yWriter vs Scrivener

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

yWriter is a Office & Productivity solution with tags like novel-writing, story-development, word-processor.

It boasts features such as 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 pros including Free and open source, User friendly interface, Good for organizing complex stories, Available on Windows, Mac, Linux.

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.

To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison of these two products, delving into their features, pros, cons, pricing, and more. Get ready to explore the nuances that set them apart and determine which one is the perfect fit for your requirements.

yWriter

yWriter

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.

Categories:
novel-writing story-development word-processor

YWriter Features

  1. Break down stories into chapters and scenes
  2. Track characters, locations, items
  3. View storyboards
  4. Word count statistics
  5. Export to HTML, PDF, RTF, TXT
  6. Spell checking
  7. Daily progress targets
  8. Backup and autosave

Pricing

  • Free
  • Open Source

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


Scrivener

Scrivener

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.

Categories:
writing authoring drafting outlining

Scrivener Features

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

Pricing

  • One-time Purchase

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