40 Free writing apps and free writing software to help you write better
In fact, there are many best free book writing software programs. #1 – FastPencil. FastPencil is a nice little platform with lots of tools. You can also use it for distributing your ebook. It is free to start writing with, but they offer paid services as well. Pro-Choice is the freedom of one to make their own choice about having or not having an abortion. Pro-Choice is the right choice because every person has their own morals and opinion and are in control of their own life. The freedom of one's choices should always be their choice. In my opinion, a great early writing program is a combination of the three Plenty of time for free choice journaling (with no corrections), mini lessons to address each child’s needs (whole class and indivdually) and a time to respond to certain ideas or topics!
Are you are a blogger, author, content writer or student?
Why should you pay out a lot of money just to write?
Well, you don’t need to spend a cent to get the best writing tools to help you write better and more accurately.
You can find so many fantastic free writing tools now.
You can get grammar checking apps, word processors, mind maps, index cards and productivity writing tools that will all let you get on with what you do best. Writing.
There are a lot of free versions of premium apps available too that offer you a host of features.
It can take a little time to find the best writing apps and writing software that will work for you and your writing process. So using a free version is always the best way to get you started.
Article ContentsYou have so much choice when it comes to writing apps
There are now so many terrific free writing apps. Many of them are fully-featured, unrestricted and totally free for you to use.
It doesn’t matter if you are an author, a blogger or an article writer. Choosing the best tools for your writing needs will save you time, effort and a lot of money.
If you are a student, you have a choice of lots and lots of free writing software and apps. They will be a huge help and benefit to you at school, college or university.
It doesn’t matter what you write, or when you write or how you write. Anything that can help you write better and more accurately is always going to help you.
It’s a very long list for you to choose from
For every type of writer, here are 40 of the very best free writing apps for you.
There are productivity tools, blog tools, grammar apps and free writing software aplenty.
All of them are either totally free for you to use or they have a perfectly functional free version.
Each of them will offer you something extra to help you when you are writing your blog posts, content articles, essays, short stories or even if you want to write a book. Maybe even a poem.
Scan through this list of writing programs below to see if you can find a few new favourite apps to download for your laptop or to use online.
I’m sure that a lot of these writing apps and software packages will help you write better and more productively every single day of the year.
4 Free writing tools to help you write more accurately
The best writing software you need to start with is a reliable grammar and spell checker. There are a lot of online writing app choices to check, correct and improve your writing.Here are the top four and most popular free apps to get you on your way.Each one will help you improve the quality and accuracy of your writing.Try them all to see which one works best for you and your style or type of writing.1. Prowritingaid
This is one of my favourite writing apps. I use every single day of the week.
Prowritingaid is an online grammar and writing checker that has so many checks and reports to help you improve your writing.
It is a superb writing aid for authors and writers of long-form content articles. There are twenty different writing analysis tools and reports. These will give you a huge range of suggestions to improve your writing.
There are also easy to use extensions available for Chrome, Microsoft Word, Google Docs and Scrivener.
You can use the free version of ProWritingAid. It offers you a lot of functionality to help you write more accurately online using a simple Chrome extension.
Are you an author? Then you could consider the very reasonably priced premium version with all the editing and checking tools you could ever need.
It is my number one go-to editing tool when I need to work intensively on very long documents such as long-form articles or book manuscripts.
Take a look at how Prowritingaid can help you write better.
Related reading:Full Prowritingaid Review
2. Grammarly
Without a doubt, Grammarly is the number one online grammar checker for a lot of writers
I have used Grammarly for a very long time now. It is one online writing tool that I always have switched on in Chrome to use with WordPress.
It works with so many sites, platforms, software and applications. So it is always on and always helping me correct my writing in real time.
While Grammarly has its own desktop app, it also works with Word in Microsoft Office.
You can use it in any web browser, with WordPress and even on your social media sites. It also works on mobile devices as well as with an iOS Grammarly Keyboard app.
There is also support for Google Docs, but this feature is still in beta.
No matter what, when or where you are writing, Grammarly is always helping you write better and more accurately.
The free version of Grammarly works extremely well for most users. But for more advanced features to help you in your writing process, there is a premium version available.
Watch Grammarly in action.
Related reading:Full Grammarly Review
3. Ginger
Ginger is another very popular free grammar checker.
There is a free Chrome extension and it works in a similar manner to most of the other popular online checkers.
There is also a sentence rephraser and vocabulary enhancement tools.
But where Ginger really shines is in its ability to find and fix incorrectly spelled (or spelt) words depending on the context.
Try it to see how Ginger contextual correction works.
4. Hemingway Editor
I have a love-hate relationship with the Hemmingway Editor app.
The love is due to how quick and easy it is to check my readability score and grade.
The negative is that it always tells me to simplify my writing. It hates the passive voice.
But with that said, it is one of the handiest tools and grammar checkera writer can have at their fingertips.
You can choose which Hemingway mode to use – either write or edit.
The free online version is very convenient for checking up to a page or so of text. It gives helpful hints to improve your writing.
It’s free and one of the must-have grammar apps for writers.
Related reading:Full Hemingway Editor Review
The first name that writers tend to associate with writing software is almost always Microsoft Word
Word is very well-known as the word processing component of Microsoft Office.
