According to Reedsey, there are more than 60 writing apps for Mac, and it is not possible to check out all of them and find the best ones.
So we tested all the popular writing apps for Mac and made a list of the best writing apps for Mac that you can choose.
Along with the best writing apps for Mac, we also included some of the best writing Mac apps that help in the workflow of your writing, such as image compression, clipboard manager, etc., that increase your overall writing workflow.
Stay till the end to find out the best writing Mac apps, and also the best productivity writing Mac apps that reduce your writing workload.
Let's get started.
Top 9 Best Writing Apps for Mac (Free+Paid)
1. Scrivener
Scrivener is one of the most popular writing apps for Mac, and many writers love and appreciate it for its capabilities. This is understandable when we look at its features.
I personally like the overall structure and simplicity of the app. But in my opinion, I think most people who are book authors or movie writers, such as high-class writers, will benefit from Scrivener.
However, for people like me who write articles and engage in casual writing, it is not super useful.
The most distinguishable feature in Scrivener is that it allows writers to break their work into different parts, such as the examples for a movie script, like the opening scene, ending scene, dialogues, etc. Because of this, writers can easily manage them.
Also, you can split the tab and write or edit two documents side by side.
Example: Writing different character dialogues while keeping that particular character's story in the split view.
It also has a feature called snapshot, where users can save different versions of documents before they make any major changes. It is a very good feature for professional writers as they write different versions of the same story or book and finalise the best version of it.
If you are just starting out, then you can first try out the pre-built templates that would give you an idea or starting point.
Scrivener also has a feature called colour coding, where documents can be colour-coded and tagged with custom metadata (such as status, point of view, or character), making it easy to track revisions, viewpoints, or other organisational needs.
Also, it has other regular features that all Mac writing apps have, such as cross-platform availability, Focus mode, writing tracking (you can set word goals, and Scrivener will show the progress visually), and different export formats like PDF, ePub, etc.
Scrivener has a one-time payment plan, which is as follows:
2. IA Writer
IA Writer has a very clean interface and minimalist design without any clutter, making it easy to focus on writing.
It has a document organisation feature where you get a separate dashboard-style interface that includes a file list, supporting folders, hashtags, favourites, etc. It also has a focus mode feature where only the current sentence or paragraph is highlighted, fading out the rest of the document so you don't have to focus on other things, reducing distraction.
Also, it has full markdown support for easy formatting and text styling.
It also has syntax highlighting, which means it shows nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc., so if you're very keen on writing, you can adjust them according to your preferred style of adjectives, nouns, etc.
And other common features like cross-platform compatibility, different export options (PDF, HTML, Plain Text, Zip Files, etc.). You can also directly publish on sites like Medium, WordPress, etc., with a few clicks.
When we tried out other writing Mac apps, we also checked out Ulysses. IA Writer has a very similar structure to Ulysses, but comparatively, I think IA Writer is a better value for the buck, considering both Mac apps' pricing and features. While Ulysses has a subscription plan, IA Writer has a one-time payment.
3. ProWritingAid
ProWritingAid is a feature-packed AI writing Mac app, and you can also use it on the web.
Although you don’t get a minimalist design like other writing Mac apps in our list, it has many features that make it a good choice for writers, including AI features that can cut down your writing time.
It has both a grammar checker and a style enhancer, so you don’t have to use any other tool to fix your typos or punctuation, and you can also improve readability, sentence structure, and the overall writing style if you prefer to change it.
Coming to its AI features, ProWritingAid provides in-depth analytic reports for your writing. That report will contain overused words, clichés, repeated phrases, sticky sentences, etc. These reports are AI-generated, and they also have an AI writing assistant called Sparks, which can help in generating new dialogue, examples, or new writing styles for your content.
If you don't want to use their AI features, you can turn them off at any time in the settings.
It also has an inbuilt plagiarism checker, but you may have to pay a little extra for it.
They also have writing features like rewriting, progress tracking, and a contextual thesaurus (it will suggest the best synonyms for the sentence).
Although they don't have any offline capabilities, they state that all of their algorithms are secured, and they don't use your writing to train algorithms.
It is the most feature-packed writing app for Mac on our list, and its pricing is as follows.
4. Notability
Notability is a note-taking Mac app that you can use to create creatively designed writing notes with styles and design elements, making it look visually appealing.
Although it can be used for regular writing for books and articles, I wouldn’t recommend it for that, and it is also not designed for it.
But if you have to create content like newsletter designs and infographics, it is one of the best.
Or if you want to create engaging and creatively styled books with many visual elements, then you can also give it a try. It should be noted that it is designed with a focus on users who want a note-taking app for iPad with an Apple Pencil, but you can also use it on a Mac.
