The Best 50 Free Writing Software And Free Writing Apps
Writers are spoiled for choice when it comes to free writing software, tools, and free writing apps.
Are you a blogger, author, content writer, or student?
You want the best creative writing tools and software that will do the job for you.
But you don’t want to pay a lot of money to be able to write more effectively. Read on to discover all the choices you have for software, programs, and apps to help you write better and more productively.
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Your free tools and software choices
There is no need for you to spend a penny to get some of the best free writing programs to help you write more productively and accurately.
You can choose and try so many terrific writing programs and tools today. You will find that most of them are unrestricted and will cost you nothing to use.
If you are looking for new apps and tools to improve your writing, you have come to the right place.
This page is regularly updated to bring you the biggest choice of free software and apps for writers.
It includes free writing apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux users.
You can find creative writing apps, grammar checking apps, word processors, mind maps, index cards, book writing programs, and productivity tools.
All of them will help you get on with what you do best, which is writing, of course.
There are also many lite versions of popular premium apps available that can offer you tons of fantastic features.
I have tried almost all the writing tools and apps in this article and use a lot of them every day.
Find the best free writing software and apps for you
You can find lots of writing software online, but you want writing apps that work best for you and your writing process and style.
With online writing software, I always start with a free version to make sure a new app does what I want it to do.
Very often, a free app will do everything I need.
But yes, sometimes I opt for a premium version to get all the features if it is really a fantastic tool.
It doesn’t matter if you are an author, a blogger, or an article writer.
Choosing the best tools for your writing needs will save you time, effort, and lots of money.
Free apps and writing software for students are a huge bonus.
They will help you at school, college, or university.
For every type of writer, here are some of the very best free-to-use and freemium apps for you to make your choice.
Scan through my list of the best free writing software and apps below.
See if you can find a few new favorites to download for your laptop or to use online.
Please note that all the apps and software listed on this page are free to use.
However, some are a free version of a premium application, and in this case, the free version may be limited in features.
6 Free writing apps for accuracy
The most essential writing app you always need must be a reliable grammar corrector and a spellchecker.
There are a lot of online apps to check, correct, and improve your writing.
For every writer, the options will be different depending on your writing style and needs. There is no one best or better choice.
Some writers might only need a simple online checker for blog posts, articles, or essays.
But for a content writer or author, it is different. You are probably looking for more developed programs and options.
In my case, I always use two programs to check my writing.
I use one for grammar and spelling and another for writing style and readability. It always pays to check and double-check your writing and sentence structure before you publish it online.
Here are six of the most popular free grammar apps to get you on your way. Each one will help you improve the quality and accuracy of your writing.
Try them all to see which one or two work best for you and your style or type of writing.
1. Hemingway Editor – Free
I have a love-hate relationship with the Hemmingway Editor app.
The love is due to how quick and easy it is to check my readability score and grade.
The negative is that it always tells me to simplify my writing. It hates the passive voice, but that’s a good thing.
It is also a great tool for finding overused adverbs and difficult to read sentences.
It’s a simple app. But if you are looking for a free writing assistant, it is one of the handiest tools a writer can have at their fingertips.
You can choose which Hemingway mode to use – either write or edit.
The online version is very convenient for checking up to a page or so of text. It gives helpful hints to improve your writing.
It’s one of the must-have free apps for any writer.
There is a paid version, but I am not sure it offers much value.
2. QuillBot – Free
QuillBot Grammar Checker is a quick and easy free tool you can use to check your manuscript.
One of the best features is that you can use one-click corrections to fix your grammar, punctuation, and spelling very quickly.
Another advantage is that it has a generous word count limit. I tested it with a text of over 2,000 words, and it quickly analyzed all of my text.
You can probably check one chapter at a time with the tool.
You can check each underlined suggestion and make a quick correction. But it also has a “Fix All Errors” button.
I’m not sure I would trust it for a long text. But it could be useful for a shorter text.
To use the checker, simply paste in your text, or you can use it as an editor and type your text.
When you finish correcting your writing, copy and paste it into your word processor.
Quillbot has other features, but these are only available with the premium version.
However, the grammar checker is totally free to use and is an excellent tool for checking and correcting your writing.
There is also a free Chrome extension you can try.
3. ChatGPT – Free and Premium
ChatGPT has to be on my list of free writing tools, but why is it under apps for accuracy?
