Free Scrivener Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to Scrivener for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best free Mac alternative is Manuskript, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Scrivener and many of them are free and available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free Mac alternatives to Scrivener are yWriter, Zettlr, bibisco and Quoll Writer.

filter to find the best alternatives

Scrivener alternatives are mainly Novel Authoring Tools, but if you're looking for Note-taking Tools or Text Editors you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Android, Linux, Online, Open Source, Windows, iPad and Mac + Free. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Scrivener.
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Alternatives list

  1. Manuskript icon
     171 likes

    Open-source software offering a hierarchical outliner, distraction-free editor, character management, plot tools, Snowflake method support, section multi-organization, customizable writing workflows, cross-platform availability, and export to standard formats.

    131 Manuskript alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
     
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    10
  2. yWriter icon
     69 likes

    yWriter is a writing tool that uses "scenes" as a unit of text and allows you to associate that text with all manner of story elements (characters, locations, items) as well as place it and rearrange it within the context of chapters.

    87 yWriter alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
     
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    8
  3. Zettlr icon
     254 likes

    Unified writing platform offering note-taking, easy citations with Zotero integration, LaTeX/Word templates, snippets, themes, dark modes, code highlighting, multi-language support, and knowledge management with Zettelkasten for seamless writing from notes to books.

    202 Zettlr alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
     
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    3
  4. bibisco icon
     86 likes

    Desktop application for novel structuring, offering chapter and scene management, distraction-free text editing, detailed timeline, character interviews, multilingual support, export to publishing formats, revision history, relationship diagrams, and writing goal tracking.

    63 bibisco alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Electron
    • Node.JS
     
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    7
  5. Quoll Writer icon
     41 likes

    Focus on your words not the interface. Quoll Writer is a writing application that helps you focus on your words. Clean and uncluttered. Feature rich. Features are where you would expect them to be.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
     
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    5
  6. Dendron icon
     71 likes

    Dendron is an open-source, local-first, markdown-based, note-taking tool built on top of VSCode. It supports all the usual features you would expect like tagging, backlinks, a graph view, split panes, and so forth.

    218 Dendron alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Visual Studio Code
     
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    1
  7. novelWriter icon
     29 likes

    novelWriter is a Markdown-like text editor designed for writing novels and larger projects of many smaller plain text documents. It uses its own flavor of Markdown that supports a meta data syntax for comments, synopsis and cross-referencing between files.

    78 novelWriter alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Qt
    • Python
     
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    1
  8. A smooth yet powerful writing experience for devoted authors. With only wanted features and native workflow it runs faster than all your previous apps combined.

    52 Story Architect (STARC) alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    • AppImageHub
    • Flathub
    • Android
     
  9. Pinery icon
     12 likes

    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.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  10. Free offline worldbuilding and story creation tool with dozens of templates, complex tagging options, document linking, and project-wide search. Template examples: characters, places, events, religions, currencies, magic, species, languages.

    42 Fantasia Archive alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  11. Daino Notes icon
     9 likes

    Offers fast, distraction-free note-taking via a high-performance editor with real-time Markdown, local-first storage, image support, Kanban task boards, intuitive drag-and-drop, keyboard shortcuts, configurable themes, fast search, and cross-platform access.

    91 Daino Notes alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
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