In your notes in Notability, you can add audio recordings, images, or even videos. But the best part I like about Notability is that you can convert your handwritten notes into digital text. So it would be a great option for students or anyone who uses their Apple Pencil to take notes.
Just like other popular writing Mac apps in our list, it also features document management, like organising writing into subjects and dividers, and it also supports multi-page documents.
But Notability's collaboration features are limited compared to other Mac writing apps; it can only export in PDF and RTF.
The pricing options for Notability will vary from region to region, but it is approximately $10 for a year.
5. Obsidian
Obsidian is also a note-taking app, but all the notes are stored locally on your device, so you get full privacy with your data.
Just like Notability, you can also use Obsidian to write long content, but it is not suitable for that. It is designed for quick note-taking.
The best feature of Obsidian is that it can link notes with one another and create a mind map-like network of interrelated ideas, so you can easily revisit any concept or idea you noted down.
If you keep using Obsidian for a few days or weeks, then you can gradually build it as your own knowledge base, where you store all your ideas and quick notes. This knowledge base of yours can be converted into an integrative graph, which shows different similar notes connected to each other, and you can quickly view any note that is linked with others with just a simple click.
It also has a spotlight-style search on top of it, where you can easily search for any notes and jump to the note. If you want, you can even organise your notes with tags and even nested tags. If used correctly, you can use the tag pane to browse your notes and even filter them easily.
Obsidian also has a feature called Canvas (visual workspace) where you can arrange your notes, images, and links that work like a digital whiteboard or mind map, which can help you in your project planning or any topic brainstorming.
It also has plugins, and they have a whole community for it. You can use them to do much more advanced task management, automatic backups, and many more, giving you better proximity to your workflow.
But I would recommend merging it with Elephas. Although Obsidian is great for note-taking and creating visual graphs, you cannot easily access the notes. If you merge it with Elephas, then you get a chatable experience with your notes—just ask anything with a simple message, and you get a quick response.
Obsidina is free to use, but if you want to sync with other device features, encryption, collaboration, and other add-on features, then you have to pay for it.
6. Apple Pages
How can we forget the Apple Pages app when we are talking about the best writing apps for Mac? It is the simplest writing app for Mac.
Apple Pages is one of the most secure writing apps for Mac. It has features like password protection for documents, and the password-protected document is even encrypted. So if you want the best security for your book, article, research paper, or any of your writing, then Apple Pages is a good option to consider.
Coming back to its features, although it is known for its security compared with other writing Mac apps on our list, it has fewer features.
It has only regular features, such as text formatting options, custom text styles, smart annotations for sharing with others, text translations, and export options like PDF, Microsoft Word, and EPUB.
But it is tightly integrated into the Apple ecosystem, so you can easily insert your photo library, data from Numbers, or health details from your Health app, etc.
Most importantly, it is free to use, and you can download it from the App Store. If you are looking for security and simplicity, then you can check out Pages.
7. Hemingway Editor
Hemingway Editor is a well-known app for all writers that is used to improve the readability of their writing.
You can use Hemingway Editor on the web and also download it as a Mac app based on your preference.
You can upload your writing or write in the app or website if you prefer. Once you are done with your writing, Hemingway will give you a score on how readable it is; the lower the score, the better.
Excluding some writings, such as movies and research papers, most of the time, simpler writing that is understandable by even 9th-grade or lower-grade kids makes your writing more suitable for a large audience.
Along with the readability score, it also gives you a report detailing how many long sentences there are, where they are, difficult-to-read sentences, passive voice usage, etc., in different colour codes. This makes it easy to identify and edit the writing to make it better and more understandable.
It also has AI features like rewriting, grammar fixing, tone and style adjustment, etc. There is also a feature called Contextual Synonym Finder, where Hemingway Editor suggests contextually appropriate synonyms for different words or phrases to enhance the vocabulary and minimise repetition.
8. Google Docs
My daily driver of writing platform is Google Docs; it is just very easy and convenient to use that I cannot see switching from anytime soon.
It is not a Mac app, but rather an online web app, but it is just too good to switch from, at least for me. I think it is the same for most of the writers who have to do writing + research simultaneously.
You can easily use it on any platform; if a device can install a browser and you have a Google account, then you can use it on any device. And it is very easy to share, and you can also limit the accessibility to certain users.
It is not exactly minimalist compared to other Mac apps, but it is not super distracting while writing. Also, you can convert to pageless mode and toggle on focus mode(CMD+Shift+F) in the browser to get a similar minimalist design like the other writing Mac apps in our list.
