50+ Best Writing Apps to Help With Essays and Other Content
Writing Apps for Organizing Ideas
Lesley Vos
Yeap, writing apps. Again.
I know what you’re thinking:
How many blog posts with creative writing apps do we need to find the best ones finally?
Well, this one would be a nice try. It gathers all the best writing apps in one place, divides them into categories, and reveals the top advantage of each for your better work with text content. Whether you write essays, blog posts, or marketing content, here you’ll find the right tools to fulfill your writing needs.
Let’s jump to categories!
Table of Contents:
- Writing apps for organizing ideas
- Tools to help with titles, thesis, and outline
- The best writing apps for distraction-free writing
- Writing platforms to manage projects
- Writing apps for proofreading and editing
- Software and platforms to check your writing quality
- Get all the 50+ writing apps in one place [Infographic]
Writing Apps for Organizing Ideas

Trello
Website: https://trello.com/Price: Basic – free, Business – $9.99/monthRuns on: any modern browser
You’ll find Trello in most lists with the best, free writing apps. This powerful project management tool helps us organize thoughts, take notes, manage writings, assign tasks, work with editors, and more.
Evernote
Website: https://evernote.com/Price: Basic – free, Premium – $2.5/month
Runs on: software
Use Evernote to collect all thoughts and creative ideas in one place. It offers dozens of templates to organize everything, from note-taking to structuring a content asset. As well as Trello, the app allows you to share notes with collaborators, chat with them, etc.
Milanote
Website: https://milanote.com/Price: Basic – free, Unlimited – $9.99/monthRuns on: browser
It’s a writing app for content creators in need of organizing research, writing ideas, arguments, and outlines in one place. Milanote shows up all the notes in related blocks for easier understanding and organization.
To Doist
Website: https://todoist.com/
Price: Basic – free, Premium – $3
Runs on: browser
As it follows from the name, this instrument serves to create to-do lists, get overviews of writing tasks, prioritize them, or even assign them to other people. Add to-dos for every writing idea you have so that it wouldn’t get lost once it appeared.
Rev
Website: https://www.rev.com/Price: $1.25 per minuteRuns on: separate software
It’s a dictation app for writers, allowing you to note ideas and create drafts quickly on your phone and then send to Rev experts for transcription. Perfect for brainstorming, interviewing someone for quotes and citations in future content, etc.
Plain Text Editor
Website: NoPrice: free
Runs on: your computer
For those unwilling to spend time and money on writing software, a plain text editor (Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on Mac) will be the best option. Write down ideas quickly and easily whenever inspiration strikes you.
Dragon Naturally Speaking
Website: https://www.nuance.com/dragon.htmlPrice: $300
Runs on: separate software
Content creators can use this dictation software to note ideas and “write” drafts faster. When feeling stuck and with deadlines at the door, dictate thoughts to the app and then convert speech to text to save time on writing.
Audible
Website: https://www.audible.com/Price: 30-day trial, $14.95/monthRuns on: separate software
Use it to listen to audiobooks and find new writing ideas for your content. Audible is an excellent tool for inspiration, research, and shaping your thoughts.
Coggle
Website: https://coggle.it/Price: Basic – free, $5/monthRuns on: browser
This instrument is a mind-mapping tool for brainstorming your writing ideas, finding the connections, and organizing them into related blocks. Draw shapes, connect them with branching lines – and get the creative boost we all need from time to time to start writing.
Tools to Help with Titles, Thesis, and Outline
Thesis Statement Generator
Website: https://bid4papers.com
Price: free Runs on: any browser
Generate your content asset’s main idea to ensure it’s assertive and argumentative enough to engage the audience. This tool works best for essays and other types of academic papers students get in college.
Headline Analyzer
Website: https://coschedule.com/headline-analyzerPrice: freeRuns on: any modern browser
This writing tool from CoSchedule helps generate top-notch headlines for blog posts so they would traffic to your content. It analyzes a title based on a word count and balance, its clarity and sentiment, skimmability, and more.
Dynalist
Website: https://dynalist.io/Price: Basic – free, Pro – $7.99/monthRuns on: separate software
Dynalist is for those in need of writing outlines for essays, long reads, blog posts, book chapters, etc. Plus, it enables sharing, so you can use it to assign drafts to other writers for further work with them.
Plottr
Website: https://plottr.com/
Price: 30-day trial, starting at $25/monthRuns on: separate software
It’s writing software that helps outline and plan stories. Plottr works best for book writers to build scenes and arcs of a story, organize a plot, and better plan a narrative.
Blog Ideas Generator
Website: https://www.hubspot.com/blog-topic-generatorPrice: freeRuns on: any browser
This one comes from Hubspot, allowing you to develop argumentative topics and creative writing ideas for your content. Enter up to five keywords (nouns) to the bar – and you’ll get tons of title variants to consider.
Ayoa
Website: https://www.ayoa.com/mind-mapping/Price: Basic – free, Pro – $10/monthRuns on: browser
Formerly known as iMindMap, this writing tool helps you create mind maps for journals, white papers, long reads, brand storytelling content, and more. It also works for non-fiction book writers, enabling them to organize and finish narratives faster.
The Best Writing Apps for Distraction-Free Writing

