Atticus vs LivingWriter
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
LivingWriter
Cloud writing app for books and screenplays with planning boards
Free plan · from $15/mo
Where they differ
- Atticus starts at $147 one-time. LivingWriter starts at $15 per month, billed monthly (Pro).
- LivingWriter has a free plan. Atticus does not.
- Only Atticus lists a Linux app.
- Only LivingWriter lists iOS and Android apps.
- Atticus can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- LivingWriter also covers chat assistant.
In commonWebWindowsmacOSTemplatesLong-form writing
At a glance
| Atticus | LivingWriter | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | $147 one-time | $15 per month, billed monthly (Pro) |
| Free plan | None | One manuscript with a limited word count, outlines and templates, notes and to-dos, a basic Elements board, a small AI allowance and basic PDF export. |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day trial of Pro or Pro + AI; the button calls it free while the card says "Try for $0.99" |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Atticus | LivingWriter |
| Price read from | atticus.thrivecart.com | livingwriter.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Atticus
- Self-publishing authors who format their own ebooks and print books
- Writers on Windows, Linux or Chromebook who need book formatting software
- Buyers who prefer a one-time payment with future updates included
LivingWriter
- Novelists who track characters, settings and plot threads beside the draft
- Writers who move between a computer, a phone and a tablet
- Authors who also write screenplays and want both in one app
Worth knowing
Atticus
- There is no free trial or free version; the vendor offers a 30-day money-back guarantee instead, and says it has no discounts.
- The installable app is a Progressive Web App set up through Chrome, and the help center advises against using the Edge browser.
- Editors, co-writers and beta readers each need their own purchased Atticus account to collaborate inside the app.
- Export covers EPUB, PDF and DOCX, and the vendor's own comparison table lists version control as coming soon.
LivingWriter
- The Free plan covers one manuscript with a limited word count and exports only basic PDF.
- Sharing and collaboration, the full Boards system and the Canva and Google Drive integrations need Pro.
- Manuscript chat, AI outlines, rewrites, analysis and cover images are listed under the $30 Pro + AI plan.
- Quarterly and annual billing exist, but the public pricing page shows only the monthly prices.
Key features
Atticus
- Writing editor
- A manuscript editor organized by chapter, with writing goals, outlining, footnotes and endnotes, so a book can be drafted in the same app that formats it.
- Themes and custom theme builder
- 17 formatting templates that the vendor says combine into more than 1,200 looks, a builder for custom chapter themes, and a library of over 1,500 fonts.
- Device previewer
- Shows how the book will look on devices such as an iPhone, iPad, Galaxy phone, Fire tablet and Kindle Paperwhite before it is exported.
- Import and export
- Imports an existing manuscript as a DOCX file and exports EPUB for ebooks, PDF for print and DOCX for sharing with an editor.
- Offline writing with cloud backup
- Saves automatically and backs books up to the cloud. Writing continues offline and syncs once the device is back online; importing and exporting need a connection.
- Collaboration roles
- Books can be shared with collaborators assigned as Author, Editor, Co-writer or Beta Reader, with comments in the editor.
LivingWriter
- Boards
- Manuscript, Planning, Elements and Research boards lay out chapters, scenes, story elements and sources as cards that can be dragged into a new order.
- Linked story elements
- Characters, settings and objects get reusable profiles with aliases and relations. Auto-completion connects them to the text as you write, and each profile lists where it appears.
- Outline templates
- Ready-made structures include Story Circle, Hero's Journey, the 27 Chapter Method and Romancing the Beat, along with memoir, biography and PhD thesis outlines.
- Screenwriting
- A screenplay mode formats scene headings, action, characters, dialogue, parentheticals and transitions automatically, and an AI tool converts prose into a script.
- AI writing assistant
- Optional tools for outlines, rewriting, summaries, manuscript analysis and a chat that knows the manuscript. LivingWriter says manuscripts are not used to train AI models.
- Version history and export
- Earlier versions can be viewed, compared and restored. Manuscripts export to DOCX, PDF, EPUB and Amazon KDP formats, and existing documents can be imported.
Plans
Atticus
Atticus$147
one-time payment
Access to the full app for ebook and print formatting with ongoing updates at no extra cost, covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
LivingWriter
Free$0
A first book with a limited word count, outlines, notes and to-dos, a taste of the AI tools and basic PDF export.
Pro$15
per month, billed monthly; quarterly and annual also offered
Unlimited manuscripts and screenplays, the full Boards system, sharing and collaboration, pro export formats, and Canva and Google Drive integration.
Pro + AI$30
per month; the card itself shows no billing period
Everything in Pro plus the full AI set: manuscript chat, outlines, rewrites, analysis, manuscript-to-screenplay, and cover and element images.