Yes, it is a valuable and free tool for writers. You can use it as a writing prompt generator to inspire and generate ideas for new stories or articles.
You need only include keywords or phrases related to the topic you want to write about. ChatGTP will respond with various ideas and writing points to help you.
But you might not know that it can also help you correct your grammar and spelling.
All you need to do is start your prompt with, check the grammar and spelling: then paste your text.
It will rewrite your text with the corrections.
You can also ask it to do other things. Ask it to change passive to active voice , and it will rewrite your text in all active voice.
Another use is to ask it to rewrite your text in a different point of view. Just ask it to rewrite in the second person .
However, don’t rely on it 100%.
It does an excellent job most of the time, but it doesn’t always get everything right, so make sure you proofread carefully.
AI writing tools are everywhere now, so writers can’t ignore them.
The free version of ChatGPT offers plenty of options with very few limitations.
So it’s probably one of the best tools to start learning how to use AI technology to help you with your ideas and writing accuracy.
Read more about how to use ChatGPT to correct your writing .
4. Grammarly – Free and Premium
Without a doubt, Grammarly is the number one online grammar checker.
For a lot of writers, it’s one of the best writing apps around.
I have used Grammarly for years now.
It is one online writing tool that I always have switched on in Chrome to use with my WordPress editor.
It works with so many sites, platforms, software, and applications. So it is always on and always helping me correct my writing in real-time.
Grammarly has a desktop app. It also has a plugin for Word in Microsoft Office for PC users.
You can use it in any web browser, with WordPress, and even on your social media sites. It also works on mobile devices as well as with an iOS Grammarly Keyboard app.
There is also support for Google Docs, but this feature is still in beta.
No matter what, when, or where you write, Grammarly will always help you write better and more accurately.
The browser version of Grammarly works very well for most users. However, a premium version is available for more advanced features to help you in your writing process.
You can read more in my Grammarly review .
5. Prowritingaid – Free and Premium
Prowritingaid is one of my favorite writing checkers for long-form writing.
You can use the free version of ProWritingAid.
It offers you a lot of functionality to help you write more accurately online using a simple Chrome extension to check your grammar and spelling.
Are you an author? Then you should consider all the editing and checking tools that are available with this app.
It is a superb writing aid for authors and writers of long-form content articles.
The premium version includes over twenty different writing analysis tools and reports. These will give you a wide range of suggestions for improving your writing.
There are also easy to use extensions available for Chrome, Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and Scrivener too.
It is my number one go-to editing tool when I need to work intensively on very long documents such as long-form articles or book manuscripts.
You can also read my full Prowritingaid review.
6. Grammar Lookup – Free
Grammar Lookup is another good choice for an online grammar-checking app.
I used 3,000 words from one of my book manuscripts to test the app.
It started checking for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors almost immediately. It is a good app for checking short-form writing, such as blog posts and short stories.
If you’re looking for a robust grammar app with a generous word limit, this one is well worth trying.
Again, like a lot of online writing tools, it is ad-supported.
12 Free word processors
The first name writers associate with word processing is almost always Microsoft Word.
Many writers, bloggers, and authors use it as their default writing tool, but it is definitely not cheap.
Depending on your country, the annual license for Office 356 can range from $60 – $100.
If you want to buy the one-time purchase version, which is called Office Home & Student, it can cost you as much as $150.
Microsoft Office is, as its name implies, software for office use. It includes Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, and other programs. You will never use these software programs for creative writing.
Do you need to pay for all these extra programs to have a word processor to write a blog post, article, or short story?
What is the best word processor for writers? Are there any free alternatives equal to Word?
Yes. If you want to write, you can always find great word processors that cost you nothing to use. Often they come with many other options and tools that are better suited for writers.
Most of them will be suitable for your writing goals and any form of short creative writing project.
But you should note that a word processor is not the best app for writing a book. You can find better programs for authors in the next section of this article.
1. Google Docs – Free
Like Microsoft Office, Google Docs is a suite of office tools. The big difference, of course, is that Google Docs is available for free online.
If you are familiar with Word, you will have no problem adapting to Docs, the word processor component.
All the formatting options are very similar, as is the user interface.
Unlike some word processors, Docs has a word count so you can keep track of your word count goal.
