7 alternativesUlysses: From $5.99
The best Ulysses alternatives
For most people the best alternative to Ulysses is Scrivener, and the best free one is Cotypist.
ScrivenerPick this if you're writing a novel, script or thesis and need sections you can rearrange beside your research.$59.99 onceCompare at a glance
Ulysses is highlighted, so you can see what you give up and what you gain.
| App | Price | How you pay | Mac | iPhone | iPad | App Store | Developer | Setapp | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ulysses | From $5.99 | Subscription | 4.6 | ||||||
| Scrivener | $59.99 once | Pay once | Too few ratings | ||||||
 Typora | $14.99 once | Pay once | Too few ratings | ||||||
 iA Writer | From $19.99 | Pay once | 4.6 | ||||||
 Cotypist | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | Too few ratings | ||||||
 MarkEdit | Free, open source | Free | Too few ratings | ||||||
 Bike | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | Too few ratings | ||||||
 Wymark | Free | Free | Too few ratings |
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The alternatives, in order
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Pick this if you're writing a novel, script or thesis and need sections you can rearrange beside your research.
Break a book or thesis into movable sections with research beside the draft, for $59.99 once and no subscription.
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Pick this if you write in Markdown but want the page to look finished while you type.
A Markdown editor that hides the symbols and shows formatting live, with exports to PDF, Word and EPUB.
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Pick it if you want a calm screen, plain Markdown files and a nudge when you lean on filler words.
A calm Markdown editor that dims everything but your current sentence and flags filler words as you write.
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Pick it if you write a lot of email and messages and want autocomplete in every app, with the model running on your own Mac.
Inline autocomplete for every Mac app, generated on your Mac, with a free tier of 100 accepted words a day.
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Pick it if you want a free Markdown editor that opens as fast as TextEdit, even with huge files.
A free, 4 MB Markdown editor that opens as fast as TextEdit and handles huge files without lag.
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Pick it if you plan articles, projects or talks as nested lists and want a keyboard-first outliner.
A native, keyboard-driven outliner that stays quick with huge documents, from the maker of TaskPaper.
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Pick it if you write in Markdown and regularly hand drafts to Claude, ChatGPT or an editor for revisions.
Track changes and comments for plain Markdown files, so you can review every edit an AI or a colleague made.
Ulysses head to head
- Ulysses vs ScrivenerPick this if you're writing a novel, script or thesis and need sections you can rearrange beside your research.
- Ulysses vs iA WriterPick it if you want a calm screen, plain Markdown files and a nudge when you lean on filler words.
- Ulysses vs TyporaPick this if you write in Markdown but want the page to look finished while you type.
When Ulysses is still the right pick
You write long pieces or run a blog and want every draft organized in 1 distraction-free library.
Ulysses prices and verdictFrom $5.99