essay help app

Project Types We Cover

• Admissions Essay
• PowerPoint Presentation
• Research Paper
• Book Reviews
• Personal Statement
• Ph.D Dissertation
• Proofreading

Academic Fields & Subjects

• Programming
• Computer Science
• Other projects we help with
• Our Experts
• Plagiarism Checker
• Student Life
• Best Essay Writing Apps

38 Essay Writing Apps 2024: Choose the Best Essay Helper App

By: Max Malak

There are hundreds of essay apps available, with purposes ranging from note-taking and planning to checking grammar. To help you choose the best app for your essay, we’ve created a comprehensive list of the 38 best ones.

Criteria for Assessing Essay Apps

1. grammarly – best grammar checking app, 2. jasper – one of the best apps that write essays, 3. stylus ai – your intelligent academic writing companion, 4. studybay – best app that writes essays for you, 5. hemingway – best app to improve writing, 6. focuswriter – best free app for focused writing, 7. cold turkey writer – best app for distraction-free writing, 8. living writer – best app for planning and writing stories, 9. ulysses – best app for writing papers on ipads, macs, and iphones, 10. novlr – best app for writing novels, 11. jotterpad – best easy-to-use writing app, 12. scribus – best writing app for virtual design, 13. trello – best app for tracking meetings and setting goals, 14. hanx writer – best app for a typewriting experience, 15. readable – best app to increase text readability, 16. writer plus – best app for composing lyrics, 17. google docs – best alternative writing app to ms word, 18. bard – best of essay assisting apps, 19. diaro – best app for journaling, 20. hubspot topic generator – best app for generating ideas, 21. coggle – best app for mind-mapping, 22. simplenote – best elegant app for writing notes quickly, 23. byword – best free writing app for iphone and mac users, 24. manuscripts – best app for project and thesis writing, 25. written kitten – best app for reward-based writing, 26. libre office writer – best app for writing office documents, 27. ia writer – best app for brief essays, 28. daily page – best app to create a daily writing habit, 29. brain.fm – best app for selecting songs while writing, 30. scrivener – best all-in-one app, 31. write or die – best app for stimuli-based writing, 32. airstory – best app for managing your projects, 33. ayoa – best app for brainstorming, 34. drafts – best app for editing and sharing, 35. final draft – best app for creating scripts, 36. ginger – best ai-based writing app, 37. prowritingaid – best in-build grammar checker, 38. writco – best app for upgrading your writing skills, our consensus: what’s the best free essay writing app, our consensus: what’s the best paid paper writing app, final thoughts, are there apps that write essays for you for free, how do you check an essay for errors, what is the best way to proofread an essay.

The criteria we used to assess these essay apps included:

• User-Friendly - Whether the essay writing helper is simple to use and navigate across different tools and features
• Writing Metrics - Whether the app has basic features like spell-check, proofreading tools, word count, etc.
• Features - Whether the app lets you write and edit work in Cloud systems like Dropbox and if an offline mode is available
• User Interface - Whether the essay writer app offers a customizable User Interface(UI), language settings, themes, styles, formatting, etc.
• Compatibility - Whether the essay writing apps let you export your work easily and share on other platforms like WordPress
• Ratings - Whether the essay helper app has good ratings and customer feedback. We check the rating on Google Play and the App Store, as well as provide a rating of our own.
• Price Structure - Whether the app download is worth the fee it charges for writing essays

Best Essay Writer Apps

Grammarly is one of the most useful writing applications for improving your writing ability. It can save you from misspellings, punctuation errors, and other writing difficulties in your work automatically.

• It’s compatible with all platforms and devices, including PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.
• It allows you to write in a number of styles and formats, including academic texts.
• Grammarly's free version is a favourite of writers and students on a tight budget.

Disadvantages:

• It’s not useful for long-form writing.
• The user interface is a little crowded.

Jasper is an AI copywriter and essay generator that uses the greatest AI models, including OpenAI's GPT-4.

• It is a powerful tool for producing high-quality content since it incorporates state-of-the-art artificial intelligence algorithms and data inputs.
• Keeping user data safe is a top priority for Jasper, and the platform takes precautions to prevent third-party models from being trained on user data and to keep privacy settings intact.
• Jasper is great at producing some forms of content, but it might not be up to the task of fulfilling all your requirements for highly imaginative or intricate writing.

Stylus AI is a cutting-edge artificial intelligence tool designed to revolutionize the academic writing process for students and researchers alike. This innovative platform serves as a comprehensive writing assistant, capable of providing detailed feedback, co-writing entire pieces, and offering personalized support throughout your academic journey.

• Stylus AI acts as your skilled writing partner, helping you craft well-structured, properly formatted papers tailored to your specific requirements.
• By asking targeted questions, Stylus AI gathers essential information about your assignment and transforms your inputs into cohesive, ready-to-read documents.
• Unlike other AI writing tools, Stylus AI takes your personal style and writer's voice into account, ensuring that the final product authentically represents your ideas.
• Users need to be mindful of academic integrity policies and ensure they're using the tool as an aid rather than a replacement for their own work.

This paper writing app was created in conjunction with leading educators from around the world to help every student achieve their academic goals. If you’re overwhelmed with homework and find yourself asking, “Can’t somebody just do my essay ?” - Studybay is a great solution.

• Studybay provides services from experts who have attended and graduated from some of the world's most prestigious universities and schools. All of them have passed the Studybay exam and have demonstrated their proficiency to our team.
• Serves 3 million students in 100+ countries by bringing together 50,000+ top experts.
• It covers a range of fields of expertise, from English and history to biology and nursing.
• It provides proofreading and plagiarism services .
• It can take a couple of days to receive your essay.

The Hemingway is a free, straightforward tool for authors who wish to create content that is both easy to read and impactful.

• Hemingway acts as a digital proofreader by highlighting overly complicated words, thus helping you write an English essay in a simple, clear, and powerful manner.
• Hemingway, in detail, examines adverbs, passive voice, phrases, and words in your homework and provides suggestions.
• The software uses various colors and accents to assist you in eliminating the excess and keeping sentences brief.
• The desktop version is expensive.
• The colors can be overwhelming to users.

Apps that help you with essays

Focus Writer is a free, open-source writing application that may be used to write, take notes at school, produce texts, and compose essays on any device.

• It also includes real-time word counts, which eliminates the need to run manual word counts whenever you want to see where you are.
• It has a hideaway interface, styles, real-time stats, spell checking, and document tabs, thereby making it a great option if you just need a blank page to focus your work on.
• For authors, college students, and other language enthusiasts, there is also the option of setting milestones.
• It doesn’t provide many formatting options.
• Its minimalistic features may not be preferred by writers.

This essay writing app basically turns your computer into a typewriter, so you cannot do anything other than writing. The full-screen block not only creates a distraction-free atmosphere but also serves as a motivator to use other programs again.

• You can use the progress meter at the top to see how much time or words you have left.
• It offers various options of themes, formatting, and flow.
• It cannot be used in offline mode.

Living Writer is a unique writing application with a number of useful features for both fiction and nonfiction writers. It assists in planning and organizing so that you only focus on the creative process of writing your stories.

• It provides tools for plot points, basic annotations, goals and aims, document sharing, and statistics.
• The app has Dark Mode and Focus Mode, a drag-and-drop feature, and an on-screen sidebar to write down quick notes for enhanced writing.
• It does not provide features that are suitable for academic writing.

Ulysses is a typical writing tool that ensures the user focuses on writing by providing features and settings for a distraction-free space. It’s one of the most intuitive essay writing apps for iPad.

• It includes a markup-based text editor, as well as a library for organizing notes and documents, writing objectives, publishing options, and more.
• Ulysses is ideal for both short and long academic writings.
• It easily transforms texts into PDF and provides the option to publish your work directly on WordPress and Medium.
• It is only compatible with Apple products.
• It is not as outline-friendly as other apps.

Novlr is a web-based writing app created "by authors, for writers." It comes with a word processor, a dashboard for monitoring performance, and exporting options for your book.

• Its cloud-based software will back up your work automatically whenever you're online.
• It works on any device, both online and offline, and will keep you motivated along the writing journey.
• It helps in setting weekly and monthly goals and keeping track of your writing streaks.
• It doesn’t work well for professional and academic writing purposes.

Jotterpad is one of the best essay apps that allows authors to express their creativity by putting their thoughts into words. It makes writing poems, narrative essays , and scripts simple and fun.

• The software contains a variety of typefaces for users to choose from, with the ability to change the typography.
• Users may write and edit their work across multiple clouds like Dropbox and Onedrive. This software also lets you work in offline mode.
• JotterPad is available for both Android and Mac platforms.
• Many features can only be accessed in the paid version of the application.

Scribus is a free, open-source desktop publishing app that helps in designing a visually attractive structure.

• It has all of the advanced capabilities you'll need in order to create reports, journals, banners, flyers, and a variety of other documents.
• It has a number of features, such as the ability to edit an object within various levels of a document, powerful drawing tools, node editing tools, and so on.
• There is no mobile application.

Trello is a powerful tool that can be used for everything from meetings and projects to events and goal-setting. Trello is a top essay planner app for group work, as its features allow any team to easily set up and customize workflows for almost anything. It can be used on a mobile phone, tablet, or PC.

• Lists and cards make up the Trello board, which may be used to organize task assignments, timetables, productivity metrics, calendars, and more.
• It has features that help you keep track of timelines, due dates, team members, etc.
• It is not useful for authors and students who want a distraction-free platform.

Hanx Writer is a writing app released by actor Tom Hanks. After you download it, it turns your device into an old-fashioned typewriter, offering a surprisingly similar experience.

• The app has a blank page and produces the nostalgic click-clack sound you'd expect from a typical typewriter.
• It also comes with basic features like spell check, copy/paste, document exporting, etc.
• Its limited features only provide a typewriting experience.

