Mellel vs Scrivener

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

Scrivener

• Novelists and academics managing book-length projects
• Writers who restructure a draft by moving scenes and chapters around
• People who want to pay once instead of subscribing

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.

Scrivener

• Each platform needs its own license: the macOS, Windows and iOS versions are bought separately.
• The store sells versions for macOS, Windows and iOS only; no Android, Linux or web version is listed.
• Sync between the iOS app and the desktop versions runs through Dropbox and needs a Dropbox account.
• A license does not cover major version updates; moving from Scrivener 3 to a future Scrivener 4 means buying a discounted upgrade.

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.

Scrivener

Binder

Keeps manuscript sections, notes and reference material in one sidebar, so a long text is written and navigated in small pieces.

Corkboard and outliner

Every section has an index card with a synopsis. Moving cards on the corkboard or rows in the outliner reorders the manuscript itself.

Compile

Exports the assembled manuscript to formats including Microsoft Word, RTF, PDF, Final Draft and ePub, with formatting applied at export.

Snapshots

Saves a copy of a section before a rewrite, so the earlier version can be compared with the new one or restored.

Research alongside the draft

Imports PDFs, images, web pages, and sound and movie files into the project and shows them next to the text being written.

Targets and scriptwriting

Word or character targets with live counters and a writing history, plus a scriptwriting mode that handles screenplay and stage-play formatting.

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.

Scrivener

• Scrivener for iOS & iPadOS$23.99

  one-time purchase

  The iPhone and iPad app. There is no trial, and a Dropbox account is required for sync.

• Educational Licence$50.99

  one-time purchase, per platform

  The macOS or Windows version for students and academics. Requires an institutional affiliation.

• Standard Licence$59.99

  one-time purchase, per platform

  The full macOS or Windows version, licensed for every computer in a household that runs that platform.

• macOS + Windows bundle$95.98

  one-time purchase

  A separate license for each of macOS and Windows, sold together at a lower combined price.

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.

Scrivener

• Education

  Educational Licence for students and academics

  The macOS and Windows versions are sold to students and academics with an institutional affiliation for $50.99, against $59.99 for a Standard Licence.

• Other savings

  macOS and Windows bundle

  Buying Scrivener for macOS and Windows together costs $95.98, against $119.98 for two separate Standard Licences.

• Other savings

  Discounted upgrades from older versions

  Owners of an earlier major version can buy an upgrade license at a discount instead of paying the full price for the new version.