Scrivener

4.7 (204)
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Content creation software for creative and academic writers

About Scrivener

Scrivener is a content creation and editing software that helps novelists, academicians, screenwriters, non-fiction writers, lawyers, translators, and journalists create manuscripts, set goals, track project completion status, and edit text, among other operations. The corkboard functionality lets content developers create index cards to plan and arrange the content creation process according to individual preferences and requirements.

Scrivener allows novelists to format text, highlight specific phrases, post comments, add annotations, create lists, and insert images during text editing processes. With the outliner tool, users can view chapter overviews, check word counts, review synopsis, and arrange drafts in multiple custom folders and subfolders. The split screen module enables writers to open and view multiple documents on a single screen, streamlining research, translating, and transcribing processes.

Administrators can use Scrivener to create project templates, add custom project icons, and define creative and academic content writing formats, such as MLA, scriptwriting, and APA. It also lets professionals set targets, view writing history, monitor keyword usage, and create status tracking labels.

Scrivener facilitates integration with MathType and allows users to export created content in multiple file formats, including Microsoft Word, PDF, RTF, and OpenOffice. It also lets writers schedule automatic backups and conduct manuscript revisions using the version comparison tool.


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Scrivener Software - Scrivener multi-document viewing
Scrivener Software - Scrivener outliner
Scrivener Software - Scrivener virtual corckboard
Scrivener Software - Scrivener main interface
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Scrivener Software - Scrivener multi-document viewing
Scrivener Software - Scrivener outliner
Scrivener Software - Scrivener virtual corckboard
Scrivener Software - Scrivener main interface

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Starting Price

US$49.00
one-time
US$12.00
month

Pricing Options

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Features

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Integrations

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Ease of Use

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Value for Money

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Reviews

Overall rating

4.7 /5
(204)
Value for Money
4.6/5
Features
4.6/5
Ease of Use
3.9/5
Customer Support
4.3/5

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Showing 5 reviews of 204
Stuart
Stuart
Overall rating
  • Industry: Writing & Editing
  • Company size: Self Employed
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

I'm beyond impressed!

Reviewed on 2021/11/18

Scrivener is my go-to app for writing my novels and screenplays. It allows me to organize all of my...

Scrivener is my go-to app for writing my novels and screenplays. It allows me to organize all of my work in one place, and with the ability to save different drafts, I never have to worry about losing anything. With Scrivener, I can easily find the information I need. The interface is intuitive and easy to understand, and it is always available on all of my devices.

Pros

The organisational capabilities of both writing and research are invaluable. And the compile feature, once you get it set up, is astonishingly powerful and, with a bit of work, as good as Vellum.

Cons

It can take a while to learn Scrivener's unique features, but if you take the time, you'll find there's a lot more going on than you see at first. If there's one thing that bugs me is that the compile functions in Scrivener 3 are difficult compared to version 2.

Julie
Overall rating
  • Industry: Writing & Editing
  • Company size: Self Employed
  • Used Weekly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Scrivener is the gold standard of writing software

Reviewed on 2023/09/26

I've been using Scrivener for years. I like that it's flexible in that I can use the features that...

I've been using Scrivener for years. I like that it's flexible in that I can use the features that I find helpful and not worry about ones I don't need.

Pros

Scrivener is as easy or complicated to use as you want it to be. You can get started quickly, then learn more about it's more advanced features as you need them.

Cons

About the only thing I don't like about it is that it's rather dull visually. For some people, however, this might be a plus, as it isn't distracting when you're writing.

Howard
Overall rating
  • Industry: Writing & Editing
  • Company size: Self Employed
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

Authoring tools: still some way to go

Reviewed on 2021/09/17

My impression is that most software for authors is designed by IT people with insufficient...

My impression is that most software for authors is designed by IT people with insufficient collaboration with authors. Scrivener appears to be an exception. Basic writing, scene organisation, editing are all 10/10 fine, but for anything below the surface, users can expect an arduous learning curve. While I congratulate the designers, I admit to not liking Scrivener - but it is the best of the bunch.

Pros

Excellent user manual. Broad adoption in many countries and active support community. Good for keeping research, notes, images with the manuscript. Good backup features, saving as draft to DropBox for use on Android and auto-syncing back to PC. I've tried many other authoring programs and LibreOffice and Word, and find Scrivener suits my requirements best. I've used it for two books of 80,000 words.

Cons

Seems to be designed primarily for Mac users. Windows version works OK, but there's no Android version. Compiling process is complex and, as yet, I've not mastered it. Indexing and contents pages with page numbers is a process that gives me nightmares. Settings configuration and interface are very unintuitive. Again, I haven't mastered these.

Bakari
Bakari
Overall rating
  • Industry: Writing & Editing
  • Company size: Self Employed
  • Used Monthly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Great for managing writing and research projects

Reviewed on 2022/05/26

My overall experience with Scrivener is positive. I like that it's not a subscriber-based applicatio...

My overall experience with Scrivener is positive. I like that it's not a subscriber-based application, and I can access it on both my desktop and iOS devices.

Pros

I've used Scrivener for several years for my long-form writing projects. What I like about it most is that it enables me to manage my writing, research, and ideas all in one place. I can organize my research and track notes, store my drafts and ideas, and save them all in one place. When the developers created an iOS version of Scrivener, it enabled me to read my writing on my iPad as if I were reading on printed paper. Scrivener has tons of features, but I particularly like the Typewriter Mode feature that keeps the line of text in a fixed position on my screen so I don't have to keep scrolling up as I type. The ability to filter sections and drafts of writing is also helpful. I can label sections of writing any way I want. And finally, Scrivener also allows for exporting documents to various formats, including ePub. Scrivener takes a while to learn, but it's highly useful for serious writers.

Cons

The export features are complicated, but there's plenty of documentation to show to use it.

Przemek
Przemek
Overall rating
  • Industry: Translation & Localization
  • Company size: Self Employed
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Productivity and focus booster

Reviewed on 2022/06/27

Pros

Scrivener is without a doubt one of the richest app function-wise on the. market. It is actually so powerful and rich that most of its functions require extensive research. It is so powerful that if you are thinking of a function you need, Scrivener will most probably have it – you just need to look for it.

Cons

What I don't like about it is mostly related to the abundance and wealth of options it offers. The learning curve is really a long one and it requires research and finding out in order to really discover every single option there is.

Showing 5 reviews of 204 Read all reviews

Scrivener FAQs

Below are some frequently asked questions for Scrivener.

Scrivener offers the following pricing plans:

  • Starting from: US$49.00/one-time
  • Free Trial: Available

Scrivener is available on a perpetual license across multiple bundles, outlined below. It also offers a 30-days free trial. MacOS: Standard: $51.95 (? 3,890) Educational: $44.88 (? 3,360.50) Windows: Standard: $51.95 (? 3,890) Educational: $44.88 (? 3,360.50) iOS: $19.99 Windows + MacOS Bundle: $86.83 (?6,500)

Scrivener has the following typical customers:

Self Employed, 2–10, 11–50, 51–200, 201–500, 501–1,000, 1,001–5,000

Scrivener supports the following languages:

English

Scrivener supports the following devices:

iPhone (Mobile)

We do not have any information about what integrations Scrivener has

Scrivener offers the following support options:

Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Phone Support

Related categories

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