Readable is a text analysis tool with the main goal of making your work more readable. There isn’t a free version, but you only have to pay $4/month for the lowest-tier plan.

• It includes useful features for writers who need a lot of textual analysis.
• It captures plenty of useful facts, from text composition to reading duration - in addition to pointing out run-on sentences and other factors in your writing.
• It’s not useful for long-form writers.

Writer Plus is a popular choice among writers since it is a great tool for composing notes, novels, lyrics, poetry, essays, and drafts on both a smartphone and a tablet.

• It's a reliable, stable, and high-performance program that uses very little battery, making it one of the best apps for Android.
• Users have the option to save and categorize their work using the app's extensive folder support.
• It offers a Bluetooth-enabled keyboard with many keyboard shortcuts to make writing more convenient.
• Writer Plus lets you write in multiple languages.
• This app doesn’t offer templates or goal-tracking capabilities.

Google Docs is a free writing app for Android and Google users, which is similar to MS Word. The writing feature is speedy, efficient, and user-friendly, making it one of the best essay writing apps.

• It comes with a built-in grammar and spell-checker.
• You can see collaborators’ changes to the document in real-time.
• It has fewer features than its main competitor, MS Word.

Google's Bard is a chatbot equipped with a generative artificial intelligence system that can assist in answering queries and gathering data for writing. All the information gathered with Bard can be easily exported to your Google Docs file.

• It allows users to engage in natural language conversations, making interactions more intuitive and user-friendly.
• Bard is an ongoing project at Google, and the company is always adding new features and updating it with more advanced language models to make it more useful.
• Some users found Bard's replies less fascinating and accurate than its rivals, hence it was met with mixed reviews upon its introduction.

Diaro is an intelligent tool that may be used as a personal journal to keep track of secrets, records, images, wish lists, etc. The app keeps track of all your journals entries, memos, and notes.

• All user data can easily be synced across several devices using this software.
• You can use a PIN, security code, or fingerprint to secure your journal entries.
• Diaro's comprehensive search and filter tools make it simple to arrange diary entries by categories, tags, and places.
• Features are limited to personal journal use, making it unsuitable for professional and academic writing purposes.

This essay writing app is used to produce writing ideas instantly. It generates nouns to help you come up with a topic idea for your next writing endeavor.

• This tool is useful at the beginning of your writing project if you’re stuck on ideas.
• Its features are very limited; you can just generate topics.

Coggle is one of the most effective mind-mapping apps for writing papers; it helps you create a visual representation of the potential links between essay topics.

• Using creative, sophisticated flowcharts and other visualizations, this tool lets you develop your initial ideas into sub-ideas and produce full-fledged articles.
• Coggle allows you to color-code pathways and create extremely attractive drawings with little effort.
• It does not provide basic writing metrics.

Simplenote is free note-taking software that is elegant and effortless to use. It is one of the quickest ways to write down notes. Furthermore, all of your notes are saved, and the search option allows you to locate old notes anytime you need them.

• The software lets you organize your planner with prioritized tags; this helps with rapid searching and categorization of thoughts.
• It backs up and stores everything, ensuring you never lose any important information.
• You cannot include photographs or to-do lists in notes.
• There is just one technique to style text when it comes to text formatting: markdown.

Byword is a free writing app for Mac, iPad, and iPhone users that automatically publishes your work to Networks like Medium, WordPress, etc.

• Apple users can create documents in Byword and access them on an iPad or iPhone using iCloud and Dropbox.
• Byword helps you edit from any location and on any Apple device.
• It is not suitable for long-form authors. Byword only supports markdown as formatting style.

Manuscripts is a tool for academics that integrates with common word processors like Microsoft Word. It is created mainly for writing projects as well as theses.

• It excels at the reference element of writing citations, acronyms, and so on.
• The built-in spelling, punctuation, and vocabulary tools let you detect items such as numerals in the middle of phrases, layout, complex words, and abbreviations in various forms.
• Not suitable for creative writing like essays, novels, etc.

Written Kitten is a free, easy-to-use website; it motivates people to write by allowing them to set word count goals and rewarding them when they achieve them.

• When you attain that target, Written Kitten even gives you a reward by showing a visual treat of a cat, puppy, or bunny.
• It doesn’t provide an offline mode option.
• It doesn’t have many basic writing metrics to support long-form writing.

Libre Office Writer is a free, sophisticated essay writing application with end-to-end functions. It allows users to produce, review, and update their work at any time.

• The software enhances the appearance of your work while allowing you to concentrate on the substance. The built-in text-to-speech functionality can read your texts aloud.
• The inbuilt file explorer in this software opens files on all devices and serves as a document reader and editor in one.
• It isn’t suitable for creative writing like novels, poems, lyrics, etc.

IA Writer is a non-distracting writing tool that is good for creating brief essays. It features a simple interface and relies on plain text. There are no diversions, as it features a full-screen option that fades out everything except the line you're typing.

• This minimalist style is suitable for achieving the writer's objective of focusing only on writing.
• It’s designed in a way to remove distractions and clutter to make writing easier.
• It’s tough to access your old work, and features are limited.

Daily Page is a beneficial application that gives users a variety of creative prompts to establish a daily writing regimen.

• It sends daily email reminders encouraging you to write.
• Use it to keep track of your writing and feed your creativity.
• Daily Page collaborated with expert writers and editors to develop writing courses that will help you outline your thoughts and convert them into content.
• The application doesn’t have many features that justify the price tag.
• It isn’t suitable for office writing.

This application selects background music using scientifically proven methods that promote focus and attention while writing. Students who are writing or studying music might use the songs to help them stay on track with their studies.

• It chooses songs with the help of artificial intelligence.
• It enhances the capacity to concentrate when writing and increases productivity.
• It can’t be used in offline mode.

Scrivener is a book-writing software application with features similar to a typewriter, ring binder, and scrapbook.

• It includes a variety of tools to help you take your writing projects from concept to a finished manuscript.
• Features include corkboards, pre-set formatting, templates, file importing, metatags, and automated document listing.
• It enables you to keep track of your studies, produce customized materials, and even analyze a text's substance.
• It is a fairly expensive application, especially for a student budget.

The Write or Die application lets users establish goals, receive awards if goals are met, and incur penalties if they aren’t met.

• Penalties include deleting what you’ve already written; this is a motivating push to get you to finish your writing goals for the day.
• It comes in a variety of languages.
• Because it deletes your work if you don’t meet your writing goals, we don’t recommend it for professional writing.

Airstory is a writing tool developed to both produce high-quality content and manage their workflow.

• Airstory has a drug and drop cards feature as a browser that will help you build your ideas and save citations
• It provides a wide range of templates for different purposes
• The interface is not user-friendly

Task management, mind mapping, and other brainstorming techniques can be used with the cloud-based software platform Ayoa. The Collaborative Whiteboard gives users the ability to mind map concepts, organize activities visually, and obtain an overall view of their work on a single platform.

• Gantt-style charts can be made using the Gantt timeline view function for efficient time management.
• Ayoa has an integration with Google, Evernote, and Dropbox.
• You can’t test the onboarding feature with the trial version.

Drafts is an all-in-one writing automation application that combines a convenient editor, a speedy notepad, and other useful features.

• You are able to share the writing with several individuals at once, and you have the option to reject or accept any modifications that are made.
• It's simple to compare earlier versions and see how they evolved.
• It tends to freeze when sharing large files.
• The simplify feature sometimes deletes important information.

Final Draft is an app for your devices that allows users to create, modify, and read screenplays. Easy-to-use tools make it possible to write new scripts or modify old ones.

• Use the SmartType function to avoid typing common phrases repeatedly.
• Instant formatting to industry standards.
• The maximum number of people working together at a time is 1.

The AI-based writing tools from Ginger Software enable quicker and more efficient communication. Based on context, it corrects all mistakes and operates at the sentence level rather than simply locally. Artificial intelligence in it proposes original ways to deliver the idea you want to get through.

• It generates a comprehensive report that can be used to monitor development and growth.
• A translation feature that supports 60+ languages is built into the app.
• You may improve as a writer and get insight from your errors by using the learning center feature.
• No tone detector.
• It is solely set up to offer English corrections.

You will receive comprehensive comments on your writing as well as an advanced grammar checking style when you use ProWritingAid. The one-of-a-kind concepts, articles, quizzes, and videos that are included in the program make writing and editing into activities that may really be enjoyed by the user.

• ProWritingAid offers an opportunity to purchase a lifetime membership.
• The product is compatible with Scrivener, as well as the native software for Windows and Mac, and also Word, Google Docs, Chrome extensions, and an online editor.
• Plagiarism detection software is sold separately.

Writco is a social reading and writing platform that supports several languages and links readers and authors from all around the world. On this platform, you are able to share your writing talents with people all over the world. You are able to read, write, share, and publish your writings in over forty different genres and eighteen different languages.

• You have the opportunity to compete in a variety of writing competitions and may win rewards.
• You can get feedback from other users on quality of your writing style.
• Contains in-app purchases and advertisements.

From our experience, the best free essay writer app is Grammarly since it is quick and precise. It is easily available and compatible with all devices. The free version is relatively powerful in doing spell-check, grammar-check, and other features that make essay writing easier.

Another contender in writing apps is StudybayAI , which takes a unique approach by incorporating ChatGPT technology. This allows users to have conversational interactions with an AI assistant to help with writing tasks. Users can describe what they want to write and StudybayAI will provide suggestions, ideas, outlines, and even full drafts. This AI sets itself apart with advanced capabilities while retaining an intuitive chat-based interface. It aims to make writing easier for students, academics, business professionals, and anyone wanting writing support from an AI writing companion.

As per our evaluation, the best paid paper writing apps are Hemingway, Studybay, and Trello.