On top of it, it has features like Smart Canvas; by just typing “@,” you can insert formatted emails, calendar invites, meeting notes, smart chips (names, files, events), and dropdown menus to enrich the document.
It also has basic features that every writing tool has, like pre-designed templates, customizable fonts, real-time collaboration, etc.
On top of all, it is completely free to use, and it stays on your browser, so there is no need to worry about changing between devices.
9. Notion
Notion will be in most of our listicle articles, no matter the subject, because it covers many use cases for both individuals and businesses.
It is just a super powerful Mac app that, when used right, can drastically change productivity.
For some reason, many people don't use Notion for writing; surely, most people use it for project management or knowledge management. But it has many writing features too.
The recently launched Notion AI has many writing features like generating new content, summarising content, rewriting the tone, and many more…
I do agree that it is not good for serious writers, but I think that even they can do many things with Notion, and with a few customisations or by using pre-built templates created by other users, they can actually get a good writing experience.
It also has cross-platform availability, and you can also do other related writing tasks like organising research materials, tracking tasks, etc.
If you can combine Notion and Elephas, it would be an awesome combination.
I personally use it; even though most of my work-related docs stay in Elephas, sometimes the ability to track or build customised pages gives a major edge to Notion.
The real downside I can find with Notion is that it cannot work without the internet, and the features it offers might confuse or overwhelm people.
If you think I am missing out on something with Notion as a writing Mac app, let me know in the comments.
Top 7 Best Productivity Writing Apps for Mac (Free+Paid)
1. Elephas
Elephas is the best productivity writing app for Mac. It can simplify your writing workflow in many ways.
I use it daily for my day-to-day writing tasks, especially the instant grammar fix, which is a great feature. Instead of using tools like Grammarly, Quillbot, etc., which show you the typos and you need to fix them one by one,
Elephas just fixes all the typos and grammatical errors with a shortcut (you can customize the shortcut), and all the typos in your selected content will be automatically fixed without any manual effort, or you can also access it through the super command (similar to Spotlight search for quick access to all features and Superbrain).
But if you still want to know where you made the typo to improve your writing, Grammarly is still one of the best. However, I think it is better to opt for automatic typo and grammatical correction rather than manual.
Most importantly, Elephas has a feature where you can replicate your writing style and create content with your writing style or use other writing features like continue writing (if you are stuck at a sentence, then it suggests the next line to continue the flow) or smart write, where you can create content.
Also, it has features like rewriting modes like professional, Zinsser, friendly, and viral, so according to your needs, you can convert your writing.
It also has features like summarising content, creating a counter-argument to a writing piece, repurposing content, replying to emails (understanding the context of the Email and then replying in your own writing style), and even translating the text to different languages.
Also, there is the snippets feature where you can automate small tasks. I usually use the snippets option to convert selected web content into social media posts.
Send them to Super Brain and later group them together to make a well researched social media post for different social media channels. It also has an inbuilt web search feature, so you don’t have to switch between apps for researching quick topics.
Coming to the Elephas Super Brain feature, it is not exactly a writing feature, but you can use it to make your writing much easier and better. The Super Brain feature is like your second brain, where you can keep all your writing materials or research notes in it, and whenever you want, you can ask questions about it or retrieve information.
Example writing workflow with Elephas:
Say you are writing an article on research you did on “LLM Models working.” You collected all of the different published research papers and relevant articles, and forum discussions.
Once you have them, you can feed them to the Super Brain and ask it to give you content structure, create content, or retrieve specific information during your writing through super command. If you get stuck somewhere, you can use features like continue writing to resume the flow.
Using Elephas Super Command to Instantly Retrieve Information from Super Brain
Once you start using Elephas, you realise how easy it would be to complete your writing workflow in less than half of your usual time period.
2. Claude
Claude is a better alternative to ChatGPT, especially when it comes to writing.
When asked to create content, ChatGPT generates somewhat robotic content, whereas Claude provides much more humanised content. This is my take on both LLM models. Everyone has different opinions, so check the comparison below to choose the one that you prefer.
Here is a comparison of Claude and ChatGPT writing capabilities
ChatGPT
Claude
No matter if it's Claude or ChatGPT, it is advised not to use them extensively, because even though they can provide humanised content, it still misses the human touch and feels robotic in some areas of the writing.
If you want to use AI content in your writing, then make sure to make major changes to the AI-generated content and add your own human touch and unique personality to it, just as you do with your normal writing.
Alternatively, you can use Elephas' writing style replacement feature; it can mimic your writing style.
But even still, using Elephas' tone replication feature, it would still miss the final human touch.
I recommend generating content and then converting it to your writing style, either by Elephas or with Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI model based on your preference, and then doing another round of editing to add your own human touch to it.
