checks
- Allow more than 5 free chapters
- Add option to share/publish stories
In-app purchases
Scrivener
No in-app purchases
Writing Space
- Unlimited Full Access$1.991 Month
- Discounted Full Access$3.993 Months
- Unlimited Full Access$5.993 Months
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Unlimited Full Access$11.991 Year