Google Docs
Website: https://docs.google.com/Price: free
Runs on: browser
A primary assistant for many content creators, this cloud-based writing app remains one of the most functional and comfortable to use. One of the best alternatives to Microsoft Word, it’s perfect for everyday writing work, with tons of editing tools to design content assets the best way possible.
Ommwriter
Website: https://ommwriter.com/Price: $8.75Runs on: software
For Mac users in search of stylish yet functional distraction-free writer tools, Ommwriter is worth trying. It allows you to choose a keyboard and background noise, turn on a calming audio track, and focus on the writing process.
FocusWriter
Website: https://focuswriter.co/Price: freeRuns on: browser
Want to try anything even more minimalistic than Ommwriter or other distraction-free tools? FocusWriter provides nothing but a sheet of paper with no formatting options, background noises, or research notes so that you could concentrate on words and make your writing even more persuasive.
Drafts
Website: https://getdrafts.com/Price: freeRuns on: browser
For those in love with Google Docs but willing to try a more straightforward interface, this best free word processor will keep track of your writing progress. It functions like Docs and emails you reminders about your daily writing goals to accomplish them asap.
Written? Kitten!
Website: https://writtenkitten.co/Price: free
Runs on: any modern browser
This app may be a savior for those in love with cats and need the motivation to start writing a draft. Here you’ll get a picture of a cute kitten once you write a certain number of words. Perfect for free-writing practice.
750 Words
Website: https://750words.com/Price: freeRuns on: browser
This app serves to help you build a daily writing habit and practice personal essays, creating at least 750 words per day. It tracks your progress, saves your writings to review them later, and shares the writing insights: your average words per minute, your preferred writing style, mood, etc.
Calmly Writer
Website: https://www.calmlywriter.com/Price: freeRuns on: browser
It’s the best writing platform for distraction-free content creation. Here you’ll have nothing but a black screen to put words on “paper” and avoid procrastination or any other unnecessary “breaks.” Sure, you can add visual content, save your writings, or even print them if needed.
Cold Turkey Writer
Website: https://getcoldturkey.com/writer/Price: Basic – free, pro – $9Runs on: separate software
This one is perfect for writers who find it challenging to avoid distractions and beat procrastination. The app helps you focus on writing, eliminating and blocking everything except a blank sheet of paper from a computer screen.
Freedom
Website: https://freedom.to/Price: $6.99/monthRuns on: separate software
As well as Cold Turkey, this app syncs your writing time across all the devices to turn them off once it’s time to craft content. Freedom turns your computer into a productivity tool, where nothing will distract you from the writing process.

