Scrivener vs yWriter

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

Scrivener is a Office & Productivity solution with tags like writing, authoring, drafting, outlining.

It boasts features such as 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 pros including 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.

On the other hand, yWriter is a Office & Productivity product tagged with novel-writing, story-development, word-processor.

Its standout features include Break down stories into chapters and scenes, Track characters, locations, items, View storyboards, Word count statistics, Export to HTML, PDF, RTF, TXT, Spell checking, Daily progress targets, Backup and autosave, and it shines with pros like Free and open source, User friendly interface, Good for organizing complex stories, Available on Windows, Mac, Linux.

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

Product Overview

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.

yWriter

Description: yWriter is a free word processor and story development tool for novelists. It allows you to break down your story into chapters and scenes, track characters, locations, items, view storyboards and more to help organize and write your novel.

Key Features Comparison

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

yWriter Features

• Break down stories into chapters and scenes
• Track characters, locations, items
• View storyboards
• Word count statistics
• Export to HTML, PDF, RTF, TXT
• Spell checking
• Daily progress targets
• Backup and autosave

Pros & Cons Analysis

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

yWriter

Pros

• Free and open source
• User friendly interface
• Good for organizing complex stories
• Available on Windows, Mac, Linux

Cons

• Limited formatting options
• No collaboration features
• Not as feature rich as paid alternatives

Pricing Comparison

Scrivener

• One-time Purchase

yWriter

• Free
• Open Source