novelWriter vs Scrivener

Struggling to choose between novelWriter and Scrivener? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

novelWriter is a Office & Productivity solution with tags like writing, novels, authoring, creative-writing, distractionfree.

It boasts features such as Chapters, scenes, characters, locations, notes for organizing stories, Distraction-free writing mode, Exports to common ebook formats, Word count statistics, Spell checking, Auto-save and version control, Themes and fonts customization, Tagging system for easy searching and filtering, Project templates and pros including Free and open source, Good for organizing complex stories, Minimalist interface focused on writing, Cross-platform availability.

On the other hand, Scrivener is a Office & Productivity product tagged with writing, authoring, drafting, outlining.

Its standout features include Corkboard view to visualize story structure, Outliner to organize scenes and chapters, Annotations and comments to provide feedback on drafts, Split screen to view multiple documents, Templates for common formats like novels and screenplays, Revision tracking to compare draft changes, Export to common formats like PDF and ePub, and it shines with pros like Powerful tools for planning and organizing long documents, Flexible interface to suit different writing styles, Great for collaborating with editors and co-authors, Robust formatting and export options, Helpful for drafting and revising.

Feature	novelWriter	Scrivener
Overall Score	N/A	N/A
Primary Category	Office & Productivity	Office & Productivity

Product Overview

novelWriter

Description: novelWriter is an open-source tool for creative writing, geared towards novels. It provides features like chapters, scenes, characters, locations, notes, and more to help authors organize and write their stories. It offers distraction-free writing mode and exports to common ebook formats.

Scrivener

Description: Scrivener is professional writing software used by authors to plan, organize and write long documents like novels and screenplays. It has features like corkboard, outliner, annotations, and split screen to help write drafts and revisions.

Key Features Comparison

novelWriter Features

• Chapters, scenes, characters, locations, notes for organizing stories
• Distraction-free writing mode
• Exports to common ebook formats
• Word count statistics
• Spell checking
• Auto-save and version control
• Themes and fonts customization
• Tagging system for easy searching and filtering
• Project templates

Scrivener Features

• Corkboard view to visualize story structure
• Outliner to organize scenes and chapters
• Annotations and comments to provide feedback on drafts
• Split screen to view multiple documents
• Templates for common formats like novels and screenplays
• Revision tracking to compare draft changes
• Export to common formats like PDF and ePub

Pros & Cons Analysis

novelWriter

Pros

• Free and open source
• Good for organizing complex stories
• Minimalist interface focused on writing
• Cross-platform availability

Cons

• Limited compared to full word processors
• Steep learning curve
• Lacks collaborative features

Scrivener

Pros

• Powerful tools for planning and organizing long documents
• Flexible interface to suit different writing styles
• Great for collaborating with editors and co-authors
• Robust formatting and export options
• Helpful for drafting and revising

Cons

• Steep learning curve
• Overwhelming interface for new users
• Limited cloud sync and collaboration features
• Windows and Mac only, no Linux or mobile versions
• Can be slow with very large documents

Pricing Comparison

novelWriter

• Open Source

Scrivener

• One-time Purchase