That ’s why Apple sum Pages as a destitute facility with Mac , iPhone , and iPad twist , and the company ’s own tidings processor is well worth a look . Still , there are plenty of alternatives that range from gratuitous option with impressive characteristic to more powerful authorship tools with power feature . Among the choice we reckon at below are entirely free word processor powerful up to in full featured office suite that issue forth as part of wider ecosystems ( like Microsoft Word ) . Whatever your budget , and whatever your requirement , there ’s a word central processing unit for you .
We ’ve pucker together 10 of our favourite Word Processors for Mac that allow users to get matter down on the page cursorily and with as piddling fuss as possible .
We also have advice about thebest email resolution for Macand aguide to buying Microsoft Office .
1. Microsoft 365 – Microsoft Word
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When it amount to word processors , Microsoft Word is still the gold criterion for most mass . Its widespread use by clientele around the orb means that you should never tend into any issues with mass not being able-bodied to spread a document or throw your formatting going amiss when you send the file to a colleague .
Word is a knock-down app that has pretty much anything you ’d require for something as childlike as a short letter right up to detailed reports with artwork and chart .
good of all , though , is the consolidation with Microsoft ’s online Office 365 , which makes it easy to function on text file in the iOS and iPadOS version of Word or in a web web web browser .
The standalone software be $ 139.99/£109.99 for a one - off paymentfrom Microsoftorfrom Apple , but arguably the best note value is to be found in the Microsoft 365 monthly subscription , which not only gives you access to Word , but also Excel , Powerpoint , Outlook , as well as 1 TB of storage on OneDrive . monetary value start at $ 6.99/£5.99 per month .
To see how the different versions compare , read ourOffice for Mac buying guide . We also have an clause abouthow to get Microsoft Word for free .
2. Pages
Apple’sPageshas always been as much about make your documents reckon great as it has been about providing you with powerful writing tools , and the good news is , it ’s gratuitous !
As well as support for technologies such as Split View and Voice Over , Pages makes switch between macOS and Io as well-situated as it could be . The use of iCloud as storage for documents means you’re able to work on them wherever you have a Mac , iOS twist or entree to a WWW web internet browser . But what set Pages apart from others is its reenforcement forHandoff , meaning you do n’t have to write and close a papers on one equipment before affect to another , and its integration with iCloud , so that you may get at your document and work on them anywhere and on any equipment .
While there have been many addition to Pages in recent versions , one thing that has n’t changed is the best - in - form guide for make document well . Placeholders make it easy to add images from the Photos app , or anywhere else on your Mac , and if you ’re not well-chosen with the colours or fonts used in a template , you may change those too .
you may also now link up to websites and email name and address from physical object in the document , as well as embed and play YouTube or Vimeo videos on the varlet .
Pages keeps get better , too , with version 12.0 adding Shortcut support in macOS Monterey and now permit users to publish to Apple Books with document up to 2 GB in size .
Apple ’s Pages is a fully feature , modern Word of God processor , all of which makes its price ( or lack thence ) all the more impressive .
3. iA Writer
If you favor the minimalist approach to writing , there are no shortage of apps on the Mac App Store from which to choose.iA Writerwas one of the first and remains among the very good .
Its flagship feature is Focus mode , a way of authorship that scrolls the text as you type so the judgment of conviction you ’re working on is always at the centre of the screen and grey out everything else . This can also be expanded to include the whole paragraph on which you ’re working .
The new Style Check take apart your written material and suggests words that are supererogatory or cliched , so you could remove them before air out your document . This done in material - sentence , with offending terms dimmed or crossed out automatically so you may see them as you write . There ’s also a handy PDF Preview that display , in real - time , how a document will look when export to PDF .
Like other minimalist writing apps , iA Writer supports Markdown , allowing you to format text by typing characters rather than choose from a menu . It also sustain Markdown ’s LiveParse fashion , meaning you could spell in plain text with Markdown markup on the left of the screen and see the formatted textual matter in one of three templates on the right hand .
iA Writer will also color - code verb , adverbs , nouns , adjectives and conjunctions , lay down them easy to spot and , if necessary , tweak . There ’s a document library too , and the app hooks into both WordPress and Medium .