Each of these apps has different purposes; if you’re looking for a proofreading app, Hemingway is your best bet. For a collaborative writing experience, we strongly recommend Trello; it has phenomenal organizational capabilities, which are necessary for group assignments. And if you need homework help, Studybay provides expert essay writing assistance on a huge variety of subjects.

As you can see from the list above, there are numerous essay writing applications to choose from. Although they may not all have the same interface, features, or compatibility, each of these essay applications has something unique to offer. We hope that our list of applications above will assist you in selecting the optimal essay writing app.

Hopkyns, Sarah & Nicoll, Timothy. (2021). Transforming Essay Writing Through App-Smashing. Journal of English for Academic and Specific Purposes. 20. 67-85.

Top 5 best apps to boost your academic writing skills . TechCommuters. (2023). https://www.techcommuters.com/best-apps-to-boost-your-academic-writing-skills/

Waldmann, J. (2023). Top grammar apps to help you improve your writing . Insider Guides. https://insiderguides.com.au/top-grammar-apps-help-improve-writing/

User ratings:

User ratings is 4.6 stars.

4.6 /5 ( 129 Votes)

Product Manager

Here at Studybay, I work as a Head of Affiliates in the marketing department. I studied Liberal Arts and took related classes at Tokyo Sophia University. I believe that challenges are what make my job fun and exciting. That's why I like completing complex, complicated, and even weird tasks and then sharing my experience with colleagues.

Add Your Comment

We are very interested to know your opinion

Great list! I've been using Grammarly for a while now, and it's been a lifesaver. The grammar and spell-checking features are spot-on, and it has improved the quality of my essays. I'll definitely check out some of the other apps to write my essays mentioned here. Thanks for sharing!

As a language enthusiast and writer, Jotterpad caught my attention. The ability to express creativity and write poems and narrative essays with this app sounds wonderful. I don't mind investing in the paid version for additional features. Thanks for introducing me to it, and I can't wait to give it a try!

Hemingway was my favorite app for essays😩 I like the UI, but the desktop version is sooooo expensive. Overall, it's fantastic..

I can't imagine my college life without Evernote! It's perfect for organizing my notes and keeping track of assignments. I love the ease of use and the fact that I can access my notes from anywhere. Definitely one of the best apps out there!

Michele Graves

As a college student, I'm always on the lookout for useful essay apps. I've used Evernote before for note-taking, but I didn't know it had additional features for planning and organizing. I'll have to explore its Premium options.

I've been using Google Docs for a while now, but I'm open to trying other alternatives, especially offline essay apps, as I travel a lot. This list gives me plenty of options to consider!

I love the idea of using Hanx Writer for a nostalgic typewriter experience… It sounds like a fun way to get creative with my text. I'll give this app a shot with an english essay and see how it feels🙃

Upgrade your writing skills!

Try our AI essay writer from Studybay today!

Alex Birkett

11 Apps That Write Essays for You (and Improve Quality)

Last Updated on February 28, 2023 by Alex Birkett

Writing essays is a time-consuming task.

It requires research, structuring, formatting, and plenty of editing. As such, it’s no wonder that students often seek out help from external sources.

One of the most popular solutions in recent years are essay writing apps.

But what exactly are they? And do they work as advertised? Let’s dive into the details.

What Are Essay Writing Apps?

Essay writing apps are digital tools that help you to write better essays.

They typically come with features like spellcheckers, grammar checkers, and idea generators to help spur your writing process forward.

Some also offer pre-written content that you can use as a starting point for your own essay.

The idea is that these tools save you time and energy so you can focus on crafting great ideas instead of getting bogged down with tedious tasks like proofreading or finding research materials.

Do Essay Writing Apps Really Work?

The short answer is yes – but with some caveats.

While these apps can certainly be helpful in terms of providing assistance with proofreading and idea generation, they won’t be able to write entire essays for you from scratch like some people may believe.

Moreover, while some apps offer pre-written content that could be useful as a starting point for your essay, it’s important to remember that this isn’t an excuse to plagiarize or copy other people’s work without crediting them properly; if caught doing so, it could have serious consequences for your academic career.

What Are the Best Essay Writing Apps Available?

The best essay writing apps will have some of the following abilities:

• They generate net new content
• They help you format and ideate the structure of your essay
• They improve your writing style
• They have grammar, spelling, plagiarism, and style detection
• They can help you research factual information about the topic
• They’re “multi-purpose tools” that allow for custom functionalities
• They’re affordable.

I’ll judge the following of the best essay apps below on the above characteristics.

Editor’s note: I’m going to use some affiliate links when possible to try to earn some revenue from my content. These don’t change the opinions espoused in the content nor the style in which they are written. If I think a product sucks, I’m not going to say otherwise. This is just a bonus and a way to fund the whole operation. Anyway, enjoy the article!

11 Apps That Write Essays for You

• ProWritingAid
• Hypotenuse AI

Jasper  is an AI-powered essay writing app that helps you organize, write, and format your essays faster.

It’s functionally an all-purpose AI text generator , with a Google Docs / MS Word style editor you can use in conjunction with custom commands.

You can also hook it up with Grammarly to find spelling mistakes, punctuation mistakes, run on sentences, and other grammatical mistakes in real time.

They’ve got a few different modes (as part of their broader Boss Mode plan):

Focus mode is for pure writing, a simple word processor (but with an AI assistant attached). The focus writer is where I spend a lot of my time in this tool.

Chat mode is just like ChatGPT (more on that later)

SEO mode hooks up with Surfer SEO  to give you keyword suggestions in addition to your regular spell checking and generative essay writer functionality.

And power mode unlocks all of their use case templates, recipes, and commands.

Overall, Jasper is hands down the most powerful AI writing software. Premium features like SEO mode, Chat mode, and Power mode are only available on their Boss Mode plan, so I’d opt for that one.

It does seem to struggle with research papers and reference materials, so make sure you’ve got your citations on lock before you start writing. They also lack a web clipper tool, but their browser extension tool does give you the ability to write content everywhere.

They also have drawing tools and art generation capabilities , by the way.

Price : Starts at $24/mo. Boss Mode plan begins at $49/month

G2 Score:  4.8/5

Frase is a web-based writing tool that uses AI to help writers create high-quality essays quickly.

They’ve got a whole suite of SEO tools , including a content brief and content research tool, content optimization software, and generative AI  tools to help you write content.

Their content brief and research tool is of particular interest here.

Most of the best essay writing app options on this list focus only on text generation or rewriting; few focus on actually helping you format your piece in the first place, which is often where the hard work is.

Then, for their AI writing tool, they feature a ton of helpful templates, including “explain why,” “bullets to paragraphs,” and a metaphor / analogy tool:

Price:  Only $14.99/mo ($12 per month when paid annually).

ChatGPT  was launched in 2022 by OpenAI (the creators of GPT-3, which powers most of the writing software on this list).

It has brought generative AI to the mainstream, and it’s already one of the best writing apps for all purposes.

It acts as a chat interface, so it’s much more intuitive than many of the dedicated AI writing software out there.

Basically, you can ask it or prompt it to write…anything. I’ve used it to generate creative stories, write love poems, make me ideas for essays, improve my writing skills, and build outlines for SEO-focused content.

Let’s walk through a use case. I took a history class in college called “US history from 1945 to the present.” I’ll ask ChatGPT to create me some topic ideas:

Pretty good! I like the cold war idea, so I’ll ask it to create an outline for me:

Okay, maybe I’d want to change up a few pieces of this, but let’s go with it. Here’s the full essay:

Crazy! And that’s just a first pass. I could further tweak the outputs with better instructions.

This stuff is getting scary good.

Price:  Free

G2 Score:  NA

4. Writesonic

Writesonic  is a YC-backed startup that makes generative AI tools capable of writing essays.

I’m a big fan of this product.

They’ve got a ton of ready-made templates to get you started out (including a few that are great for writing essays). They’ve also got a few templates that can help you improve your writing style or even rewrite content so its better formatted.

Finally, they’ve got a Google Docs style editor for long form writers so you can use commands and write alongside the AI.

G2 Score: 4.8/5

Copy AI  is another AI copywriting tool  built on top of GPT-3.

It primarily writes essays through use case templates. A few that are popular for the writing process include:

• Essay intro
• Essay outline
• Explain like I’m 5
• Sentence rewriter
• Analogy generator

For example, look at this need little essay writer app that lets you build an outline for your essay:

The sentence rewriter and analogy generator are two examples that can help you improve your writing style.

Copy AI doesn’t have the same flexibility and power that Jasper and ChatGPT have, but it’s much easier to use. The templates are well set up and foolproof. And they have many that actually help you format text and design the scope of your piece, not just write it.

Overall, I’m a big fan of this tool.

Price:  Free for up to 2000 words and then $49/mo for unlimited word counts.

6. ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid  is a cool professional writing software that uses AI to generate content.

It’s great for academic papers and academic writing. Unlike many other essay writing services, this one incorporates grammar checking, spell check, style checking, plagiarism checking, and word count into the content they produce.

They’ve built custom solutions for higher education, teachers, non-native English speakers, and creatives.

I like this one because it lets users create content from scratch, but it’s also got features to improve your writing (this is powerful for college students especially).

Got some handwritten notes that you want to whip up into a good essay? This one is great at processing hand written notes and producing great content.

Pro Writing Aid works via browser, but they’ve got integrations that allow for offline access and desktop software as well – such as a Scrivener integration and an MS Word integration.

Overall, a great product with a free app that allows for up to 500 words.

Price: Completely free for up to 500 words, and then $10 per month for unlimited use.

G2 Score: 4.5/5

7. Speedwrite

Speedwrite  is one of the most popular writing applications out there. It helps you write essays from scratch as well as rephrasing your existing content.

How’s it work? Basically, through “predictions.” You just enter text and hit the “predict” button (they call their text generations “predictions”). This then takes your content and paraphrases it using their artificial intelligence.

