Folio Writer
Unlock Folio Writer
Folio Writer is free forever to write and organize in — on the Mac and on iPhone and iPad. Premium is a one-time in-app purchase in the Mac app, for macOS only — free to try for 7 days, no account needed — and it unlocks everything on your Macs. iPhone and iPad need their own one-time Pro unlock, purchased separately in that app; a subscription covers both.
Introductory offer: $10 off through November 1, 2026.
Everything Folio Writer does — finish and ship your manuscript, and work with co-authors, references, and your other tools.
- Compile & export — PDF, Word, LaTeX, Typst, EPUB, HTML, Quarto, and source
- Executable Quarto code cells — Python & R figures from your data
- The whole-manuscript preview
- Corkboards arranged by label or status
- Snapshots and version history, with a changes view
- Revision passes, collections, the figure and name browsers, and read-aloud proofing
- Word (.docx) import
- Live sync with the iPhone and iPad apps
- The freeform canvas — frames, mind maps, and image export
- Track changes — mark edits, review them with Show My Edits, accept or reject each one, and revert a snapshot or version as reviewable changes
- Tracked changes in exports — native Word revisions, or colored insertions and deletions in PDF and HTML
- The Word review round trip — tracked changes out, reviews back in
- References from your Zotero library
- The Response to Reviewers builder, and web capture into Research
- The writing assistant — local model, Apple Intelligence, or your own account
On iPhone and iPad
The iPhone and iPad app is free to write in — editor, binder, search, sync, and version history. Its advanced features (the whole-manuscript preview, Suggesting with Accept/Reject and the review bar, Snapshots, Insert Template, and Compile) unlock with Pro for iPhone and iPad, a one-time purchase in the app, sold separately from the Mac’s Premium. A Folio Writer subscription includes them, and so does Premium bought on the Mac before version 1.16 — tap Restore Purchases.
Why pricing changed in 1.16
Folio Writer for Mac used to offer two one-time tiers, Pro and Premium. Almost no one chose Pro — writers who paid wanted the whole studio — so from version 1.16 the Mac sells one tier, Premium, which includes everything Pro had.
If you bought Premium on the Mac before 1.16, nothing changes: it still unlocks the Pro features on iPhone and iPad. That was the promise when you bought it, and it stays.
From 1.16, the iPhone and iPad app has its own one-time Pro unlock for $19.99. Keeping a full writing app current on iPhone and iPad — the editor, sync, compile, and review tools — takes a large share of development time, and this lets that work pay for itself. Writing, the binder, and sync stay free on iPhone and iPad, so it remains a full companion to your Mac; only the advanced features need Pro. A Folio Writer subscription still unlocks both the Mac and iPhone and iPad.
Or subscribe
Folio Writer is also available by the month or year, for writers who would rather pay as they go or keep their work in the cloud: the Folio Writer subscription, $3.99 a month or $39.99 a year. It unlocks everything on the Mac and on iPhone and iPad for as long as it runs, and comes with complimentary Folio Cloud storage, so your projects sync to every device and open in any browser. Subscriptions are sold only in the apps through the App Store, billed to your Apple ID, and cancelled any time in Manage Subscriptions; the web app never asks for a card. Need more storage? Contact us.
Only on iPhone and iPad? The iPhone & iPad subscription — $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year, sold in the iOS app — unlocks Pro on iPhone and iPad, with complimentary Folio Cloud storage. It does not unlock Folio Writer for Mac; the Folio Writer subscription above covers both.
How buying works
Download Folio Writer free from the App Store, write for as long as you like, and unlock Pro or Premium from inside the app (Folio Writer ▸ Unlock Folio Writer… on the Mac; Settings ▸ Folio Pro on iPhone and iPad). Purchases are handled by Apple, tied to your Apple ID, and restore automatically on every Mac, iPhone, and iPad you own. Your writing never locks, before or after.
Students and educators
Write from your university address and ask — I'd rather Folio Writer was used than not.