While it is the default writing tool for many writers, bloggers and authors, it is certainly not cheap.
Depending on your country, the annual licence for Office 356 can range from $60 – $100.
If you want to buy the one-time purchase version, which is called Office Home & Student, it can cost you as much as $150.
Microsoft Office is as its name implies, is writing software for office use. It includes Outlook, Excel and Powerpoint and other programs. You will never use these for writing.
Do you really need to pay for all these extra programs just to have a word processor to write an article, short story or even a novel?
Is there a free word program or word processor that is equal to Word?
Yes. If you just want to write, you’ll almost always find free writing software and alternative tools for writers.
Most of them are more suitable for your writing goals and for any form of creative writing project.
12 Free writing software and word processor choices
1. Google Docs
Like Microsoft Office, Google Docs is a suite of office tools. The big difference is, of course, is that Google Docs is available for free online.
If you are familiar with Word, you will have no problem at all adapting to Docs, which is the word processor component.
All the formatting options are very similar, as is the user interface.
Unlike some free word processors, Docs does have a word count, so you can keep track of your word count goal.
I know that many writers, particularly content writers use Google Docs because of the simplicity of sharing documents online.
Writing projects can be quickly and easily shared using Google Drive, which comes with 5 gigabytes for free. This is normally plenty of storage space for writers. You can also use Docs offline.
If you are writing every day and working with other writers, content editors, proofreaders or editors, Google Docs allows you to collaborate with ease.
There is no need to know what file format or program others are using.
As long as each person has a Google account, and who doesn’t, working together is very easy.
2. Apple Pages for Mac Users
If all you need is a word processor, Apple Pages can handle everything you could possibly need to do.
Like Word, you can start with a blank document or use the template chooser.
The word processing in page layout document view is easy to work with, and all the text formatting, fonts and writing tools are easy to find and use.
There is a spell checker, word count and track change with an add comments option.
It also autosaves saves directly to your hard drive, or to your iCloud drive when you are online. There is also the file duplicate function. It gives you very easy version control of your revisions and edits.
It is difficult to think of a common feature or function in Word that is not available in Pages documents.
There is one other area where Pages really shines. It has a lot more control over images compared to Word.
One other big plus with Pages for authors is that you can export directly to epub. You don’t need to convert your file formats in another program.
Pages is a terrific free writing software option for all Mac, iPad and iPhone users. You can download it from the Mac App Store.
Related reading:Is Apple Pages A Good Replacement For Microsoft Word For Mac?
3. MS Notepad and Mac TextEdit
These two writing software programs are already under your noses. They are installed by default on Windows and Apple computers.
They are both ideal little apps for writing blogs or short articles.
However, they are both worthy of a mention because of their usefulness in converting to plain text.
Most word processors can add a lot of background code over the time you take to write a long document.
Cut and pasting, saving, deletions, forgotten tabs and spaces and formatting changes or inconsistencies all up add to a lot that can go wrong.
Because of all this code, there is the chance that the text might have issues when you use it online. This can be especially true if you use WordPress and also in publishing in ebooks.
The quickest and easiest way to clean a document, big or small, is to copy all the text into a basic text editor such as Notepad or TextEdit and then convert everything to plain text.
Then you can copy back the clean text into your blog editor or word processor for ebook formatting.
4. Libre Office
I used Open Office for many years. It is an open source project and is still available.
However, Libre Office is now favoured by many writers.
In fact, these two free office suites branched from the same development stable, so they have a lot of similarities.
Learning to work with Writer, which is the word processor, is easy.
However, it uses simple and traditional menus, toolbars and icons, but does not have the ribbon function found in Word.
In some ways, this is a good thing because it lets you get on with the writing process instead of hunting in ribbons for buttons.
If you want a word processor, and that’s all, Writer in Libre Office won’t disappoint you.
5. AbiWord
If you want simplicity, AbiWord is well worth trying.
It has been around for a long time now, and while it might look a little outdated, its functionality is definitely not.
The best way to describe AbiWord is uncluttered. This is ideal if you are looking to write distraction free.
It has all the basic, such as spelling and grammar checking and auto-saving.
It also works with most common file types including docx.
Abiword is definitely not fancy, but it’s free and it works. It’s ideal for writing blog posts or article content.
However, due to its print limitations that require an external program to see a print preview, it might not be the best alternative to write your book.
6. WPS Office
If you have used Microsoft Word or Google Docs, then you can work with WPS Office immediately.
Similar to other alternative word processors it has all the standard features you would expect and works with most file types.
One of its key features is that it allows drag and drop paragraphs, which can at times be practical.
Another simple yet time-saving feature of WPS is tabbed documents.
While Excel has had this for years, Word never has, so working on two documents at the same time is much more efficient in WPS.
WPS also has a cloud storage service with 1G free space for PC and iOS.
7. SoftMaker Free Office
Free Office gets a mention because it can export .epub. This is a very handy tool for self-publishers.
TextMaker is the free word processor in this office suite.
But it doesn’t come with the ability to save in docx format unless you opt for the premium version.
But you can open and edit docx files.
Apart from that inconvenience, it has all the advanced features you would expect in a modern word processor.
It comes with advanced formatting options, the ability to create databases for bibliographies and footnotes, as well as track change.
