Best Drafting Writing Apps in 2026

Werdsmith turns your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch into a powerful writing studio that inspires you to write. With features to motivate you and help you break through writer‘s block, you‘ll find yourself writing more than ever.

Platforms: iPad, Mac, iPhone

Best for: Drafting, Book, Story, Poetry, and Free

Website: https://werdsmith.com/

Also rated 4.7 ★ on the App Store

Scrivener is the go-to app for writers of all kinds, used every day by best-selling novelists, screenwriters, non-fiction writers, students, academics, lawyers, journalists, translators and more.

Platforms: Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, PC

Best for: Outlining, Drafting, Editing, Publishing, Book, and Story

Website: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview

Also rated 4.0 ★ on Reedsy

Still looking for the perfect app to write your novel? Novelist might just be the perfect tool for the job!

Platforms: Android, iPhone, iPad, Online

Best for: Outlining, Worldbuilding, Drafting, Story, Book, and Free

Website: https://www.novelist.app/

LibreOffice is a free and powerful office suite, and a successor to OpenOffice.org (commonly known as OpenOffice). Its clean interface and feature-rich tools help you unleash your creativity and enhance your productivity.

Platforms: Mac, Windows, PC

Best for: Drafting, Book, Essay, Journal, Poetry, Story, Blog, and Free

Website: https://www.libreoffice.org/

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar

Do you have a story to tell? Unlike conventional word processors, Storyist helps you track your plot, characters, and settings, and keeps all of your writing organized and accessible—so you can focus on telling your story.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad

Best for: Outlining, Drafting, Book, and Story

Website: https://storyist.com/

Also rated 4.0 ★ on PC Magazine

Create documents, make impact. When your work needs to wow, Craft gives you the tools to make it magnificent.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Online, PC

Best for: Note-taking, Drafting, Journal, Essay, Blog, and Free

Website: https://www.craft.do/

Also rated 4.9 ★ on the App Store

The only writing platform with unlimited potential through project management, collaboration, and publishing.

Platforms: Online, Chrome

Best for: Outlining, Drafting, Book, and Story

Website: https://www.squibler.io/

Step-by-step guided essay-writing directions written by a college English professor and includes explanations and examples to help you write a college-level essay including the following: introduction paragraph, supporting paragraphs, and conclusion paragraph.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad

Best for: Outlining, Drafting, and Essay

Website: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/guided-essay-writer/id11731...

Also rated 5.0 ★ on the App Store

Writing can be so much fun when our creative juices are flowing. Cultivating this flow is why ilys exists -- to release within you a gushing torrent of latent creative-potential as your writing explodes through the box that once constrained it.

Platforms: Online

Best for: Drafting, Book, Story, and Poetry

Website: https://www.ilys.com/welcome

Lists for Writers is a great addition to any writer’s toolbox. Helpful to both novice and expert writers alike, this app delivers list after list of prompts and ideas for your brainstorming sessions: names, character traits, plot lines, occupations, obsessions, action verbs, and much more!

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Android

Best for: Note-taking, Outlining, Drafting, Book, Story, and Essay

Website: https://thinkamingo.com/lists-for-writers/

Also rated 4.7 ★ on the App Store

FocusWriter is a simple, distraction-free writing environment. It utilizes a hide-away interface that you access by moving your mouse to the edges of the screen, allowing the program to have a familiar look and feel to it while still getting out of the way so that you can immerse yourself in your work.

Platforms: Windows, PC

Best for: Drafting, Book, Essay, Journal, Poetry, Story, Blog, and Free

Website: https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar

Writemonkey is a Windows zenware writing application with an extremely stripped down user interface, leaving you alone with your thoughts and your words. It is light, fast and free.

Platforms: Windows, PC, Mac

Best for: Drafting, Book, Essay, Journal, Poetry, Story, Blog, and Free

Website: https://writemonkey.com/

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar