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.

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

Product Overview

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.

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

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

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

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

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

yWriter

• Free
• Open Source

Scrivener

• One-time Purchase