8. iA Writer
If you want a web app for clean no-fuss writing, iA Writer might be just what you are looking for.
Forget about fancy keyboard shortcuts and menus.
All you do with this app is to write.
The NYT says it creates a clean, simple and distraction-free writing environment for when you really need to focus on your words. It’s delightful to use.
For long-form writing, it is one of the best free word processors and will suit any writing style.
It is available for Windows, Mac, and apps for Android and iOS.
9. Focus Writer
FocusWriter is a simple, distraction free writing environment.It uses a full screen hide-away interface that you access by moving your mouse to the edges of the screen.It allows the program to have a familiar look and feel to it while still getting out of the way so that you can immerse yourself in your work.It’s available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.10. Calmly Writer
Calmly Writer has been designed to help you focus on writing.As you start typing, all the distracting options disappear from the interface.Calmly also includes “focus mode” option, which highlights only the paragraph you are editing at the time.If you are a writing minimalist, it could be a good choice for you.
It is a browser-based app and there is a Chrome extension available.
11. Zoho Writer
Zoho Writer is a free online alternative to Microsoft Word.
You can sync between your PC or Mac, iPhone, Android or iPad.
Almost everything you do in Word, you can do with this word processor. There are even collaboration tools.
You can import your existing Word documents and get to work.
There is also a plugin to link your Zoho documents to Word.
Not a bad deal for at all a free online writing tool.
12. Scibus
Scribus is an open source program for desktop publishing.
It gets a mention here because it is free, but also because it is such a feature-rich cross-platform program.
Scribus is a page layout and desktop publishing program for Linux, FreeBSD, PC-BSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, OpenIndiana, Debian GNU/Hurd, Mac OS X, OS/2 Warp 4, eComStation, Haiku and Windows.Word Choice Writing Lesson
Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK colours, spot colours, ICC colour management and versatile PDF creation.Perhaps it is not a choice for most authors and bloggers. But you might have a desktop publishing need one day.
4 Free book writing apps and software for authors
Are you about to start writing a book? You need to hunt a little to find good book writing apps for books and novels.
Here are four of the best author apps to help you write and publish your books or ebooks.
There are also seven more story writing app free choices for you at the end of this list.
1. Shaxpir
For a dedicated book writing app, Shaxpir gives you a lot of features in its free version.The Manuscript Builder uses drag-and-drop tools to rearrange your manuscript. You can change the order and hierarchy of chapters and scenes. So you can find a structure that works for you.You can set goals and track your progress and keep detailed notes about your characters, places and events.It also allows you to add margin comments as well as collect concept art.There is also an in-built spellchecker.As far as free book writing software goes, Shaxpir offers you ahuge range of features.It is available for Mac and PC with offline plus cloud access.2. Scrivener (Free Trial)
While not a free writing tool, I have to include Scrivener in this list because there is a generous free trial available.
It is one of the best book writing software tools for authors and screenwriters.
With an outliner, chapters and scenes, corkboard and index cards, side by side viewing, word count targets and a full-screen editor along with print, export and publishing tools, it has everything any writer could ever need.
There is a 30 day free trial period offered by Scrivener.
But it is counted by the days that you use the software. So if you use it every second day, your trial period will last you for 60 days.
If you only write at the weekend, it will you for a good few months.
Scrivener is available for download for both Windows and Mac. There are also iOS apps for iPhone and iPad.
To access your free trial of this writing software, click the Download Free Trial link.
You can watch this video to see how Scrivener will help you write your new book.
3. Kindle Create
If you are self-publishing author on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Kindle Create is a must-have free software app for you to use.
The program has improved a lot over the last couple of years. Initially, it was a little unstable and its basic function was to help you format a Kindle book.
But stability is much better now and Amazon has been slowly adding new features since it merged Createspace into KDP.
Kindle Create can now format not only ebooks but paperback books as well. But this latest option is still in beta.
Take a look at how easy it is to format beautiful ebooks using Kindle Create.
4. Kindle Previewer
Kindle Previewer is another free desktop application for authors from Amazon.
It lets you upload and preview how your ebooks will appear when read by Amazon Kindle customers.
It makes it easy to check your books on different screen sizes and in various fonts. You can check how your book will look on a Kindle, tablet or phone.
There is also an enhanced view option that will automatically scroll through your book so you can check for correct formatting.
It is the best way to check your ebook formatting before you publish your ebook on Amazon.
As an extra bonus, you can also convert epub files to mobi so you can read epub ebooks on your Kindle.
The free program is available for both Windows and Mac users.
But wait, there are more free choices for authors!
Seven more free book writing software programs for writing a novel
Seven more free book writing software programs for writing a novel
Are you are looking for free book writing software that is much, much better than a standard word processor like Microsoft Word or Google Docs?
Do you want to try the best apps for writing a book?
Do you want the best novel writing software that can help you work on individual chapters and scenes?
Here are seven choices for open source free book writing software and apps for you that are specifically designed for writing a book.
Read more: Seven free book writing programs for authors.
7 Free apps to help bloggers and content writers
If you are a blogger or content writer, you need to work with ideas, keywords, data, headlines and images.
You also need to stay one step ahead of your competition and continually work on improving your content and search engine ranking.