I know that many writers, particularly content writers, use Google Docs because of the simplicity of sharing documents online.
Writing projects can be quickly and easily shared using Google Drive, which comes with 5 gigabytes of storage. It is usually plenty of storage space for writers. You can also use Docs offline .
If you write every day and collaborate with other writers, content editors, proofreaders, or editors, Google Docs allows you to collaborate easily.
There is no need to know what file format or program others are using.
As long as each person has a Google account, and who doesn’t, working together is very easy.
2. Apple Pages for Mac Users – Free
If you are a Mac user and all you need is a word processor, Apple Pages can handle everything you could possibly need to do.
It really is the best free writing software for Mac.
Like Word, you can start with a blank document or use the template chooser.
Word processing in the page layout document view is easy to work with. All the text formatting, fonts, and writing tools are easy to find and use.
There is a spell checker, word and page count , and track change with an add comments option.
It also auto-saves directly to your hard drive or your iCloud drive when you are online. There is also the file duplicate function. It gives you very easy version control of your revisions and edits.
It is difficult to think of a standard feature or function in Word that is not available in Pages documents.
Pages also shines in one other area. It has much more control over images than Word.
One other big plus with Pages for authors is that you can export directly to epub. You don’t need to convert your file formats into another program.
Pages is one of the best writing programs for Mac users.
There is also a mobile app for iPad and iPhone. You can download it from the Mac App Store.
Related reading: Can Apple Pages Replace Microsoft Word For Mac?
3. MS Notepad and Mac TextEdit – Free
These two writing programs are already under your noses. They are installed by default on Windows and Apple computers.
They are both ideal little apps for writing blogs or short articles.
However, they are both worthy of mention because of their usefulness in converting to plain text.
Most word processors can add a lot of background code over the time you take to write a long document.
Cut and pasting, saving, deletions, forgotten tabs and spaces, and formatting changes all add up to a lot that can go wrong.
Because of all this code, there is a chance that the text might have issues when used online. This can be especially true if you use WordPress or publish ebooks.
The quickest and easiest way to clean a document, big or small, is to copy all the text into a plain text editor such as Notepad or TextEdit. Then, you can convert everything to plain text.
Then you can copy back the clean text into your blog editor or word processor for ebook formatting.
4. Libre Office – Free
I used Open Office for many years. It is an open-source project and is still available.
However, many writers now favor Libre Office.
These two office suites branched from the same development stable, so they have a lot of similarities.
Learning to work with Writer, which is the word processor, is easy.
However, it uses traditional and straightforward menus, toolbars, and icons but does not have the ribbon function found in Word.
In some ways, this is a good thing because it lets you get on with the writing process instead of hunting in ribbons for buttons.
If you want a word processor, and that’s all, Writer in Libre Office won’t disappoint you.
5. Word Online – Free
Microsoft Word Online is a free web browser version of Word.
You can create, edit, and share Word documents, but it comes with relatively basic features compared to the paid desktop version.
But for students and part-time writers, it’s a handy free alternative.
One benefit is that you can use it on any device with a web browser, including computers, tablets, and smartphones.
You will need to create a Microsoft account, which is free. You also get 5GB of free storage.
Overall, it’s a worthwhile option for users who want a free and easy-to-use word processing software similar to Google Docs.
6. WPS Office – Free Edition
If you have used Microsoft Word or Google Docs, then you can work with WPS Office immediately.
Like other alternative word processors, it has all the standard features you would expect, and it works with most file types.
One of its key features is that it allows drag-and-drop paragraphs, which can be practical at times.
Another time-saving yet straightforward feature of WPS is tabbed documents.
While Excel has had this for years, Word has never had it, so working on two documents simultaneously is much more efficient in WPS.
WPS also has a cloud storage service with 1G for PC and iOS.
7. SoftMaker Free Office – Free
Free Office gets a mention because it can export .epub. It is a convenient tool for self-publishers.
TextMaker is the word processor in this office suite.
However, unless you opt for the premium version, you cannot save in docx format.
But you can open and edit docx files.
Apart from that inconvenience, it has all the advanced features you would expect in a modern word processor.
It comes with advanced formatting options, the ability to create databases for bibliographies and footnotes, as well as track change.
8. Dropbox Paper – Free
All you need is your free Dropbox account to use Dropbox Paper .
It is a word processor, but there is so much more you can do with this app.
