Free yWriter AlternativesTop Novel Authoring Tools and other similar apps like yWriter

The best free alternative to yWriter is Manuskript, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to yWriter and many of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to yWriter are bibisco, Daino Notes, novelWriter and Quoll Writer.

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yWriter alternatives are mainly Novel Authoring Tools but may also be Note-taking Tools or Word Processors.  Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of yWriter.
yWriter iconyWriter
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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...

More about yWriter
yWriter alternatives page was last updated May 22, 2024
  1. Manuskript icon
     158 likes

    Manuskript is an open-source tool for writers, with outliner, character management, plot development, distraction-free editor, etc.

    107 Manuskript alternatives
    Manuskript screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak

    Top Manuskript Features

    1.  Outliner
    2.  Tree structure
    3.  Tracking of plots
    4.  Distraction-free Writing
    5.  Tracking of characters
    6.  Ad-free
    7.  Works Offline
    8.  No registration required
    9.  Dark Mode
    10.  No Tracking
    11.  Support for MarkDown
    12.  File Versioning
    Manuskript iconyWriter Icon

    Manuskript VS yWriter

    Is Manuskript a good alternative to yWriter?
     
    Comments about Manuskript as an Alternative to yWriter
     
    Guest

    Manuskript combines concepts and functions of yWriter, Novel Factory and Scrivener. It's a bit rough in its presentation, but a good alternative for anyone who can't decide between the aforementioned tools.

    Positive commentSep 26, 2018
    0
    yWriter Icon
    Manuskript icon
    • Almost everyone thinks Manuskript is a great yWriter alternative.

    • Manuskript is the most popular Linux alternative to yWriter.

    • Manuskript is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to yWriter.

    • Manuskript is Free and Open SourceyWriter is Freemium and Proprietary
  2. bibisco icon
     83 likes

    bibisco is a novel writing software that helps you to write your story, in a simple way.

    44 bibisco alternatives
    Novel architecture

    License model

    • FreemiumOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Electron / Atom Shell
    • Node.JS

    Properties

    1.  Distraction-free
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Character development
    2.  Timeline
    3.  Scene Management
    4.  Tracking of plots
    5.  Ad-free
    6.  WYSIWYG Support
    7.  No Tracking
    8.  Spell Checking
    9.  Dark Mode
    10.  Works Offline
    11.  Hierarchical Structure
    12.  Portable
    bibisco iconyWriter Icon

    bibisco VS yWriter

    Is bibisco a good alternative to yWriter?
     
    Comments about bibisco as an Alternative to yWriter
     
    Guest

    main character's option are really too numerous

    Negative commentOct 20, 2017
    -1
    Guest

    It may not be as flexible as yWriter to move text between scenes and chapters.

    Positive commentSep 17, 2015
    0
    yWriter Icon
    bibisco icon
    • Most users think bibisco is a great yWriter alternative.

    • bibisco is Freemium and Open SourceyWriter is Freemium and Proprietary
    • bibisco is Privacy focusedyWriter is not according to our users
  3. Daino Notes icon
     8 likes

    Daino is a fast and elegant place for all your thoughts. Write without fiddling. Store without worrying. Think without distraction.

    59 Daino Notes alternatives
    Daino Notes screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreemiumProprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    Properties

    1.  Distraction-free
    2.  Support for Themes
    3.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Ad-free
    2.  Dark Mode
    3.  Support for MarkDown
    4.  No registration required
    5.  Full-Text Search
    6.  No Tracking
    7.  Hierarchical Structure
    8.  Works Offline
    9.  Kanban Board
    10.  Support for Keyboard Shortcuts
    11.  Native application
    12.  Tagging
    Daino Notes iconyWriter Icon

    Daino Notes VS yWriter

    Is Daino Notes a good alternative to yWriter?
     
  4. novelWriter icon
     21 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.

    49 novelWriter alternatives
    Screenshot of older version

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Qt

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Dark Mode
    2.  No registration required
    3.  Tree structure
    4.  Spell Checking
    5.  Support for MarkDown
    6.  No Tracking
    7.  Works Offline
    8.  Live Preview
    9.  Ad-free
    10.  Full-Text Search
    11.  Hierarchical Structure
    12.  Outline organization
    novelWriter iconyWriter Icon

    novelWriter VS yWriter

    Is novelWriter a good alternative to yWriter?
     
  5. Quoll Writer icon
     35 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.

    61 Quoll Writer alternatives
    Quoll Writer screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Windows

    Top Quoll Writer Features

    1.  Track Characters
    2.  Character database
    3.  Outliner
    4.  Distraction-free Writing
    5.  Dark Mode
    6.  WYSIWYG Support
    7.  Works Offline
    8.  No registration required
    9.  Ad-free
    10.  Writing statistics
    11.  Writing assistance
    12.  Export to EPUB
    Quoll Writer iconyWriter Icon

    Quoll Writer VS yWriter

    Is Quoll Writer a good alternative to yWriter?
     
