Scrivener
Ranked 12 of 14 word processors by recommenders
Novelists and writers use it to organize long manuscripts with folders, headings and a cork board. Some find the interface too complicated.
Novelists and writers use it to organize long manuscripts with folders, headings and a cork board. Some find the interface too complicated.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 78%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Built for writing novels and prose
“I write novels, and Scrivener works better for me than iA writer.”
Comment from 17 Feb 2026 in “Vim-pencil: Rethinking Vim as a tool for writing” “For novels, I find something like Scrivener essential.”
Comment from 8 Nov 2025 in “WriterdeckOS” “an app specifically designed for writing prose”
Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “Vim-pencil: Rethinking Vim as a tool for writing” - Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “Vim-pencil: Rethinking Vim as a tool for writing”
Folders, headings and cork board organization
“I appreciate Scrivener's bells and whistles but I find I never need more than documents, folders, and headings”
Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “Vim-pencil: Rethinking Vim as a tool for writing” “The cork board function lets you re-arrange text and media to your hearts content”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “It's time to talk about my writerdeck” “It is great at taking down words and organizing research.”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “WordStar: A Writer's Word Processor (1996)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Interface and features feel complicated
“I appreciate Scrivener's bells and whistles but I find I never need more than documents, folders, and headings”
Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “Vim-pencil: Rethinking Vim as a tool for writing” “Its UI is too complicated for my taste.”
Comment from 5 Mar 2026 on Hacker News
Other word processors people recommend
The four most recommended other word processors, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Docs | 144 | 137 | 51% | 13 | 11 yrs4 owners | — |
| Microsoft Word | 129 | 234 | 36% | 12 | 20 yrs5 owners | — |
| Apple Pages | 39 | 27 | 59% | 11 | — | — |
| WordPerfect | 36 | 7 | 84% | 9 | — | Approved |
| ScrivenerThis page | 7 | 2 | 78% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
14 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It is great at taking down words and organizing research.”
“She is becoming quite a writer (I think up to 15 books now, 2 or 3 are finished).”
“Scrivener just matched my workflow - usually for technical reports.”
“The cork board function lets you re-arrange text and media to your hearts content”
“many existing tools felt outdated or didn't integrate AI well enough”
“Its UI is too complicated for my taste.”
“It outputs industry standard formats for all kinds of manuscripts.”
“I write novels, and Scrivener works better for me than iA writer.”
“I appreciate Scrivener's bells and whistles but I find I never need more than documents, folders, and headings”
“created specifically for writing novels”
“an app specifically designed for writing prose”
“Scrivener (this is my favorite)”
“a text editor that has ran in Wine since 2012”
“For novels, I find something like Scrivener essential.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.