Scrivener is a professional-grade writing app for long-form manuscripts, offering structural organization tools on iOS.
Product velocity
Dormant
Daily rank 🇺🇸
#3
▲4Productivity · paid
Sentiment
4.2
3k reviews
Nemesis
Ulysses Mobile
The App DNA
What makes this app unique?
Writers hire Scrivener to manage complex, non-linear drafting projects that standard word processors cannot handle, so the app's structural binder is the primary retention mechanism.
For Long-form writers including novelists, screenwriters, academics, and journalists who require complex structural organization.
What does it look like?
Key features
Combines multiple text sections into a single continuous view for editing.
Visual planning tools for drag-and-drop structural changes.
Side-by-side viewing of reference materials alongside the writing editor.
How much does it cost?
The flat-fee model positions the app as a professional tool, avoiding the recurring revenue pressure of subscription-based rivals.
Velocity
Dormant developmentperformanceUX improvementsShow more...
Scrivener's iOS development has reached a state of inactivity, with no releases in the last 32 months. The most recent updates were limited to minor bug fixes and compatibility patches for iOS 17, following a significant gap since the previous update in 2022. The development trend is stagnant, as the app has not received any feature-driven updates or maintenance patches for over two and a half years.
Who built it?
User Sentiment
What do users think recently?
The recent review mood reads frustrated. Users appreciate hierarchical folder organization provides a clear structure for managing complex writing projects and research notes, but report formatting and text editing tools crash or disappear immediately upon interaction following the latest update.
How are ratings & reviews evolving?
What users say, by theme
- Hierarchical folder organization provides a clear structure for managing complex writing projects and research notes
- Formatting and text editing tools crash or disappear immediately upon interaction following the latest update
60 of 61 recent reviews analyzed · high confidence · Frustrated overall
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Competitive landscape for Scrivener
How's the Productivity market?
Scrivener holds a top-10 paid position in the Productivity category across major markets like the US, UK, and Germany. The reliance on a one-time purchase model limits the capital available for the high-velocity updates seen in subscription-based rivals.
Read the market outlookThe rivals identified
By Ulysses GmbH & Co. KG
Ulysses is the direct market leader for long-form writing on iOS, matching Scrivener's specific focus on manuscript organization and distraction-free composition.
- Unified library management across all Apple devices provides a seamless, cloud-native writing experience.
- Subscription-based model ensures consistent feature updates and cross-platform synchronization improvements.
- Clean, minimalist interface prioritizes the writing process over the complex project management tools found in Scrivener.
Unlock the head-to-head verdict: where this rival wins, and where it loses.
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Key takeaways for Scrivener
Where is it heading?
The writing software market is consolidating around cloud-native, subscription-funded tools that offer seamless cross-device synchronization. Scrivener's maintenance-mode posture leaves it exposed to these high-velocity rivals, so the app will likely continue to lose market share unless the sync architecture is modernized.
- UI regressions in the text editor (crashing menus) erode the daily writing habit, which compounds the rating drag visible on the store.
- Forced reliance on Dropbox creates significant friction for users, accelerating the migration of power users toward cloud-native alternatives like Ulysses.
The SWOT
- Hierarchical binder system creates high switching costs for long-form authors
- Visual corkboard tools establish category authority in professional manuscript planning
- Research integration reduces friction for non-fiction and academic writing workflows
- Native iCloud or OneDrive integration would immediately reduce primary user churn
- Mobile-first templates could capture the growing market of non-desktop writers
Next best moves
Rebuild formatting menu logic because crashes are the #1 reported churn driver → restore baseline retention
+ 1 more prioritized moveThe counter-intuitive read
The lack of a subscription model is not…
Read the full takeFeature gaps
Native iCloud/OneDrive sync (available in Ulysses Mobile but absent here) +1
Since the last report: The app has transitioned into a state of technical stagnation, with declining engagement and new UI-specific crashes further eroding its professional utility.
Bottom line
Scrivener maintains a strong structural moat for professional writers, but the current technical instability and restrictive sync options are driving users to subscription-based competitors, so the team must prioritize stability to prevent further churn.
Unlock 3 critical frictions, 2 market threats, 1 more prioritized move and the analyst’s take.
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