In today’s digital world, many budding writers are starting the journey by publishing their content online. If your content is engaging, the internet is your stage.
However, you have to select the right writing style, correct grammatical mistakes, and do final cuts before publishing your work. It all can be a little overwhelming sometimes.
If you have faced the same issues, you can use an app to boost your writing skills. There are many apps for writers that not only help edit your content but also suggest necessary changes to make it more engaging.
In this article, we present to you the top writing software that can help make your writing effortless.
Here are the 10 best writing apps (with pros and cons)
Below is a list of top writing apps. You can use them to enhance and polish your writing skills as well as map out your notes.
We have selected these apps after trying and testing the best writing apps out there. Let’s have a look at each one of them along with their pros and cons.
ProWritingAid
First up on our list of writing tools for Windows is ProWritingAid. It is a popular multipurpose app for writers used for editing and providing instructions on writing styles.
You can use it to improve the quality of your text, check grammar, and highlight overused words and transitions.
Pros:
- You can upload and access more than 20 reports on this tool.
- It comes with a bunch of features like grammar spell, plagiarism checker, dictionary, text editor, and style content.
- It is basically your writing guide, mentor, and teacher packed in an AI form.
Cons:
- It mostly focuses on content style and readability.
- It doesn’t provide a mobile app, which means that you can’t do any editing on your phone.
- The interface is a little tricky to understand at the start.
- Sometimes it gives inaccurate editing suggestions
Price: $79/year
Final Take: If you are a fiction writer looking for an affordable writing tool, this one’s for you. However, if you write non-fiction or tech stuff, there are editing tools with better accuracy.
That brings us to our next writing software.
Grammarly
Grammarly is a perfect writing app for Windows to enhance your writing. It highlights grammatical errors and vague words and sentences.
Pros:
- It lets you check the tone of your content.
- The interface is user-friendly and quick.
- It provides detailed logic behind its suggestions, which helps you learn and improve your grammar simultaneously.
- It runs on all devices and operating systems.
Cons:
- Sometimes, it misunderstands the words and suggests unnecessary changes.
- It is not really suitable for novelists and authors.
Price: The premium version costs $25/member/month.
Final Take: Grammarly is one of the best writing apps for bloggers and freelance writers who mostly write non-fiction content.
The premium version is a little costly but it comes with its perks. However, the free version works just fine if you don’t want to go for the premium one.
LibreOffice Writer
This app for writers is a free alternative to Microsoft Office and comes with a wide range of editing tools.
Pros:
- It has a thesaurus, language dictionaries, and a community in the support forums.
- The layout is clean and supports a wide range of file formats.
- It provides support for plugins, which means you can customize it based on your suitability.
Cons:
- It does not provide an app for mobile or other devices.
- Since it is free, it comes with limited features.
- It doesn’t provide technical support like other apps for writers do.
Price: Free
Final Take: If you want free writing software for windows in place of Microsoft Office, LibreOffice Writer seals the deal. However, if you want advanced editing features, it won’t help much.
FocusWriter
FocusWriter is not the best editing app for writers, but it really comes in handy if you have a problem concentrating while writing.
It is your digital notebook that blocks all other disturbing apps while you are working.
Pros:
- You can customize your text and track your progress.
- It comes with timers and alarms to keep you from getting distracted.
- It lets you share your draft with editors.
- It has a clean user interface that does not clutter your computer.
Cons:
- It doesn’t have any editing features.
Price: Free
Final take: It’s free simple writing software for windows to keep you away from distractions and focus on your writing. It is not really helpful if you want to edit your content.
Scribus
Scribus is one of the best writing apps for windows if you want beautiful writing layouts. You can use Scribus to design, edit and change your layouts.
It is a free and open source software designed for typesetting, layout, and file presentation.
Pros:
- It is an inexpensive alternative to fulfill your design-related needs.
- It lets you create PDFs, forms, and create vector drawings.
- It has publishing features like color management to make your layouts more appealing.
Cons:
- It doesn’t have a “spell-check” option.
- It slows down when working with multiple files.
- The resources in the app are a bit dated.
Price: Free
Final Take: Scribus doesn’t have much to offer when compared to other apps for writers, but it does its job well. It is perfect if you want free professional quality layouts and a user-friendly interface.
Evernote
Evernote is a “second brain” to organize your thoughts. It is powerful writing software for windows to note down and arrange your ideas.
