Plain Markdown library you own — readable in any editor, no proprietary database

Obsidian and Trove both store plain Markdown on disk. Ulysses uses Markdown inside its own library; Scrivener wraps RTF inside .scriv; Atticus is a browser app; Word saves OOXML; Google Docs is cloud-native.

Local-first storage — files live on your disk, no account required

Ulysses defaults to an iCloud library; Atticus is browser-only and needs an account. Word runs offline but the Microsoft 365 default pushes an account; Google Docs requires a Google account.

Pay-once pricing — no subscription required

Ulysses is subscription-only. Obsidian is free for personal use; sync and Publish are paid add-ons. Scrivener and Atticus are one-off purchases. Word is sold mainly as a Microsoft 365 subscription with a perpetual Office license as the minority option. Google Docs is free for personal use; Workspace is subscription.

End-to-end encrypted sync — only you can read it

Ulysses syncs via iCloud (plaintext on Apple servers). Obsidian Sync stores plaintext on Obsidian servers. Scrivener and Atticus have no first-party sync. Word/OneDrive and Google Docs are encrypted in transit and at rest but the provider holds the keys.

Novelist structure built in — binder, corkboard, folio, snapshots

Obsidian has community plugins (Longform, Novel Plugin) but nothing first-party. Ulysses is a Markdown writing app without project/novel structure. Word and Google Docs are general-purpose word processors with no novelist scaffolding.

Worldbuilding — typed entities, codex, atlas, relationship graph

Scrivener has character/place sheets. Obsidian can model anything via plugins but is not novelist-aware. Atticus has light character/setting fields. Word and Google Docs have no worldbuilding features.

Cross-platform — Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad

Scrivener: Mac/Win/iOS, no Linux. Ulysses: Mac/iOS only. Obsidian: Mac/Win/Linux/iOS/Android. Atticus: browser, so works anywhere but no offline desktop app. Word: Mac/Win/iOS plus web, no Linux desktop. Google Docs: web + iOS/Android, no offline desktop binary.

Live encrypted co-writing — real-time co-edit with end-to-end encryption

Live co-writing ships post-1.0 via Vault. Word and Google Docs both have mature live co-editing, but Microsoft and Google see plaintext on the server — not end-to-end encrypted. No novelist app offers encrypted live co-edit today.

No telemetry on your work

Trove sends no telemetry. Scrivener, Ulysses and Obsidian collect minimal usage data at most. Atticus, Word and Google Docs all collect or process content under their respective terms — read the current TOS for your tier.

Plain Markdown library you own — readable in any editor, no proprietary database

Obsidian and Trove both store plain Markdown on disk. Ulysses uses Markdown inside its own library; Scrivener wraps RTF inside .scriv; Atticus is a browser app; Word saves OOXML; Google Docs is cloud-native.

Local-first storage — files live on your disk, no account required

Ulysses defaults to an iCloud library; Atticus is browser-only and needs an account. Word runs offline but the Microsoft 365 default pushes an account; Google Docs requires a Google account.

Pay-once pricing — no subscription required

Ulysses is subscription-only. Obsidian is free for personal use; sync and Publish are paid add-ons. Scrivener and Atticus are one-off purchases. Word is sold mainly as a Microsoft 365 subscription with a perpetual Office license as the minority option. Google Docs is free for personal use; Workspace is subscription.

End-to-end encrypted sync — only you can read it

Ulysses syncs via iCloud (plaintext on Apple servers). Obsidian Sync stores plaintext on Obsidian servers. Scrivener and Atticus have no first-party sync. Word/OneDrive and Google Docs are encrypted in transit and at rest but the provider holds the keys.

Novelist structure built in — binder, corkboard, folio, snapshots

Obsidian has community plugins (Longform, Novel Plugin) but nothing first-party. Ulysses is a Markdown writing app without project/novel structure. Word and Google Docs are general-purpose word processors with no novelist scaffolding.

Worldbuilding — typed entities, codex, atlas, relationship graph

Scrivener has character/place sheets. Obsidian can model anything via plugins but is not novelist-aware. Atticus has light character/setting fields. Word and Google Docs have no worldbuilding features.

Cross-platform — Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad

Scrivener: Mac/Win/iOS, no Linux. Ulysses: Mac/iOS only. Obsidian: Mac/Win/Linux/iOS/Android. Atticus: browser, so works anywhere but no offline desktop app. Word: Mac/Win/iOS plus web, no Linux desktop. Google Docs: web + iOS/Android, no offline desktop binary.

