LEV  It would be nice if everything were free. And a Lexus is really just a souped-up Suzuki Swift...

Actually I don't think putting Scrivener and Ulysses head to head is quite right. I've used both since they first appeared and I still use both. Scrivener is a brilliant free-form organizer with some very sophisticated writing tools; Ulysses encourages a more disciplined approach. To be glib, Scrivener is for feeling your way forward, Ulysses is for managing a writing project when you already know more or less where you're going.

Given that Ulysses is developed by (I believe) working journalists and Scrivener by a chap who wanted to write a novel and couldn't find the right app to do it in, it's curious that, for me at least, Scrivener turns out to be ideal for non-fiction while Ulysses is rather better-suited to the total immersion required for writing fiction. (Others may disagree, of course.)

Put even more simply, I find Scrivener encourages a smaller granularity that Ulysses. Scrivener's natural unit is a scene at a time; Ulysses', a chapter at a time. Depends what you're doing and how you like to write.

As to price -- well, if you write in order to put bread on the table, the cost of either is small beer compared with the benefits they deliver.

Try them both. You might end up buying them both. How many tools does a carpenter have in his toolbox?  
(Version 1.6r2)

LAWRENCE GOODMAN  I want to add my voice to those who think this app is outrageously priced. It does have some nice features, but it’s essentially a souped-up text editor. Many of its features can be found in Textmate while Scrivener, in fact, has many more features and is far cheaper.

I really hope the developers will listen and lower the proce.  
(Version 1.6r2)

KATASTROPHE  When I first bought Ulysses in (I think) 2003, I didn't balk at the price because there was simply nothing out there doing the job. The closest thing -- a program called Z-Write -- was on its way to becoming abandonware and had stability issues, and of the small number of other programs I found that let me do tabbed documents, all were simplistic to the point of irritating, buggy, or top-loading the program with useless (buggy) features in an attempt to make it more like Word, the program I was trying to get away from in the first place.

Scrivener and other newcomers have certainly changed the playing field, but I do think some of the comments here overly harsh. Is Ulysses high-priced compared to other programs? Yes. Is it the program for you? It may well not be; certainly check out the cheaper options first. But the beauty of Ulysses is not only what it does but what it doesn't do. It doesn't distract you, and yet it does deliver pretty much every feature I actually need, neatly, quietly, and in such a manner that the features are immediately accessible when I look and completely invisible when I don't. That's rare. And, for me, it's worth every penny.

I also want to note that the price on this listing is somewhat misleading. The actual price of Ulysses is (at the moment) eighty Euro, meaning its US dollar price varies depending on the strength of the Euro. Right now it's running about $100, a quarter less than the listing price.  
(Version 1.6r2)

JONATHAN GOLDEN  Much, much to expensive for what it does.   
(Version 1.6r2)

LORD LIGHTNING  Don't know what version of Scrivener Talazem was evaluating - but v 1.12b does Markup perfectly. So still no contest and a spurious and flawed comparison.

Don't get me wrong, Ulysses is fine for what it is, it is just that Scrivener is a direct competitor and it is streets better for writers - and the developer really does listen, seriously listen. Maybe that's part of why Scrivener is so superior. Version 2 is scheduled to appear in September so I strongly suggest that you download v1.12b and become familiar with it. At least look at the forum: http://www.literatureandlatte.com/forum/

and at the video on the FEATURES section of the Scrivener splash page: http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html  
(Version 1.6)

TALAZEM  This is an wonderful program for what it claims to do: plain text writing. But it really shines when one uses it in conjunction with LaTeX and other markup based writing. Why? Because the new features of 1.5 -- like inline style formatting and markers that can be set to export as markup -- can be be set to export as markup. This is excellent for people who like to export ultimately to LaTeX, with all the necessary markup, but do not want to *see* that markup on the screen as they write. This is a *huge* step in LaTeX editing/writing.

So, for example, you can apply styles to text -- for example, a yellow highlight, or the color red. That's what you see on your screen. Then, upon exoprt, you can have that be transformed to something else, such as LaTeX escapes.

Again, this isn't for people who just want to "type up some notes"; go use TextEdit for that. Don't care about plain text or LaTeX, and need RTF? Then Scrivener is the best of the breed (though, it must be said, that Scrivener also has an *awesome* LaTeX export mechanism due to its MMD integration).

