# Alternatives to novelWriter

Plain-text novel projects with metadata.

novelWriter ranks #5 of 10 in Writing apps, with an Alt Score of 68. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, free and available on Windows, macOS and Linux. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/novelwriter/
Category: Writing apps

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Novelists and other long-form writers who are organizing a book-length project across many documents and prefer plain text over a word processor.
- **What you get**: A distraction-free, markdown-like editor paired with a project tree for organizing chapters, notes, characters, and plot elements. It supports metadata syntax for synopses, comments, and cross-references between documents, plus export to common formats. It's free, open-source (GPL 3.0), and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- **How it works**: You build a project as a tree of plain-text documents, write in the markdown-like format, and use inline metadata tags to link scenes to characters, locations, and plot threads, then export the compiled manuscript when ready.

## Profile

- **License**: GPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Starts at**: ?
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-11)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Ulysses](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ulysses.md) | 91 | Proprietary | macOS, iOS |
| 2 | [iA Writer](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ia-writer.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS |
| 3 | [Scrivener](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/scrivener.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS |
| 4 | [Atticus](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/atticus.md) | 73 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web |
| 5 | [Dabble](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/dabble.md) | 68 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Web |
| 6 | [Manuskript](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/manuskript.md) | 68 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 7 | [Typora](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/typora.md) | 64 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 8 | [Ghostwriter](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ghostwriter.md) | 50 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, Linux |
| 9 | [FocusWriter](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/focuswriter.md) | 42 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Writing apps checklist | novelWriter | Ulysses | iA Writer | Scrivener | Atticus | Dabble |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Subscription | One-time | One-time | One-time | Subscription |
| Starts at | ? | $5.99/month | $29.99 one-time | $23.99 | $147 one-time | $19/month |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | macOS, iOS | Windows, macOS, iOS | Windows, macOS, iOS | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web | Windows, macOS, Web |
| Markdown support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? | ? |
| Distraction-free mode | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| Long-form organization (chapters) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Goals & word counts | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Export formats (docx, epub, pdf) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Sync between devices | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Version history | Partial | Yes | Partial | Yes | ? | No |
| One-time purchase option | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Offline | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Publishing integrations | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? |

## Sources

Sources for novelWriter. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux — <https://github.com/vkbo/novelWriter/blob/main/README.md> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “It is released on Linux, Windows and MacOS.”
- **License**: GPL-3.0 — <https://github.com/vkbo/novelWriter/blob/main/README.md> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “This is Open Source software, and novelWriter is licenced under GPLv3.”
- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://github.com/vkbo/novelWriter/blob/main/README.md> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “This is Open Source software, and novelWriter is licenced under GPLv3.”
- **Status**: active — <https://novelwriter.io/about/index.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “novelWriter is still under active development, and I personally use it for all my writing projects.”
- **Markdown support**: Yes — <https://novelwriter.io/docs/usage/introduction.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “This formatting standard comes from Markdown and is supported by novelWriter.”
- **Distraction-free mode**: Yes — <https://novelwriter.io/features.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “In Focus Mode, the editor covers the full window, hiding away the project tree and the view panel so you can focus on your text.”
- **Long-form organization (chapters)**: Yes — <https://novelwriter.io/docs/usage/chapters_and_scenes.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “indicates the start of a new chapter”
- **Goals & word counts**: Partial — <https://novelwriter.io/docs/user_interface/statistics.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “When you work on a project, a log file records when you opened it, when you closed it, and the total word counts of your novel documents and notes at the end of the session, provided that the session ”
- **Export formats (docx, epub, pdf)**: Yes — <https://novelwriter.io/docs/user_interface/manuscript.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “The Microsoft Word Document format writes a single `.docx` file. It uses a fairly basic format that should be compatible with most rich text editors.”
- **Sync between devices**: Partial — <https://novelwriter.io/docs/technical/storage.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “having multiple small files means it is very easy to synchronise them between computers with standard file synchronisation tools”
- **Version history**: Partial — <https://novelwriter.io/docs/user_interface/projects.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “An automatic backup system is built into novelWriter. In order to use it, a backup path to where the backup files are to be stored must be provided in Preferences.”
- **One-time purchase option**: No — <https://github.com/vkbo/novelWriter/blob/main/README.md> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “This is Open Source software, and novelWriter is licenced under GPLv3.”
- **Offline**: Yes — <https://novelwriter.io/docs/technical/storage.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “The files of a novelWriter project are stored in a dedicated project folder.”
- **Publishing integrations**: No — <https://novelwriter.io/docs/user_interface/manuscript.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “The following document formats are supported:”

---
Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/