Publishing · alternatives
Alternatives to Scrivener
19 publishing tools sit alongside Scrivener in this directory. Below is what separates each from Scrivener on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 19
- With a free tier
- 13
- Cheaper to start
- -
- Scrivener starts at
- On request
Why people look past Scrivener
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Scrivener entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is no free tier
The record for Scrivener carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 13 of the 19 alternatives below can be used without paying.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
One-time-purchase writing and book formatting that runs on Windows and Linux, not just Mac
- Publishes an entry price of $147/one-time, where Scrivener does not.
- 1 tier to Scrivener's 3.
Ebook and print distribution aggregator that takes a percentage instead of a fee
- Can be used without paying; Scrivener cannot.
- Sold on a 10% of retail list price, no upfront fee model rather than One-time purchase.
- 1 tier to Scrivener's 3.
Print-on-demand and distribution into the wholesale catalogue that bookshops order from
- Sold on a Free title setup, then per-unit print cost and revision fees model rather than One-time purchase.
- 1 tier to Scrivener's 3.
Amazon self-publishing platform that is free to use, earning Amazon a royalty cut instead of a fee, with a hard price band and per-megabyte delivery cost governing the 70% rate
- Can be used without paying; Scrivener cannot.
- Sold on a Free to publish; Amazon earns a royalty share rather than a fee model rather than One-time purchase.
- 2 tiers to Scrivener's 3.
Rakuten Kobo self-publishing platform paying a 70% royalty with no delivery fee deduction and no upper price cap, a materially different structure from Amazon KDP
- Can be used without paying; Scrivener cannot.
- Sold on a Free to publish; Kobo earns a royalty share rather than a fee model rather than One-time purchase.
- 2 tiers to Scrivener's 3.
Amazon-owned book cataloguing, review and recommendation app
- Can be used without paying; Scrivener cannot.
- Sold on a Free, no subscription or in-app purchases; funded by Amazon as a commerce and data feeder model rather than One-time purchase.
- 1 tier to Scrivener's 3.
Every Scrivener alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scrivener (this page) | On request | One-time purchase | 3 | |
| AtticusA newer, browser-based competitor with a different pricing model, useful direct comparison for manuscript formatting | $147/one-time | One-time purchase | 1 | vs Scrivener |
| Draft2DigitalFor distributing the finished manuscript to retailers once writing in Scrivener is complete | Free | 10% of retail list price, no upfront fee | 1 | vs Scrivener |
| IngramSparkFor print and wide ebook distribution once the manuscript is written and formatted | On request | Free title setup, then per-unit print cost and revision fees | 1 | vs Scrivener |
| Kindle Direct Publishing | Free | Free to publish; Amazon earns a royalty share rather than a fee | 2 | vs Scrivener |
| Kobo Writing Life | Free | Free to publish; Kobo earns a royalty share rather than a fee | 2 | vs Scrivener |
| Goodreads | Free | Free, no subscription or in-app purchases; funded by Amazon as a commerce and data feeder | 1 | vs Scrivener |
| PublishDrive | Free | Flat-fee subscription, no commission on paid plans | 2 | vs Scrivener |
| Moon Reader | Free, then $4.99/one-time | One-time purchase, free ad-supported version available | 2 | vs Scrivener |
| Wattpad | Free | Free with ads; paid ad-free subscription and optional in-app coin purchases | 2 | vs Scrivener |
| Webtoon | Free | Free to read on a delay; Webtoon Coins purchased to unlock early chapter access | 2 | vs Scrivener |
| Kotobee | Free | Per licence per year | 1 | vs Scrivener |
| Affinity Publisher | Free | Free, no licence fee | 1 | vs Scrivener |
| Reedsy | Free | Free tools; freelancers quote per project | 1 | vs Scrivener |
| Everand | $11.99/month | Per user per month, unlimited | 1 | vs Scrivener |
| BookBaby | On request | One-time purchase per project | 3 | vs Scrivener |
| Storytel | $14.99/month | Per user per month, unlimited | 1 | vs Scrivener |
| Libro.fm | $14.99/month | Per credit per month, credits never expire | 1 | vs Scrivener |
| Kindle | Free | Free app, revenue from book purchases and optional subscription | 2 | vs Scrivener |
| Kobo | Free | Free store and app; hardware sold separately; optional subscription | 2 | vs Scrivener |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Scrivener badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (13)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Draft2Digital , Free
- Kindle Direct Publishing , Free
- Kobo Writing Life , Free
- Goodreads , Free
- PublishDrive , Free
- Moon Reader , Free, then $4.99/one-time
- Wattpad , Free
- Webtoon , Free
What you would be giving up
Scrivener is most often brought in for a novelist wanting scene-level reordering and a corkboard view rather than one continuous linear document, a screenwriter needing industry-standard script formatting alongside manuscript organisation, an academic writer wanting research references and citations stored alongside the manuscript being drafted, a writer who specifically wants to avoid an ongoing subscription for writing software and prefers a one-time purchase. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Scrivener is broadly right and the question is cost, the Scrivener pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Publishing category lists everything the directory holds, and best publishing tools ranks them.
Scrivener runs on macos, windows, ios. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Scrivener alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Scrivener?
- 19 other publishing tools are listed in this directory, led by Atticus, Draft2Digital, IngramSpark, Kindle Direct Publishing. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Scrivener?
- 13 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Draft2Digital, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kobo Writing Life, Goodreads, PublishDrive.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Scrivener?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Scrivener?
- Scrivener is most often brought in for a novelist wanting scene-level reordering and a corkboard view rather than one continuous linear document, a screenwriter needing industry-standard script formatting alongside manuscript organisation, an academic writer wanting research references and citations stored alongside the manuscript being drafted, a writer who specifically wants to avoid an ongoing subscription for writing software and prefers a one-time purchase. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Scrivener?
- None of the publishing tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Scrivener alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Publishing, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Scrivener against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Scrivener covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every publishing tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Publishing category, 19 tools beside Scrivener. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.