The design is clean and simple, but there are so many features at your fingertips.
As well as being a text editor, you can add audio, images, YouTube videos, Slideshare documents, and Trello cards.
It really is a great free writing app for you to create documents and then share them with your team or online.
9. Focus Writer – Free
FocusWriter is a simple, distraction-free writing environment.
It uses a full-screen hide-away interface that you access by moving your mouse to the edges of the screen.
It allows the program to have a familiar look and feel to it. But by getting everything out of the way, you can immerse yourself in your work.
It’s available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.
10. Calmly Writer – Free
Calmly Writer has been designed to help you focus on writing.
As you start typing, all the distracting options disappear from the interface.
Calmly also includes a “focus mode” option, which highlights only the paragraph you are editing at the time.
If you are a writing minimalist, it could be a good choice for you.
It is a browser-based app, and there is a Chrome extension available.
11. Zoho Writer – Free
Zoho Writer is an online alternative to Microsoft Word.
You can sync between your PC or Mac, iPhone, Android, or iPad.
Almost everything you do in Word, you can do with this word processor. There are even collaboration tools.
You can import your existing Word documents and get to work.
There is also a plugin to link your Zoho documents to Word.
That’s not a bad deal for at all a gratis online writing tool.
12. Scribus – Free
Scribus is an open-source program for desktop publishing.
It gets a mention here because it is such a feature-rich cross-platform program.
Scribus is a page layout and desktop publishing program for Linux, FreeBSD, PC-BSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, OpenIndiana, Debian GNU/Hurd, Mac OS X, OS/2 Warp 4, eComStation, Haiku, and Windows.
Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK colors, spot colors, ICC color management, and versatile PDF creation.
Perhaps it is not a choice for most authors and bloggers. But you might have a desktop publishing need one day.
4 Free book writing apps
Are you ready to start writing a book? You need to hunt a little to find good writing programs for writing books and novels.
A writing app or author software for a book is entirely different from a word processor.
The best book writing programs consist of many elements.
You need plot timelines, character builders, and event tracking. It should also include note-taking and research-pinning tools.
Here are four of the best free book apps for writing, formatting, and publishing your books or ebooks.
There is a link to seven more free book writing programs at the end of this list.
1. Shaxpir – Free and Premium
For a dedicated book writing tool, Shaxpir gives you a lot of features in its free version.
The Manuscript Builder uses drag-and-drop tools to rearrange your manuscript. You can change the order and hierarchy of chapters and scenes. So you can find a structure that works for you.
You can set your goals and track your progress. You can also keep detailed notes about your characters, places, and events.
It also allows you to add margin comments as well as collect concept art.
There is also an in-built spellchecker.
As far as a book writing program or author app goes, Shaxpir offers you a huge range of features.
It is available for Mac and PC with offline and cloud access.
2. Scrivener – Free Trial
Although Scrivener is not free, I have to include It in this list of apps because there is a generous trial available.
Scrivener is one of the best book writing software tools for authors and screenwriters.
It has an outliner for chapters and scenes, a corkboard, and index cards.
There is also side-by-side viewing, word count targets, and a full-screen editor, along with print, export, and publishing tools. It has everything any writer could ever need.
There is a 30-day trial period offered by Scrivener.
However, the trial period is counted by the days that you use the software. So, if you use it every second day, your trial period will last 60 days.
If you only write at the weekend, it will last you for a good few months.
Scrivener is available for download for both Windows and Mac. There are also iOS apps for iPhone and iPad.
To access your trial, click the Download Trial link.
3. Calibre Ebook Tool
Calibre is often called the Swiss Army Knife of ebook formatting tools.
There is so much you can do with Calibre.
But for most new authors, you will use it to convert your Word manuscript to mobi, epub, and pdf.
If you have some technical ability, you can also edit the epub or HTML files of your ebook.
It really is one of the most powerful ebook tools for authors.
It is available for download for PC, Mac, and Linux.
4. Kindle Create – Free
If you are a self-publishing author on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Kindle Create is a must-have app for you to use.
The program has improved a lot over the last couple of years. Initially, it was a little unstable, and its primary function was to help you format a Kindle book.
But stability is much better now, and Amazon has been slowly adding new features since it merged Createspace into KDP.
Kindle Create can now format both ebooks and paperback books. However, this latest option is still in beta.