This makes it useful for everything from writing notes to polishing up existing texts.

They’ve got tons of users (roughly 500k+). They claim to have written millions of lines of text, and all of this is fresh, original content with good style and grammar.

While Speedwrite has some downsides (it’s not great with structured diagrams or starting with a blank page), it’s still popular. Anyway, there are a ton of great Speedwrite alternatives  you can check out.

One cool thing is you can use this tool completely free.

Here’s an example of a “prediction” based on the above text.

Price:  Free and the only $19.99 per month

Lex is a new AI writer that I’ve just started trying out. I love it so far.

It’s different from the others. It’s aimed at writers. Many of the other tools help non-writers produce content. This one is no-frills, just a Google Docs / Microsoft Word style editor and an auto complete functionality.

And to be honest: the outputs are pretty darn good. I only write the first two sentences here and then let Lex finish it:

Lex can also be used on both ios devices as well as android devices (instructions in the app).

As far as I know, the tool is free, but I’m sure they’ll introduce a standard pricing model soon. You have to get on a waitlist to get access.

Price : Free

G2 Score: NA

Rytr  is a similar tool to Jasper, Copy AI, and Writesonic. It was also built on GPT-3 technology, so it’s got many of the same outputs and templates as these tools.

The biggest difference with Rytr is its price. They’re one of the most affordable apps that write essays for you, starting at just $9/mo (plus a free plan).

This is a great starter app.

Price: free, and then $9/mo

G2 Score: 4.7/5

10. Hypotenuse AI

Hypotenuse AI  started out as an ecommerce-focused AI tool, but it has since expanded.

Like other tools on this list, they’ve got one of the best essay writing capabilities out there.

The reason I’m adding them to this list, though, is their content detective feature. This allows you to research content with citations. Most tools suffer from factual inaccuracies, which is obviously a huge problem when it comes to academic writing.

Hypotenuse is working to solve that, and for that, I applaud them.

Price: Starts at $24/mo

G2 Score: 4.4/5

11. Word AI

Word AI  is a sweet tool built for two things: content rewriting, and scale.

You can essentially do like 1000 rewrites based on your initial content. This is helpful for SEO folks hoping to do link building and guest posting at scale.

For the essay writers among us? It’s great for coming up with clear copy and rewriting your piece to enrich your text, split sentences, and improve the clarity of your writing.

I will say, transparently, this is not one of my favorite tools out there. I think it’s a little clunky for most use cases and it’s best for spinning up a ton of content for SEO.

However, I wanted to include it on the list because it’s one of the best at content production at scale.

Price:  $57/month

G2 Score: 3.9/5

At the end of the day, essay writing apps can be incredibly useful resources if used correctly by students or writers who need assistance crafting their stories or arguments more effectively and efficiently than ever before.

However, it’s important to remember that these tools don’t replace actual human effort – they’re meant to supplement it – so make sure not to rely too heavily on them or allow them to take away from the creativity in your own work!

In that way, “apps that write essays for you” is sort of a myth. You’ll still need to provide the human intelligence 🙂

With all this in mind, don’t forget to do your own research into which app is right for you before committing – good luck!

When You Write

Best Essay Writing Software: 16 Apps That Can Help You Write Perfect Essays

Nowadays, we have apps for almost anything. Writing apps though, are really unique and serve several practical purposes, such as essay writing for example.

Writing an essay isn’t as simple as typing a bunch of words and arranging them as paragraphs. Writing a perfect essay entails planning, maintaining structure, writing clear and impactful sentences, and using good grammar.

That’s why we have writing apps. So in this post, I’m going to cover all the best essay writing software tools that are available now.

Okay, let’s get into it!

Our Top 3 Essay Writing Software at a Glance

Prowritingaid, the 16 best essay writing apps.

Best Book Writing Software.

Scrivener is a book-writing software program developed—13 years ago—by an aspiring writer Keith Blount.

Scrivener is what you get when you combine a typewriter, ring binder, and a scrapbook and make a book writing software tool.

It has so many useful features that take your book or any other writing project from the outline to a finished draft. We’re talking of features like corkboards, pre-set formatting, templates, file importing, metatags, automated document listing, and a bunch of other important capabilities.

Scrivener can be used by novelists, scriptwriters, academics, lawyers, translators, journalists, and students.

Pricing: Scrivener for macOS costs $49, iOS is $19.99 , and Scrivener for Windows costs $45.

Best Grammar Checker.

As far as grammar checkers go, there’s no app better than this.

It’s perfect for checking your text for typos, punctuation, and spelling mistakes. 

But it goes further than that; it has several editing features that tackle issues such as passive voice, lengthy or complex sentences, offers broader vocabulary options, et cetera. It also has a plagiarism checker and furnishes you with writing stats and readability scores.

Grammarly has a free version but reserves the best features for its premium plans.

Pricing: Free and Paid. Grammarly Premium starts at $11.66, and Grammarly Business starts at $12.50.

Excellent Tool for Self-editing

ProWritingAid is one of Grammarly’s fiercest competitors and pretty much gives you what Grammarly gives you.

Just itty-bitty shallower, BUT way more affordable.

If you want a proofreading and grammar checker writing app that has the potential of helping you improve the overall quality of your writing, this is it!

ProWritingAid refines your writing by checking important elements of your writing such as ambiguous sentences, grammar, transitions, abstract words, overused words, etc.

Over time, you start to notice improvements in your writing, especially the way it flows.

Pricing: Free and Paid.

• Monthly – $20
• Yearly – $79
• Lifetime – $399 

Best note-taking tool for Students

Evernote is a simple but excellent writing app that uses the idea of virtual notes. The virtual notes can be used in several ways: making book shopping lists, writing down essay ideas, and making notes on researched information.

The notes are backed up on Evernote’s servers, and you get about 60MB of storage space per account.

Pricing :  Free and Paid. The Premium plan costs $7.99 / month, and the Business costs $14.99/person/month.

Focus Writer

Free Alternative to MS Word.

I haven’t used this free word-processing app yet, but I’d seriously consider replacing my beloved MS Word with it.

It’s a very good alternative to MS Word; in fact, not only is it free and sufficient, it is available on almost all major platforms— Windows, Mac, and Android.

If you’re a student, I’d recommend this software, and you won’t have problems using the documents from this app because they’re saved in Rich Text Format so that most word processors can read them.

Pricing: Free.

Excellent for the Creative Stage of Writing

Before you write a good essay, you need to build the idea behind the essay first.

You need to add fresh to the bones before bringing the beast (of an essay) to life.

This tool helps you expand your original ideas into sub-ideas and construct full-fledged essays by using expressive, powerful flowcharts, process maps, and other diagrams.

Pricing: Free and Paid. The Awesome Plan costs $5/month, and the Organisation Plan is at $8/member/month.

Top-Notch Open-Source Tool

Manuskript is a tool perfect for organizing and planning stages of writing. It’s an open-source tool—for writers including novelists, journos, and academicians—that uses the snowflake method of writing to help you build your idea into a finished book; by helping you create the story step by step.

It has features for helping you keep track of notes on characters, plot, event,  and place in your story. Manuskript’s features include:

• The Outliner, which lets you organize your ideas and little pieces of your story hierarchically; 
• The Distraction-free mode gets rid of all distractions; 
• Personal goal-setting features;
• The Novel assistant utilizes the snowflake method to help you develop your basic ideas into a coherent plotline or a full-fledged story.

Pricing: Free

LivingWriter

Fast Developing Tool

This is a different writing app altogether. It has a lot of features that are excellent for both fiction nonfiction writers. It has features that help with story elements, general notes, goals and targets, doc sharing, and stats.

Plus, you can also switch LivingWriter in and out of Dark Mode and focus mode.

One thing I like about LivingWriter is that it started with a single platform (web) but is now expanding rapidly.

It has iOS and Android applications, Full integration with Grammarly, Canva integration, and its desktop apps are 90% complete (according to the Living Writer Roadmap )

Yearly Plan – $96 billed once a year

Monthly Plan – $9.99 per month

Best Writing Tool for Apple Products

I don’t know about now, but Ulysses was big back then (like a dozen years ago or so).

The app is rich with features similar to the other word processing software. It comes with a Markup-Based Text Editor, a library for organizing notes and documents, features for setting writing goals, publishing capabilities, and many others.

Ulysses is perfect for both small essays and large academic ones.

Pricing : Ulysses has different pricing options for different regions but using the US plan, it costs $5.99 per month and $49.99 per year.

Hemingway Editor

An App Most Impactful Writing

The Hemingway Editor AKA Hemingway App is a simple tool for writers who want to write content that is easier to read but bold.

Hemingway does this by looking at elements of your writing such as adverbs, passive voice, phrases and words with simpler alternatives, hard-to-read sentences, very-hard-to-read sentences, and other “lexical atrocities.”

The web-based version is free, but the downloadable version (for Mac and Windows) is a paid tool.

Pricing: $19.99

Excellent Mind Mapping Tool

They used to call this app IMindMap. Ayoa is an essential tool in the planning stages of your essay writing.

You can create mind maps for your essays which help give direction when you start fleshing out your essay.

This mapping tool helps increase productivity because everything you need to write is already outlined. The fact every step is already planned and you know exactly what to write can also increase your daily word count.

Pricing : The Ayoa PRO plan costs $10/month and is billed annually. The Ultimate Plan costs $13/month and is also billed annually.

Best App for Multi-Lingual Essays

This is another incredible alternative to Grammarly.

For non-native English speakers, this is a pot of gold right here. It can check your text for grammar errors and translate Spanish, French, German. And many other languages.

As a grammar checker, the tool mainly looks at aspects such as verbs, adverbs, confused words, commonly misspelled words, etc.

Here’s a funny story about Ginger (Just happened today.) As I was using the web-based editor, I copied some texts on Ginger’s website and pasted them into the editor and the tool found one misspelled word. Their content writers must not have used Ginger.