You wo n’t receive much in the way of life of formatting feature article or the kind of bells and whistles offered by other software , but if your primary desire is to get your words down , then iA author is an excellent and afordable option .
you’re able to buy iA Writer for £ 28.99 / US$29.99 / AU$29.99 on Apple ’s Mac App Store .
4. Google Docs
Google pioneered the web - based app method acting of working , and its word processorDocshas gone from strength to strength .
It ’s a enough option for work on document on your own , with the main benefit being that you’re able to work on them wherever you ’re log into your Google account , be it on your own Mac , an iOS twist , or anywhere you have access to a web web browser . But it really comes into its own as a collaborative tool . Multiple users can wreak on a deal written document simultaneously ( but only if they ’ve been given permission to do so by the papers creator ) .
Google Docs allows you to see change others make to the papers in real time and colour - twit user Idaho make it easy to see who ’s made the change .
It ’s not a tool we ’d choose for writing a novel or a screenplay , but as a mean of sharing ideas , creating documents and reports , pass up listing , or sharing school text used by multiple members of a team – say , boilerplate copy for fib on a site , or station on a blog – it ’s excellent , particularly as keeping that simulate up to date is so well-situated .
5. Ulysses
If Scrivener is overkill for your writing needs , Ulyssesoffers a simpler option . It commingle ingredient of iA Writer , such as Markdown financial support and distraction - costless committal to writing , with a document library similar to that in Scrivener . And it hasan iOS app , so you could swap easily between Io and macOS when you ’re working on a written document .
It ’s a comprehensive suite , with grammar and writing style analytic thinking , a light and thin writing environment with modes such as a typewriter scrolling layout similar to those in Byword and iA Writer , plus it also has a split - silver screen thought like the one in Scrivener .
There are easy and disconsolate modes and you may customise , for model , colour pallette . Ulysses also has herculean tools for posting flat to blogging platform from within the app , and supports multiple cloud computer storage services , including iCloud and Dropbox .
Ulysses has get word quite a few updates in late years , with young features add all the time , making it a competitive app in an already crowd discipline .
Like Microsoft 365 , you ’ll require a monthly subscription to apply Ulysses or give a year at a time if you want to save some money . At the metre of write this costs $ 5.99/£5.99 phosphorus / m or $ 49.99/£48.99 per year .
6. OpenOffice – Writer
Apache’sOpenOfficesoftware has been a Microsoft Office alternative for ten , and it remains just as popular as ever – that ’s because it ’s completely innocent , despite propose many features analogous to what you ’d find on Microsoft ’s suite of software .
The bundle admit Writer ( a word processor ) , Calc ( a spreadsheet app ) , Impress ( a Powerpoint replacement ) , as well as apps for illustration , databases , and mathematical equivalence , making it an ideal choice for student or anyone work on a small budget .
It ’s opened - source , too , which means developer are able to monkey around with it and release Modern features and denotation like convertor , custom reporting tools , and so much more .
When it comes to the word CPU part of the bundle , Writer is an splendid editor . It sport formatting pick just like you ’d obtain on paid version , as well as essay - saving tools like multi - page display .
It ’ll also spread text file from other services , and can export documents to HTML , PDF , and more – meaning if you try on OpenOffice and move to something else , your documents can all arrive with you .
at last , there ’s a full-bodied library of guide created by a community of interests of passionate developer , let in address books , name tag , party invitations , and plenty more .
7. WPS Office – Writer
If OpenOffice is a Microsoft Office relief , then WPS Office basically apes the total experience almost beat for pulsation .
The collection of software , antecedently known as Kingsoft Office , does n’t offer as many applications like Microsoft , but the I it does have are the big ones – and they ’re fully boast , too . author , Presentation , and Spreadsheets are Word , Powerpoint , and Excel in all but name , but there are some additional feature film that make WPS Office well deserving a look if you want to write yourself the price of a Microsoft 365 subscription .
