LibreOffice Writer vs Mellel

LibreOffice Writer

• People who want a full desktop word processor at no cost
• Anyone who needs the same word processor on Windows, macOS and Linux
• Users who prefer open-source software and the OpenDocument format

Mellel

• Academics and students writing theses, papers and books on a Mac
• Long, structured documents with many notes and cross-references
• Writers mixing Hebrew, Arabic or Syriac with other languages
• Bookends users who want citations formatted as they write

LibreOffice Writer

• There is no hosted cloud version; The Document Foundation says it does not plan a service like those from Google and Microsoft.
• On Android the foundation offers a viewer with experimental editing only, and it points to Collabora Office for editing on Android and iOS.
• The Mac App Store version costs $8.99 and the Microsoft Store version also carries a charge; downloads from the website are free.

Mellel

• Mac and iPad only: there is no Windows, Android or web version.
• A license covers two years of free updates; later versions need a paid upgrade, listed at $44 on the store page.
• Mellel Mobile runs on iPad only, lacks some editing options of the Mac version, and needs Premium for bibliography scanning.
• Citations and bibliographies rely on Bookends, a separate reference manager that is sold with Mellel as a $114.99 bundle.

LibreOffice Writer

Writing aids

A spellchecker, thesaurus, AutoCorrect and hyphenation are built in, along with templates for documents such as letters, memos, resumes and mail merges.

Styles and Navigator

Styles for paragraphs, characters, frames and pages can be created, assigned and modified, and the Navigator shows a document's outline for moving around it quickly.

Microsoft Word compatibility

Opens and saves Microsoft Word .doc and .docx files in addition to its native OpenDocument format.

PDF and HTML export

Documents can be exported to PDF and saved as HTML as well as in OpenDocument and Word formats.

Desktop publishing layout

Multi-column layouts, frames, graphics and tables support documents such as brochures and newsletters, and a drawing tool creates graphics inside a document.

Calculations in tables

An integrated calculation function runs calculations and logical links inside the tables of a text document.

Mellel

Auto-titles and outline

Automatically formatted headings and captions define a document's structure on several levels. The outline gives an overview for jumping to any part and rearranging it.

Footnotes and endnotes

Supports an unlimited number of footnote and endnote streams, with endnotes placed at the end of the document, chapter, section or any combination of these.

Bibliography with Bookends

Integration with the Bookends reference manager updates citations and the bibliography as you write, with one bibliography for the document, one per chapter, or both.

Styles and style sets

Styles apply to characters, paragraphs, pages, notes, sections, tables and lists, and are grouped into style sets that can be reused in other documents.

Multilingual and right-to-left text

Mixes languages, scripts and writing directions within one document, paragraph or sentence, with right-to-left support for Arabic, Hebrew and Syriac.

Import and export

Opens Word (docx), RTF, OPML and plain-text files, and exports to PDF, Word (docx), RTF, OPML and ePUB.

LibreOffice Writer

• LibreOffice$0

  The full office suite, including Writer, downloaded free from libreoffice.org for Windows, macOS or Linux.

Mellel

• Mellel Mobile$0

  Free iPad app with in-app purchases: Standard at $29.99 and Premium at $9.99 on the US App Store, which does not show their billing basis.

• Mellel for Mac$69.99

  one-time license

  Personal license for up to 5 computers that never expires, with two years of free updates. The vendor's store page rounds the price to $69.

• Mellel + Bookends Bundle$114.99

  one-time purchase

  Mellel for Mac together with the Bookends reference manager, against $144.98 when the two are bought separately.

LibreOffice Writer

No public discounts listed.

Mellel

• Other savings

  Upgrade from any older license for $44

  The store lists a $44 upgrade to the latest version for holders of any Mellel license, however old, with two more years of free updates.

• Other savings

  Mellel + Bookends bundle

  A license for both Mellel and the Bookends reference manager costs $114.99, instead of $144.98 when each is bought separately.

• Other savings

  Crossgrade price for Nisus users

  Nisus users are offered a Mellel for Mac license at a discounted $51.75, with two years of free updates.