FocusWriter AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Note-taking Tools

The best Note-taking alternative to FocusWriter is Zettlr, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to FocusWriter and many of them are Note-taking Tools so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Note-taking Tool alternatives to FocusWriter are ghostwriter, QOwnNotes, Trudido and Dendron.

filter to find the best alternatives

FocusWriter alternatives are mainly Note-taking Tools, but if you're looking for Text Editors or Todo List Managers you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Linux, Android and iPad. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to FocusWriter.
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Alternatives list

  1. Zettlr icon
     245 likes

    Unified writing platform offering note-taking, easy citations with Zotero integration, LaTeX/Word templates, snippets, themes, dark modes, code highlighting, multi-language support, and knowledge management with Zettelkasten for seamless writing from notes to books.

    182 Zettlr alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
     
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    1
    Comments about Zettlr as an Alternative to FocusWriter
    liricospina
    Positive
    -2

    This program does not work in any other version of Mac OS but the very latest, which by all accounts is still to be avoided. (Apparently. working remotely has made the macsters overzealously productive in an attempt to remain useful and banish boredom, at mac users' expense.)

    Zettlr icon
    Zettlr icon
    • Zettlr is Free and Open SourceFocusWriter is also Free and Open Source
    • Zettlr is Privacy focusedFocusWriter is not according to our users
  2. ghostwriter icon
     109 likes

    ghostwriter is a feature-rich text editor using Markdown syntax which makes it suitable for note-taking, document redaction, simple HTML website creation and much more.

    139 ghostwriter alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Haiku
     
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    2
    9
    Comments about ghostwriter as an Alternative to FocusWriter
    javillalba
    Positive
    0
    • Full screen distraction-free.
    • Open Source license.
    • Word count and progress stats.
    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Krakra
    Positive
    0

    very nice tool - i like it much more than Write and use it as alternative to it.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    ghostwriter icon
    ghostwriter icon
    • Most users think ghostwriter is a great FocusWriter alternative.

    • ghostwriter is Free and Open SourceFocusWriter is also Free and Open Source
    • ghostwriter is Privacy focusedFocusWriter is not according to our users
  3. QOwnNotes icon
     96 likes

    Plain text notepad with markdown support and todo list manager for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows, that works together with the notes application of ownCloud.

    266 QOwnNotes alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Qt
     
  4. Trudido icon
     14 likes

    Offline in-device task manager and note app featuring smart creation, advanced organization, calendar and list views, Markdown notes, secure SHA-256 encryption, Material You theming, multiple color themes, no tracking or ads, and import/export for total ownership.

    36 Trudido alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Android
    • Android Tablet
     
  5. Dendron icon
     71 likes

    Dendron is an open-source, local-first, markdown-based, note-taking tool built on top of VSCode. It supports all the usual features you would expect like tagging, backlinks, a graph view, split panes, and so forth.

    207 Dendron alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Visual Studio Code
     
  6. Bear icon
     95 likes

    Flexible note-taking and writing tool featuring advanced markdown with in-line images, cross-note links, live preview, hashtags, Focus Mode, plain text storage, iCloud sync, one-tap formatting, smart data recognition, and multiple export formats for portability.

    250 Bear alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Online
    • iPhone
    • iPad
     
  7. Rentry.co icon
     55 likes

    Rentry.co is a markdown pastebin and publishing service with preview, custom urls and editing. Fast, simple and free.

    183 Rentry.co alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
     
  8. iA Writer icon
     96 likes

    The key to good writing is not that magical glass of Bordeaux, the right kind of tobacco or that groovy background music. The key is focus. What you need to write well is a spartan setting that allows you to fully concentrate on your text and nothing but your text.

    120 iA Writer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • iPhone
    • iPad
     
  9. Heynote icon
     19 likes

    Heynote is a dedicated scratchpad for developers. It functions as a large persistent text buffer where you can write down anything you like. Works great for that Slack message you don't want to accidentally send, a JSON response from an API you're working with, notes...

    57 Heynote alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  10. Carnet icon
     43 likes

    Carnet is a complete and rich note taking app for Android and Linux that can be synced with NextCloud (selfhosted) or the official Carnet server.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • Self-Hosted
    • F-Droid
    • Snapcraft
    • Mac
     
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    1
    Comments about Carnet as an Alternative to FocusWriter
    Crystale
    Positive
    0

    It has a great UI and it is Open Source.

    Carnet icon
    Carnet icon
    • Carnet is Free and Open SourceFocusWriter is also Free and Open Source
    • Carnet is Privacy focusedFocusWriter is not according to our users
  11. novelWriter icon
     25 likes

    novelWriter is a Markdown-like text editor designed for writing novels and larger projects of many smaller plain text documents. It uses its own flavor of Markdown that supports a meta data syntax for comments, synopsis and cross-referencing between files.

    67 novelWriter alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Qt
    • Python
     
  12. Quoll Writer icon
     38 likes

    Focus on your words not the interface. Quoll Writer is a writing application that helps you focus on your words. Clean and uncluttered. Feature rich. Features are where you would expect them to be.

    79 Quoll Writer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
12 of 41 FocusWriter alternatives