It is so easy to format beautiful ebooks using Kindle Create.
Do you want more free book writing software?
Are you trying to find the best apps for writing your book?
Do you want the best novel writing tool that can help you work on individual chapters and scenes?
Here are seven choices for apps and free writing programs for you that are specifically designed for writing your book.
Read our review of nine free book writing programs for authors.
7 Free apps for bloggers
Are you a content writer or blogger? You need to work with ideas, keywords, data, headlines, and images all day long.
It pays to stay one step ahead of your competition. You are continually working on improving your content, search engine optimization (SEO), and SERP rankings.
There is no way you can do all this work without having the best tools for the job at hand.
Make your life a little easier with some of these blogging apps to help you write and rank better.
Here is a choice of seven of the best blogging tools for busy content writers and bloggers. All of them will save you hours of work every day.
1. Fyrebox – Free and Premium
You’re writing lots of content for your blog.
But wouldn’t it be great if you could engage your readers a little more in your post topics?
Well, you can with Fyrebox by creating a free interactive quiz.
All you need to do is create your free account, and then you can start designing your quiz in a few minutes.
There are templates to help you get started with pre-made quizzes for you to personalize.
A quiz is a great way to keep your readers on your blog for much longer by letting them participate in your blog post subject.
2. Hubspot Blog Ideas – Free
Hubspot’s blog topic generator is an old favorite for many writers.
All you need to do is enter a few nouns, and it will produce a list of blog title ideas for you.
It is such a handy tool to have when you are looking for new writing ideas.
3. Portent’s Idea Generator – Free
Do you need a cure for writer’s block?
I adore this blog topic generator app.
Portent is an easy and clever way to find new writing ideas.
It is an app primarily designed for bloggers to find headlines and titles, not a genuine headline analyzer. However, writers can use it to discover new ideas for any piece of writing.
All you have to do is input your base word or words, and then you can select a working title for a new writing prompt.
4. ShareThough Headline Analyser – Free
How engaging is your article headline?
Sharethrough must be my absolute favorite little app. Once you have a blog or article title idea, run it through this app to see how effective it will be in attracting readers’ attention.
You can edit as you go, and the app keeps a record of your variations so you can choose the best one.
The app’s blurb says: “Like the lead paragraph in a news story or thesis in an essay, your headline is your one true sentence: the single most important asset for capturing attention in the feed.”
5. Website Grader – Free
Website Grader is a quick and easy app to help you improve your blog.
Checking and optimizing your blog’s performance is essential if you want to increase your site traffic.
You should make sure that your website is easy for users to discover and easy for search engines to understand.
It is a quick app to check your page titles, headings, and meta descriptions.
It only takes a few seconds to run this performance check of your blog to see if you need to make any improvements.
6. Privacy Policy Generator – Free
Privacy Policy Generator is an app to help you write your privacy policy page for your blog.
You don’t even need to register or give your email address.
It is a time and money saver for all bloggers.
Just add your basic information, and the app will create the full text for your privacy terms.
All blogs should have a policy page about privacy to make sure that your site is GDPR compliant.
7. Canva – Free and Premium
Now, this is not an app for writing articles. So it might not truly belong in a list of blog writing tools and programs.
But Canva is a fantastic tool for promoting your writing.
Canva is a free online tool for creating images.
Because Internet images you find on Google images are very often copyright protected, it is a much better idea to create your own unique images.
You can find and use stock images to upload to Canva that you can then design and transform into a unique image.
You can use Canva to create images for social media promotion, blog posts, Facebook headers, and even quick and dirty ebook covers.
While there is a paid option, the free version offers more than enough images, graphics, icons, shapes, and backgrounds for almost any image creation project.
It’s so useful; I sometimes feel a bit guilty because I use this app almost every day.
10 Free productivity apps
There are so many facets to writing. It would be great if all you had to do were to write.
But we all know that a writer’s life consists of lots of tasks and distractions.
You have to be organized to be able to write. Just collecting and collating your ideas takes a lot of time in your day. Then there is your to-do list and probably a long list of pending items.
It would be great if there was an all-in-one help for a writer’s app. But until it ever eventuates, here is a selection of some of the best productivity apps for writers.
Hopefully, some of them will help you stay organized and perhaps save a little time that you can invest in writing.