IA Writer
Website: https://ia.net/writerPrice: 14-day trial, starting at $4.99/yearRuns on: separate software
It’s a distraction-free app for writing blog posts or articles. Thanks to the Focus Mode feature, the tool highlights the line you type and fades out everything else on the document to provide for a 100% focus on what you write. It also syncs your writing across all of your devices.
Write! Pro
Website: https://writeapp.co/Price: $24.95Runs on: browser
This writing tool reminds IA Writer, but it includes more functions: You can decide on the Focus Mode and choose between white and dark themes; it has different fonts. Unlike other distraction-free writing tools, Write! Pro also provides editing tools.
Day One
Website: https://dayoneapp.com/
Price: Basic – free, Premium – $2.92/monthRuns on: separate soft
For those struggling with writer’s block, Day One is excellent writing software to try. Use it every day to write a short journal entry about your ideas and concerns, brainstorm new content topics this way, or practice to improve your writing skills.
Blurt
Website: https://blurt.app/Price: 14-day trial, $4.99/monthRuns on: browser
Blurt helps you write better with no distraction but clear goals. Define a type of project you have (a blog post, a critical essay, a journal, a social media post, etc.) and start writing, following the app’s readability suggestions. Once finished, you can export your work to Facebook, Twitter, or Medium.
Byword
Website: https://bywordapp.com/Price: starting at $5.99Runs on: browser
It’s a Markdown writing app to help you write faster. Start writing plain text so nothing could distract you from the process, and then quickly convert it to HTML to export your work directly to a publishing platform. You can also convert writings into Rich Text or PDF.
Daily Page
Website: https://www.dailypage.co/Price: starting at $3.99/monthRuns on: browser
This one is a great tool to practice writing, improve your skills, and get a distraction-free space for content creation. Daily Page sends you writing tasks every day, allows you to learn blogging, screenwriting, expository writing, and storytelling.
Coffitivity
Website: https://coffitivity.com/Price: Basic – free, Premium – $9Runs on: browser
For those writing better in coffee shops or co-working places, this app will come in handy. It recreated the coffee shop sounds within a web browser, influencing your writing flow and focus for better productivity.
WriteRoom
Website: http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroomPrice: $9.99Runs on: software
This tool is for Mac users, promoting a distraction-free writing environment. Use it to clear the mind and focus on nothing but words flow. Auto-save and word count options allow you to stay on track with the writing process.
Writing Platforms to Manage Projects

Scrivener
Website: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivenerPrice: starting at $19.99
Runs on: separate software
It’s a popular writing tool for organizing long-form projects (dissertations, novels, screenplays, etc.) Scrivener provides you with all the word processing features to manage, navigate, and edit your works.
Ulysses
Website: https://ulysses.app/Price: free trial, $5.99/monthRuns on: separate software
This one reminds Scrivener but is more focused on the Markdown formatting of your long-form writing. It helps keep a flow during writing sessions, track your progress, and staying organized with all the projects you have. For Mac users.
yWriter
Website: http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter.html
Price: Basic – free, Pro – $12 or $25Runs on: software
Content creators who break their stories into pieces and need a storyboard to organize the plot and review narrative arcs, this writing app is for you. It will also send you reports on word count, the state of a draft, your progress, etc.
Storyist
Website: https://storyist.com/Price: $4.99/monthRuns on: software
One of the best screenplay typing apps on the market, Storyist will help you create scripts for brand storytelling videos, organize your fiction stories, format them, keep track of story characters and setting, and more.
Final Draft
Website: https://www.finaldraft.com/Price: 30-day free trial, $149.99Runs on: separate software
This writing software is a perfect choice for screenwriters. The app’s functionality is broader than that of traditional word processors, and it can assist you with long-form writing project organization.
Living Writer
Website: https://livingwriter.com/Price: 30-day free trial, $8/month
Runs on: browser
This writing app is accessible via web browsers, and it serves to arrange your story plots. It offers outline templates for all the famous story structures, so you can choose and apply those fitting your writing needs most.
ConvertKit
Website: https://convertkit.com/Price: freeRuns on: any browser
This writing app will help you build an email list for readers. Designed for bloggers and writers specifically, ConvertKit allows creating email courses based on your informative or educational content and send them to the audience at the right time.
Vellum
Website: https://vellum.pub/Price: $199.99Runs on: separate software
For those writing e-books for business or personal promotion, please pay attention to this tool (for Mac users only). It helps create and prepare e-books for self-publishing, and it’s easy to use even if you’re not a designer.
Airstory
Website: https://www.airstory.co/Price: 7-day trial, $25/monthRuns on: browser
Airstory is a tool for content creators willing to capture and save reading materials online. Once you come across interesting information, you can clip it into Airstory and later drag it into your newsletter or article in Google Docs. Perfect for non-fiction writers or those working with curated content.
Campfire
Website: https://www.campfiretechnology.com/Price: Basic – free, Pro – $49.99Runs on: separate software
While this story planning software aims at helping fiction writers, its features will come in handy for everyone working with texts and word building. It seems a bit complicated to use, but the roadmap available on their website will solve the problem.
Novlr
Website: https://novlr.org/Price: starting at $8/monthRuns on: separate software
This writing software offers an extensive pool of features to organize long-form writing projects. It saves the progress, shows suggestions for fixing your writing style, grammar, and spelling, and allows you to overview all the chapters for better workflow.
Zotero
Website: https://www.zotero.org/Price: freeRuns on: software
This writing app is a must-try for students and everyone working with academic papers. It helps collect and organize sources and generate citations for research papers, dissertations, and more. Zotero will create a bibliography or references in a citation format you need.
Writing Apps for Proofreading and Editing

