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Scrivener Pros and Cons: Top Advantages and Disadvantages

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Generated from real user reviews

Users find Scrivener easy to use for organizing research, manuscripts, and tracking progress seamlessly in one place. (2 mentions)
Users love the organizational features of Scrivener, making research and manuscript management seamless and efficient. (2 mentions)
Users appreciate the organization capabilities of Scrivener, effectively managing manuscripts and tracking essential writing components. (2 mentions)
Users love the easy implementation of Scrivener, seamlessly organizing their writing tasks from outline to final draft. (1 mentions)
Users value the flexibility of Scrivener, enabling them to manage writing tasks seamlessly across devices. (1 mentions)
Users find the steep learning curve challenging due to Scrivener's extensive features, but it can be manageable. (1 mentions)
Users note the limited collaboration features in Scrivener, making it less suitable for team projects and smaller documents. (1 mentions)
Users find missing collaboration tools in Scrivener limiting, especially for teamwork and smaller document projects. (1 mentions)

Top Pros or Advantages of Scrivener

Top Cons or Disadvantages of Scrivener

Scrivener Reviews (87)

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Scrivener Reviews (87)

View 2 Video Reviews
4.5
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LK
Lexi K.
Senior Media Strategist
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Powerful for Writing, But Needs Smoother Integration"
3.5/5
What do you like best about Scrivener?

I enjoy using Scrivener for writing fiction, drafting, outlining, organizing research documents, and tracking versions of documents. It's much more powerful than traditional word processors, which allows me to work on multiple projects simultaneously and manage different document versions. I find it fun to use, and it's an actual joy to write because I can keep so much information in this program. I appreciate the ability to view things as notecards, which can represent scenes or pieces of research, and I can view them side by side and rearrange them as needed. I can open multiple docs at the same time to compare them. The spellcheck feature is also handy. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Scrivener?

The Dropbox integration is very clunky. I spend a lot of time on help forums trying to reintegrate. I've spent a lot of time trying to fix and restart programs and reintegrate my personal Dropbox account. It's a mess sometimes. I think a cleaner Dropbox integration or its own cloud service would help. It's not helpful. Very difficult long learning process. Still don't have a knowledge of the whole program. I discover new stuff every week. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Jana S.
JS
Jana S.
Author
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Indispensible tool for any author."
5/5
What do you like best about Scrivener?

I love how Scrivener helps me organize my manuscript, move things about, and keep track of important information, like script ideas, plot progress, characters, and their identity. Scrivener helps track my progress so I know how many words are in my manuscript, chapters, and so on. There is so much more, but these are the critical features for me as an author. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Scrivener?

Honestly, there is so little to dislike, that I can't think of anything. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Consulting
UC
Verified User in Consulting
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Great for Long-Document Writing"
3/5
What do you like best about Scrivener?

Scrivener makes it easy to collect your research and writing for longer documents all in one place. You can see it all in the same document and easily navigate between different documents. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Scrivener?

Scrivener lacks good collaboration tools. So if you have colleagues you work with, it's not the best tool. Also it's not the best for smaller documents. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Paul T.
PT
Paul T.
English Second Language Teacher
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"A Fully Featured Tool That Allows You To Easily Manage Large Writing Projects"
5/5
What do you like best about Scrivener?

As an ESL teacher, one of my tasks is to create lessons for my students. Scrivener plays a a big part in helping me to easily break may lesson projects down into smaller parts so that I can work off each section easily while still being able to look at the whole project where these parts are nested. This is really important when having to work on large projcts that cover a full sylabus of lessons. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Scrivener?

The learning curve can be a bit steep, which is due to the many features that Scrivener has. However, I only use the features that are important to my needs, which lowers the learning curve quite a bit. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Higher Education
UH
Verified User in Higher Education
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"My writing office in one place : Scrivener"
5/5
What do you like best about Scrivener?

I usually handle multiple writing and organizational tasks, and what I value most about Scrivener is that it keeps my texts structured in a single tool, from the initial outline to the final content. It allows me to structure complex documents into manageable sections and add notes or references in the inspector without interfering with the main flow of the text. And because of its flexibility I can use the desktop version for more intensive tasks and the mobile app to make quick adjustments or take notes when I'm on the go. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Scrivener?

While it offers basic tools to catch errors, integrating a more advanced real-time proofreading system would be a big step forward for those looking to perfect texts within the same application. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Andra M.
AM
Andra M.
Content Marketing Manager
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"The best writing software out there"
5/5
What do you like best about Scrivener?

There are many similar software out there but Scrivener is not only the most inexpensive but also the more robust and reliable. I've used it for many many years and plan to continue to do so. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Scrivener?

I really can't think of any cons. I know that I don't use all of the features it comes with (it's that robust!) but the features I do use are great and I could not do my work without Scrivener. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Elli C.
EC
Elli C.
Book Coach and Developmental Editor
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Best Novel Writing Software out there"
5/5
What do you like best about Scrivener?

Having all my novel writing material in one place is a very neat feature, something a regular word processor can only dream about offering. You have research folders and chapter folders, which you can separate into scenes. These you can move around, so if you ever need to move a scene from one chapter to another or move a chapter to a different location, you can do that easily with drag and drop. Novel organization is a huge plus with this software.

I also love the split-screen options. In the past, I've had to open two word documents to work on translations and resize the windows and move them to properly align for translation, but with Scrivener, I can easily split the screen and access any scene or chapter in one language while looking at the same scene or chapter in another language. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Scrivener?

The only thing I dislike is the fact that there's so much to learn to fully utilize the software's potential. This isn't really a bad thing! It does take a learning curve though, if you wish to go into the deeper, more involved functions of the program. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verónica M.
VM
Verónica M.
Editor
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Great writing and prod tool"
5/5
What do you like best about Scrivener?

It is an integrated writing, outlining and research tool that is tailor-made for long writing projects and processes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Scrivener?

If you already own a computer version, mobile versions should be free. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Brian "Sully" S.
BS
Brian "Sully" S.
Principal
Internet
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Great product, terrible company"
3.5/5
What do you like best about Scrivener?

The product is very full-featured for writing projects. The corkboard view is particularly helpful for long-form. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Scrivener?

The chief downside of Scrivener is the people who make and support it. They were particularly petulant and uncooperative during a long, extensively delayed roll-out for their Windows 3.x version. It's left a sour taste in my mouth. While I still use the product, it's only because I haven't found a better alternative yet--and I'm actively looking. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Victoria L.
VL
Victoria L.
Freelance Writer
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"A decent option for screenwriting software"
2.5/5
What do you like best about Scrivener?

Offers unique features like typewriter, ring-binder, and scrapbook. It's a good option for writers with a lot of notes or research that needs compiling. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Scrivener?

There's a learning curve to the software, and the program is prone to freezing up. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.