1. Trello – Free and Premium
Trello must be one of the most popular apps for writers.
There is so much you can do to organize your writing projects, notes, and to-do lists. You can collaborate and assign tasks, start discussions, and so much more.
Trello is a beautiful as well as highly functional app. It is available for Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, iOS, and Android.
2. Evernote – Free and Premium
Evernote is a popular application for lots of writers. It is one of the most popular note-taking apps, but it is much more.
Never let an idea escape when you are not at your keyboard. You can organize your thoughts, and create checklists and to-do lists.
There is also a handy web clipper that lets you save parts of web pages to help you with your writing research.
The free version comes with more than enough storage memory to suit most writers.
3. OneLook – Free
OneLook lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept.
Your description can be anything at all: a single word, a few words, or even a whole sentence.
Type in your description and hit Enter to see all the related words.
This little writing app is a thesaurus on steroids.
4. Free Pomodoro Timer – Free
If you are a fan of the Pomodoro technique, to improve your productivity, you will need a Pomodoro timer .
There are many apps to choose from online.
But I like this one because it’s easy to set and to read. Nothing fancy, but effective.
5. Read-O-Meter – Free
How long will it take to read your article?
Find out with Read-O-Meter , and then you can add reading time to your blog post or article.
6. Wordcounter – Free
Wordcounter ranks the most frequently used words in your text.
You can use this browser app to see what words you are repeating too often and then make changes.
All you need to do is paste your text into the box. Then this little app will go to work and list all your repetitions.
7. Quetext – Free
Quetext is an online plagiarism checker.
Many paid apps feature checking plagiarism as a premium option.
But with this browser app, you can check your documents anytime you like.
8. Otter V0ice Notes – Free and Premium
Otter is a dictation-to-text app for iOS and Android.
All you need to do is hit the record button, start speaking, and watch your words appear in the app. It even adds in punctuation.
There are many paid and premium dictation apps, but Otter offers a generous free option of 600 minutes a month.
9. Freemind – Free
If you are into mind maps to develop story ideas, here is a software download for you.
Many authors use mind map apps to help write a book by keeping their ideas connected and logical.
Freemind is open-source mind-mapping software built in Java.
It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
It has a wide variety of features, including location-based mind mapping, collaboration tools, restore sessions, and more.
10. DiffChecker – Free
Do you sometimes get into a tangle when editing different versions of a text?
What and when did you make a change? Is it nearly impossible to remember every edit you make?
Well, with DiffChecker , it is easy to compare two versions of a text and find the differences between them.
It is a browser app, but if you want to save your revisions (Diffs), you will need to create an account to log in.
8 Quick mentions
The following software and writing apps are recent additions to this list.
They are not categorized. But all of them could be worth a look to see if they are a match for what you need in an app or program.
As they are quick mentions, you will need to investigate for yourself to see if they might be worthwhile.
1. Kindle Previewer – Free
The Kindle Previewer application is a free desktop program that lets authors preview how their ebooks will appear on all Kindle devices.
It makes it easy to check your ebooks for different screen sizes, display orientations, and text font sizes.
2. Zotero – Free
Zotero is a free and easy-to-use program to help you with sources and citations.
You can collect, organize, cite, and share your research.
You can create references and bibliographies for any text editor directly with Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs.
3. Reedsy Book Editor – Free
It is also a writing program and editor.
4. NaturalReader – Free
It’s often a good idea to read aloud when you proofread a draft text.
But with NaturalReader , you can create mp3 files from your text and then play them back to you. It makes it much easier to check your text for accuracy as you listen.
There is a generous free daily limit of 20 minutes for access to premium voices.
But if you select free voices, there is no restriction.
5. Bubbl.Us – Free
When you want to mind map your ideas, it is easier with an app.
Bubbl.Us is a good choice if you want free mind mapping. You can share your maps with others and even on social media.
6. Pixabay – Free
You’re right; this is not writing software. But I have to include Pixabay because I use it every day to find great free images for my blog.
There are many free stock image sites, but this one is my favorite because the choice of images is enormous.
7. Pixlr – Free
Again, this is not a writing app. But when you need to edit an image for your blog or ebooks, then Pixlr might do the job for you.
There is a premium version, but the free version can perform most basic photo editing tasks.
8. DramaQueen – Free
If you are writing scripts, this program could be what you are looking for.