Live encrypted co-writing — real-time co-edit with end-to-end encryption

Live co-writing ships post-1.0 via Vault. Word and Google Docs both have mature live co-editing, but Microsoft and Google see plaintext on the server — not end-to-end encrypted. No novelist app offers encrypted live co-edit today.

No telemetry on your work

Trove sends no telemetry. Scrivener, Ulysses and Obsidian collect minimal usage data at most. Atticus, Word and Google Docs all collect or process content under their respective terms — read the current TOS for your tier.

Plain Markdown library you own — readable in any editor, no proprietary database

Obsidian and Trove both store plain Markdown on disk. Ulysses uses Markdown inside its own library; Scrivener wraps RTF inside .scriv; Atticus is a browser app; Word saves OOXML; Google Docs is cloud-native.

Local-first storage — files live on your disk, no account required

Ulysses defaults to an iCloud library; Atticus is browser-only and needs an account. Word runs offline but the Microsoft 365 default pushes an account; Google Docs requires a Google account.

Pay-once pricing — no subscription required

Ulysses is subscription-only. Obsidian is free for personal use; sync and Publish are paid add-ons. Scrivener and Atticus are one-off purchases. Word is sold mainly as a Microsoft 365 subscription with a perpetual Office license as the minority option. Google Docs is free for personal use; Workspace is subscription.

End-to-end encrypted sync — only you can read it

Ulysses syncs via iCloud (plaintext on Apple servers). Obsidian Sync stores plaintext on Obsidian servers. Scrivener and Atticus have no first-party sync. Word/OneDrive and Google Docs are encrypted in transit and at rest but the provider holds the keys.

Novelist structure built in — binder, corkboard, folio, snapshots

Obsidian has community plugins (Longform, Novel Plugin) but nothing first-party. Ulysses is a Markdown writing app without project/novel structure. Word and Google Docs are general-purpose word processors with no novelist scaffolding.

Worldbuilding — typed entities, codex, atlas, relationship graph

Scrivener has character/place sheets. Obsidian can model anything via plugins but is not novelist-aware. Atticus has light character/setting fields. Word and Google Docs have no worldbuilding features.

Cross-platform — Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad

Scrivener: Mac/Win/iOS, no Linux. Ulysses: Mac/iOS only. Obsidian: Mac/Win/Linux/iOS/Android. Atticus: browser, so works anywhere but no offline desktop app. Word: Mac/Win/iOS plus web, no Linux desktop. Google Docs: web + iOS/Android, no offline desktop binary.

Live encrypted co-writing — real-time co-edit with end-to-end encryption

Live co-writing ships post-1.0 via Vault. Word and Google Docs both have mature live co-editing, but Microsoft and Google see plaintext on the server — not end-to-end encrypted. No novelist app offers encrypted live co-edit today.

No telemetry on your work

Trove sends no telemetry. Scrivener, Ulysses and Obsidian collect minimal usage data at most. Atticus, Word and Google Docs all collect or process content under their respective terms — read the current TOS for your tier.

Plain Markdown library you own — readable in any editor, no proprietary database

Obsidian and Trove both store plain Markdown on disk. Ulysses uses Markdown inside its own library; Scrivener wraps RTF inside .scriv; Atticus is a browser app; Word saves OOXML; Google Docs is cloud-native.

Local-first storage — files live on your disk, no account required

Ulysses defaults to an iCloud library; Atticus is browser-only and needs an account. Word runs offline but the Microsoft 365 default pushes an account; Google Docs requires a Google account.

Pay-once pricing — no subscription required

Ulysses is subscription-only. Obsidian is free for personal use; sync and Publish are paid add-ons. Scrivener and Atticus are one-off purchases. Word is sold mainly as a Microsoft 365 subscription with a perpetual Office license as the minority option. Google Docs is free for personal use; Workspace is subscription.

End-to-end encrypted sync — only you can read it

Ulysses syncs via iCloud (plaintext on Apple servers). Obsidian Sync stores plaintext on Obsidian servers. Scrivener and Atticus have no first-party sync. Word/OneDrive and Google Docs are encrypted in transit and at rest but the provider holds the keys.

