--- title: "Coffee vs Ulysses: which writing app for your Mac?" author: Pedro Thomaz source: https://coffeetext.app/blog/coffee-vs-ulysses --- # Coffee vs Ulysses: which writing app for your Mac? > Checked November 2026 against [Ulysses' site](https://ulysses.app/), [pricing](https://ulysses.app/pricing/) and [help guides](https://help.ulysses.app/guides). I make Coffee, so read this with that in mind. Coffee isn't affiliated with Ulysses. If you write long pieces such as books, articles or client work, and you want goals, deadlines, export styles and direct publishing to a blog, on Mac, iPad and iPhone, choose Ulysses. Choose Coffee if you're on a Mac and your documents are working files: plain Markdown in a folder, edited by AI tools, full of sums, and perhaps kept in Git. They overlap less than they first seem to. Ulysses takes a piece of writing from first draft to publication. Coffee is an editor for a folder of files, and it stops at export: PDF, Word, EPUB and HTML. ## At a glance | | Ulysses | Coffee | |---|---|---| | Price | [$5.99 a month or $39.99 a year](https://ulysses.app/pricing/) in the US. Local prices may differ | €3 a month, €29 a year, or €79 once | | Trial | [Free trial on all devices](https://ulysses.app/) | 14 days, no card or account | | Platforms | Mac, iPad, iPhone | Mac only, macOS 15 or later | | Your writing | [In its own library](https://help.ulysses.app/en_US/first-steps-library-editor), or in [external folders](https://help.ulysses.app/external-folders) | One `.md` file per note, in a folder you choose | | Sync | iCloud, on by default | None of its own. Use iCloud Drive or similar | | Markup | [Markdown XL](https://help.ulysses.app/en_US/dive-into-editing/markdown-xl), its own language, with standard Markdown as an option | Markdown | | Export | [Text, HTML, ePub, PDF, DOCX](https://help.ulysses.app/export) | PDF, Word, EPUB, HTML, Markdown, plain text | | Publishing | [WordPress, Ghost, Micro.blog, Medium](https://help.ulysses.app/en_US/export-publishing/publishing) | None | ## Where Ulysses is better **Long projects.** Writing in Ulysses happens in sheets, arranged in nested groups. You can [glue sheets together, split and merge them](https://help.ulysses.app/en_US/first-steps-library-editor), and mark research as material so it stays out of exports and statistics. Coffee has folders of notes and an outline of each one. It can export a folder or a tag as one EPUB book, a chapter per note, but it has nothing for gluing, splitting or merging pieces as you write. **Goals and deadlines.** You can [set a target length, a deadline or a daily goal](https://ulysses.app/) and watch your progress. Coffee has none of these. **Publishing.** Ulysses [publishes directly](https://help.ulysses.app/en_US/export-publishing/publishing) to WordPress, Ghost, Micro.blog and Medium. On WordPress you can schedule a post and set tags, categories, a featured image and an excerpt from inside the app. Coffee doesn't publish anywhere. **Export styles.** [ePub and DOCX](https://help.ulysses.app/export) are built in, with export styles that decide how the result looks. Coffee exports both too, but with no export styles, and its three PDF templates can't be changed. **Help with language.** Ulysses has [a grammar and style checker](https://ulysses.app/) for over 20 languages. It also supports [Apple's Writing Tools and Siri AI](https://help.ulysses.app/en_US/dive-into-editing/writing-tools), subject to Apple's requirements. Coffee underlines misspellings, and its Style Check marks filler words and stock phrases in English, but it doesn't check grammar. **Other devices.** The same library follows you to iPad and iPhone through iCloud. Coffee runs on a Mac and nothing else. **Backups inside the app.** Ulysses [keeps automatic local backups](https://help.ulysses.app/en_US/the-library/backups): 24 hourly, 14 daily, 26 weekly, and monthly ones with no limit. They don't cover external folders. Coffee keeps version history for each note, up to 100 versions, also on your Mac. **Family sharing.** The [subscription](https://ulysses.app/pricing/) can be shared with up to five other family members, and there's reduced pricing for students. Coffee has no family plan. ## The library, and the way around it By default, [your texts live in one library](https://help.ulysses.app/en_US/first-steps-library-editor), and you reach them only through the app. There's no Open, Save or Finder involved. For a lot of writers that's the appeal, since there are no files to name or lose. Ulysses also offers [external folders](https://help.ulysses.app/external-folders), which are worth knowing about before you rule it out. You add a folder from your Mac or a cloud service, choose Markdown, and the files show up as sheets while staying open to Finder and other apps. So Ulysses can work on plain Markdown files. It has limits, and the help page lists them. In Markdown files you can't embed local images, attach notes or set sheet goals, and comments, annotations and highlights aren't available. Ulysses doesn't back up external folders either, so that's up to you. ## Where Coffee is different I'm describing what Coffee has here, and not claiming Ulysses lacks all of it. **Files are the only way it works.