With DramaQueen , you can format your script yourself or according to the official rules of the Writers’ Guild.
3 Fun free writing apps
Writers can sometimes be a serious bunch of people. But everyone needs to have a bit of fun from time to time.
To end my long list of apps for writers, here are three little apps to put a smile on your face.
Have fun, and enjoy being a writer.
1. Hipster Sound – Free
Do you have time to go to a café to relax and write?
If you don’t, you can bring the sounds of a Texas or Paris café to you with this cute little app.
Go to Hipster Sound , click play, pop in your air pods, and you will have all the ambient sounds you need to get your creative juices flowing. As an extra bonus, your coffee is on the house!
2. FlipText – Free
Okay, you are not going to use Fliptext often. But it is a fun and funny little writing tool.
¡uoıʇuǝʇʇɐ ʇɔɐɹʇʇɐ oʇ ǝɹns sı ʇı ˙uʍop ǝpısdn buıʇıɹʍ ʎɹʇ ʇou ʎɥʍ ‘uoıʇuǝʇʇɐ ʇɔɐɹʇʇɐ ןןıʍ ʇɐɥʇ buıɥʇǝɯos op oʇ ʇuɐʍ noʎ uǝɥʍ
Yes, you can write upside down. Did you have to turn your screen upside down, or did you twist your neck in pain trying to read it?
3. The Most Dangerous Writing App – Free
The Most Dangerous Writing App is a fun little writing tool with a mean side to it.
You start by setting yourself a writing time of, say, five minutes. Then you start writing. But if you stop writing for more than five seconds, you lose everything you wrote.
However, if you get through your allotted time without stopping, your reward is that you can save your work.
Yes, that’s a seriously nasty little writing app. It is a brutal yet brilliant idea.
But if you treat it like a game, it can be a fun challenge and maybe a clever way to overcome writer’s block.
Summary of free writing software
For all writers, there are plenty of software, programs, publishing apps , and tools.
You can also find free book writing programs that work very well for any book project.
You don’t need to spend any money at all to get some of the best software and apps.
There are so many open-source and free software alternatives for word processors, book writing, short story writing, and spelling and grammar correction tools.
Are you ready to write your book or get started as a content writer or blogger?
Then the writing tools in the list above will be more than enough to get you off on the right foot.
All of them are user-friendly, as well as quick and easy to learn how to use.
Make your choices based on what you need and want to achieve as a writer and what you think you will need to succeed.
Then head off to the coffee shop with your laptop, or pump up Hipster Sound at home and start writing.
Related reading: Choose Your Writing Apps For iPad To Write Anywhere
About The Author
Derek Haines
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28 thoughts on “the best 50 free writing software and free writing apps”.
No Ywriter? Easy to set up and use. Takes around two minutes to learn from installation. More important it’s free.
I have noted yWriter in our article about free book writing software.
Thank you for this article. It’s very useful.
As an editor and writer for thirty years, I’m not at all fond of grammar and style programs. None of them work well at all for the people who need them most. Every one I’ve tied, including Grammarly, makes terrible mistakes, and if you follow the style these programs want you to follow, you’ll never be a good writer. I can tell in a page or two whether a writer has used and RELIED such a program, and it’s almost always an instant rejection.
These programs should only be used by writers who don’t really need them, except for those brain fart moments, or when a truly esoteric question of grammar pops up. As a writer, you MUST know grammar inside out, and you must know style inside out, or you won’t have a clue whether Grammarly, or any such program, be it for grammar or style, is lying to you.
At BEST, these programs produce cookie cutter style that may be technically correct, but that simply is not professional level writing. Such writing may make you a couple of dollars on a site such as Medium, and you may even sell a few copies of something on Amazon, but this is all you’ll do.
If you really want to be a professional writer, you MUST learn grammar inside and out. These programs can’t give you the grammar you need, and contrary to popular belief, it is NOT an editor’s job to correct a manuscript full of bad grammar. Ain’t gonna happen. Grammar is your job, not the job of a software program, and not the job of an editor. Period.
Nor can you leave style up to software, or to an editor. Software can’t give you professional level style, and an editor simply doesn’t have the time. An editor will correct minor mistakes here and there, overlooked brain farts, but that’s it.
