Best free Scrivener replacements

Zettlr

Distraction-free editors

Markdown IDE for writers and researchers with citations

Stars

★ 13.8k

Licence

GPL-3.0

Updated

yesterday

Alternative to Ulysses, Scrivener

ink / inklewriter

AI writing assistants

Open narrative scripting language from inkle for interactive fiction

Stars

★ 5k

Licence

MIT

Updated

5 months ago

Alternative to Scrivener

novelWriter

Novel & long-form writing

Markdown novel editor with a project tree and plain-text storage

Stars

★ 3.2k

Licence

GPL-3.0

Updated

today

Alternative to Scrivener, Ulysses

Manuskript

Novel & long-form writing

Open-source novel organiser with outliner, index cards and story line

Stars

★ 2.5k

Licence

GPL-3.0

Updated

1 month ago

Alternative to Scrivener, Dabble

bibisco

Novel & long-form writing

Novel-writing app focused on characters and architecture of the story

Stars

★ 770

Licence

GPL-3.0

Updated

2 years ago

Alternative to Scrivener, Dabble

FocusWriter

Distraction-free editors

Full-screen distraction-free writer with goals and themes

Stars

★ 721

Licence

GPL-3.0

Updated

11 days ago

Alternative to Ulysses, Scrivener

WaveMaker

Novel & long-form writing

Browser-based novel planner and writer with cards and manuscript view

Stars

★ 19

Licence

GPL-3.0

Updated

7 months ago

Alternative to Scrivener, Plottr

Aeon Timeline

Worldbuilding & plotting

Timeline app for stories, series and research chronology

Licence

Proprietary

Status

Proprietary

Alternative to Plottr, Scrivener

Atticus

Formatting & publishing

Writing plus ebook and print formatting in one paid app

Licence

Proprietary

Status

Proprietary

Alternative to Vellum, Scrivener

Campfire Writing

Worldbuilding & plotting

Modular worldbuilding and writing suite for fiction authors

Licence

Proprietary

Status

Freemium

Alternative to World Anvil, Plottr

Dabble

Novel & long-form writing

Cloud novel app with plotting, goals and manuscript tools

Licence

Proprietary

Status

Proprietary

Alternative to Scrivener, Plottr

iA Writer

Distraction-free editors

Focused markdown writing app for Apple and Windows

Licence

Proprietary

Status

Proprietary

Alternative to Ulysses, Scrivener

LivingWriter

Novel & long-form writing

Cloud manuscript app with outlining, boards and collaboration

Licence

Proprietary

Status

Freemium

Alternative to Scrivener, Dabble

NovelCrafter

AI writing assistants

AI-assisted fiction workshop with codex and prompts you control

Licence

Proprietary

Status

Proprietary

Alternative to Sudowrite, Scrivener

Cloud novel workspace with goals, courses and manuscript tools

Licence

Proprietary

Status

Freemium

Alternative to Scrivener, Dabble

Plottr

Worldbuilding & plotting

Visual timelines and plot outlines for novels and series

Licence

Proprietary

Status

Proprietary

Alternative to Scrivener

Reedsy Book Editor

Novel & long-form writing

Free browser manuscript editor from Reedsy with clean export

Licence

Proprietary

Status

Freemium

Alternative to Scrivener, Microsoft Word

SmartEdit Writer

Novel & long-form writing

Windows novel organiser with built-in manuscript analysis

Licence

Proprietary

Status

Freemium

Alternative to Scrivener, ProWritingAid

yWriter

Novel & long-form writing

Freeware scene-based novel organiser from Spacejock Software

Licence

Freeware

Status

Free (proprietary)

Alternative to Scrivener, Dabble