Notes and writing7 picks
The best writing apps for Mac and iPhone
Ulysses is the writing app most Mac writers should pick, and MarkEdit is the best free one.
UlyssesPick it if you run a blog or write long pieces and want every draft in 1 library that syncs.From $5.99Ulysses keeps every draft in 1 distraction-free library and publishes straight to WordPress and Ghost, for $39.99 a year across Mac, iPad and iPhone. MarkEdit is a free, open source Markdown editor that opens instantly. Novelists and thesis writers should pick Scrivener at $59.99 once, and Drafts is for quick capture rather than long pieces.
How we chose
- 1Organizing a long project into sections
- 2Plain Markdown files or a private library
- 3Publishing straight to your blog
Compare at a glance
Tap a name to jump to its write-up.
| App | Price | How you pay | Mac | iPhone | iPad | Watch | App Store | Developer | Setapp | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulysses | From $5.99 | Subscription | 4.6 | |||||||
 Scrivener | $59.99 once | Pay once | Too few ratings | |||||||
 iA Writer | From $19.99 | Pay once | 4.6 | |||||||
 Typora | $14.99 once | Pay once | Too few ratings | |||||||
 MarkEdit | Free, open source | Free | Too few ratings | |||||||
 Craft | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.8 | |||||||
 Drafts | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.8 |
Swipe the table sideways to see more
The picks, in order
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Pick it if you run a blog or write long pieces and want every draft in 1 library that syncs.
At $39.99 a year for all your Macs, iPads and iPhones, shared with up to 5 family members, this writing app keeps every draft in 1 iCloud library split into sheets you can reorder. Word count goals, deadlines and direct publishing to WordPress, Ghost and Micro.blog suit bloggers and novelists alike. If you hate subscriptions, Scrivener costs $59.99 once for the Mac, and Ulysses has a $199.99 perpetual license in its App Store purchases.
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Pick this if you're writing a novel, script or thesis and need sections you can rearrange beside your research.
If you are writing a novel, screenplay or thesis in 1 unwieldy document, Scrivener splits it into sections you shuffle like index cards, with research beside the draft. Word targets, snapshots and EPUB export round it out, but for blog posts and short essays it is far more app than you need. It is $59.99 once on the Mac, and the iPhone and iPad app costs $23.99 more and syncs only through Dropbox.
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Pick it if you want a calm screen, plain Markdown files and a nudge when you lean on filler words.
Write with everything but the current sentence dimmed, then run Style Check to flag clichés, filler words and clutter. iA Writer keeps every draft as a plain Markdown file and can show which text you typed and which you pasted or got from AI. You pay per platform, $49.99 on the Mac and $19.99 on iPhone and iPad, so Typora at $14.99 or the free MarkEdit cost far less for plain Markdown.
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Pick this if you write in Markdown but want the page to look finished while you type.
There is no preview pane in Typora, because headings, tables, math and Mermaid diagrams render in place the moment you type the Markdown. It exports to PDF, Word, LaTeX and EPUB, and themes are plain CSS. A $14.99 license covers 3 devices across Mac, Windows and Linux after a 15-day trial, but MarkEdit is free and enough if you don't need to see the finished look while writing.
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Pick it if you want a free Markdown editor that opens as fast as TextEdit, even with huge files.
TextEdit opens fast but has no idea what Markdown is, and full writing apps feel heavy for a quick edit. MarkEdit sits between the two as a free, open source 4 MB editor that opens huge files without lag and supports Writing Tools, with official extensions for live preview and table editing. The latest version needs macOS 26, and for a whole notes library, Obsidian or iA Writer fit better.
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Pick this if your writing ends up as shared docs for clients, with tasks and AI alongside.
Plain notes look like a wall of text when you send them to a client. Craft lays them out as clean pages you can nest, link and share as a web page, with tasks, Collections and an AI assistant that answers from your own notes. The free plan stops at 1,500 blocks, and Plus is cheaper on craft.do at $6.40 a month billed yearly than in the App Store, or included with Setapp.
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Pick it if you need a blank page in under a second for ideas, then send them elsewhere to finish.
If ideas hit you mid-walk or mid-meeting, Drafts opens straight to a blank page with the keyboard up, on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. Actions then send that text to Messages, Reminders, email or dozens of other apps in 1 tap. Writing and sync are free with no limits, and Pro at $19.99 a year is only for building your own actions, though Apple Notes stays better for organizing what you keep.
Head to head
Stuck between 2 of these? Each comparison lines up price, devices and who should pick which.
- 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.
- Scrivener vs iA WriterPick it if you want a calm screen, plain Markdown files and a nudge when you lean on filler words.