Grammarly
Website: https://www.grammarly.com/Price: Basic – free, Premium – $29.95/month
Runs on: browser
Grammarly checks and corrects your grammar and punctuation mistakes, explaining why it’s wrong and what to write instead. It’s one of the best writing apps “all-in-one,” with a plagiarism checker, style guide, word count, and readability scores built-in.
Hemingway App
Website: http://www.hemingwayapp.com/Price: freeRuns on: any modern browser
This free, online writing app is super popular among content creators. It removes everything that might negatively influence your writing’s readability: redundant adverbs, passive voice, too complex sentences, and more.
ProWritingAid
Website: https://prowritingaid.com/Price: Basic – free, Premium – $79/yearRuns on: browser
Try ProWritingAid if you want to make your texts as polished as possible. This tool reminds Grammarly but is more tailored for long-term content writers. It offers editorial suggestions to improve the overall language of your writings, not just grammar or spelling.
Ginger Software
Website: https://www.gingersoftware.com/
Price: from $12.48/month
Runs on: browser
This one is perfect for ESL writers: It helps you translate files written in French, Spanish, German, and other languages and check them for grammar mistakes.
Software and Platforms to Check Your Writing Quality

Read My Essay
Website: https://bid4papers.com
Price: free
Runs on: any modern browser
This free online tool from Bid4Papers checks if an essay or any other written content sounds good. Paste it to the editor – and listen to a voice reading it aloud so you could spot any typos, grammar mistakes, or readability problems.
NaturalReader
Website: https://www.naturalreaders.com/Price: Basic – free, Personal – $99.50Runs on: software
With the same functionality as Read My Essay, this writing software will help you catch typos and awkward phrases in your text content. Choose a voice and its reading speed, pause and revise if necessary, and improve your writings that way,
Readable
Website: https://readable.com/Price: starting at $4/monthRuns on: browser
This writing tool makes your texts more, well, readable. It provides a thorough textual analysis, pointing out all the weak prose indicators and giving statistics on text composition, reading time, and other readability scales.
Cliché Finder
Website: http://www.clichefinder.net/Price: freeRuns on: browser
The name of this app says it all: Use it to highlight cliché phrases in your writings and revise them accordingly. While it might not be as harmful to mention some clichés in texts, you want to know if they are there, don’t you?
Adverbless
Website: http://adverbless.com/Price: freeRuns on: browser
Content creators know that some adverbs are redundant and can weaken the prose by far. Adverbless is a tool that highlights and analyzes all the adverbs in your writing, helping you decide on leaving on removing them from your message.
Quetext
Website: https://www.quetext.com/Price: Basic – free, Pro – $9.99Runs on: browser
It’s a free, web-based plagiarism checker to help you avoid duplications and unintentional copyright infringement in your content. Paste your draft into the tool to see if it contains plagiarism and if you cite all the sources right.
Get All the 50+ Writing Apps in One Place
Have no time to look for a necessary writing app and read its description here? What about a handy infographic specifying them all in one place?
Feel free to save and share with fellow content creators whenever needed:

And now that you have all the best writer tools in your pocket, it’s time to create a compelling content asset. Whether you write essays, blog posts, marketing content, screenplays, or fiction books, these instruments can help you organize and improve your writing projects by all means.
But if you still want to get expert writing help from humans, the Bid4Papers team is always here.
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Lesley Vos
Lesley Vos is a professional copywriter and guest contributor, currently blogging for several websites on education. Specializing in data research, web text writing, and content promotion, she is in love with words, non-fiction literature, and jazz.

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