I felt like Ginger’s content writers were like Drug dealers, you know, they followed rule number one of drug dealing. “ never get high on your own product.”   

• Monthly Plan – $9.99
• Yearly Plan – $74.88
• Two-Year Plan: $119.76

Write Or Die

Best for Productivity Purposes.

This app has a name that sums up life for some of us.

Write or Die!

Write Or Die gives rewards, stimuli, and punishments if users set goals. This is what you need if you are a sloth like myself.

It gives you that needed push because the punishments—which include erasing current texts—can really scare the hell out of you and make you put an extra gear.

Pricing : Free and paid. $10 for macOS and Windows, and $1 for iOS.

Simplest Writing App

IA Writer is a distraction-free writing app that is more than perfect for writing short essays.

It has a very basic interface and uses plain text. As I said, there are no distractions because the IA writer also has a full-screen mode that fades out everything else but the line you are currently typing.

This minimalist writing app is available on Windows, Android, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

Pricing : Paid (offers free trials).

macOS- $29.99. has a 14-day trial

iOS &iPadOS – $29.99. No Free Trial.

Android – $4.99 /year or $29.99 once. Has a 30-day trial.

Windows – $29.99. Has a 14-day trial.

Hubspot Topic Generator

Best for Generating Topic Ideas.

This is a whole different menu right here.

It’s very different from the tools that I’ve listed in this post. This is why… you’re not going to use it to write. Instead, you use it to automatically generate writing ideas.

It’s a very simple tool; you input three words, and it provides you with nouns to generate a topic idea that you can use on your next writing project.

If you’re going to use this tool, it’s going to be during the very first stages of your writing project.

Manuscripts

Best App for Academic Assignments

Manuscript (not to be confused with Manuskript from above) is an app for students and academics. This is a convenient tool that works with popular word processing apps, including Microsoft Word.

The reason why it’s perfect for academic writing is it excels at the referencing aspect of writing—citations, abbreviations, etc.

So, for class writing assignments and larger tasks like dissertations, this is the tool I’d recommend.

Pricing : Free

Simplenote is a note-taking tool that helps you keep all your notes in one place but accessible everywhere.

You can back up your notes, add tags, share the notes with collaborators, and publish your notes in Markdown format.

Supported Systems: Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux.

Guide to the Best Essay Writing Apps in 2021

Things to consider when choosing essay writing software.

A good essay writing software has to do things that make your essay look delectable and sound convincing.

Here are some of the things that an essay writing software need to be able to help you with:

Organization

I already talked about organization at the beginning, so you already know how important it is. The essay writing app has to help you arrange your essay and ensure that it flows nicely. It needs to clear the chaos that would have existed had you not used that specific tool.

Grammatical correctness

This is crucial in any writing project. The essay writing software has to help you correct your grammatical and spelling errors.

Proofreading

The proofreading capabilities of a good essay writing app go beyond checking for grammar and spelling mistakes. It also has to excel at checking other aspects like overuse of adverbs, passive voice, run-on sentences, weak writing , and readability.

Writing software doesn’t have to cost an arm. Most of these apps have similar features and pretty much do the same things. A higher price doesn’t necessarily mean the app is good but in some circumstances, apps are pricey for a good reason.

What Features Should an Essay Writing App Have

So, to achieve the above requirements, what features does a writing software need to have?

Below are the most important features that a good essay writing software program MUST have.

Grammar and Spelling checker

To achieve the overall grammatical correctness of your essay, a writing app needs to have a grammar checking feature. If it doesn’t, being integrable with an efficient grammar checking tool is also convenient.

Sentence structure and flow reports

Again, I cannot overemphasize the importance of structure in essay writing. The structure should start from your sentences to your paragraphs and the whole essay. A good essay writing app needs to have features that check aspects of structure and flow.

Punctuation checker

We can’t have an essay littered with semicolons, commas, and hyphens looking like they’re lost. Punctuation might be one of the most underrated features but make no mistake, it’s essential for professional writing.

Plagiarism checker

A good essay has to be unique and original. Therefore, essay writing software has to make sure that the body of the essay does not contain any plagiarized content.

Writing Metrics

Stats like word count, words per minute, or the number of pages are important for tracking progress. School essays usually have a word or page count requirements, and writing software must be equipped with writing metrics so that the user is kept abreast of the distance covered.

Sentence quality checker

In the writing profession, Quality matters.  It doesn’t matter if you have reached the minimum word count but the essay is of poor quality.

Writing apps must be able to pick out sentences that need improving or deleting due to poor quality writing.

Why Should You Use Writing Software to Write Essays?

Writing software won’t write your essay for you, but the writing process is hard to manage and that’s what these tools do.

Here are the benefits of using writing software:

1. Planning and Outlining

Planning is an important element of a good essay writing process. Writing software tools come with features that help you plan before you start writing.

For example, Scrivener has a feature called corkboard, which is a good planning tool. It’s like a set of digital index cards, and each represents a section of writing.

With writing software, you can plan and outline before the actual writing starts, and you can go back to the outlines and notes while writing.

2. Productivity

Productivity is a big problem for most writers. Writers like myself just write without setting a lot of writing goals, so when we feel like writing, we need to be at our most productive levels.

For those that set daily goals, maintaining a daily word count is not easy.

For both kinds of writers, writing software can help increase productivity.

The software tools come with writing stats to help you keep track of your progress. They also have features for distraction-free writing.

Templates also help increase productivity. The templates make things easier and save you a lot of time (which would have been used setting things up).

3. Editing and Formatting

Writing software tools come with features that can flag spelling & grammar mistakes and other errors. They also offer solutions to these errors.

This is very important for your editing process—it makes the editing stage easier and faster.

This also helps in increasing productivity since editing is less laborious and speedy.

Usually when we write essays (especially academic ones), some formatting requirements come with them. Writing apps are furnished with most of the formatting rules and styles that essays (academic or otherwise) may require.

4. Organizing

Writing can be a messy process.

Most often than not, essays also require a lot of research. And again, we’re not saying that writing software will help you research.

But when you get all the bits of info needed for your essay, the apps will help you keep the researched content organized.

With these writing apps, you can have all of your research organized and easily accessible.

The thing about a disorganized writing process is that it is reflected in the flow and structure of the essay.

How to Effectively Use Essay Writing Software

Let me reiterate, essay writing apps won’t write your essays for you, neither will they be correct all the time.

To get the best out of them, you need to treat them as writing tutors or co-writers. If they suggest something useful, take it on board, and if you feel like the suggestion is a bit off point, disregard it.

What Is a Perfect Essay?

A perfect essay convincingly speaks to the reader. An essay is like an argument or a speech, and it has to have a readable flow or show direction.

Perfect essays must contain arguments, supporting ideas, and most importantly, evidence.  

To write a perfect essay, you need to:

• Thoroughly plan the whole essay before you start writing.
• Start writing your arguments using a clear structure.
• Back up your points and refer to relevant sources if necessary.
• Make sure that you infuse the information with creativity. There’s nothing exciting about a bunch of truths thrown into an essay using bland sentences.
• Before you finish your draft, ensure that you’ve answered the question in your introduction and conclusion.

How can I write an essay on my phone?

Well, most of the apps listed here are available as mobile apps. If you feel it’d be okay to write on your phone, try out a couple of the apps on this list and see which one works better on mobile platforms.

I’d recommend using tablet computers as they have bigger screens than regular smartphones.

Final Words

There are just so many essay writing software tools nowadays that even though Scrivener and Grammarly top the list, stumbling on the best one for you is almost 1/1000 probable.

You have to try out these tools before purchasing them.

Just to say it for the one-thousandth time, essay writing apps won’t write your essays for you; YOU WILL.

Recommended Reading...

Best dictation software in 2024, scrivener vs word: which is the better book writing software, vellum vs scrivener: which is better for writing and formatting your book, write app review 2024: the best distraction-free writing app.

Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We try our best to keep things fair and balanced, in order to help you make the best choice for you.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

© 2024 When You Write

Best Essay Writing Apps: Exploring the Top Choices

Did you know that the average person spends about 23 days per year on their phones? With the prevalence of mobile devices, integrating essay-writing apps into your routine allows you to make the most of your time and boost productivity. So, if you're a student seeking to enhance your composition skills, search no more! This article serves as your ultimate resource for exploring exceptional apps for essay writing that will simplify your academic life.

Our essay service experts will present a curated assortment of user-friendly apps that can assist you with grammar, spelling, plagiarism detection, and even citation generation. You will encounter well-known examples such as Grammarly, Hemingway Editor, and EssayPro and discover how mobile apps enable you to work on your essays from anywhere.

Criteria for Assessing Essay Apps

Here are the criteria we used to evaluate best app for essay writing:

• User-Friendly: Is the app easy to navigate and use with different tools?
• Writing Metrics: Does the app have essential features like spell-check, proofreading tools, and word count?
• Features: Can you write and edit in Cloud systems like Dropbox? Is there an offline mode? Or can you place ‘ write my essay ’ orders quickly?
• User Interface: Does the app offer customizable UI, language settings, themes, styles, and formatting?
• Compatibility: Can you easily export your work and share it on platforms like WordPress?
• Ratings: What are the app's ratings on Google Play and the App Store? What's our own rating?
• Price Structure: Is the app download worth the fee it charges for writing?

Top Essay Writing Apps

With a plethora of essay apps to choose from, catering to various needs like note-taking, planning, and grammar checking, selecting the perfect essay writer app can be overwhelming. To simplify your decision-making process, we have curated a comprehensive list of the apps that write essays for you.

EssayPro App

Available on Android and iOS , Essaypro an app that writes essays for you, stands out as one of the best apps for essay writing. It simplifies essay creation, organization, and formatting. With access to a vast collection of essay samples, students can easily tackle any assignment, from argumentative to persuasive essays.