Here is a choice of the best free blogging apps for busy content writers and bloggers that can save you hours of work every day.
1. Semrush
Semrush is a premium pro SEO suite of tools for serious bloggers and content marketing writers.
The subscription price is often too steep for many new bloggers. But did you know that you can use Semrush for free?
To start your free level subscription, just enter a query such as a domain or a keyword in the SEMrush search bar and you will automatically be prompted to register for your free account.
You can then perform 10 searches a day from the Domain Analytics and Keyword Analytics databases.
As a free user, you can create and manage one Project and also conduct a Site Audit for 100 crawled pages.
You can track 10 keywords in the Position Tracking tool. For On-Page SEO Checker, you are given a total of 10 SEO Idea units.
You can also create 1 list in the Keyword Magic Tool.
All the tools you need to start writing high ranking keyword-rich SEO content articles.
If you want to get to work on improving your blog’s SEO or become a content writer, this is a great way to start on the learning curve, and all for free.
2. Hubspot Blog Ideas
Hubspot’s blog topic generator is an old favourite for many writers. Simply enter a few nouns and it will produce a list of blog title ideas for you.
It is such a handy tool to have when you are looking for new writing ideas.
3. Portent’s Idea Generator
Do you need a cure for writer’s block?
I adore this free blog topic generator app.
Portent is an easy and clever way to find new writing ideas.
Even though it is an app primarily designed for bloggers to find headlines and titles, and not a genuine headline analyzer, writers can use it to discover new ideas for any piece of writing.
All you have to do is input your base word or words and then you can select a working title for a new writing prompt.
4. Sharethough Headline Analyser
How engaging is your headline?
This must be my absolute favourite little blog post writing app. Once you have a blog or article title idea, run it through this app to see how effective it will be in attracting readers’ attention.
You can edit as you go and the app keeps a record of your variations so you can choose the best one.
The app’s blurb says: “Like the lead paragraph in a news story or thesis in an essay, your headline is your one true sentence: the single most important asset for capturing attention in the feed.”
I agree.
5. Website Grader
Website Grader is a quick an easy app to help you improve your blog.
Checking and optimizing your blog’s performance is essential if you want to increase your site traffic.
You should make sure that your website is easy for users to discover and easy for search engines to understand. This is a quick app to check your page titles, headings, and meta descriptions.
It only takes a few seconds to run this performance check of your blog to see if you need to make any improvements.
6. Privacy Policy Generator
Privacy Policy Generator is a totally free app to help you write your privacy policy page for your blog. You don’t even need to register or give your email address.
It is a huge time and money saver for all bloggers.
Just add your basic information and the app will create the full text for your privacy terms.
All blogs should have a policy page about privacy to make sure that your site is GDPR compliant.
7. Canva
Free Choice Writing
Now, this is not an article writing app so it might not really belong in a list of writing programs and author apps.
But Canva is a fantastic free tool for promoting your writing.
Canva is a free online tool for creating images.
Because using Internet images you find on Google images are very often copyright protected, it is a much better idea to create your own unique images.
You can find and use free stock images to upload to Canva that you can then design and transform into a unique image.
You can use Canva to make images for social media promotion, images for your blog posts, Facebook headers and even for quick and dirty ebook covers.
While there is a paid option, the free version offers more than enough free images, graphics, icons, shapes and backgrounds for almost any image creation project.
It’s so useful, I sometimes feel a bit guilty, because I use this app almost every day.
10 Free writing productivity apps
There are so many facets to writing.
Staying organised, collecting and collating your ideas and saving time are all a big plus.
It would be great if there was an all in one help for writers app. But until it ever eventuates, here is a selection of the best productivity apps for writers.
1. Trello
Trello must be one of the most popular free apps for writers.
There is so much you can do to organise your writing projects, notes and to-do lists. You can collaborate and assign tasks, start discussions and so much more.
Trello is a beautiful as well as highly functional app. It is available for Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, iOS and Android.
2. Evernote
Evernote is a favourite application for lots of writers. It is one of the most popular note-taking apps but it is much more.
Never let an idea escape when you are not at your keyboard. You can organise your ideas, create checklists and to-do lists.
There is also a handy web clipper that lets you save parts of web pages to help you with your writing research.
The free version comes with more than enough storage memory to suit most writers.
3. OneLook
OneLook lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept.Your description can be anything at all: a single word, a few words, or even a whole sentence.Type in your description and hit Enter to see all the related words.This little writing app is a thesaurus on steroids.
4. Free Pomodoro Timer
If you are a fan of the Pomodoro technique to improve your productivity, then you will need a free timer.
There are many to choose from but I like this one because it’s easy to set and to read. Nothing fancy, but effective.
5. Read-O-Meter
How long will it take to read your article? Find out with this simple free writing app and then you can add a reading time to your blog post or article.
6. Wordcounter
Wordcounter ranks the most frequently used words in your text. You can use this browser app to see what words you are repeating too often and then make changes.
All you need to do is paste your text in the box, and this little app will go to work and list all your repetitions.
7. Quetext
Quetext is a free online plagiarism checker. Many paid apps feature checking plagiarism as a premium option.
But with this browser app, you can check your documents for free.
8. Otter V0ice Notes
Otter is a free dictation to text app for iOS and Android.
