Mellel vs Microsoft Word
We give Mellel a 3.0 GPA and Microsoft Word a 3.4, out of 4.0. Mellel grades higher on value for money. Microsoft Word grades higher on the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mellel
Mac word processor for long academic and technical documents
Microsoft Word
Word processor sold with Microsoft 365, free in the browser
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAMellelVery good | 3.4GPAMicrosoft WordVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A$69.99 once for a licence that never expires, on up to 5 computers. That's less than a year of a typical $10 a month writing tool. Updates are free for two years, and after that an upgrade is listed at $44. | B$9.99 a month or $99.99 a year gets Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and 1 TB of storage. That's a lot for the money if you'll use it all. But you can't subscribe to Word alone, and Google Docs is free. |
| Free plan and trial | CThere's no free plan for the Mac app, but the 30-day trial comes without restrictions. The iPad app, Mellel Mobile, is a free download with in-app purchases from $9.99. | BWord for the web is free for one person, with real-time collaboration, basic spelling and grammar, dictation and 5 GB of storage. The Windows and Mac apps aren't free. You get a 1-month trial of the paid plans. |
| Features | AAutomatic headings with an outline you can rearrange, as many streams of footnotes and endnotes as you like, reusable style sets, and right-to-left text for Arabic, Hebrew and Syriac. It opens and saves Word files and exports ePUB. Citations go through Bookends, though. | ATrack changes, version history, writing together, thousands of templates, dictation, a reading view and an accessibility checker, plus Copilot on paid plans. If a word processor can do it, Word probably does. |
| Ease of use | BThere's no App Store rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. It's a Mac app you download, and the 30-day trial has no restrictions, so you can learn it on a real chapter before paying. | B4.7 from about 3 million App Store ratings, and most people already know their way round it. But what you get on the web, a phone and a desktop differs in confusing ways, and iPad reviewers report lost work. |
| Platforms and integrations | CMac, plus an iPad app that opens the same documents, with iCloud and Bookends hooked in. That's all Apple. There's no Windows, Android or web version, and the iPad app lacks some of the Mac's editing options. | AWindows, Mac, iPhone, Android and the web, and Google Docs can edit its files directly. No Linux app is listed, so there it's the browser version. |
| Best for | long academic documents on a Mac | documents that have to look exactly right |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Mellel and Microsoft Word. How we grade
Where they differ
- Mellel starts at $69.99 one-time for Mellel for Mac; iPad in-app purchases from $9.99. Microsoft Word starts at $9.99 / month, or $99.99 / year (Microsoft 365 Personal).
- Microsoft Word has a free plan. Mellel does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Microsoft Word lists a web app.
- Only Microsoft Word lists Windows and Android apps.
- Mellel can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Mellel also covers citations and long-form writing.
- Microsoft Word also covers dictation, templates and grammar & style.
At a glance
| Mellel | Microsoft Word | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $69.99 one-time for Mellel for Mac; iPad in-app purchases from $9.99 | $9.99 / month, or $99.99 / year (Microsoft 365 Personal) |
| Free plan | None | Word for the web is free for 1 person: real-time collaboration, basic spelling and grammar, basic templates, dictation and 5 GB of cloud storage. The mobile apps cover basic editing without a subscription. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of Mellel for Mac, without restrictions | 1-month free trial of Microsoft 365 Personal, Family or Premium. |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Mellel Software | Microsoft |
| Price read from | sites.fastspring.com | microsoft.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Microsoft Word
- People who want a full desktop word processor on Windows or Mac
- Households: Microsoft 365 Family covers 1 to 6 people
- Occasional writers who only need the free browser version
- Buyers who prefer a one-time purchase to a subscription
Worth knowing
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.
Microsoft Word
- The Windows and Mac apps need a Microsoft 365 subscription or a one-time Office purchase; only the web version is free.
- Copilot requires a paid subscription, has usage limits, and on shared plans works for the subscription owner only.
- On phones and tablets, advanced formatting and track changes need a Microsoft 365 subscription.
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic ($7.00 per user / month paid yearly, or $5.40 without Teams) includes only the web and mobile versions of Word.
Key features
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.
Microsoft Word
- Copilot in Word
- Drafts, rewrites and summarizes documents and answers questions about them. It needs a Microsoft 365 subscription, and usage limits apply.
- Editor
- A built-in checker for spelling, grammar and writing style. The free web version includes basic spelling and grammar checks.
- Real-time co-authoring
- Share a document with anyone, including people without an account, and edit it together, with track changes and version history. Shared files are stored in OneDrive.
- Templates
- Thousands of customizable templates are available at no charge, and the free web version includes a basic set of templates, fonts and icons.
- Dictate
- Speech-to-text for writing by voice, plus transcription of audio files into a document. Dictation and voice commands are part of the free web version.
- Immersive Reader and Accessibility Checker
- Immersive Reader gives a pared-back reading view, and the Accessibility Checker recommends fixes to formatting, color contrast and word choice.
Plans
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.
Microsoft Word
Free$0
Word for the web for 1 person, with real-time collaboration, basic spelling and grammar, basic templates, dictation and 5 GB of storage.
Microsoft 365 Personal$9.99
per month, or $99.99 per year
1 person signed in on up to 5 devices, 1 TB of cloud storage, and the Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook desktop apps with Copilot.
Microsoft 365 Apps for business$10.00
per user / month, paid yearly
Desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook for up to 300 employees, with 1 TB of cloud storage per user.
Microsoft 365 Family$12.99
per month, or $129.99 per year
Everything in Personal for 1 to 6 people, who share 2 TB of cloud storage between them. AI features are for the subscription owner only.
Microsoft 365 Premium$19.99
per month, or $199.99 per year
Everything in Family, plus extensive Copilot usage and agentic AI features such as advanced research and analytics.
Office Home 2024$179.99
one-time purchase for 1 PC or Mac
Classic 2024 desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, with no upgrade path to later releases.
Ways to pay less
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.
Microsoft Word
- Annual discount
Save up to 17% by paying yearly
Microsoft 365 Personal is $99.99 a year against $9.99 a month, Family $129.99 against $12.99 and Premium $199.99 against $19.99.
- Education
Students save 50% on Microsoft 365 Personal
Verified college and university students pay $4.99 a month for Microsoft 365 Personal. Student status has to be re-verified each year to keep the price.
- Education
Office 365 A1 free for eligible schools
Educators and students with an eligible school email address get Office 365 A1 at no cost, which includes the web versions of Word and the other core apps.
- Lifetime license
Office Home 2024 one-time purchase
$179.99 buys the classic 2024 desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for 1 PC or Mac, with no subscription.
