Ghostwriter vs Scrivener

Ghostwriter is a free Markdown text editor for distraction-free writing, available on Linux and Windows, with unofficial community-provided macOS support. It stores documents as local files and previews Markdown as HTML, which can be copied or exported. GitHub-flavored Markdown is supported, and export options include HTML, Pandoc, MultiMarkdown, and commonmark. Focus Mode highlights a selected area around the cursor, such as a line, sentence, paragraph, or three lines. Full-screen mode and Hemingway Mode provide other writing setups; Hemingway Mode disables backspace and delete. The editor includes light and dark themes, with options to create custom themes. Writers also get live word counts, document and session statistics, a document outline, autosave, and file backups. Linux installation instructions cover Ubuntu, Fedora, and Arch Linux. The Windows download page lists a portable 64-bit version for Windows 10. On macOS, users must compile the source because an installer is not available. Ghostwriter is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 3.0.

Scrivener is a long-form writing app for macOS, Windows, and iOS, built for projects that can be composed in sections of any size. Writers can keep research materials such as PDFs and web pages beside a draft, and import Word, OpenOffice, plain text, Final Draft, images, PDFs, movies, sound files, and web pages. A project window can show up to four documents at once. Screenwriting tools handle script formatting and support printing and Final Draft export. For non-fiction, Scrivener supports footnotes, research libraries, and templates including MLA and APA. Writing History shows how much was written each day. The app also has publishing tools, version history, and offline mode, but not real-time collaboration. A 30-day trial is offered. Single-platform licences cost $59.99 as a one-time purchase for macOS or Windows and $23.99, paid once for iOS; an all-three-platform licence costs $121.93 as a one-time purchase. No recurring payment is required unless a customer chooses another platform or a major update. Scrivener is made by Literature & Latte Ltd., based in Cornwall, UK.