** Each note is one Markdown file, with images in an `attachments` folder beside your notes. There's no second format and no import step, and other tools can use the files as they are. Comments and version history are the exception, as they stay on your Mac. See [the piece on plain local files](https://coffeetext.app/blog/markdown-editor-mac-plain-local-files). **Editing on the page.** Ulysses shows structure as you write, and the final look comes from the export style. Coffee lets you work in the finished page, in the code, or side by side, typing in either. **Reviewing edits from outside.** When Claude, Cursor or anything else edits a file, Coffee shows each change since you last read the note, to keep or undo one at a time. See [how that works](https://coffeetext.app/blog/review-claude-cursor-markdown-changes). **Sums in your notes.** Write `20% of 50` or `2:30 pm HKT in Berlin` and the answer appears beside the line. [Try it here](https://coffeetext.app/blog/calculator-in-notes-mac). **Propose a change.** In a Git repository, Coffee can send one note to a new branch and open a pull request, for people who'd rather not learn Git. **AI that stays on your Mac, or that you connect yourself.** On macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence, Ask answers questions about your notes, with the model running on your Mac. Coffee also has an MCP server for AI apps, off until you turn it on. **Everyday extras.** Private notes locked with Touch ID, a searchable clipboard history, and tables made by pasting from a spreadsheet. See [the paste guide](https://coffeetext.app/blog/paste-excel-numbers-table-markdown). **Paying once.** There's a €79 option, with two years of updates and €29 for each further year if you want them. Ulysses' [pricing page](https://ulysses.app/pricing/) lists monthly and yearly plans. ## Moving between them To take your writing out of Ulysses, [export as Text](https://help.ulysses.app/export) and choose Markdown. TextBundle is also on offer and can carry images, but Coffee reads `.md`, `.markdown` and `.txt` files, so Markdown is the one to pick, and images need moving by hand. Anything specific to Markdown XL, such as comments and annotations, is worth checking on a sample first. You can also use both on one folder, since Ulysses can add it as an external folder in Markdown format. Back it up yourself, and try it on a copy first. ## Choose Ulysses if - You write long pieces, and want a manuscript made of many sheets - You want goals, deadlines and writing statistics - You publish to WordPress, Ghost, Micro.blog or Medium - You want export styles that control how your ePub or Word file looks - You write on an iPad or iPhone as well ## Choose Coffee if - You work on a Mac running macOS 15 or later, and that's enough - You want every document to be a Markdown file you can open anywhere - AI tools edit your files, and you want to check each change - Your documents have sums, tables and links to Git - You want a buy-once option as well as a subscription ## Questions ### Does Ulysses use Markdown? Partly. Its own language is Markdown XL, which is inspired by Markdown and adds tags for things like comments and annotations. Standard Markdown is an option in its settings, and external folders can read and write Markdown files. ### Where does Ulysses store my texts? By default, in a single library that you reach only through the app, synced with iCloud. External folders are the alternative, on your Mac or a cloud service, in Markdown or Ulysses' own format. ### How much does Ulysses cost? $5.99 a month or $39.99 a year in the US, and local prices may differ. Every plan contains a free, fully functional trial, according to Ulysses' site. ### Can Coffee export to Word or ePub? Yes. Coffee exports Word (.docx) and EPUB, as well as PDF, HTML, Markdown and plain text. An EPUB can come from one note, or as a book from a folder or a tag, with one chapter per note. Ulysses does both too, with export styles to control the look, which Coffee doesn't have. --- Written by Pedro Thomaz, who makes Coffee, a Markdown editor for the Mac on macOS 15 or later. It's free for 14 days with no card or account, then €3 a month, €29 a year, or €79 once with two years of updates. More at https://coffeetext.app/llms-full.txt