This process will make the AI writing more humanised. However, it is a very time-consuming process, and at times, you might even realise it is better to write yourself. But give it a try and check out the AI capabilities too.
Also, it should be noted that Claude's free messaging or chatting is very limited compared to ChatGPT. In my opinion, if you need more free messages or additional features like image generation, ChatGPT plugins, etc., then go for ChatGPT. But if you want it for more writing tasks only, then go for Claude.
- Claude vs. ChatGPT: Which is best?
3. Atext
Atext is a text expander Mac app you can create shortcuts to different text snippets that you use frequently.
You can create certain abbreviations for different writing pieces, and using those abbreviations, you can quickly insert that content when you are writing. You can create shortcuts/abbreviations for phrases, sentences, or even long paragraphs. It is useful for prompts, emails, etc.
It supports both rich text and plain text, as well as sizes, formatting, and even inline images. If you customise, you can even nest snippets (include one snippet inside another) for modular text automation or even perform some automation tasks by running AppleScripts and shell scripts.
Additionally, the snippets can be grouped into folders, each with its own behaviours and expansion triggers (e.g., only expand after a space, or only in certain applications). Snippets are searchable and can be filtered for quick access and management.
I personally use Text Blaze; it is a Chrome extension, and it offers the similar functionality as Atext, but it is not a Mac app.
4. Maccy
Maccy is an open-source clipboard manager, and it will store all of your previously copied text, images, website links, etc.
It is lightweight and has a minimal design interface that is easy to use.
You can customize the clipboard functionality too, like ignoring certain apps' copied texts, and you can also pin a certain copied item. You can also customize it to have certain shortcuts for quick access.
For writing, it will be a great addition, as sometimes in writing you need to paste certain URLS, images, and mainly text many times, and this will reduce the switching of tabs. You can also search for a certain copied item in the search bar.
By pinning certain copied items in the clipboard, you can just insert the text with a simple customised shortcut, providing a smooth workflow.
I mainly use it to access recent web URLS that I go through while researching, and it comes in very handy in my research workflow and it is completely free to use.
5. Dropover
Dropover is a productivity Mac app. It does not directly help with writing tasks; however, with it, the organisation and moving of files, documents, URLS, images, etc., from one place to another on your Mac are much simpler.
Basically, Dropover acts as a shelf app that you can use to temporarily store or organise your files, folders, or even text snippets without going back and forth between tabs.
If you frequently use images in your writing, then you can keep all your relevant images on the temporary shelf of Dropover and insert them into your writing whenever needed, without any distraction or changing the tabs.
You can use Dropover mostly for free, but in the free version, there is a minor limitation. You have to wait for 3 seconds before interacting with the shelf. This is negligible, but if you want to remove this limitation, you can purchase Dropover Pro for a one-time in-app purchase of $6.99
6. Imageoptim
ImageOptim is an open-source image optimisation Mac app. Using it, you can compress your images with lossless and lossy compression.
You just need to drop your images in the Dropbox, or you can select images manually through folders, and you can also do batch image optimisation if you need.
If you frequently use images in writing, then you can use them to easily compress and reduce the size of the images, especially if you're writing for a web article like the one you are reading now. Because of large file sizes, your images might not load and put a strain on the server, resulting in slow-loading pages.
Although there are websites for image compression, such as Tinypng, iLoveIMG, ShortPixel, etc., the compression takes place on their servers. But for people who want privacy and don't want to process their images on third-party servers, use ImageOptim.
7. Pure Paste
Pure Paste is a very simple app with only one functionality: you can choose to remove all formatting, such as fonts, colours, bold, links, and tables, automatically when you paste content.
You can select between automatically formatting all the text you copy or just removing formatting from text, and you can set custom shortcuts to trigger this formatting. Also, it respects user privacy and does not store any clipboard history, and it has real-time cleaning of the clipboard text.
Although you can do the same thing with the already built-in Mac commands, I personally didn't get the hang of it and feel Pure Paste has a better customisation feature, and also it better fits my writing workflow. Also, it is a free Mac app; you can give it a try if you are interested.
Conclusion
In our total list of 16 Best writing Mac apps, every app works for different user preferences.
Personally, I use Google Docs, Elephas, Purepaste, Maccy, and Text Blaze(Chrome extension).
If you are already a pro and thinking of moving to a new platform, then check out platforms like Scrivener, IA Writer, and ProWritingAid. But if you are just starting out, then try out the free ones like Google Docs and Notion.
Coming to the productivity writing apps section, almost all of them are free to use, even Elephas, so try them out and check if they add any value to your writing workflow.
But make sure you choose according to your writing needs and the features that Mac apps are offering.
