12 Best Mac (Word Processor) Writing Apps for 2022

What Makes the Best Word Processor for Mac?

Word processors and other writing apps have been around for decades now. There are very few bad ones left! Most writing apps will work for most things, but they sometimes won’t be very good at it. Microsoft Word is a really powerful word processor, but it’s overkill if you’re using it to write a blog post. 

This means that the number one thing that makes a good writing app is how well it fits your needs.

I write a 1000 word article every day of the week. I also work on longer, more heavily researched projects at the same time. This means that I’ve got some very specific needs. If you only need to write occasionally, your needs are going to be very different.

Besides that, there are a few key features that any of the best word processors for Mac should have to be a good writing app:

• They need to be able to open and export many file types.
• Whatever file formats they use have to be open or widely supported.
• They need to offer some way for you to style your text.
• They need to allow you to work on more than one document at once.
• They need to be stable, bug-free, and still supported on your Mac.

While this is hardly an exciting feature list, it does exclude a surprising number of apps. You can’t have a crucial app, such as your word processor, crash because of lack of support. 

The 12 Best Writing Apps for Mac

Now, let’s start digging into the best writing apps for your Mac. This list isn’t in order of best, but rather moves from most popular, most easily available, down to niche apps designed for specific purposes.

Full Word Processors for Mac

Full word processors are applications that do anything you could imagine with text. They’re things like Microsoft Word (and all of Microsoft Word’s main competitors). If you work in an office, you probably need a full word processor, but for some, they can be a bit over the top. Let’s look in detail at what makes these apps powerful options to work with:

1. Microsoft Word – Word Software for Mac

While Microsoft Word isn’t as dominant as it once was, it’s still used in millions of offices around the world. If you work in any big company, the odds are this is the app you’ll want to use. It might not be anyone’s favorite writing app, but it can do pretty much everything. 

Its deep feature set is almost a problem; for most people, there’s too much going on. If you’ve got to use Word, then there’s nothing you can do about it. But, given the price and quality of some of the other options, I’d recommend looking elsewhere if you can. 

• Microsoft Word software for Mac is available for $9.99 a month as part of an Office 365 Personal subscription.
• It’s the most popular word processor in business so widely supported everywhere. 
• There’s also a companion iOS Word app so you can work on your documents from anywhere.

2. Google Docs – Accessible With Your Mac

Google Docs is the leading competitor in reach, if not necessarily in quality or features, to Word. It’s an online, collaborative word processor. While its feature set is more limited, for most uses, it’s possible to use Docs over Word.

• Google Docs is free writing software for Mac and for anyone with a Google account to use. 
• The biggest issue is that you can only make the most of Docs when you’re connected to the internet.
• Docs’ greatest strength is how seamless collaboration is. It’s simple for multiple people to work on a single document at the same time. 

3. Apple Pages – Mac Word Processor App

Pages is Apple’s Mac-native answer to Word. It takes full use of all the Mac’s native technologies and has a companion iOS app. It’s a decent app with all the features you’d expect a professional word processor to have and is broadly considered one of the best word processors for Mac. You can even collaborate with PC users through Pages for iCloud.

• Pages is free writing software for macOS and iOS users. PC users can also use the iCloud version for free.
• Pages is the best looking, and has the best looking templates, of all the full word processing suites available on Mac. 
• Unfortunately, Pages just isn’t as popular as the other apps, so you might have a hard time convincing the people you want to collaborate with to use it as well.

General Writing Apps for Mac

These writing apps are less fully featured than a full word processor. Some are more suited to specific kinds of writing, like blogging, but they’re all pretty flexible. For most people, one of these apps will give you the best balance between form, features, and price. They’re all a lot easier to get to grips with than a behemoth like Word.

4. TextEdit

TextEdit is getting a reference for completeness’ sake rather than its features. It comes with macOS and can create, edit and style simple text files. If you only need a very basic scratchpad for writing quick text documents, it’s perfect. But, if you need something more fully featured, there are better options.

6. Ulysses – Pro Writing Software for Mac

I’m writing this article using Ulysses. It’s the app that, by far, best fits my needs.

It’s great for writing long form content as well as keeping dozens of shorter articles organised. I know quite a few other writers who use Ulysses as well, and that’s the key. Ulysses is perfect for writers. If you’re banging out hundreds of words on a daily basis, it’ll make your life easier. If, however, you only need something for occasional report writing, it’ll be a poor fit.

