One purchase.
Yours to keep.
Write 500 Words is a one-time purchase on the Mac App Store. Pay once and the app is yours. A 14-day trial comes first.
Yours to keep: one purchase through the Mac App Store. No subscription, no account.
Requires macOS 26 Tahoe or later. Full system requirements →
What you get
Pay once and the app is yours. The price covers every Mac signed in to your Apple Account, with Family Sharing for the rest of your household. Updates come with the purchase, free.
Everything on the features page is in the price. There's one purchase and nothing else to buy: no pro tier and no add-ons.
Worth knowing
You buy the app once and that's the end of the transaction. No subscription, and no account to create. There are no analytics or ads in the app either, and nothing phones home, so how you write and how often stays entirely between you and your Mac.
Your projects are folders of plain markdown files on your Mac. Open them in Finder and read every word in any text editor.
Questions you might have
Can I share it with my family?
Yes. Write 500 Words supports Apple's Family Sharing, so a single purchase covers everyone in your family group (up to five other people) at no extra cost. Each person installs the app on their own Mac and signs in with their own Apple Account. Sharing the purchase doesn't share the writing, and everyone's projects stay their own.
Is my writing locked into the app?
No. Every project is a folder of plain markdown files on your Mac: one file for each chapter and note, in a text format that has been a standard for years. You can open that folder in Finder and read your book in any text editor, on any computer, whether or not Write 500 Words is installed. If you ever decide to write somewhere else, your manuscript is already in a form other tools can open. The app also exports finished copies as Word documents, PDFs, ePub, and plain markdown whenever you want them.
Does it use AI to write for me?
No. Write 500 Words uses Apple Intelligence in one place, a feature called Content Analysis, which reads what you have already written and hands back a synopsis and a list of the people, places and themes in it. It doesn't draft, rewrite or suggest prose, and it can be switched off completely. The book stays your book.
What if I change my mind after buying?
The 14-day trial comes first, so you can be sure the app suits you before any money changes hands. Every feature is available during it, and no card is required. If you do buy and later change your mind, refunds for Mac App Store purchases are handled by Apple rather than by the studio: visit reportaproblem.apple.com and follow the steps there. All purchases are subject to Apple's App Store terms.
I'm halfway through a draft in another app. Can I bring it in?
Yes. Write 500 Words imports Word documents (.docx), markdown, and plain text files. Drag them into the sidebar and each one becomes a document in your project with its text intact, so a half-finished draft carries straight on from wherever it stopped.
What happens to my writing if the app stops working?
Nothing happens to it. Your projects are folders of plain markdown files on your Mac, and they open in any text editor, on any computer, with or without Write 500 Words installed.
Is there an iPad version?
Not at the moment. Write 500 Words is a Mac app today. An iPad version is something the studio would like to make further down the line, but there's no date to promise it against.
Will it come to Windows or the web?
There's no Windows or web version planned. Write 500 Words is built for the Mac. Your writing isn't tied to it, though: every project is plain markdown, so the files open on any computer, and the app exports to Word, PDF, ePub, and markdown. The work can travel even where the app doesn't.
How the trial works
Write 500 Words starts with a 14-day free trial. Full access to every feature, no credit card required. The trial is counted from your first launch.
- During the trial. The full app is available. Nothing is locked away.
- When the trial ends. The Project Library switches to read-only access. You can no longer open the editor or start new projects. Your existing writing is still there.
- Your writing is always yours. From the restricted Project Library, you can save any project as plain text files to a folder you choose. You're never locked away from the words you wrote.
- To keep writing. One purchase unlocks the app permanently on every Mac signed in to your Apple Account. Family Sharing is included; one purchase covers your household. If a Family Sharing arrangement ends after purchase, the other members' copies revert to restricted access until they purchase separately.