We make JustWrite, so you'd expect this comparison to end with "and that's why ours is best." It won't. iA Writer and Ulysses are better than JustWrite at most things writing apps do — because JustWrite deliberately doesn't do those things. Here's the honest version.
Where iA Writer wins
- Beautiful Markdown editing with world-class typography
- File library, sync, and export to PDF/Word/HTML
- Focus Mode and syntax highlighting for editing prose
- One-time $49.99 purchase
If you need an editor you'll keep documents in, iA Writer is a better editor than JustWrite. Full stop.
Where Ulysses wins
- The best writing library on the Mac — projects, groups, filters
- iCloud sync across Mac, iPad, iPhone
- Publishing directly to WordPress, Ghost, Medium
- Writing goals and deadlines per project
If you manage a book or a content pipeline, Ulysses is the strongest end-to-end tool, subscription and all (~$39.99/year).
Where JustWrite is simply different
Both apps above share one assumption: that you'll stay in them. They trust you. JustWrite doesn't. When you start a sprint, JustWrite takes over your Mac in kiosk mode — Cmd+Tab, Cmd+Q, Force Quit, and the Dock stop working until you hit your time or word goal. Optionally, backspace stops working too (forward-only mode), so you can't edit your way out of drafting.
- Unbreakable fullscreen kiosk mode
- Time or word-count goals per sprint
- Typewriter sounds and layered ambient soundscapes
- Forced breaks, eye and posture reminders for long sessions
- Native SwiftUI app for macOS 14+, $29 once
What it doesn't have: a library, Markdown rendering, sync, export formats, or publishing. When the sprint ends, you copy your text or save it to a file. That's the whole pipeline.
The honest recommendation
Ask one question: do your drafts already get written? If yes, buy iA Writer or Ulysses based on whether you want files or a library, and skip JustWrite entirely. If your real problem is that sessions start with good intentions and end in browser tabs, no editor fixes that — that's the one job JustWrite exists for, and at $29 with a 14-day refund it's a cheap experiment against your own escape habits.