For one , there ’s a cloud - base system that lets you commence work on one computer and nibble up where you forget off on the iPhone or iPad app . That also enables collaboration in real - time for insurance premium users , like the kind you ’d see in Google Docs or similar , making it idealistic for editing capacity or map out ideas for a project .
That ’ll set you back $ 29.99/£23.22 per year , but open up full file conversion and 20 GB of Cloud Storage . Sadly , you ’ll ask to pass that to avoid ads , which are how the developer is able to monetize the free reading .
And yet , even with that caution , WPS Office is a great package with a sleek interface that falls somewhere between Microsoft Office and Google Docs , and a muscular parole processor that contains the best of both .
8. Scrivener
Scrivenerhas an United States Army of fans who use it to write everything from blog post to full - distance novel and screenplay . And it ’s easy to see why it ’s so popular , especially now the third major version has been released .
For a commencement there are numerous guide for novels , light stories , various screenplays ( include standard formats for BBC Radio and BBC knock Drama ) , non - fiction documents and even verse .
Each text file has a library for documents and their Cuban sandwich - documents , all of which can be colour - coded and kept in booklet if you want . There ’s also a program library for research note of hand . And Scrivener ’s snag - screen modality grant you to have the document you ’re working on open in one half of the screen , with your research notes above or below . The corkboard view allows you to see how documents and sub - documents relate to each other and , if you choose , a separate viewing mode organises them in outline form .
you may make a synopsis for document which is stored with the papers , as well as adding keywords and other metadata . Another panel allows you to tote up references and another makes it straight to take a shot of a papers and roll back to it after , if you want .
Once you ’re ready , the Compile feature of speech makes it sluttish to pull all the documents and sub - documents in a task together ready for printing or exportation , admit to the Kindle eBook formatting . There ’s alsoan iOS version , too , so you may create on the go .
9. Highland 2
Highland 2is a multi - format processor with a primary nidus on screenwriting . This is n’t surprising , as the software was developed by John August , the author of the movies Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , Big Pisces , and Aladdin .
Everything about Highland 2 is there to get you writing and forget about formatting , font and other beguilement . For screenplays , the software mechanically recognises direction and dialogue , mean you do n’t need to select the locating mode or tell it that a character is talk . As an example , for the latter you just type the character name in all - capital and Highland 2 will seamlessly move into dialog mode , reserve you to drop a line without breaking your momentum while face for options .
It ’s not just a putz from creating scripts though , as there are formats for presentations , graphic novel , stage plays , speeches , novel , article and more .
The software system also allow you to limit writing goals so you may stay put motivated , plus there are ingenious tools that analyse the grammatical gender residuum of a document ( so you may see whether one sexual practice is getting all the lines ) , plus outside term that suggest alternative common - use words for other country ( say , sidewalk in the US or pavement in the UK ) .
The best part is that Highland 2 is spare , with only a few features held back for the Pro tier up . These include a rewrite mode ( one that tracks your change ) , Word Analysis ( reports how often you repeat words or set phrase ) , as well as some of the templet .
If you ’re looking for a lightweight , intelligent and genuinely helpful writing suite , then Highland 2 should decidedly be on your tilt .
10. LibreOffice Writer
LibreOfficeis a free office cortege with many of the feature of Microsoft ’s offer . Writer , as the name suggests , is its word - processing element , and very honest it is too . Importantly , it has full financial support for .doc and .docx files , so you’re able to open those and work on them without a problem .
Wizards allow you to quickly set up memos , varsity letter and even mail - merge documents , and there are all the styling and formatting tool you would have a bun in the oven . An auto - complete feature article makes suggestions as you typecast , though this may not be for everyone .
There are tools to create tables of contentedness and index for longer papers , while a templet eye on the LibreOffice web site has lots of document templates you’re able to download and use . There are also downloadable extensions that add feature to Writer .
LibreOffice lack the cultivation of Word or Pages , and does n’t have the same features to allow you to easily work on documents on an iOS gimmick as well as your Mac , but as a complimentary peter that supports multiple formatting and covers all the BASIC , it ’s excellent .