Novelist structure built in — binder, corkboard, folio, snapshots

Obsidian has community plugins (Longform, Novel Plugin) but nothing first-party. Ulysses is a Markdown writing app without project/novel structure. Word and Google Docs are general-purpose word processors with no novelist scaffolding.

Worldbuilding — typed entities, codex, atlas, relationship graph

Scrivener has character/place sheets. Obsidian can model anything via plugins but is not novelist-aware. Atticus has light character/setting fields. Word and Google Docs have no worldbuilding features.

Cross-platform — Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad

Scrivener: Mac/Win/iOS, no Linux. Ulysses: Mac/iOS only. Obsidian: Mac/Win/Linux/iOS/Android. Atticus: browser, so works anywhere but no offline desktop app. Word: Mac/Win/iOS plus web, no Linux desktop. Google Docs: web + iOS/Android, no offline desktop binary.

Live encrypted co-writing — real-time co-edit with end-to-end encryption

Live co-writing ships post-1.0 via Vault. Word and Google Docs both have mature live co-editing, but Microsoft and Google see plaintext on the server — not end-to-end encrypted. No novelist app offers encrypted live co-edit today.

No telemetry on your work

Trove sends no telemetry. Scrivener, Ulysses and Obsidian collect minimal usage data at most. Atticus, Word and Google Docs all collect or process content under their respective terms — read the current TOS for your tier.

Plain Markdown library you own — readable in any editor, no proprietary database

Obsidian and Trove both store plain Markdown on disk. Ulysses uses Markdown inside its own library; Scrivener wraps RTF inside .scriv; Atticus is a browser app; Word saves OOXML; Google Docs is cloud-native.

Local-first storage — files live on your disk, no account required

Ulysses defaults to an iCloud library; Atticus is browser-only and needs an account. Word runs offline but the Microsoft 365 default pushes an account; Google Docs requires a Google account.

Pay-once pricing — no subscription required

Ulysses is subscription-only. Obsidian is free for personal use; sync and Publish are paid add-ons. Scrivener and Atticus are one-off purchases. Word is sold mainly as a Microsoft 365 subscription with a perpetual Office license as the minority option. Google Docs is free for personal use; Workspace is subscription.

End-to-end encrypted sync — only you can read it

Ulysses syncs via iCloud (plaintext on Apple servers). Obsidian Sync stores plaintext on Obsidian servers. Scrivener and Atticus have no first-party sync. Word/OneDrive and Google Docs are encrypted in transit and at rest but the provider holds the keys.

Novelist structure built in — binder, corkboard, folio, snapshots

Obsidian has community plugins (Longform, Novel Plugin) but nothing first-party. Ulysses is a Markdown writing app without project/novel structure. Word and Google Docs are general-purpose word processors with no novelist scaffolding.

Worldbuilding — typed entities, codex, atlas, relationship graph

Scrivener has character/place sheets. Obsidian can model anything via plugins but is not novelist-aware. Atticus has light character/setting fields. Word and Google Docs have no worldbuilding features.

Cross-platform — Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad

Scrivener: Mac/Win/iOS, no Linux. Ulysses: Mac/iOS only. Obsidian: Mac/Win/Linux/iOS/Android. Atticus: browser, so works anywhere but no offline desktop app. Word: Mac/Win/iOS plus web, no Linux desktop. Google Docs: web + iOS/Android, no offline desktop binary.

Live encrypted co-writing — real-time co-edit with end-to-end encryption

Live co-writing ships post-1.0 via Vault. Word and Google Docs both have mature live co-editing, but Microsoft and Google see plaintext on the server — not end-to-end encrypted. No novelist app offers encrypted live co-edit today.

No telemetry on your work

Trove sends no telemetry. Scrivener, Ulysses and Obsidian collect minimal usage data at most. Atticus, Word and Google Docs all collect or process content under their respective terms — read the current TOS for your tier.

Plain Markdown library you own — readable in any editor, no proprietary database

Obsidian and Trove both store plain Markdown on disk. Ulysses uses Markdown inside its own library; Scrivener wraps RTF inside .scriv; Atticus is a browser app; Word saves OOXML; Google Docs is cloud-native.

Local-first storage — files live on your disk, no account required

Ulysses defaults to an iCloud library; Atticus is browser-only and needs an account. Word runs offline but the Microsoft 365 default pushes an account; Google Docs requires a Google account.