The major weakness of Ulsses? The organizer. I understand they have their own philosophy, but ultimately, if I want to export into something PRINTABLE (as opposed to hypertext), then I need an outliner, a folder-type hierarchy. Why? Because that's how books and book-length documents (like theses) are organized. As it stands, Ulysses effectively has a two-level deep hierarchy. When I'm writing a book, or a thesis, that just isn't enough. Long printed publications are hierarchically based; that's reality. And I need a program that allows me to use that intuitive form of organization, and to move parts of the document around that hierarchy on the fly. It's just too hard to keep track of parts, chapters, sections, and subsections of a thesis or a book without as it stands now.

So -- since other have (unfairly) attacked Ulysses and praised the "competition -- let's be fair, and compare them based on relative *merits*: where do each of Ulysses and Scrivener shine (only focusing on strengths not existant in the other; not commenting on "writing software" features they both have)?

Scrivener: it has a database (to store your research files such as other RTFs, web pages, pdfs, etc, that you can then view within the prgoram); it is an RTF editor (if that's what you need); it has an excellent hierarchical organizer and outliner; it has excellent export abilities through MMD.

Ulysses: the ability to apply inline styles or markers that can then be translated into markup upon export is revolutionary, especially for LaTeX users; it is plain text (if that's what you need); you can choose to have inline footnotes, or footnotes in the notes pane; it is one of the most aesthetically pleasant pieces of software I have seen (not that Scrivener is ugly, and this is a subject thing, yes).

If the devs are listening, please put a hierarchical organizer (outliner) at the top of your developing priorities. That is the only thing necessary to make your excellent program perfect for people with plain text/LaTeX needs.

And if you're a user: please don't flame an apple for not being an orange (and mind you, neither are lemons).  
(Version 1.5)

ZO219  If anyone who wishes to write spends this kind of money on ... software that touts, on its feature list, Tabs! and, Automatically Updates! ... I will personally come over to your house and whap you upside the head ... One rarely sees such overblown - oh dear, another bad word occurs to me. To all newcomers to the Mac, welcome, this isn't typical at all. Just write.  
(Version 1.5)

LORD LIGHTNING  Who cares!

I just did a feature by feature comparison with Scrivener and I can see why I decided to drop Ulysses form my computer. I transferred all my writing stuff to Scrivener and quite simply my productivity soared. I can only suggest you do the same kind of comparison:

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html  
(Version 1.5)

JOHN F.  I think Ulysses is really a top notch writing environment. No distraction, focus, just right. When I move away from this app, to try out writing in other apps, I get blocked. I have licenses for many apps (OmniOutliner, Hog Bay Mori, DevonThink Pro, Circus Ponies Notebook, and more), but this app is really the stuff for me. It just instantly gets me flowing. Words just start pouring. I don't know what it is about Ulysses that does the trick. I only know that it does. I still use OmniOutliner Pro for notes and outlines, but I do the writing in Ulysses. I think OmniOutliner Pro and Ulysses have become my favorite apps. They both are simple and simply do the trick. I think the transparency is what I love most about Ulysses. What you see is what you get. Nothing too fancy, nothing really hidden. Just focus and overview. For some people, Ulysses will really get you going. It is clearly not for everybody, but choice is good. It's good to know that there's an app for everybody right here on the Mac platform. I am also very happy that the developers didn't change any of the app's philosophy along the way. For the people who depend on this app, it's really reassuring. I choose to use this app because of the philosophy it introduces. I've seen so many apps that get added with a zillion features along the way that I don't recognize the app I fell in love with any more. Not so with Ulysses. Features do get added over time, but the app feels the same. And it is one of few apps which dares to make a bold statement and is made to cater for a specific audience, instead of searching for an audience.  
(Version 1.2.2r2)

LAWRENCE MARTIN  I'm using Ulysses because you can just type away without the many options word processors have. About all I miss is italics, because this is used widely in books and does have its uses.

There's a solid feel to it -- I find I trust Ulysses to type away into. Another very handy thing, perhaps not mentioned enough, is the Latex export. I'm new to this format myself, but if you get hold of TeXShop to make use of an exported Latex file, then hit typeset and print... well, you get a really, really nice looking manuscript; easier to read than a standard word processor print.

One final thing I'll note -- I had a little look at the saved Ulysses file. It is a package. So I did a "show package contents". Inside are more folders and I found the text documents of my writing. Somehow I found this very reassuring, as text files are simple and can be used on any platform. Also, it showed me that Ulysses is doing some extra work behind the scenes compared to, say, a word processor, which would generally save your work in a single file in its own format.

In short, features/qualities I like:

* Stable feel. * Clean, non-distracting interface. * Latex Exporting. * Clever saved files.  
(Version 1.2.2r2)