All you need to do is hit the record button, start speaking, and watch your words appear in the app. It even adds in punctuation.
There are many paid and premium dictation apps, but Otter offers a generous free option of 600 minutes a month.
9. Freemind
If you are into mind maps to develop story ideas, here is a free. software download for you.
Many authors use mind map apps to help write a book by keeping their ideas connected and logical.
Freemind is open source mind mapping software built in Java.
It is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
It has a wide variety of features, including location-based mind mapping, collaboration tools, restore sessions and more.
10. DiffChecker
Do you sometimes get into a tangle when editing different versions of a text?
What and when did you make a change? It’s nearly impossible to remember every edit you make?
Well, with DiffChecker it is easy to compare two versions of a text and find the differences between them.
It is a free to use browser app, but if you want to save your revisions (Diffs), you will need to create an account to log in.
3 Free fun writing apps
1. Hipster Sound
Do you have time to go to a café to relax and write?
If you don’t, you can bring the sounds of a Texas or Paris café to you with this cute little app.
Click play and you will have all the ambient sounds you need to get your creative juices flowing.
2. FlipText
Okay, you are not going to use Fliptext often. But it is a fun little free writing tool.
¡uoıʇuǝʇʇɐ ʇɔɐɹʇʇɐ oʇ ǝɹns sı ʇı ˙uʍop ǝpısdn buıʇıɹʍ ʎɹʇ ʇou ʎɥʍ ‘uoıʇuǝʇʇɐ ʇɔɐɹʇʇɐ ןןıʍ ʇɐɥʇ buıɥʇǝɯos op oʇ ʇuɐʍ noʎ uǝɥʍ
Yes, you can write upside down. Did you have to turn your screen or twist your neck to try to read it?
3. The Most Dangerous Writing App
The Most Dangerous Writing App is a fun little writing tool with a nasty side.
You start by setting yourself a writing time of say five minutes. Then you start writing. But if you stop writing for more than five seconds, you lose everything you wrote.
However, if you get through your allotted time without stopping, your reward is that you can save your work.
Yes, that’s a seriously mean little app. It is a brutal yet brilliant idea.
If you treat it like a game, it is a fun challenge and a clever way to help you overcome writer’s block.
Summary
For writers, there are plenty of free writing apps, writing software and tools. There are also book writing software choices that work extremely well for any writing process.
There is no need to spend a lot of your money if you don’t have to on apps for writing.
There are so many open source and free alternatives for a word processor, book writing software, a short story writing app and spelling and grammar correction tools.
If you are ready to write your book or get started as a content writer or blogger, the writing tools listed above will be more than enough to get you off on the right foot, and all for free.
All of these writing apps are user-friendly and are quick and easy to learn how to use.
Make your choices based on what you need and want to achieve as a writer, and what you think you will need to succeed.
Then head off to the coffee shop with your laptop, or pump up Hipster Sound at home, and start writing.
More free writing apps:The 13 Best Free Grammar Check And Grammar Corrector Apps
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Writing a book requires something major.
It requires the right attitude, a powerful book idea, some solid writing prompts, and the best writing software out there.
(Not to mention a bulletproof roadmap to writing a bestselling book).
And we know which writing software is best for you – and more importantly, why it matters.
With the best writing tools, you can write faster and more effectively. You’ll be more focused, with fewer distractions, and you can actually learn a thing or two from some of them – like Grammarly.
And just as importantly, you’ll have an easier time keeping your outline, notes, and even those writing exercises organized.
But even if you have all the best writing prompts and an imagination that won’t quit, you can’t do either without the right book writing software.
You’ll have to make some choices.
Nowadays, authors have so many options when looking for the best book writing software.
These are 13 of the best book writing software programs – both free and those that’ll justifiably cost you – so you can up your author game:
- Microsoft Word– Word Processor, $79.99
- Scrivener– Word Processor, $45
- Pages– Word Processor, $28
- Freedom– Productivity Software, $2.42/month
- Google Docs – Online Word Processor, Free
- Evernote – Note-Taking Software, Free
- FocusWriter – Word Processor, Free
- FastPencil– Word Processor, Free
- yWriter– Word Processor, Free
- Hemingway App – Style & Grammar Checker, Free
- Dropbox – Document sharing platform, Free
- Open Office – Word Processor, Free
- Grammarly – Editing Software, Free
Let’s get started by comparing the 3 book writing software “giants,” and then I’ll share some less well-known tools that might help improve your writing process even more.
Which book writing software features are right for you?
I’m not trying to sell you on any particular book writing software in this article. Instead, my goal is to give you an idea of what’s out there so you can weigh the options for yourself.
Who knows—you may even discover a brand-new writing and publishing tool you absolutely love.
In the end, the truth is that there are many great writing tools out there. It isn’t really a question of which tool is BEST. What it comes down to is: which tool works best with YOUR book writing process?
There are 11 things to consider when deciding which program to use for your book:
- How easy is it to format text the way you want?
- Does it have templates available?
- How many?
- How much does it cost?
- Is the program simple & easy to use?
- Does it offer any extra features or other bells & whistles?
- How about a distraction-free writing experience?
- Is the program user-friendly?
- Can you access your files no matter where you are?
- How easy is it to collaborate with editors & team members?
- Is there distribution capabilities when it’s time to publish?