    Comments about Quoll Writer as an Alternative to yWriter
     
    Linda Jenkinson

    According to their website, Quoll Writer is not available for Linux or Mac

    Negative commentJun 30, 2022
    -1
    yWriter Icon
    Quoll Writer icon
    • Most users think Quoll Writer is a great yWriter alternative.

    • Quoll Writer is Free and Open SourceyWriter is Freemium and Proprietary
  6. Lore Forge icon
     8 likes

    The only app you'll need to write your novels and build your worlds. Organize your thoughts and cross-reference anything at any time.

    36 Lore Forge alternatives
    Overview screen

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Distraction-free
    3.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Places tracking
    2.  Character database
    3.  Custom characters
    4.  Ad-free
    5.  Dark Mode
    6.  Spell Checking
    7.  Works Offline
    8.  Portable
    9.  Hierarchical Structure
    10.  No Tracking
    11.  WYSIWYG Support
    12.  Live Preview
    Lore Forge iconyWriter Icon

    Lore Forge VS yWriter

    Is Lore Forge a good alternative to yWriter?
     
    • Lore Forge is the most popular Web-based alternative to yWriter.

    • Lore Forge is Free and ProprietaryyWriter is Freemium and Proprietary
    • Lore Forge is Lightweight and Privacy focusedyWriter is not according to our users
  7. Fantasia Archive icon
     15 likes

    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.

    22 Fantasia Archive alternatives
    Fantasia Archive screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Local Storage
    2.  Integrated Search
    3.  Content Templates
    4.  Tagging
    5.  Character database
    6.  Works Offline
    7.  No Tracking
    8.  No registration required
    9.  Ad-free
    10.  Track Characters
    11.  Places tracking
    12.  Custom characters
    Fantasia Archive iconyWriter Icon

    Fantasia Archive VS yWriter

    Is Fantasia Archive a good alternative to yWriter?
     
  8. oStorybook icon
     22 likes

    oStorybook is a free, open source novel-writing software for creative writers, novelists and authors which will help you to keep an overview of multiple plot-lines while writing texts.

    46 oStorybook alternatives
    oStorybook screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    oStorybook Features

    1.  Character database
    2.  Detailed toolbar
    3.  Java based
    4.  Text editing
    oStorybook iconyWriter Icon

    oStorybook VS yWriter

    Is oStorybook a good alternative to yWriter?
     
    Comments about oStorybook as an Alternative to yWriter
     
    Guest

    Layout is easier to use, more intuitive. Character database is excellent. However, yWriter shows you word count for each scene, very helpul.

    Positive commentJun 14, 2019
    0
    yWriter Icon
    oStorybook icon
    • oStorybook is Free and Open SourceyWriter is Freemium and Proprietary
  9. Lattics icon
     6 likes

    Lattics is an all-in one knowledge management tool. It offers most of the things in Obsidian, Scrivener and Zotero together.

    18 Lattics alternatives
    Lattics screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreemiumProprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows

    Top Lattics Features

    1.  Support for MarkDown
    2.  Live Preview
    3.  Works Offline
    4.  Hierarchical Structure
    5.  Full-Text Search
    6.  Dark Mode
    7.  WYSIWYG Support
    8.  File Tagging
    9.  PDF annotation
    10.  No registration required
    11.  Ad-free
    12.  Knowledge Management
    Lattics iconyWriter Icon

    Lattics VS yWriter

    Is Lattics a good alternative to yWriter?
     
  10. Gingko Writer icon
     55 likes

    Gingko Writer is a text editor that uses a tree-like structure to help you organize and visualize your thoughts, making it easier to outline, draft, and refine complex texts.

    76 Gingko Writer alternatives
    Gingko tree for screenplay "2001"

    License model

    • FreemiumProprietary

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)

    Top Gingko Writer Features

    1.  Support for MarkDown
    2.  Hierarchical Structure
    3. LaTeX icon  Support for LaTeX
    4.  Real time collaboration
    5.  Document structure management
    6.  Web-Based
    7.  Export to LaTeX
    8.  Collaborative writing
    9.  Brainstorming
    10.  Screenwriting
    11.  Outliner
    Gingko Writer iconyWriter Icon

    Gingko Writer VS yWriter

    Is Gingko Writer a good alternative to yWriter?
     
    Comments about Gingko Writer as an Alternative to yWriter
     
    Guest

    it's the only one that actually offers a dynamic word documenting system that is fluid and able to be used by NON-FICTION writers, which is harder to find than you'd think. Still no where near the set up of yWriter though.

    Positive commentFeb 2, 2018
    0
    yWriter Icon
    Gingko Writer icon
    • Gingko Writer is the most popular SaaS alternative to yWriter.

    • Gingko Writer is Freemium and ProprietaryyWriter is also Freemium and Proprietary
10 of 33 yWriter alternatives