Users can save time with this pocket-sized software. Orders can be placed quickly, generating pricing offers in no time. On average, customers spend 22 minutes using the app.

To cater to user requests, Essaypro introduced a dark theme as a new feature. Additionally, users can respond to writer inquiries via the chat tool, ensuring they don't have to pause their activities, even while taking care of their children. For a comprehensive mobile solution to excel in academic tasks, you can confidently choose the EssayPro App.

• The app offers advice on improving current writing and using better editing techniques. It even features a plagiarism detection tool, guiding you on how to avoid plagiarism .
• Users get access to an author's biography, his areas of expertise, and - most crucially - reviews of the writer.
• ‍Users can top up their own accounts, making it easy to subsequently order fresh works.
• ‍100% plagiarism-free papers - Each task is unique.
• ‍Timely delivery - Get your paper as soon as you need it.
• ‍Unlimited revisions - In case you need to add any info or you want us to rewrite some paragraphs - you are free to ask us!‍
• Top quality - We have a team of top-notch writers who will definitely deliver exceptional tasks for you.‍
• 100% money-back guarantee - You can get your money back if you don't like the paper.

Grammarly is an ideal app for catching grammar mistakes in essays. It even detects errors in complex sentences. It works on all systems and devices - PC, Mac, iOS, and Android. While the interface can be crowded, and it may not be as effective for long-form writing, Grammarly remains one of the top options.

• Enables you to work in your preferred writing style, including academic papers.
• Helps you avoid automatic writing mistakes, including misspellings, improper punctuation, and other issues.
• Enhances your writing skills
• Congested user interface and a lack of effectiveness for long-form composing

Streamlining the writing process, this one of the best app for essay writing simplifies the crucial task of editing. Utilizing a range of colors and accents assists in eliminating unnecessary words and achieving sentence conciseness. Available for download on both Mac and Windows desktop platforms, it offers convenient accessibility for users.

• Automatically catches errors like misused words or awkward sentences so you can spend more time perfecting your essay
• Develops pieces that are compelling and simple to read
• Serves as a digital editor and suggests suitable types of tone in writing .
• Pricey desktop and distracting colors for visitors

ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid may assist you in identifying formatting errors, fixing bugs, and correcting punctuation in writing. With the premium edition of this paper writing app, you can improve sentence length and choice of words and eliminate clichés.

Meanwhile, if you're searching for an excellent essay topic for students , make sure to explore our comprehensive list!

• Simple to use UI
• There are several integrations offered
• There are almost twenty writing analysis reports available
• Just a few hundred words may be read at once in the free plan
• Adjusting to the number of functions might take a while

Focus Writer

Focus Writer is among the few free word processors that are compatible with all the leading operating systems. With the help of this paper writing app, you may obtain a wide range of data, such as the number of words and characters. Moreover, the application uses RTF to save its information. Most other word processors can accept this, so you may edit your writing on different platforms as needed.

In the meantime, you might be intrigued to explore an excellent AI detection tool that assists in creating content free from Artificial Intelligence.

• Provides you with key text analytics while you type
• Powerful word processor for those on a budget
• No advanced features are offered

Cold Turkey Writer

Cold Turkey Writer is one of the ideal essay apps since it prevents interruptions. It also provides several layouts, structuring, and flow choices. This essay-writing tool effectively transforms your desktop into a typewriter, leaving you with no option other than to write your essay topics .

• You can track time and word count by using the progression indicator at the top
• Provides an environment without interruptions
• Encourages the usage of other programs once more
• Not available in offline mode

Ulysses is an excellent distraction-free writing app available for iOS users only. It's a perfect choice for both short articles and long research papers. In addition, it allows sharing your work instantly on WordPress and Medium and quickly converts words into PDFs.

• It has a text editor with markup support and a library for arranging notes, writing goals, and publishing choices
• It's among the best user-friendly essay writing applications
• Ulysses can transform your texts into beautiful PDFs, Word documents, ebooks, and even blog posts
• Not as good for outlining as other programs

Scribus is a free, accessible digital production tool that aids in creating aesthetically pleasing structures. It includes a lot of capabilities, like the ability to modify an item at several levels of a document, excellent painting options, node editing techniques, and more.

• Best suited for papers with innovative visuals
• Strong sketching tools 
• Doesn't come as a mobile app

Trello is a versatile and intuitive project management application that allows individuals and teams to effectively organize and collaborate on tasks and projects. It offers a visual and customizable interface that utilizes boards, lists, and cards to streamline project workflows and track progress.

Even if you're on the hunt for summer jobs for college student , Trello can streamline project workflows, making it easier for you to track your progress and manage your summer job applications efficiently.

• The User-friendly interface makes it simple for individuals of all technical abilities to start using the app immediately.
• Trello excels in fostering collaboration within teams. Real-time updates ensure everyone stays informed and aligned on project progress.
• It may not fulfill the needs of more complex projects
• The steep learning curve for larger projects

LivingWriter

LivingWriter is a versatile writing application designed to streamline the writing process for authors and content creators. With a user-friendly interface and a host of features, it aims to enhance the overall writing experience.

• Collaborative writing capabilities.
• Innovative story planning tools.
• Cloud-based accessibility for flexibility.
• Subscription-based model.
• The learning curve for advanced features.

Novlr is a dedicated writing application designed to meet the needs of novelists and long-form writers. It provides a distraction-free environment with features tailored to enhance the novel-writing process.

• Offers a distraction-free writing space.
• Enables seamless work synchronization across devices.
• Provides diverse export formats for easy file transfer.
• Operates on a subscription model.
• Some users may find features limited compared to other platforms.

Readable is among the top essay writing apps designed to enhance the readability and clarity of written content. It incorporates features aimed at improving the overall quality and comprehension of text.

• Enhances content clarity.
• Provides guidance on writing style.
• Easy navigation and use.
• Requires subscription for full access.
• Functionality affected without a stable connection.

Is Writing Not Your Best Quality?

Then Essaypro’s professional writers are the best choice who are available for assistance 24/7

Writer Plus

Writer Plus is a mobile writing app designed for simplicity and convenience, providing essential features for on-the-go writing and note-taking.

• Offers a straightforward and easy-to-use interface.
• Ideal for quick writing and note-taking on mobile devices.
• Allows writing even without an internet connection.
• May lack advanced features compared to more comprehensive writing applications.
• Primarily designed for mobile use, with limited desktop functionality.

ByWord is an AI-powered article-generation tool. It focuses on efficiently generating large volumes of high-quality, SEO-ready content. Users can input a few words, click a button, and within minutes, have a fully formed article with an accompanying image ready for publication on their site. This tool adapts to the changing world of SEO with the help of artificial intelligence and offers a feature to stay unnoticed by any AI detection tool .

• ByWord swiftly creates SEO-ready content.
• A comprehensive tool for efficient long-form content creation.
• Enables rapid publication of fully-formed articles and images.
• May have fewer customization options for a streamlined process.

Coggle is a web-based mind-mapping tool that allows users to create visually engaging diagrams to organize and represent their ideas.

• Facilitates the creation of visually appealing mind maps and diagrams.
• Supports real-time collaboration for team brainstorming and planning.
• Features an intuitive design for easy navigation and diagram creation.
• Some advanced features may be restricted in the free version.
• Requires a stable internet connection for seamless collaboration and saving.

Wrapping Up

Whether you're just starting with academic writing service or already have advanced skills, these college student applications are here to make the process easier and better. From Essaypro's free writing software, where you can even buy an essay , to Grammarly's essay editing apps, there's a tool for everyone. By adding these platforms to your toolkit, you can create high-quality papers more efficiently and with confidence. So, try them out and see which ones work best for you!

Do You Easily Get Weary From Writing?

Hire experienced writers for your upcoming assignments and focus on what matters most to you!

What Are Some Good Essay Writing Apps for Students?

How can i choose the right essay writing app for my needs and academic level, what are the benefits of using an essay-writing app, is there an app that can create essays for students.

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

Free online proofreading and essay editor

A reliable proofreading tool and essay editor for any writer or student, a complete environment.

Typely is more than just a proofreading tool. It's a complete writing environment.

Thousands of checks

More than a thousand checks are being performed and we've only scratched the surface.

Inspired by the greatest writers

Gain access to humanity’s collective understanding about the craft of writing.

A proofreading tool that does not bark at every tree

Typely is precise. Existing tools for proofreading raise so many false alarms that their advice cannot be trusted. Instead, the writer must carefully consider whether to accept or reject each change.

We aim for a tool so precise that it becomes possible to unquestioningly adopt its recommendations and still come out ahead — with stronger, tighter prose. Better to be quiet and authoritative than loud and unreliable.

Relax, focus, write your next masterpiece...

Writing presumes more than simply laying out words on a paper. Typely helps you get in the mood and keeps you focused, immersed and ready to write your story.

Whether you need a distraction-free environment, some chill relaxing sounds or a pomodoro timer to manage your time we got you covered.

Got questions? We have answers.

No. Typely is completely free and we plan on keeping it that way. We are considering some advanced features however that might be available under a premium plan.

The only limit we have applied thus far is on the number of characters you can submit and that is being set at a maximum of 50,000.

In theory yes but that will require a lot of work and professionals dedicated for this job. We are considering a way of letting the community participate somehow.

Typely does not do grammar checking because it's hard and almost impossible to get right. The aim for Typely is to be precise and reliable.

Improve your college essays through feedback

CollegeVine’s fast and secure essay peer review system lets you:

Learn where your essay is strong and where it can improve

Improve your writing by reviewing other students’ essays

It’s free — learn how

What current seniors are saying

Differentiating yourself is more important than ever.

With more schools going test optional, college essays can help you stand out from the rest, and they can often make the difference between a rejection and acceptance.

