Storyist Software

What Storyist Software does

Storyist Software L.L.C. is a privately held, bootstrapped software company founded in 2003 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. It develops Storyist, a dual-platform (macOS and iOS) creative writing application targeted at novelists, screenwriters, and self-publishing authors. The product combines a styled rich-text editor, visual storyboarding via index cards and corkboards, customizable story sheets for plot/character/setting management, an outliner, and project-wide search within a proprietary .story file format (Zip-wrapped ODF + RDF/OWL metadata). Purpose-built templates cover novels, feature screenplays, stage plays, and Blurb-compatible book layouts, and the iOS app extends the workflow to iPad/iPhone with Files app integration, multi-cloud storage support (iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box), and AirDrop sharing.

The business runs on a one-time license / freemium model. Users receive a 14-day trial, after which they may continue in a free Viewer mode (read/export only) or purchase a perpetual license to unlock editing. Distribution is multi-channel: direct sales through storyist.com processed by Paddle, plus the Mac App Store and iOS App Store (the latter using in-app purchases). Pricing is not publicly disclosed on the website, but a 50% upgrade discount from Storyist 3 to Storyist 4 indicates active customer-lifecycle management. The company has no disclosed funding, no M&A activity, no parent company, and no leadership changes on record; its operating geographies reach a global individual-consumer base through Apple's storefronts.

The company's go-to-market is product-led: free trials, App Store discovery, content marketing via blog/tutorials, community engagement through forums and a NaNoWriMo-focused content track, social media on Twitter/Facebook/YouTube, and earned media in publications such as Macworld UK and Creative Screenwriting. Its core partnership is with Blurb, enabling an integrated self-publishing workflow that outputs print-ready PDFs for distribution through Amazon and Ingram. Customer testimonials come exclusively from individual authors, with no enterprise or institutional buyers identified, underscoring a B2C/prosumer positioning within a niche of the broader screen and script writing software market valued at approximately USD 186–195 million in 2025.

Name

Storyist Software

Legal name

Storyist Software L.L.C.

Website

https://storyist.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Storyist Software develops a dual-platform (macOS and iOS) creative writing application for novelists and screenwriters, combining styled word processing, visual storyboarding, and customizable character/plot sheets within a proprietary .story file format, sold via one-time licenses through direct sales and Apple's App Stores.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creative Writing Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (51321)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Creative Writing & Storytelling (Fiction, Poetry, Screenwriting) (EDAMAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Instructional Design & Storyboarding Platforms (EDAFAHAB)

Keywords

• Creative writing software
• Novel writing tools
• Screenwriting applications
• Manuscript formatting
• Story development software

Headquarters

HQ city

Sunnyvale

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: Storyist generates revenue through one-time software license purchases for both macOS and iOS versions. The macOS version is sold via the Storyist website (using Paddle for payment processing) and the Mac App Store. The iOS version is sold through the iOS App Store. After a free trial period, users can purchase a license to unlock editing features.
2. In-App Purchases: Storyist uses in-app purchases through Apple's infrastructure to sell and unlock the app after the free trial period ends on iOS and for Mac App Store versions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Storyist Software develops and sells Storyist, a creative writing application available for macOS and iOS that combines a rich text editor, visual storyboarding (corkboards and collages with index cards and photos), customizable story sheets for plot/character/setting, an outliner, and project management in a single integrated app. The software supports both novel writing and screenwriting workflows with industry-standard formatting templates and exports to PDF, ePub, Kindle, Final Draft FDX, Fountain, and Scrivener formats.

Product overview

Storyist Software offers a dual-platform creative writing suite consisting of Storyist for macOS and Storyist for iOS. The macOS application serves as the primary product, providing novelists and screenwriters with a comprehensive writing environment that combines word processing, story organization, and manuscript formatting capabilities. The iOS app enables mobile writing and synchronization with the desktop version. Both platforms share a common file format and support various export options including PDF for print (particularly integrated with Blurb), ePub for e-readers, and Kindle format for Amazon. The product suite includes multiple purpose-built templates for novels, screenplays, stage plays, and blank projects, as well as specialized book design templates compatible with Blurb's printing standards.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Storyist for macOS A creative writing application for macOS that provides a rich text editor with style sheets, storyboard with index cards and photos, outliner, customizable story sheets, project manager with search, full-screen editing, wiki linking, smart text for screenplay completion, and quick styles. Targeted at novelists and screenwriters.
• Storyist for iOS A writing app for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch that lets users create, revise, and review their work on mobile devices. Features Files interface integration, support for multiple cloud storage providers, index card views, story sheets, and synchronization with the macOS version.

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration12 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• BlurbcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStoryist has partnered with Blurb, a self-publishing platform, to provide book creation and distribution tools. The partnership enables Storyist users to easily create print-ready PDFs and publish through Blurb's network including Amazon.com and Ingram's distribution. Blurb provides free ISBNs ($125 value) along with printing options from print-on-demand to offset printing.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Final Draft: Final Draft is the industry-standard screenwriting application used in Hollywood production; Storyist competes with its screenplay mode and FDX compatibility, targeting the same professional screenwriter persona.
• Ulysses: Ulysses is a Mac/iOS writing app with a subscription model targeting serious long-form writers with organizational features (sheets, keywords, targets). It overlaps Storyist's niche of Apple-ecosystem creative writers and is the closest subscription native competitor.
• Atticus: Atticus is a cross-platform writing and book formatting tool focused on indie authors and self-publishing — directly competing for Storyist's novelist segment with built-in export to print/eBook formats.
• Scrivener (Literature & Latte): Scrivener is the dominant long-form novel writing application for macOS/Windows, offering outlining, corkboards, and story organization — the most direct functional competitor to Storyist for novelists planning complex manuscripts.
• Novlr: Novlr is a web-based novel writing platform targeting fiction authors with outlining, goal tracking, and manuscript organization — directly comparable to Storyist's novelist workflow on a different delivery platform (browser).

Emerging players

• Plottr: Plottr is a visual plotting and outlining tool for novelists with timeline and scene-card features — directly comparable to Storyist's storyboarding/corkboard capabilities, often used alongside Scrivener/Word.
• Sudowrite: Sudowrite is an AI-assisted creative writing tool aimed at novelists — overlapping Storyist's primary novelist persona with a fundamentally different (generative AI) approach that represents the most disruptive emerging competitor.
• NovelAI: NovelAI provides AI story generation and writing assistance for fiction authors with subscription pricing. It targets the same fiction-writer persona as Storyist with AI-native drafting capabilities that bypass traditional outlining tools.

Broad incumbents

• Microsoft Word: Microsoft Word is the default mass-market word processor and Storyist's broadest incumbent competitor. It is the tool Storyist explicitly differentiates against with plot/character/setting tracking and project organization.
• Apple Pages: Apple Pages is Apple's free word processor bundled with macOS/iOS — the default writing environment for many Apple-ecosystem users and the broadest free incumbent Storyist competes against on the same platforms.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Storyist
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/storyistsoftware
• Facebookfacebook.com/storyist
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/storyist-software-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Storyist Software