Essayist: Academic Writing App

Name: Essayist: Academic Writing App
Rating: 4.5 (423 reviews)
Author: Essayist Software Inc.

APA, MLA, Chicago & More

Free · In‑App Purchases

423 Ratings
Awards

Editors’ Choice

Apps
Age Rating

4+
Years
Category

Productivity
Developer

Essayist Software Inc.
Language

EN
+ 5 More
Size

85.9
MB

Try Essayist for free today! "Mac App of the Year 2025" — Apple "App of the Day" — Apple "Editors' Choice" — Apple "A-Plus Apps for Students" — Apple "Mac Essentials" — Apple No more fighting margins, hanging indents, or citation formatting. Essayist streamlines academic writing so you can concentrate on your ideas while it takes care of formatting, citations, references, footnotes, page setup, and more. AUTOMATIC FORMATTING Essayist automatically formats margins, fonts, spacing, headings, page numbers, references, citations, footnotes, figures, tables, and other essential elements. UNIVERSAL REFERENCE MANAGER Store and organize references with iCloud, then use them across multiple essays. Add sources through built-in search, Google Scholar, URLs, BibTeX, or manual entry. Essayist formats each source and adds it to your references or works cited list automatically. ZOTERO IMPORT Import your Zotero references and start using them in Essayist. CITATIONS Quickly insert in-text citations, footnotes, and endnotes with the click of a button. CITATION STYLES Choose from APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, Harvard, IEEE, AMA, Vancouver, and more than 10,000 other styles. EQUATIONS Add equations using LaTeX. FIGURES & TABLES Insert fully formatted figures and tables with captions, numbering, titles, and notes. Cross-reference them throughout your essay. ABSTRACT, APPENDICES & TABLE OF CONTENTS Easily add an abstract, appendices, and an automatically generated table of contents. WRITE ANYWHERE, STAY IN SYNC Your essays and references sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iCloud, so you can start on one device and finish on another — even offline. YOUR WORK IS YOURS No ads, no selling your data, no lock-in — export anytime as PDF or Word. EXPORT Export your essays as PDF or Word documents. MINIMAL INTERFACE Write in a clean, distraction-free workspace with customizable themes, backgrounds, and dark mode. MORE • Available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac with universal purchase • US Letter and A4 paper sizes • Times New Roman and Arial fonts • Word and page counts • Spell check, auto-completion, and auto-capitalization • Accessibility support REGULAR UPDATES Have a feature request or found an issue? Contact us at contact@essayist.app. PRICING Essayist is free to download and includes a free trial of Essayist Pro. Pro is available as a monthly or yearly subscription. Terms of Use: https://www.iubenda.com/terms-and-conditions/82031685 Privacy Policy: https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/82031685

Ratings & Reviews

4.5

out of 5

423 Ratings

Editors’ Choice

The simplest way to compose an A+ essay. Choose your citation style and the app will format your work to match. Then use the built-in source manager to look up–and properly cite–your references.
The best way to write correctly formatted and cited tessays!
03/24/2025
If`m
I used this app for nearly my entire degree program. This tool was invaluable. The citation manager helped me to easily re-use citations across assignments and classes. Each new assignment, I could look through my past bibliography and drag and drop sources to inform my thesis. This is how I began every assignment. I always got positive feedback from my instructors for my formatting and citations, which were of course greatly aided by Essayist.I only have two nitpicks. First, the only way to insert a table is to do so as an image. I would create the table in Word or something, take a screenshot, and then insert it as a picture. This is workable, but I would have liked to see a proper table tool. Second, I wish I could have switched from an annual plan to a month to month plan mid-term. I graduated several months earlier than expected, so I still have several months of Essayist left.Excellent app overall. The iPhone app is also excellent. I wrote, exported, and submitted an entire APA formatted and cited paper from my phone for one of my GenEds once. It got an A!
The best way to write correctly formatted and cited tessays!
03/24/2025
If`m

I used this app for nearly my entire degree program. This tool was invaluable. The citation manager helped me to easily re-use citations across assignments and classes. Each new assignment, I could look through my past bibliography and drag and drop sources to inform my thesis. This is how I began every assignment. I always got positive feedback from my instructors for my formatting and citations, which were of course greatly aided by Essayist.I only have two nitpicks. First, the only way to insert a table is to do so as an image. I would create the table in Word or something, take a screenshot, and then insert it as a picture. This is workable, but I would have liked to see a proper table tool. Second, I wish I could have switched from an annual plan to a month to month plan mid-term. I graduated several months earlier than expected, so I still have several months of Essayist left.Excellent app overall. The iPhone app is also excellent. I wrote, exported, and submitted an entire APA formatted and cited paper from my phone for one of my GenEds once. It got an A!
hvy
09/12/2025
hrbdhhdhhd
Okay so this journal assignment is basically trying to give a better outlook on reading to kids so they can find reading more pleasing specifically with me as a young kid I wasn’t a big reader as I grew and got through the stages of overcoming reading things got a whole lot better after I found the tools that worked for me.First off what I think is that your nephew should not have to read on the on their own cause I know it’s hard to pick it up especially if he don’t find reading pleasing instead you can have a sit down with him and a book and read and read a chapter or two with him act out what happened in the book ask him some question and let him reread the chapter to help him with the questions and with that it helps with better understanding of the information. Then there’s technology and with the technology there are online tutors and easy access to eBooks and more information that can improve learning on a whole other level that can be really effective for example if he’s getting help on a computer the eBooks that he’s reading can sound out information back to him an breakdown certain words so he can get the full meaning and understanding of what he’s reading and what it’s about and that’s very helpful and also with young kids they are very interested in learning with games and that can also be very good and helpful factor when it comes to learning on the computer for kids.And finally another big thing is personal interest it’s good to help a kid find interest in reading but its better help a kid read what he’s interested in because it helps the kid feel more comfortable with what he’s reading about and he is going to be more eager to learn it and understand it and with that the process is more likely to come faster as he progresses with reading certain books that he finds most interesting.So basically reading should be made fun interactive and relevant and with the thought of reading it shouldn’t be seen as some kind of boring homework it’s about turning it into a game or an adventure and open the kids eyes to a new world of reading and awesome stories
hvy
09/12/2025
hrbdhhdhhd

