The Best Ulysses AlternativesTop Text Editors & Novel Authoring Tools like Ulysses
Ulysses is described as 'Text editor for creative writers. Used by bloggers, poets, students and published novelists all over the world, it offers an integrated environment to brainstorm, draft, revise and even submit text on a professional level' and is a popular Text Editor in the news & books category. There are more than 100 alternatives to Ulysses for a variety of platforms, including Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and iPad apps. The best Ulysses alternative is Typora. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Zettlr or CherryTree. Other great apps like Ulysses are Microsoft Word, Scrivener, Manuskript and Dendron.
- Text Editor
- Paid • Proprietary
- 170 Typora alternatives
A minimalist Markdown editor offering cross-platform synchronization, live preview, and seamless export/import in various formats like PDF, DOCX, and LaTeX. Features include distraction-free Focus and Typewriter modes, file management with tree and articles panels, and content organization through an outline panel.
License model
- Paid • Proprietary
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Electron
Comments about Typora as an Alternative to Ulysses
- 163 Zettlr alternatives
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Flathub
- 91 Microsoft Word alternatives
Microsoft's leading word processor, enables professional-quality document creation with SmartArt graphics, seamless PDF support, and extensive search capabilities. Compatible across desktop, online, and mobile platforms with necessary subscription or standalone purchase options.
License model
- Paid • Proprietary
Application type
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
Top Microsoft Word Features
- 76 CherryTree alternatives
Hierarchical note-taking software that is free, open-source, cross-platform. Features include rich text, syntax highlighting, multi-level lists, embedded files, customizable interface, code execution, PDF export, spell check, images & tables, and comprehensive project management support.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Flathub
- PortableApps.com
- Flatpak
- 106 Scrivener alternatives
Tailored for extensive writing, this tool offers flexible structure and organization, integrates project outlines, supports various formats, and allows reorganization through drag and drop, ensuring research materials are within reach for efficient work.
License model
- Paid • Proprietary
Application types
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- iPhone
- iPad
- PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac
- Wine
Top Scrivener Features
Comments about Scrivener as an Alternative to Ulysses
Top Negative CommentUlysses is WYSIWYM, while Scrivener is WYSIWYG. It can be extremely time-consuming to set the font styling right in every dialog box that controls the fonts. Ulysses, on the other hand, has one font setting, then the styles dictate how the editor is displayed. It's much more focused on content than appearance.
Most Recent CommentNot convenient about keyboard shortcuts on formatting on windows platform
Scrivener is a terrible alternative to Ulysses. It's not a markdown editor, the interface is cluttered, and there are so many features that are cumbersome and unintuitive that it takes forever to figure them out. With Ulysses, it's more what you see is what you get. You can focus more on writing. You don't have to try to learn the app as much, and it's markdown, so you can focus on content, not formatting.
- 109 Manuskript alternatives
Manuskript is an open-source tool for writers, with outliner, character management, plot development, distraction-free editor, etc.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Snapcraft
- Flathub
- Flatpak
Top Manuskript Features
- 192 Dendron alternatives
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Visual Studio Code
- 96 FocusWriter alternatives
Simple but configurable and themeable, distraction-free text editor for writers. Open-source and available across desktop platforms.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Windows
- Linux
- PortableApps.com
- 85 Marknote alternatives
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
Country of Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Flathub
- 116 iA Writer alternatives
The key to good writing is not that magical glass of Bordeaux, the right kind of tobacco or that groovy background music. The key is focus. What you need to write well is a spartan setting that allows you to fully concentrate on your text and nothing but your text.
License model
- Paid • Proprietary
Application types
Country of Origin
Switzerland
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
Comments about iA Writer as an Alternative to Ulysses
hildissentSolid application. I like the file browser in Ulysses better (tags are cool but can get messy), but iA Writer has some solid features like referencing files (write frequently used text once, update it at the source and be sure it is up to date anywhere it is used in the larger work) and using .csv files for tables. Also, they've avoided the subscription model. As long as there are alternatives, I'm not letting companies ding me for monthly fees.
I use iA Writer on Mac and mobiles and it is a first-class tool for handling notes and actual writing. In some ways I prefer it to Ulysses -- it's a proper Markdown editor and I can write jumps and anchors on long documents. I have a iA licence for Windows for when I use that platform.
Also features a handy files panel to the left. Display and editing is distraction free and very clean (cleaner than Ulysses).