Simple but configurable and themeable, distraction-free text editor for writers. Open-source and available across desktop platforms.




FocusWriter vs ZenWriter Comments


- FocusWriter is Free and Open Source
- FocusWriter is Customizable and Lightweight
The best free alternative to ZenWriter is FocusWriter, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to ZenWriter and many of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to ZenWriter are Marknote, Foam, Nuclino and Rentry.co.
Simple but configurable and themeable, distraction-free text editor for writers. Open-source and available across desktop platforms.






Marknote lets you create rich text notes and easily organise them into notebooks. You can personalise your notebooks by choosing an icon and accent color for each one, making it easy to distinguish between them and keep your notes at your fingertips.




Foam is a personal knowledge management and sharing system inspired by Roam Research, built on Visual Studio Code and GitHub.

Nuclino is a unified workspace where teams can bring all their knowledge, docs, and projects together in one place. It’s a modern, simple, and blazingly fast way to collaborate, without the chaos of files and folders, context switching, or silos.



Rentry.co is a markdown pastebin and publishing service with preview, custom urls and editing. Fast, simple and free.




Combines Markdown writing, live preview, and powerful design controls with instant exports in ePub, PDF, and HTML formats. Open format Markdown file storage, no vendor lock-in, customizable themes, and full privacy with local or iCloud storage on Mac.




Fast, native text editor supporting Markdown, JSON, YAML, and TOML with live preview, syntax highlighting, Mermaid diagrams, CSV/TSV viewing, collapsible trees, Git integration, regex find/replace, customizable themes, zen mode, and multi-language support.



Writemonkey is a Windows zenware writing application with an extremely stripped down user interface, leaving you alone with your thoughts and your words.




Privacy oriented, without vendor lock in note organizer, todo list desktop application. Work offline with text, markdown and pdf files.




Free writing app that progressively hides previous paragraphs as you write. Set time/word/character goals and focus on progress, not perfection. WriteForward v1.0.4 brings major UX improvements: Import text files to continue drafts, customise layout width, UI scaling, and font...




End-to-encrypted, laser-focussed yet elegant editor. No registration, no login, no ads, no tracking, no hassle. Just write. In private or together with others.

A portable distraction-free writer with customizable themes, auto-save, and overwrite protection. Made with minimalism in mind.



Has most of the features offered by zenwriter, hides all distractions, has optional typewriter machine sounds, daily goal, multiple themes you can choose from or create yourself and the huge plus of linux portability.