If you really want to be a writer, forget such silly software. Plant your butt and learn grammar. For style, story, characterization, plot, and other such necessities, read five hundred novels and a thousand short stories, then write several novel or fifty short stories. If you have any talent at all, this will bring it out. If you lack talent, well, you need a new profession.
This era of digitization has changed the publishing industry completely and is still revamping it . The book writing software and industries are a true companion for writers and editors. They are just making our work more easy and accurate. Totally agree with your article.
I have a fixed income due to my disabilities. I plan to purchase a new computer but is Microsoft Home and Personal a very reputable writing program? Is a Dell computer highly recommended?
I write • plays • poetry • historical fiction • children’s picture books • essays • short fiction for children and adults
Thank you! :-)
Sorry, Tom. But I can’t help you with advice about buying a computer. You’d be better trying computer review sites.
Hi Derek, I hope someone is interested in my Scribis Project, a series o free online editors dedicated to those who want to work quickly moving between dictionaries, thesauri and databases of sentences selected from the great classics. Based on what you type in the editor, you will get synonyms, collocations, intermediate concepts, semantic fields, and dozens of sentences that contain analogies, similarities, emotions and images. With another tool, Scribis Matrix, you can generate word matrices from the same dictionaries and thesauri.
Why no YWriter? It does everything important that scrivener can do, but it is free.
We do feature yWriter in our listing of free book writing software. So, we haven’t missed it. https://justpublishingadvice.com/choose-your-free-book-writing-software-for-your-new-book/
PowerWritingAid and Grammarly are not free programs. You have to pay expensive monthly subscriptions.
StyleWriter will make you a better writer and does not get a mention in your reviews!
Prowritingaid and Grammarly both offer free versions. But I will investigate Stylewriter.
I use Grammarly on a daily basis and only the free version and I don’t feel I am missing out on anything. I also use the free version of pro writing aid, not as often but I’ve never encountered an instance where I have wished I had the paid version. A lot of paid apps have a really good free version of those apps too. This is a pretty perfectly crafted reply because of my free Grammarly lol
Very great article with many great Apps. Recently I discovered Neperos, it is very intuitive and gives you the possibility to style your article with multiple pictures.
I bought Prowritingaid for the Word add-in, but found one of the most important features, the ability to customise reports, doesn’t work. Contacting the Support team led to promises of an investigation followed by nothing. A reminder led to a promise the issue would be passed to a developer who,would be in touch, then nothing. If you want it work with Word, look elsewhere or you’ll pay for a non-functional product with no support!
Hi Peter, Lisa here from ProWritingAid. I’ve just been through our support inbox and can’t find any emails under the name Peter Caffrey.
So far, I am enjoying 3 out of your 10 recommendations. Your reviews seem honest and unscripted-thank you for that.
The only serious free option for desktop publishing right now is Scribus. It’s software, not web-based. I’ve used it a few times and it’s pretty decent. Of course, I also have QuarkXPress, which I prefer. Hope that helps!
It was informational and I liked it very much.
I found this article to be informative. In search of one thing, I happily stumbled upon much more. Thanks!
Generally in life you get what you pay for so you should expect limitations from anything free. If you’re serious about writing then Scrivener is what you need. Yes, you have to pay for it but it costs about the same as a couple of takeaways and once you learn how to use it you’ll wonder how you lived without it. I agree about Canva, but I wouldn’t bother with anything else on the list!
There is free Windows alternative for Scrivener named Quoll Writer. Of course, it has some limitations but is a lot easier to use and gives you all essential features writer or journalist needs. Chapters, characters, items, linking, tagging, annotating and more. It has Idea Board and stats and readability indexes. Text formatting is basic but hey, it’s software for writers not for editors. You can export your texts as .docx or .epub and format them with Sigil or Calibre. I’m using it for couple of years.
Good article, but you don’t mention StyleWriter – a powerful program to change the way y0u write. It shows you how to write and edit like a professional.
So thankful I found this site. All the info I need in one place and much simpler than what I was trying to work with. Especially great for a tech dummy like me.
Great post, informative and gives me some options to consider that I didn’t know about before. Thanks.
Great article, I love Canva, Couldn’t run my website without it! Thanks for this. I learned some things.
Thanks for this informative post. :) — Suzanne
This post is one of the best and most informative I have read in years on publishing for home-based writers. Through your post, I have discovered new resources that will make my writing life easier. Thanks!!!
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