Grasmere vs Scrivener

Scrivener is the writing app most long-form writers start with, and Grasmere is a newer Mac app that does some of the same job in plain Markdown files. Grasmere is ours, so read this as one maker’s honest account of where the two differ, with the places Scrivener wins left in.

In a sentence each

Scrivener is a rich text writing studio with a binder, corkboard and Compile, which keeps a book and all its research in one project file, on Mac, Windows and iOS. Grasmere is a Markdown writing app for the Mac that keeps a book as a folder of plain files, with sources, citations, Word review and publishing built in.

Side by side

ScrivenerGrasmere
Runs onMac, Windows, iOSMac, macOS 26 or later
Price$59.99 for Mac or for Windows, $23.99 iOS$14.99 once
Trial30 days of use14 days
Your writing is kept asRich text inside a .scriv project packageMarkdown files in any folder
Writing in MarkdownMultiMarkdown at Compile; the editor is rich textThroughout
StructureBinder, corkboard, outliner, labels, status, targetsChapter cards with synopsis and status, dragged into order; word targets
ResearchFiles of any kind in the projectWeb pages, PDFs, papers by DOI, books by ISBN, read and highlighted in the app
CitationsHands off to EndNote, Bookends or ZoteroBuilt in: APA 7, Harvard, Chicago author-date, MLA 9
ReviewSnapshots, revision colours, commentsWord round trip: tracked changes and comments back onto your text
OutputPDF, Word, RTF, ODT, ePub, Kindle, Final Draft, LaTeX via MultiMarkdownPDF in manuscript or book form, Word, website. LaTeX in 1.6. No ePub
Import the otherImports Markdown filesImports a Scrivener project. New in 1.5
VersionsSnapshotsVersions list, with git commits when the folder is a repository

Scrivener’s facts are from Literature and Latte’s own site and manual, read on 9 November 2026. Prices in US dollars.

Where Scrivener is better

  • Everywhere. Windows and iOS versions, and a project that syncs between them.
  • The corkboard and outliner. Nothing in Grasmere shows a book as index cards on a board, or lets you outline in columns.
  • Compile. Scrivener will produce almost any format, including ebooks, with fine control over each.
  • Nearly twenty years of use. Every question you could have has been answered on its forum.

Where Grasmere is better

  • Plain files. A chapter is a .md file you can open in anything, keep in Git, and still read in thirty years. There’s no project package to corrupt or convert.
  • Citations. Add a paper by DOI, cite it by typing [@, and the reference list is written on export. Scrivener leaves all of that to a separate citation manager and a scan step after Compile.
  • Review in Word. Send a chapter to an editor or supervisor as Word and bring their tracked changes and comments back onto your text, each to accept or reject. Scrivener’s manual doesn’t describe bringing tracked changes back in.
  • The price. A quarter of Scrivener’s, once.

Moving across

New in 1.5. Grasmere opens a .scriv project and writes its binder as folders of Markdown files, keeping the order, synopses, labels and status. The guide is Import from Scrivener, and the longer account is A Scrivener alternative in plain Markdown. Going the other way, Scrivener imports Markdown files directly.

Download for macOS Free for 14 days, then $14.99 once · macOS 26+

Which to choose

Stay with Scrivener if you write fiction for publication, need ebooks, or work on Windows or an iPad. Choose Grasmere if your writing cites sources, goes to people who use Word, or if you want the book to live as plain files. If you’re not sure, both have trials, and the import means trying Grasmere costs an afternoon.

Last updated .