Pay-once pricing — no subscription required

Ulysses is subscription-only. Obsidian is free for personal use; sync and Publish are paid add-ons. Scrivener and Atticus are one-off purchases. Word is sold mainly as a Microsoft 365 subscription with a perpetual Office license as the minority option. Google Docs is free for personal use; Workspace is subscription.

End-to-end encrypted sync — only you can read it

Ulysses syncs via iCloud (plaintext on Apple servers). Obsidian Sync stores plaintext on Obsidian servers. Scrivener and Atticus have no first-party sync. Word/OneDrive and Google Docs are encrypted in transit and at rest but the provider holds the keys.

Novelist structure built in — binder, corkboard, folio, snapshots

Obsidian has community plugins (Longform, Novel Plugin) but nothing first-party. Ulysses is a Markdown writing app without project/novel structure. Word and Google Docs are general-purpose word processors with no novelist scaffolding.

Worldbuilding — typed entities, codex, atlas, relationship graph

Scrivener has character/place sheets. Obsidian can model anything via plugins but is not novelist-aware. Atticus has light character/setting fields. Word and Google Docs have no worldbuilding features.

Cross-platform — Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad

Scrivener: Mac/Win/iOS, no Linux. Ulysses: Mac/iOS only. Obsidian: Mac/Win/Linux/iOS/Android. Atticus: browser, so works anywhere but no offline desktop app. Word: Mac/Win/iOS plus web, no Linux desktop. Google Docs: web + iOS/Android, no offline desktop binary.

Live encrypted co-writing — real-time co-edit with end-to-end encryption

Live co-writing ships post-1.0 via Vault. Word and Google Docs both have mature live co-editing, but Microsoft and Google see plaintext on the server — not end-to-end encrypted. No novelist app offers encrypted live co-edit today.

No telemetry on your work

Trove sends no telemetry. Scrivener, Ulysses and Obsidian collect minimal usage data at most. Atticus, Word and Google Docs all collect or process content under their respective terms — read the current TOS for your tier.

Plain Markdown library you own — readable in any editor, no proprietary database

Obsidian and Trove both store plain Markdown on disk. Ulysses uses Markdown inside its own library; Scrivener wraps RTF inside .scriv; Atticus is a browser app; Word saves OOXML; Google Docs is cloud-native.

Local-first storage — files live on your disk, no account required

Ulysses defaults to an iCloud library; Atticus is browser-only and needs an account. Word runs offline but the Microsoft 365 default pushes an account; Google Docs requires a Google account.

Pay-once pricing — no subscription required

Ulysses is subscription-only. Obsidian is free for personal use; sync and Publish are paid add-ons. Scrivener and Atticus are one-off purchases. Word is sold mainly as a Microsoft 365 subscription with a perpetual Office license as the minority option. Google Docs is free for personal use; Workspace is subscription.

End-to-end encrypted sync — only you can read it

Ulysses syncs via iCloud (plaintext on Apple servers). Obsidian Sync stores plaintext on Obsidian servers. Scrivener and Atticus have no first-party sync. Word/OneDrive and Google Docs are encrypted in transit and at rest but the provider holds the keys.

Novelist structure built in — binder, corkboard, folio, snapshots

Obsidian has community plugins (Longform, Novel Plugin) but nothing first-party. Ulysses is a Markdown writing app without project/novel structure. Word and Google Docs are general-purpose word processors with no novelist scaffolding.

Worldbuilding — typed entities, codex, atlas, relationship graph

Scrivener has character/place sheets. Obsidian can model anything via plugins but is not novelist-aware. Atticus has light character/setting fields. Word and Google Docs have no worldbuilding features.

Cross-platform — Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad

Scrivener: Mac/Win/iOS, no Linux. Ulysses: Mac/iOS only. Obsidian: Mac/Win/Linux/iOS/Android. Atticus: browser, so works anywhere but no offline desktop app. Word: Mac/Win/iOS plus web, no Linux desktop. Google Docs: web + iOS/Android, no offline desktop binary.

Live encrypted co-writing — real-time co-edit with end-to-end encryption

Live co-writing ships post-1.0 via Vault. Word and Google Docs both have mature live co-editing, but Microsoft and Google see plaintext on the server — not end-to-end encrypted. No novelist app offers encrypted live co-edit today.

No telemetry on your work

Trove sends no telemetry. Scrivener, Ulysses and Obsidian collect minimal usage data at most. Atticus, Word and Google Docs all collect or process content under their respective terms — read the current TOS for your tier.