What's the best app for writing on the Mac?

Simple and beautiful app. For iPhone, iPad, and Mac

I have them all: iA writer a long time favorite of mine for many years, Ulysses was a revolutionary addition but I just simply couldn't adopt MD XL and there is just too many settings in my opinion, Scrivener is just as convoluted, nvALT started to feel old a while ago, Evernote - no thanks, and so many more on the list, but Bear, damn I love this app, it ticks all the boxes, no fuss, no fiddling with unnecessary configurations but you can get it to work the way you want to, it doesn't matter how complex your workflow is, design is beautiful, always updated, it embraces Markdown so I don't have to shift mental gears all the time. What they say *"Bear is perfect for everything from quick notes to in-depth essays"* is totally true.

I switched from Evernote + Pages + Notes to Bear a few weeks ago and have never looked back

Grammarly is a great tool to improve your writing and catch grematical and punctuaton errorrs. It's not a Mac app, but a Chrome extension so if it may only work if you write in one of the many browser-based writing tools like Medium or Draft.

Love this app! It helps me with learning English by writing. Just wish to have one working on iOS.

Been using this App for months now. Got their lifetime subscription, can highly recommend 💯 Especially if English is not your first language 👍

Really good on iPhone / iOS especially.

The cleanest, best integrated, and reliable text editor I've ever used on Mac or iOS.

This is the best writing app I've ever used. Clean and simple. No fluff. I love the Focus Mode and Reading Time (which is where Medium got the idea) features, plus it's available on all your favorite devices.

By far my favorite long-form writing app on Mac. Clear and simple writing in Markdown with numerous output formats and styles. It was easy to create my own output style as well with a little digging. Simple, clean, beautiful, and powerful.

The best one i've used!

I've tried nearly every app recommended here and I always come back to Ulysses. Organizational abilities plus no-frills...just fantastic.

I like how Hemingway helps me to improve my writing style. Also, integrations with Medium and Wordpress are very handy.

Excellent app -- its suggestions make sense for clear, sharp writing style. I didn't know it had a Wordpress integration, so thanks for mentioning that.

Web app > desktop app, but still a useful, very different kind of editor.

Not an editor, but for "writing on the Mac" it's an essential tool. You can use it with _any_ text editor (including Ulysses, Scrivener, Bear, IA Writer, and more) and add a flexible and styleable Markdown preview, detailed analysis and checking tools (word repetition, spelling/grammar, reading time/scores), as well as multiple export formats.

That's an excellent tool for both - coders and bloggers.

I made my own styles and make fantastic-looking documents with it.

Sublime isn't only for code, it's also great whenever you want to write large pieces of text.

No nonsense text editor. I use it daily for writing email drafts, blog posts and maintaining to-do lists.

I too use, Sublime for writing content.

I specifically like Atom with Zen mode: https://github.com/defunkt/zen

It needs some setup, but I have it working really nicely for (technical) writing - https://hackernoon.com/making-at...

Wildly flexible and configurable for those who are inclined, and especially great when paired with Marked 2. http://marked2app.com

Classic tool.

The web version is beautiful and minimal and really my go to

Have used this and found it useful

I've started to use Notion for writing drafts because of its very very simple interface (distraction free) and very easy way to drag around paragraphs and ideas. I can easily scrap a paragraph by tucking it into a toggle list but keeping it incase I need parts later. Extremely intuitive and virtually no learning curve for writing. Exports Markdown and PDF, but not recommended for publishing (unless your company uses Notion as a wiki or something). Big down side: it still doesn't integrate a spell check.

- Try the "Mono" text style option. It's designed for writing ✍️ - When you start typing, all UI fades away. 0 distraction. - Supports most Markdown shortcuts. - Pages can contain pages. Turn long sections/headers into pages. Great for organization. - Spellcheck is in the most recent Mac release 👈

Wonderful for long form writing, have been using it for over 6 months now. Clean, beautiful and distraction free interface. It does not have a desktop app, which is a boon in disguise since you can use the Grammarly plugin on the web app (Its also the best designed web app note I have seen). Also has a clean, minimal IOS app that works wonderfully well. I had tried it out on Android as well, but the build of the app was not so great and kept crashing. If you want a free note taking app that is built to write long from content, research etc, Dropbox paper is the way to go

More votes for Dropbox Paper even if it's not offline-capable. This is my new favorite place to write, ever.

It is an incredibly simple writing environment with a focus on collaboration. I highly recommend it over Google Docs or Word

If you are serious about your writing this is serious about your work. Doubly so if that's going to turn into a novel or screenplay.

I am using this nonlinear writing tool for my academic textes, but also for novels. Very intuitive and has fine functions like labeling, card view mode (for rearranging), storyboard mode etc. Actually I only use this one.

Easily the best collection of tools for writing on the Mac. I'm a little surprised it's this low. Combine it with nValt and you're cooking with fire.

I love the Byword App! Super clean, markdown editor, integration with Medium and Evernote, etc. 👌

simple and fast, great support for extended markdown tags

Quip is awesome! Simple and beautiful UI.

I am surprised this is not on top of the list. Quip is a wonderful piece of software, designed beautifully and has a lot of powerful collaboration and writing features. I've been a user for almost a year and never looked for an alternative app again. Whether you're using the mobile or desktop app, the UX and UK are beautifully designed.

For taking notes I haven't found anything better than nvALT; it makes search a primary function.

I can't think of a productivity app I would recommend more. Convenient hotkeys call-up, clean simple interface, super flexible.

My go-to tool for reducing distractions and knocking out a rough draft.

Immersive experience.

Combines the aesthetics of prose editors with the productivity features of code editors - features like syntax assistance, multiple cursors, file manager, etc.

A relative newcomer to the scene but there is already so much to love about this app. It's rife with features for those that want or need them and yet, it can be as simple as a blank slate.

Auto sync, clean layout and easy interaction. Once written, you can get access to your article from anywhere and from any devices.

I enjoy writing directly into Medium ( http://medium.com/ ) for my posts. Usually they range from 500-1200 words. The interface works for me and I can not bound to a specific computer to continue my work.

Smart and minimalist. Such a pleasure to use.

Super minimalistic and distraction free writing app.

If you like writing in Medium, this is pretty close to that. It's a clean, distraction-free writing experience. Love it.