Okay so this journal assignment is basically trying to give a better outlook on reading to kids so they can find reading more pleasing specifically with me as a young kid I wasn’t a big reader as I grew and got through the stages of overcoming reading things got a whole lot better after I found the tools that worked for me.First off what I think is that your nephew should not have to read on the on their own cause I know it’s hard to pick it up especially if he don’t find reading pleasing instead you can have a sit down with him and a book and read and read a chapter or two with him act out what happened in the book ask him some question and let him reread the chapter to help him with the questions and with that it helps with better understanding of the information. Then there’s technology and with the technology there are online tutors and easy access to eBooks and more information that can improve learning on a whole other level that can be really effective for example if he’s getting help on a computer the eBooks that he’s reading can sound out information back to him an breakdown certain words so he can get the full meaning and understanding of what he’s reading and what it’s about and that’s very helpful and also with young kids they are very interested in learning with games and that can also be very good and helpful factor when it comes to learning on the computer for kids.And finally another big thing is personal interest it’s good to help a kid find interest in reading but its better help a kid read what he’s interested in because it helps the kid feel more comfortable with what he’s reading about and he is going to be more eager to learn it and understand it and with that the process is more likely to come faster as he progresses with reading certain books that he finds most interesting.So basically reading should be made fun interactive and relevant and with the thought of reading it shouldn’t be seen as some kind of boring homework it’s about turning it into a game or an adventure and open the kids eyes to a new world of reading and awesome stories
Perfect for my needs!
Aug 19
monobe4r
I am a new graduate school student so I am getting back into the mode of school work. One thing that I love about this app is the simplicity. It’s an interface that has very little distractions. The reference search within the app is wonderful. No, it’s not a one stop shop, but it cuts down on time creating references from scratch. Also, the auto paper formatting is a plus. That is what I primarily use the app for and everything else is secondary. I don’t want to spend time formatting papers from scratch. I can just open the app and start typing. It is 80 bucks a year, but MS Word is more. Yes, Mose schools offer MS Word for free, but MS Word is overkill and I don’t care to use it. I can export to PDF and keep moving. I will update during the second year of grad school.

Developer Response
Hi! Thank you very much for your kind words and we're so happy to hear you like Essayist! Please don't hesitate to email us (contact@essayist.app) should you have any feedback or suggestions. Kind regards, Till
Perfect for my needs!
Aug 19
monobe4r

I am a new graduate school student so I am getting back into the mode of school work. One thing that I love about this app is the simplicity. It’s an interface that has very little distractions. The reference search within the app is wonderful. No, it’s not a one stop shop, but it cuts down on time creating references from scratch. Also, the auto paper formatting is a plus. That is what I primarily use the app for and everything else is secondary. I don’t want to spend time formatting papers from scratch. I can just open the app and start typing. It is 80 bucks a year, but MS Word is more. Yes, Mose schools offer MS Word for free, but MS Word is overkill and I don’t care to use it. I can export to PDF and keep moving. I will update during the second year of grad school.
Developer Response Aug 22
Hi! Thank you very much for your kind words and we're so happy to hear you like Essayist! Please don't hesitate to email us (contact@essayist.app) should you have any feedback or suggestions. Kind regards, Till

Essay writing just got easier! This update fixes an issue with hyphenation. RESEARCHIST Check out Researchist - Your Academic Reading Companion for Essayist: www.researchist.app Have feedback or found an issue? Email us. We usually respond quickly, and your feedback helps us make Essayist even better.

Version 2.1.1 Sep 28

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Supported Features
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Information

Seller: Essayist Software Inc.
Size: Up to 85.9 MB
Category: Productivity
Compatibility: Requires iOS 18.0 or later.

iPhone
Requires iOS 18.0 or later.

iPad
Requires iPadOS 18.0 or later.

Mac
Requires macOS 13.0 or later.

Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 2.0 or later.
Languages: English and 5 more

English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
Age Rating: 4+

4+

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In-App Purchases: Yes

Monthly Subscription $5.99

Yearly Subscription $39.99

Monthly Subscription $9.99

Yearly Subscription $79.99

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Copyright: © 2020-2026 Essayist Software Inc.

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