A Scrivener Alternative, From People Who Respect Scrivener.
Scrivener has kept writers organised since 2007 and deserves its reputation. Shiro works the same way, a binder of scenes and a compile step, adds a Linux version and optional AI, and keeps your book in plain text files. If Scrivener already works for you, it’s still a fine place to be.
| Shiro | Scrivener | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free on your computer. Cloud is optional, see the pricing page. | $59.99 once per operating system, $95.98 for Mac and Windows, $23.99 on iOS. A major new version is a discounted paid upgrade. |
| Platforms | Mac, Windows, Linux, and a web app for cloud projects | Mac, Windows, iOS |
| Where your book lives | Plain Markdown files in a folder on your disk | Scrivener project on your disk, with automatic backups |
| Works offline | Yes, with no account | Yes on desktop |
| Built-in AI | Optional: local model, your own key or hosted. Can be turned off. | None. Literature & Latte says Scrivener contains no AI. |
| Sync between devices | Shiro Cloud | Dropbox, between desktop and iOS |
| Export | EPUB, PDF, Word, Markdown, HTML, plain text, with Kindle presets and a pre-upload checklist | Word, RTF, PDF, EPUB, Kindle e-books, Final Draft, and LaTeX through Pandoc or MultiMarkdown |
| Screenwriting | No | Yes |
Checked on the makers’ own websites in November 2026. Prices are in US dollars and change; tell us if we’ve fallen behind.
Choose Scrivener If
- You write screenplays as well as prose. Shiro doesn’t.
- You want to pay once and own the licence.
- You’ve spent years learning compile and you like where you ended up.
- You want your writing app to contain no AI at all, as a matter of principle.
Choose Shiro If
- You’re on Linux, or you move between computers and want them to stay in step without Dropbox.
- You want your book in files that any text editor can open in thirty years.
- You want an AI that knows your characters, and to choose whose AI it is.
- You want to show an editor how a book was written, with a signed record.
What’s the Same
If you know Scrivener, you know most of Shiro already. Your book is a binder of chapters and scenes rather than one long document. You write in small pieces, rearrange them on index cards, keep research beside the draft, take snapshots before you do something foolish, and compile the lot into a finished book at the end.
We built it that way because Scrivener got this right. Writers who have tried to write a novel in one long Word file know why.
What’s Different
Your files. A Shiro project is a folder of Markdown files with readable names, like 01 The Harbour.md. You can open them in any text editor, put them in Git, or read them in thirty years when every app we’ve all heard of has gone. If you change one outside Shiro, Shiro merges the change, and on a clash your words win and the other version becomes a snapshot.
Linux, and sync without Dropbox. Shiro runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. Scrivener’s official versions are Mac, Windows and iOS. Scrivener’s sync between desktop and iOS goes through Dropbox; Shiro’s goes through Shiro Cloud, which merges edits character by character, so there are no conflict copies to sort out. Shiro has no phone app yet, and Scrivener has a very good one on iOS.
Optional AI. Scrivener’s makers have said plainly that it contains no AI, and plenty of writers chose it for that reason. Shiro has one, off if you want it off. When it’s on, it can run on your own computer, on your own API key, or through Shiro Cloud, and every suggestion waits beside your text until you keep it.
A record of how the book got written. Shiro logs whether each passage was typed, pasted or came from the AI, chains the log so later tampering shows, and can produce a signed report for an editor or a contest. It shows the record wasn’t changed after signing, not who was at the keyboard, and we’d rather say so.
Where Scrivener Is Ahead
Scrivener has had nearly twenty years to grow, and it shows. Its compile is deeper and it handles more kinds of writing, including screenplays. It’s a one-off purchase. Its iOS app exists. A whole industry of courses, books and forum answers has grown up around it, and when you get stuck at 2am, somebody has already asked your question. Shiro is new, and nobody has written a 400-page manual for it yet, which you may or may not count against it.
Moving Over
Importing takes minutes and leaves your Scrivener project as it was, so you can try Shiro with no commitment. Our guide to moving out of Scrivener covers what comes across and what to check afterwards. The import page has the full list of what we bring in from other apps.
The Questions People Ask
Can Shiro open my Scrivener project?
It imports Scrivener 3 projects: the binder, the text, synopses, notes, labels, status, keywords, custom metadata, what’s included in compile, and your snapshots. Your original project isn’t touched.
Is Shiro free, unlike Scrivener?
The desktop app is free on your computer. Scrivener is a one-off purchase, which some writers prefer to anything that might one day become a subscription. Shiro’s paid part is Cloud: sync, the web app, co-authors and hosted AI.
I don’t want AI. Does Shiro still make sense?
It can. Turn the AI off and it stays off. But Scrivener contains no AI at all, and if that’s the reason you chose it, that’s a good reason.
Sources: Scrivener overview, Scrivener store, Does Scrivener use AI?