Pros:
- It lets you create and organize content of all kinds.
- It is a free writing app with a lot of creative templates to design your paper.
- You can jot down a to-do list to organize your thoughts.
- It has a web clipper feature that allows users to save any snippet from the internet.
- You can use the chatbox to communicate with other writers.
Cons:
- The free version has limited sources.
- It doesn’t have a recording feature to communicate verbally.
- You can only upload up to 60 MB of data per month.
Price: $69.99 per year
Final Take: Evernote is a great app for writers that works well if you are at the planning stage and want to organize your content to create a business workflow.
Freemind
Freemind is a free writing tool for windows for your college writing assignments and research papers.
Pros:
- It helps you stay organized and on track by showcasing a diagrammatic representation of your ideas.
- It lets you both write and edit your content and put your thoughts into a digital folder.
- It helps you create complex diagrams for your projects.
- It allows you to make batch edits, choose your nodes and branches and also add HTML links to your file.
Cons:
- The only drawback is that it is a bit dated so it might be hard to find some features.
Price: Free
Final Take: It is the best app for writers for mind-mapping and organizing research papers. Go for it without any doubt.
Scrivener
Scrivener is a widely renowned writing app for windows pc and another honorary mention for the novelists out there.
Pros:
- It comes with different templates based on your writing style. You can use them for screenplays, essays, or novels.
- It provides a management system for documents and metadata and enables you to add comments and annotations.
- Scrivener also allows you to outline and publish long-form content.
- You can make notecards to write down your ideas and track the progress of your content.
- It is quite an affordable tool with extravagant features, which is great for a creative writer.
Cons:
- The interface is a little complicated and distracting for beginners.
- It doesn’t integrate with other devices for PC users.
Price: The premium version of this app for writers requires a one-time payment of $40.84.
Final Take: If you want something a little more powerful writing software for windows than a word processor, Scrivener is a great choice. You can also get a 30-day free trial and test the app before purchasing.
Ginger
How can we forget the good old editing app? Ginger is one of the oldest writing enhancement software. It comes with features that help edit and improve your content.
Pros:
- It allows you to correct your text while typing, and points out grammatical errors including punctuations, sentence structuring, subject-verb agreement, and writing style.
- You can undo all the changes you made in one click.
- The checker comes with additional features like text reader, translator, trainer, etc.
- It is basically your English teacher disguised as a bot.
Cons:
- Sometimes it gives incorrect suggestions.
- It sends constant update notifications.
- The extension doesn’t work with Google Docs (yet).
Price: $29.96 per month
Final Take: It is much better than most writing software for windows out there at the same price, but needs a little improvement. The free version of this app for writers works well. So you can go for it.
iA Writer
iA Writer is the best writing app for windows for writers who do not prefer complex writing tools.
Pros:
- It has a simple design and easy-to-use interface, which is beneficial if you want something specifically for writing.
- One of the features of this app for writers is an upper hand toolbar that enables highlighting of speech like nouns, adjectives, etc.
- Apart from FocusWriter, it is another writing software that comes in handy when you want to write without any distractions.
- It is more of a beginner-friendly writing tool with a simple design.
Cons:
- The software language is a bit complicated to understand, but once you learn it, you can use the features easily.
Price: $19.99 for Windows
Final Take: All in all, it is a great app for writers if you want a modern, effective and simple writing tool. If you are starting out as a writer and don’t want any complexities, then this one’s for you.
Conclusion
Okay, so there you go. You now have detailed insights into the best writing apps for windows pc.
Now comes the big question. Which writing software should you choose?
Well, it all comes down to the purpose of your writing. Every app for writers mentioned here serves a different purpose. You need to figure out which one serves yours.
If you want to jot down notes and make drafts, you can go with FocusWriter and Evernote. When it comes to the editing part, you can use Grammarly, ProWritingAid, or LibreOffice Writer.
If you want beautiful layout designs, Scribus is the best option. On the other hand, if you want help with college assignments and complicated diagrams, you can use Freemind.
Some other noteworthy mentions are: Google Docs, Jotter Pad, Ulysses, and Microsoft Word.
If you are still in a dilemma regarding these apps for writers, try and test the apps of your preference and evaluate their performances. Happy writing!
Did we miss anything? Did you try these tips? Do you have any questions or comments? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.