Essays are 25% of your application

Grades alone won’t get you accepted to your dream school. The college essay is an extremely important piece of your college application. Essays help you stand out from the rest.

Show your personality

Admissions officers want to better understand who you are through your essays. Showcasing your unique view of the world and the experiences that have led you to where you are is pivotal.

Become memorable to admissions

Admissions officers only spend a few minutes on each application. Ensure your essay will be memorable by getting honest feedback from people who don’t already know your story well.

Write amazing college essays

Stop guessing what admissions officers will take away from your college essay. Our community of peer reviewers will let you know and provide feedback. You’ll build confidence and improve your own writing by reviewing peer essays, which help you learn to read essays just like an admissions officer.

Learn what admissions officers are looking for

Get exposed to how admissions officers read and evaluate your essays. Our essay guides provide students with clear, actionable ways to write an authentic essay. We analyze real essays from the past to see what works to get accepted.

Get your essay reviewed by experts

We've helped with 100,000+ college essays—we've seen it all and we know what works. Submit your own essay or watch our team of experts critique other student essays LIVE. All viewers can ask questions and get help from the expert team at no cost.

The free, all-in-one guidance platform to help you with every step of the college process

Your account unlocks all these free tools to help you apply to college with confidence

Advising livestreams

Join interactive livestreams about nearly every topic in the college process, hosted by college admissions experts.

Essays guidance and peer review

Submit your own essay for a review in less than 6 hours on the world’s first entirely free college essay review system.

Q&A with experts

Ask questions and get quick and helpful answers from CollegeVine experts and a community of supportive peers.

How is CollegeVine free?

We believe that every student deserves expert guidance. To make that possible, access to the CollegeVine platform is free for students. We partner with colleges that pay to join our ecosystem and interact with students via virtual events and 1-1 connections.

There are zero ads on our site and you can rest assured that you are always in control of your personal data. Connections with colleges are student-initiated, meaning your profile is only shared if and when you opt-in.

Write. Cite. Manage References.

The academic writing app for students, scholars & professionals..

How It Works

Choose citation style, add references, write & cite.

Automatic Formatting

Reference manager.

Google Scholar

Apa, mla & more.

Various Reference Types

Figures & equations.

Extra Sections

More features, export to pdf or word, import bibtex, backgrounds, ratings and reviews, outstanding application & support.

I've been using Essayist for years as for a while I only had an iPad as my main driver yet had to write papers for school and this was the only applicaiton that allowed me to do so on the iPad while not only maintaining all APA formatting requirements but making it even easier to cite articles with it's Google Scholar search function. I've also had a couple of times where i'd reach out to their customer support and they were prompt in responding with answers or even potential updates and timing. I highly recommend this app to every student at every level as I used it through my MBA and i'm now using it to complete a doctorate.

AMAZING tool for college students!

I am so glad I found this app because it has come in very handy in writing my essays for college. Essayist is very easy to use and supports many citation styles for all my essay writing needs. Has not let me down yet, thank you!!

It's worth it's weight in gold at least 10X over. I really don't know what I would do without this app. I use it for every single assignment and it's such a time saver and helps make sure everything is correct. I absolutely love it and recommend it to every single person I know in school.

Marvelous, Superb, and a Joy to Use

Essayist is an app designed with simplicity in mind. The team behind this application has eliminated the burden of the “essay criteria.” In its stead, we have a clear and perfectly structured canvas on which to begin writing without distractions. Upon purchase - which is worth every penny, you're prompted to choose your citation of choice. Your paper format and structure are based on this selection. Adding a works cited or bibliography is as simple as pressing a button. The app allows for chapters of books/magazines/ journals, websites, films, etc., and the user-friendly OS will enable you to seamlessly integrate those references as in-text citations, all with the press of a button. This app is a flagship creation of a solution to a long-standing problem. A problem that can perhaps be phrased as, “How can I have all the formatting and citations already done for me so that I can focus on just writing”? Essayist does just that.

Yearly・Save 40%

Still have questions, what is essayist, who is essayist for, how does essayist work, how much does essayist cost, can i use essayist on all my devices, which operating system do i need, is essayist available for android/windows, what citation styles does essayist support, can i generate references in essayist, does essayist have a user guide, subscribe to our newsletter, information.

Free Writing Improver

Effortlessly refine your writing with our writing improver tool, Rephrase. Enhance your sentence's clarity, style, and impact.

Start typing or use

Keep Rephrasing

Get unlimited rephrases on a paid plan or 10 a day for free.

or select a sentence to rephrase

Share every sentence with confidence

Join over 3 million people improving their writing.

I’ve tried every free and paid writing/editing/grammar extension out there, and this by far is the best one my team and I have found. It’s fast, accurate, and really helps improve your writing beyond simple grammar suggestions.

Joel Widmer

ProWritingAid has a Rephrase feature now—I just tried it today, and it helps so much! Like a magic✨ editor!

Julianne Munich

I just used rephrasing! It’s awesome! Especially the sensory suggestions. It helps with writer’s block for me. I can’t believe how PWA keeps getting better and better!

Alexandria Yandt

Improve sentences in just a few clicks

Find the perfect words.

Identify the best way to express your thoughts with Rephrase, a powerful writing improver. Explore multiple options to enhance the readability of any sentence.

Adapt your writing to your readers

Choose your formality, modify sentence lengths, and integrate sensory details for richer descriptions.

Translate into English

Leverage ProWritingAid's writing improver to translate your content from any language into fluent English.

Works in all your favorite writing apps

Access all ProWritingAid's features directly in your writing app of choice.

Writing Improver FAQs

What is prowritingaid.

ProWritingAid is a digital toolkit that helps you craft your story and bring it to life.

ProWritingAid helps you unlock the full potential of your story by fixing grammatical errors, improving sentence clarity, and creating more engaging prose. Plus, it integrates with any writing app, so you can get support in whichever one you use.

It’s like having an English teacher, professional editor, writing buddy and honest critic sitting inside your favorite writing app.

Can ProWritingAid write content for me?

ProWritingAid doesn't write content for you. Instead, the tool allows you to express your ideas more effectively by rephrasing sentences for clarity, style, and impact.

Is ProWritingAid free?

With a free account, you can use Rephrase to improve sentences up to ten times a day. You can also access the editor, which fixes grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes on up to 500 words. If you need more words, you can upgrade to a paid plan.

Does ProWritingAid work everywhere online?

Our browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox and Edge) work across almost all websites and online apps, including Gmail, LinkedIn, Microsoft Word and Google Docs.

Try our writing improver today

Drop us a line or let's stay in touch via:

Daily Essay 4+

Become a writing master‪‬, ester ramos, designed for ipad, screenshots, description.

Daily Essay is your personal writing coach. Get a fresh new challenge daily to improve your writing. Completely free! Ready to level up your writing game? Daily Essay is your personal writing coach, delivering a fresh prompt every day to spark your creativity. Whether you're aiming to become a wordsmith, expand your knowledge, or just stay in the loop, this app is your daily dose of inspiration. So, what are you waiting for? Download now and start your writing adventure today!

App Privacy

The developer, Ester Ramos , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

Data Not Collected

The developer does not collect any data from this app.

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Information

English, Portuguese

• App Support
• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2024 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Check your paper for plagiarism in 10 minutes, generate your apa citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• College essay

How to Write a College Essay | A Complete Guide & Examples

The college essay can make or break your application. It’s your chance to provide personal context, communicate your values and qualities, and set yourself apart from other students.

A standout essay has a few key ingredients:

• A unique, personal topic
• A compelling, well-structured narrative
• A clear, creative writing style
• Evidence of self-reflection and insight

To achieve this, it’s crucial to give yourself enough time for brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

In this comprehensive guide, we walk you through every step in the process of writing a college admissions essay.

Table of contents

Why do you need a standout essay, start organizing early, choose a unique topic, outline your essay, start with a memorable introduction, write like an artist, craft a strong conclusion, revise and receive feedback, frequently asked questions.

While most of your application lists your academic achievements, your college admissions essay is your opportunity to share who you are and why you’d be a good addition to the university.

Your college admissions essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s total weight一and may account for even more with some colleges making the SAT and ACT tests optional. The college admissions essay may be the deciding factor in your application, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurriculars.

What do colleges look for in an essay?

Admissions officers want to understand your background, personality, and values to get a fuller picture of you beyond your test scores and grades. Here’s what colleges look for in an essay :

• Demonstrated values and qualities
• Vulnerability and authenticity
• Self-reflection and insight
• Creative, clear, and concise writing skills

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

It’s a good idea to start organizing your college application timeline in the summer of your junior year to make your application process easier. This will give you ample time for essay brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

While timelines will vary for each student, aim to spend at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing your first draft and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Remember to leave enough time for breaks in between each writing and editing stage.

Create an essay tracker sheet

If you’re applying to multiple schools, you will have to juggle writing several essays for each one. We recommend using an essay tracker spreadsheet to help you visualize and organize the following:

• Deadlines and number of essays needed
• Prompt overlap, allowing you to write one essay for similar prompts

You can build your own essay tracker using our free Google Sheets template.

College essay tracker template

Ideally, you should start brainstorming college essay topics the summer before your senior year. Keep in mind that it’s easier to write a standout essay with a unique topic.

If you want to write about a common essay topic, such as a sports injury or volunteer work overseas, think carefully about how you can make it unique and personal. You’ll need to demonstrate deep insight and write your story in an original way to differentiate it from similar essays.

What makes a good topic?

• Meaningful and personal to you
• Uncommon or has an unusual angle
• Reveals something different from the rest of your application

Brainstorming questions

You should do a comprehensive brainstorm before choosing your topic. Here are a few questions to get started:

• What are your top five values? What lived experiences demonstrate these values?
• What adjectives would your friends and family use to describe you?
• What challenges or failures have you faced and overcome? What lessons did you learn from them?
• What makes you different from your classmates?
• What are some objects that represent your identity, your community, your relationships, your passions, or your goals?
• Whom do you admire most? Why?
• What three people have significantly impacted your life? How did they influence you?