• Ulysses costs $49.99 for the Mac version or $5.99 per month.
• Ulysses has full Markdown support.
• Ulysses is designed for writers so offers a lot of features to make it easy to outline, draft, write, edit, and rearrange longer works. 
• You can also publish directly to your WordPress site or Medium account from Ulysses.

7. Byword – Simple Mac Writing Software

Before Ulysses, I used Byword. It’s a simple, beautiful text editor. If you just want to write a letter, a diary entry, or a blog post, and not worry about much else, it’s great. 

• Byword costs $10.99 on Mac and $5.99 on iOS.
• Byword is designed to be used with Markdown. It’s the app I used in my introduction to Markdown tutorial.
• With Byword, you can export your files to text, HTML, or PDF files. You can also publish them directly to Medium, WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, and Evernote.

8. iA Writer – Minimalist Writing App for Mac

iA Writer is a similar style of app to Byword: a simple, minimalist Markdown writer. Where Byword prioritises publishing to elsewhere, iA Writer offers better file exporting: you can use custom templates and even export to Microsoft Word files. 

• iA Writer costs $29.99 on Mac and $29.99 on iOS.

8. Craft Docs – Collaborative Writing App For Mac

Craft Docs is a young and new writing app for Mac that puts great emphasis on collaborative features. It was built to be a native Mac app. The app lets you create beautiful documents and notes. You can link notes together to create structured documents as well as collaborate easily with your team. 

• The app is available on the web and Mac and iOS devices
• Has a limited free plan
• Paid plans start at $5.99/mo 
• You can export documents as markdown documents, PDF files, and text files. 

Specific Writing Software for Mac

Word, Ulysses, or Byword are versatile but also have a very general application. Jacks of all trades but masters of none. If you want to, say, write a book or a screenplay, you’ll need a writing app that can handle special formatting.  

9. Scrivener – Long Form Mac Writing Software

Scrivener is designed for writing long-form documents. Things like novels and theses. If you’re writing something that’s less than 20,000 words, Scrivener is complete overkill. On the other hand, if you’re writing the next great American novel, then Scrivener is perfect.

• Scrivener is $49 for the macOS app and $19.99 for the iOS app.
• It’s a “complete writing studio”. You can outline and organize your ideas, rearrange segments, and more. Here’s our guide to getting started with Scrivener to help you find your way.
• Scrivener takes a non-linear approach. You can just start writing anywhere and move it into place later. Want to jump from working on chapter 15 to chapter 22? Go right ahead.
• Scrivener also has a file browser/research tab so you can keep all your research in the app as well.

10. Storyist 4 – Robust Mac Book Writing App

Storyist 4, like Scrivener, is designed for writing books. The biggest difference isn’t in the feature set but in the interface. There’s very little one can do that the other can’t. Both have free trials so, if you’re writing a book, the best thing to do is try them both out before settling on one.

• Storyist 4 is $59 on Mac and $19 on iOS.
• Storyist 4 has a more modern and cleaner interface than Scrivener. 

11. Final Draft 12 – Powerful Screenwriting Mac Writing App

Final Draft 12 is the industry standard for screenwriting. The developers claim it’s used in 95% of film and television productions. 

Screenplays have very strict formatting conventions. Everything is written in 12pt Courier on US letter paper with everything laid out in a certain way. Fail to stick to these conventions and you’ll just look like an amateur. Final Draft 12 makes it easy to write your next screenplay professionally. 

• Final Draft 12 is $199.99 for Mac.

12. Slugline 2 – Simple Screenwriting Writing App for Mac

Final Draft is undeniably a professional app with a professional price tag. If you’re just looking to get to work on your first screenplay, you might want something less expensive. This is where Slugline comes in. 

You get a beautiful screenwriting app that’s designed just for the Mac. A printed screenplay written in Slugline 2 will look identical to one written in Final Draft. It might not have as wide use in the film industry, but it’s being used in more and more productions. There’s also an iOS version available for $19.99.

Start Writing Your Next Masterpiece with a Mac Word Processor!

As I said at the start, the biggest factor you need to consider when choosing a writing app is what you need. Slugline 2 is awesome if you’re writing a movie, but it’s not very useful if you just want to publish an occasional blog post.

Word is still the de facto standard, but Google Docs and Pages are decent, free writing software for Mac competitors.

Look at what you want to do and pick the app that suits you best. Many also offer free trials, so don’t be afraid to download a few different ones before you buy. 

Editorial Note: This post has been updated with contributions from Brenda Barron. Brenda is a freelance instructor for Envato Tuts+.