The Top 3 Book Writing Software Programs
Writers everywhere flock to these specific tools and claim them to be the best book writing software for them. We’ll break down each so you can decide for yourself if their features are the best fit.
#1 – Microsoft Word
Before any other writing tools came along, Microsoft Word was the only option available. Everyone used it.
Today, even though there are many other word processors out there, Word is still the most widely used book writing software in the U.S. Millions of people continue to use it for their writing needs.
And it’s easy to see why. Word has a lot going for it!
It’s been around a long time. It’s trusted, reliable, and gets the job done well.
It also provides a relatively distraction-free writing experience; much better than working on Google Docs in your browser, for example, where you’re only an errant mouse-click away from the entire internet.
If you just need to wake up in the morning and meet your word-count goals by keeping your head down and getting those words pounded out onto the page, then Word is an obvious choice of book writing software. No fuss, no muss. It’s about as simple as it gets.
Word also offers some simple organization.
While writing your chapters, changing the chapter’s heading (seen in the example below) allows easy navigation as your book progresses further and further.
Using headers, you can organize your book into chapters—and then you can navigate through them quickly using the Navigation pane:
In order to view your navigation pane in outline-format click:
View > Navigation Pane (it’s a box to check) > select the bullet/outline tab within the navigation pane (seen above).
You can also create your own free book writing template using Word. And if you start writing your book in Word and don’t begin with the correct formatting, it’s pretty easy to clean up your formatting to make it “book ready” with a few simple steps.
If you’re a Word user and you’ve got your own system in place for writing books, then perhaps you need to look no further.
But as a writing tool, Word does have some downsides.
For starters, it doesn’t always play well with Macs. If you use a Mac, then Word might cause you a lot of frustration with crashes and formatting.
Thankfully, Apple offers a comparable program called Pages, that we reviewed below for you.
Word is also pretty vanilla. That’s part of its appeal, sure, but it also means Word lacks some of the more advanced features you get with other programs like Scrivener and Google Docs.
For example, Scrivener offers more advanced outlining functionality. And Google Docs makes it easier to share and collaborate on your files.
All in all, Word is a solid contender for best book writing software. But there are many other choices out there.
Book Writing Software Cost: $79.99 if purchased separately.
#2 – Scrivener
You just learned that Microsoft Word is the most widely used word processor in the world. But does that mean it’s the best book writing software?
Think about it this way. The fact that Word is so prevalent means that it has to cater to all sorts of users—students, businesspeople, writers, teachers, marketers, lawyers, the list goes on and on and on.
But Scrivener was created for one type of person only:
Writers.
And if you’re a writer, chances are you’ve heard of Scrivener. A lot of writers absolutely love this program, with its advanced features and distraction-free writing experience.
In short, Scrivener gives you an insane amount of flexibility for writing, formatting, and organizing your book for self-publishing.
Blogger and author, Jeff Goins, swears by Scrivener after giving up word. He says,
“I wasted years of my life doing all my writing on Microsoft Word. But that’s all over now. I have finally seen the light.”
Entrepreneur Michael Hyatt also praises Scrivener: “I now begin every piece of content—no matter what it is—with this tool. It has simplified my life and enabled me to focus on the most important aspect of my job—creating new content. I am more productive than ever.”
Here are some of the top takeaways of this book writing software:
- Helps with plotting for fiction authors
- Easily export your data to other digital platforms such as Kobo, ibooks, etc. (this is one of the best features)
- Provides outlining functionality that keeps your content organized
- Powerful composition mode with distraction-free writing environment
- Easily drag and drop to move sections around
- Provides a collection of robust templates
- Supports MultiMarkdown for bullets and numbers
Because Scrivener was designed for writers, it’s super easy to lay out scenes, move content around, and outline your story, article, or manuscript.
Instead of keeping all your content in one big file, Scrivener allows you to create multiple sub-files to make it easier to organize and outline your project:
Scrivener is a fabulous tool for plotting out storylines. Using the corkboard view, for instance, you can recreate the popular “notecard method” for outlining your project:
But as awesome as Scrivener is, it’s not perfect.
And the biggest downside to using Scrivener is the steep learning curve involved. You aren’t going to master this program overnight.
But if you’re serious about your writing career, then investing the time to learn this specific writing tool will be worth it. You’ll save time and energy in the long run.
And if you want to learn how to use Scrivener as quickly & easily as possible, we can help! Here’s a full Scrivener tutorial so you can easily maneuver this program.
If you want to dig even deeper, you can also download the Scrivener Manual, or watch the Scrivener YouTube tutorials they’ve put together at Literature & Latte.
Long story short: Scrivener is an investment, but one that’s worth it. It will take some time to master. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll never go back—it’s the single most powerful book writing software out there.
If you like what you see from Scrivener, you can buy it here:
Buy Scrivener 3 for macOS (Regular License)
Buy Scrivener for Windows (Regular License)
Book Writing Software Cost: $45
#3 – Google Docs
We’ve looked at the appealing simplicity of Word and the in-depth power of Scrivener, but there’s another book writing software that more and more people are starting to use for various reasons:
Google Docs.
Essentially, Google Docs is a stripped-down version of Word that you can only use online. It’s a simple, yet effective writing tool.