How to identify your topic

Here are two strategies for identifying a topic that demonstrates your values:

• Start with your qualities : First, identify positive qualities about yourself; then, brainstorm stories that demonstrate these qualities.
• Start with a story : Brainstorm a list of memorable life moments; then, identify a value shown in each story.

After choosing your topic, organize your ideas in an essay outline , which will help keep you focused while writing. Unlike a five-paragraph academic essay, there’s no set structure for a college admissions essay. You can take a more creative approach, using storytelling techniques to shape your essay.

Two common approaches are to structure your essay as a series of vignettes or as a single narrative.

Vignettes structure

The vignette, or montage, structure weaves together several stories united by a common theme. Each story should demonstrate one of your values or qualities and conclude with an insight or future outlook.

This structure gives the admissions officer glimpses into your personality, background, and identity, and shows how your qualities appear in different areas of your life.

Topic: Museum with a “five senses” exhibit of my experiences

• Introduction: Tour guide introduces my museum and my “Making Sense of My Heritage” exhibit
• Story: Racial discrimination with my eyes
• Lesson: Using my writing to document truth
• Story: Broadway musical interests
• Lesson: Finding my voice
• Story: Smells from family dinner table
• Lesson: Appreciating home and family
• Story: Washing dishes
• Lesson: Finding moments of peace in busy schedule
• Story: Biking with Ava
• Lesson: Finding pleasure in job well done
• Conclusion: Tour guide concludes tour, invites guest to come back for “fall College Collection,” featuring my search for identity and learning.

Single story structure

The single story, or narrative, structure uses a chronological narrative to show a student’s character development over time. Some narrative essays detail moments in a relatively brief event, while others narrate a longer journey spanning months or years.

Single story essays are effective if you have overcome a significant challenge or want to demonstrate personal development.

Topic: Sports injury helps me learn to be a better student and person

• Situation: Football injury
• Challenge: Friends distant, teachers don’t know how to help, football is gone for me
• Turning point: Starting to like learning in Ms. Brady’s history class; meeting Christina and her friends
• My reactions: Reading poetry; finding shared interest in poetry with Christina; spending more time studying and with people different from me
• Insight: They taught me compassion and opened my eyes to a different lifestyle; even though I still can’t play football, I’m starting a new game

Brainstorm creative insights or story arcs

Regardless of your essay’s structure, try to craft a surprising story arc or original insights, especially if you’re writing about a common topic.

Never exaggerate or fabricate facts about yourself to seem interesting. However, try finding connections in your life that deviate from cliché storylines and lessons.

Admissions officers read thousands of essays each year, and they typically spend only a few minutes reading each one. To get your message across, your introduction , or hook, needs to grab the reader’s attention and compel them to read more..

Avoid starting your introduction with a famous quote, cliché, or reference to the essay itself (“While I sat down to write this essay…”).

While you can sometimes use dialogue or a meaningful quotation from a close family member or friend, make sure it encapsulates your essay’s overall theme.

Find an original, creative way of starting your essay using the following two methods.

Option 1: Start with an intriguing hook

Begin your essay with an unexpected statement to pique the reader’s curiosity and compel them to carefully read your essay. A mysterious introduction disarms the reader’s expectations and introduces questions that can only be answered by reading more.

Option 2: Start with vivid imagery

Illustrate a clear, detailed image to immediately transport your reader into your memory. You can start in the middle of an important scene or describe an object that conveys your essay’s theme.

A college application essay allows you to be creative in your style and tone. As you draft your essay, try to use interesting language to enliven your story and stand out .

Show, don’t tell

“Tell” in writing means to simply state a fact: “I am a basketball player.” “ Show ” in writing means to use details, examples, and vivid imagery to help the reader easily visualize your memory: “My heart races as I set up to shoot一two seconds, one second一and score a three-pointer!”

First, reflect on every detail of a specific image or scene to recall the most memorable aspects.

• What are the most prominent images?
• Are there any particular sounds, smells, or tastes associated with this memory?
• What emotion or physical feeling did you have at that time?

Be vulnerable to create an emotional response

You don’t have to share a huge secret or traumatic story, but you should dig deep to express your honest feelings, thoughts, and experiences to evoke an emotional response. Showing vulnerability demonstrates humility and maturity. However, don’t exaggerate to gain sympathy.

Use appropriate style and tone

Make sure your essay has the right style and tone by following these guidelines:

• Use a conversational yet respectful tone: less formal than academic writing, but more formal than texting your friends.
• Prioritize using “I” statements to highlight your perspective.
• Write within your vocabulary range to maintain an authentic voice.
• Write concisely, and use the active voice to keep a fast pace.
• Follow grammar rules (unless you have valid stylistic reasons for breaking them).

You should end your college essay with a deep insight or creative ending to leave the reader with a strong final impression. Your college admissions essay should avoid the following:

• Summarizing what you already wrote
• Stating your hope of being accepted to the school
• Mentioning character traits that should have been illustrated in the essay, such as “I’m a hard worker”

Here are two strategies to craft a strong conclusion.

Option 1: Full circle, sandwich structure

The full circle, or sandwich, structure concludes the essay with an image, idea, or story mentioned in the introduction. This strategy gives the reader a strong sense of closure.

In the example below, the essay concludes by returning to the “museum” metaphor that the writer opened with.

Option 2: Revealing your insight

You can use the conclusion to show the insight you gained as a result of the experiences you’ve described. Revealing your main message at the end creates suspense and keeps the takeaway at the forefront of your reader’s mind.

Revise your essay before submitting it to check its content, style, and grammar. Get feedback from no more than two or three people.

It’s normal to go through several rounds of revision, but take breaks between each editing stage.

Also check out our college essay examples to see what does and doesn’t work in an essay and the kinds of changes you can make to improve yours.

Respect the word count

Most schools specify a word count for each essay , and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit.

Remain under the specified word count limit to show you can write concisely and follow directions. However, don’t write too little, which may imply that you are unwilling or unable to write a thoughtful and developed essay.

Check your content, style, and grammar

• First, check big-picture issues of message, flow, and clarity.
• Then, check for style and tone issues.
• Finally, focus on eliminating grammar and punctuation errors.

Get feedback

Get feedback from 2–3 people who know you well, have good writing skills, and are familiar with college essays.

• Teachers and guidance counselors can help you check your content, language, and tone.
• Friends and family can check for authenticity.
• An essay coach or editor has specialized knowledge of college admissions essays and can give objective expert feedback.

The checklist below helps you make sure your essay ticks all the boxes.

College admissions essay checklist

I’ve organized my essay prompts and created an essay writing schedule.

I’ve done a comprehensive brainstorm for essay topics.

I’ve selected a topic that’s meaningful to me and reveals something different from the rest of my application.

I’ve created an outline to guide my structure.

I’ve crafted an introduction containing vivid imagery or an intriguing hook that grabs the reader’s attention.

I’ve written my essay in a way that shows instead of telling.

I’ve shown positive traits and values in my essay.

I’ve demonstrated self-reflection and insight in my essay.

I’ve used appropriate style and tone .

I’ve concluded with an insight or a creative ending.

I’ve revised my essay , checking my overall message, flow, clarity, and grammar.

I’ve respected the word count , remaining within 10% of the upper word limit.

Congratulations!

It looks like your essay ticks all the boxes. A second pair of eyes can help you take it to the next level – Scribbr's essay coaches can help.

Colleges want to be able to differentiate students who seem similar on paper. In the college application essay , they’re looking for a way to understand each applicant’s unique personality and experiences.

Your college essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s weight. It may be the deciding factor in whether you’re accepted, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurricular track records.

A standout college essay has several key ingredients:

• A unique, personally meaningful topic
• A memorable introduction with vivid imagery or an intriguing hook
• Specific stories and language that show instead of telling
• Vulnerability that’s authentic but not aimed at soliciting sympathy
• Clear writing in an appropriate style and tone
• A conclusion that offers deep insight or a creative ending

While timelines will differ depending on the student, plan on spending at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing the first draft of your college admissions essay , and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Don’t forget to save enough time for breaks between each writing and editing stage.

You should already begin thinking about your essay the summer before your senior year so that you have plenty of time to try out different topics and get feedback on what works.

Most college application portals specify a word count range for your essay, and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit to write a developed and thoughtful essay.

You should aim to stay under the specified word count limit to show you can follow directions and write concisely. However, don’t write too little, as it may seem like you are unwilling or unable to write a detailed and insightful narrative about yourself.

If no word count is specified, we advise keeping your essay between 400 and 600 words.

Is this article helpful?

Other students also liked.

• What Do Colleges Look For in an Essay? | Examples & Tips
• College Essay Format & Structure | Example Outlines
• How to Revise Your College Admissions Essay | Examples

More interesting articles

• Choosing Your College Essay Topic | Ideas & Examples
• College Essay Examples | What Works and What Doesn't
• Common App Essays | 7 Strong Examples with Commentary
• How Long Should a College Essay Be? | Word Count Tips
• How to Apply for College | Timeline, Templates & Checklist
• How to End a College Admissions Essay | 4 Winning Strategies
• How to Make Your College Essay Stand Out | Tips & Examples
• How to Research and Write a "Why This College?" Essay
• How to Write a College Essay Fast | Tips & Examples
• How to Write a Diversity Essay | Tips & Examples
• How to Write a Great College Essay Introduction | Examples
• How to Write a Scholarship Essay | Template & Example
• How to Write About Yourself in a College Essay | Examples
• Style and Tone Tips for Your College Essay | Examples
• US College Essay Tips for International Students

Get unlimited documents corrected

✔ Free APA citation check included ✔ Unlimited document corrections ✔ Specialized in correcting academic texts