The beauty of this program (and Google Drive in general) comes in the ability to share content, files, and documents among your team. You can easily communicate via comments, for example:
This program keeps a complete history of all changes made to a document, so if you accidentally delete something you wanted to keep, simply click the link at the top of the screen that says, “All changes saved in drive.”
That will bring up the version history, where you can review all the changes that have been made to your book file and revert to a previous version if you so choose.
Google Docs doesn’t require any installation and can be accessed anywhere via your browser, or an app on your phone.
(Anyone who has ever lost a draft of a book understands how valuable this feature is!)
And here’s one of the best features: everything is saved on the server frequently and automatically, so you never have to fret about losing a version or draft of your work
Plus you can access your work when you move from one location or another—no carrying a laptop or thumb drive around with you. When you share a book draft with others, like test readers or your editor, they can comment directly on the draft using the built-in comment functionality.
Out of the “big 3” book writing software tools, Google Docs is probably the least sophisticated when it comes to formatting and outlining tools. But it makes up for that with easy collaboration, sharing, and online access.
Book Writing Software Cost: Free
Book Writing Software You Might Not Know About
Let’s get to know some of the best book writing tools you can use to up your author game and make some progress.
Just because you may not be familiar with a specific writing software doesn’t mean it’s not beneficial or even better than what you’re using now.
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#1 – Pages
Think of Pages as the Mac alternative to Microsoft Word.
It has a variety of beautiful templates to choose from, has a simple design, and syncs with all devices from within iCloud so you can access it in a number of different places.
Personally, I love the ease of Pages. It works great for creating ebooks or manuscripts with a variety of writing tools you can get creative with.
Book Writing Software Cost: $28
#2 – Freedom
Freedom isn’t technically a writing tool, but it sure can help improve your writing. It’s a productivity app designed to help eliminate distractions by blocking certain websites – something more than beneficial for those of us who get sidetracked easily.
For example: let’s say you have a tendency to get distracted by social media sites. All you have to do us start a Freedom session that blocks all your social media sites—and then you won’t be able to visit them even if you wanted to.
Here’s what it looks like when you schedule a session:
Notice that you have a lot of options. You can schedule one-time sessions (starting now or later), or you can set up recurring sessions (for example, to block distracting sites every day when it’s time to write).
When you try to visit a site that’s being blocked, you’ll get this message:
This is a really liberating tool. Once you know you don’t have the option of visiting those distracting sites, you’ll find it easier to keep focused on your writing and you’ll be able to get a lot more done.
Book Writing Software Cost: $2.42/month and up, or $129 for lifetime access.
#3 – Ulysses
If you’re a Mac owner, this might be the best book writing software for you. While you do have to pay $39.99 per year to use it, the cost to use Ulysses is completely justified.
One of the best features has to be the distraction-free capabilities. As a writer who gets distracted easily, this is definitely a feature I look for in a good book writing software.
This one is also great for exporting. Meaning, you can do all your writing in-app and then export it in relatively any format you’d need in order to send it to your editor, critique partner, or even beta readers.
And if you’re someone who has a hard time keeping all of your notes and ideas organized for your book, this app also has a feature that helps you keep all of it straight!
Say goodbye to forgetting what you wanted to add in that obscure scene you wrote two months ago!
Overall, this is one of the best book writing software programs out there for Mac users. But if you’re not sure if it’s worth the price, you can actually try it for free for 14 days. What a deal!
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Book Writing Software Cost: $39.99/year
Free Book Writing Software
There’s not much we love more than getting stuff for free – especially when it comes to our aspirations. You don’t have to doll out a ton of cash just to use highly beneficial book writing software.
In fact, there are many best free book writing software programs.
#1 – FastPencil
FastPencil is a nice little platform with lots of tools. You can also use it for distributing your ebook. It is free to start writing with, but they offer paid services as well.
Everything happens online in your browser, which means you can access your files from any computer (as long as you’re connected to the Internet).
Here’s what the word processor looks like:
Book Writing Software Cost: Free (paid upgrades are optional)
#2 – FocusWriter
FocusWriter is a word processor for writers that’s intended to eliminate distractions to help you get your book written quicker. It’s a basic, lightweight writing tool that was designed to be completely free of progress inhibiting distractions.
In its fullscreen mode, there are no toolbars or additional windows, just a background and your text so that you can concentrate solely on writing your draft.
FocusWriter also allows you to choose what your screen looks like, as seen in the example below.
You can customize the image in the background to suit your project to help inspire your writing.
It’s simple and effective. If you need a lot of features, it probably won’t work for you. But if simplicity is your thing, then you may have found your perfect free writing tool.
Book Writing Software Cost: Free
#3 – yWriter
yWriter is a really popular word processor (intended mainly for novelists) with some impressive features (especially for a program that’s completely free).
It helps keep your project organized by giving you space to include notes on all sorts of things, like character notes, scene notes, scene goals, etc.
You can specify whose point of view each scene will be written in, and you can see the word count of your entire novel broken out by chapter—all at a quick glance:
One thing that yWriter does differently than a lot of other writing programs is focus on scenes rather than on chapters. A lot of writers prefer this since scenes are usually fun chunks of story to work on.
And using yWriter, you can rearrange all those scenes to compose a compelling novel.
I’d call it a Scrivener alternative that’s free to use. But one downside is that it only works for Windows (at least, for now).
Book Writing Software Cost: Free
#4 – Evernote
Evernote is a note-taking app. It’s a great way to keep track of your thoughts—like brainstorming ideas, outlining chapters, and jotting down inspiration when it strikes.
The mobile app is particularly useful for capturing new ideas when they
While Evernote has been around for a little while, they seem to always be expanding on their features, making it one of the best writing
Here’s are some of the extended features Evernote offers:
While you can use Evernote to write content—I’ve used it for writing blogs and other small sections of books—you wouldn’t want to use it as your main word processor. Its functionality is a bit too limited.
But as a way of keeping track of ideas, it’s a great find.
Book Writing Software Cost: Free, but there is a cool upgrade for $5 a month that gets you Evernote Premium
#5 – Hemingway Editor
The Hemingway Editor is a unique kind of writing tool. It’s a style checker that’s designed to help tighten up your prose and make your writing clear and bold.
Simply paste your writing into the editor and scroll through. You’ll notice that the program highlights certain words & passages—like long, hard-to-read sentences, passive verbs, and phrases with simpler alternatives.
It’s basically your own personal editor rolled into a writing software.
Here’s an example of what it looks like:
(Yikes. Too bad Dickens didn’t have this app.)
What I love about this tool is how easy it is to use. Everything is color-coded and super easy to understand, so you can see at a glance where your writing could use a little elbow grease.
Book Writing Software Cost: Free, or you can purchase the desktop version for $19.99.
#6 – Dropbox
Reading this, you may be wondering: Dropbox? How is that a writing tool?
Trust me—it is!
While it’s true that Dropbox isn’t a word processor like Scrivener or yWriter, it is a very helpful writing tool. Especially for writers who write on more than one computer, who need to collaborate with other writers or editors, or who want an easy way to back up their work.
Here’s how it works:
When you set up Dropbox and install it on your computer, it will create a new “Dropbox” folder on your machine.
Any files that you save in this folder will be automatically backed up to Dropbox’s servers in the cloud, which will be automatically downloaded to any other computers that are synced to that same Dropbox account.
A lot of writers choose to save their book on Dropbox, so that it will be automatically backed up. And as you can see, it looks the same as any other folder on your computer:
Using this strategy, you can make it easier to share and collaborate on your files—even if you aren’t using Google Docs.
Book Writing Software Cost: Free for a basic plan, or $9.99/month for extra storage.
#7 – Open Office
You may know of this software, you may not. Essentially, it’s a free version of a word processor much like Word or Pages. If you don’t have Word on your computer and can’t afford to buy it, this is a great alternative that’ll get the job done.
Here’s what this book writing software looks like:
The capabilities are pretty limited with Open Office but if you really only need the basics and don’t want to spend any money, this is the perfect writing software for you.
Book Writing Software Cost:Free
#8 – PauseFor
If you’re someone who needs incentive to stay off your phone (and actually write), this is a perfect writing software.
Technically, it’s not for writing.
How?
PauseFor is designed for YOU to set a time, and then not pick up your phone until that time is done.
But what’s the incentive?
The longer you stay off your phone and the more sessions you complete successfully, the more you’ll have to DONATE. That’s right. You can be a philanthropist AND a writer at the same time.
Simply set your time, don’t touch your phone, and collect your Kin. When you a certain amount, you get to choose where the donations go.
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Book Writing Software Cost: Free + the added benefit of feeling great about donating
#9 – Grammarly
If you haven’t heard of this editing software, you’ve been living under a rock. It has taken over as one of the most versatile simple editing softwares and for a good reason.
We have a Grammarly review that covers all the features and functions but essentially, this is a browser extension you can download and it automatically corrects your grammar and spelling in whichever online medium you’re writing on.
This writing software is perfect if you need to brush up on your grammar or are looking for an easy way to sound professional in written emails as well.
Book Writing Software Cost: Free with upgrade options
How Much Does Book Writing Software Programs Cost?
I would recommend not worrying too much about the cost of these programs. After all, dropping $100 or less on a program is not that big a deal if it is going to help improve your writing for years to come.
That said, I know you work hard for your money—and you want to get the best deal you can!
Here is a breakdown of the most recent prices for all of the tools in this article along with their comparative features:
| Writing Software | Cost |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Word | $79.99 |
| Scrivener | $45 |
| Pages | $28 |
| Freedom | $2.42/month |
| Google Docs | Free |
| Evernote | Free |
| FocusWriter | Free |
| FastPencil | Free |
| Hemingway App | Free |
| Dropbox | Free |
| Open Office | Free |
| yWriter | Free |
What’s Your Favorite Book Writing Software?
Take some time to check out each of these tools if you aren’t already using them. Stay focused on crafting your next book and stick with the book writing software that gives you the best results in terms of saving you money, time, and frustration.
Keep writing. Keep it simple. Best of all, enjoy the creative process!
Now that you have these awesome tools at your disposal, what is your favorite writing tool? What best suits your needs as an author? Can you speed up the writing process with any particular tool?
What to do Next
Writing a book takes a lot more than discovering some helpful book writing software. Here’s what you can do right now to take the next step to get your book written and launched.
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