Galley as a Ulysses alternative
Last reviewed July 2026
The facts first: Ulysses (subscription, ~$5.99/month or ~$49.99/year; Mac, iPad, and iPhone only) is a much-loved Markdown writing app built for distraction-free drafting and publishing to blogs. Galley (€199 one-time, web app for any desktop OS) is built to end at a finished book: you draft on a true trim-size page and export print-interior PDF and EPUB in one step. Ulysses is the nicer place to write plain text across Apple devices; Galley is the tool that turns the manuscript into the book.
Ulysses is genuinely lovely software. Its calm, its Markdown model, its library that holds everything from a shopping list to a novel — writers who live inside it are right to. This page isn't an attack on it. It's about the gap it leaves for a novelist who wants a printed, store-ready book at the other end.
Two gaps, really. Ulysses is Apple-only, so the moment you touch a Windows or Linux machine the writing stops. And it stops at a manuscript: its exports are competent for a blog post or a Word hand-off, but a print paperback needs typesetting Ulysses doesn't do. Galley starts where Ulysses stops — on the finished page, with the export a printer will actually accept.
| Feature | Galley | Ulysses |
|---|---|---|
| Price | €199 once, all platforms | ~$5.99/mo or ~$49.99/yr subscription |
| Runs on | Any desktop browser — Mac, Windows, Linux | Apple only (Mac, iPad, iPhone) |
| Write on a true trim-size book page | Yes, six trims, 35 book typefaces | No, a Markdown editor |
| Print-interior PDF & EPUB export | Direct, with KDP preflight included | PDF/DOCX/ePub from Markdown, not typeset |
| Distraction-free focus mode | Yes, with typewriter scrolling | Yes, its signature strength |
| Story bible (characters, places, timeline) | Built in, attached to the book | No, free-form sheets and keywords |
| Revision analytics (overused words, name consistency) | Built in | No |
| Blog publishing (WordPress, Ghost, Medium) | No, it makes books | Yes, a core feature |
| AI in your prose | Never | Never |
Markdown is a manuscript, not a book
Ulysses keeps your writing as Markdown and applies a style at export. That's the right model for text that ends up on the web or in someone else's document. It's the wrong model for a book interior, where the trim size, the inside margin that survives the glue in the spine, the running heads, the folios, and the chapter openings are the product. Galley shows all of that while you write, so what's on screen is what prints — there's no second tool and no reformatting pass.
The Apple-only question
Ulysses is a first-class Mac and iOS citizen, and that's exactly its ceiling: there is no Windows or Linux version, and there won't be. Galley runs in the browser, so your book opens on whatever you're sitting at, and syncs between them. If you're all-in on Apple and plan to stay, Ulysses's native feel is a real advantage; if you aren't, it's a wall.
Moving a Ulysses draft over
Export your sheets from Ulysses as DOCX or Markdown and import that into Galley. Chapters split on your headings and "Chapter N" lines, and you set the book's design once for the whole book. You keep the clean writing; you gain the trim-size page, the story bible, and the export.
Choose Ulysses if…
- You live in the Apple ecosystem and want the same writing on Mac, iPad, and iPhone
- Your main output is a blog — WordPress, Ghost, or Medium publishing is built in
- You love writing in Markdown and don't need to typeset a print interior yourself
Choose Galley if…
- You want the book at the end: print-interior PDF and EPUB, not a Markdown export
- You write on more than Apple hardware, or want to stop paying monthly for a writing app
- You want the story bible, revision analytics, and the finished page in one tool
Common questions
Is Galley a good Ulysses alternative if I leave the Mac?
Yes. Ulysses is Apple-only — Mac, iPad, iPhone. Galley runs in the browser, so the same book is there on Mac, Windows, Linux, or a Chromebook. If you already switched away from Apple, or split your week across machines, that alone is the reason people move.
Can Ulysses format a print paperback?
Not really. Ulysses exports to PDF, DOCX, ePub, and HTML from Markdown, which is fine for a manuscript or a blog post, but it does not set a book interior: mirrored margins, a real gutter, running heads, folios, drop caps, and a chosen trim size. Galley does exactly that, and its export is the file a printer accepts.
Do I lose the clean, distraction-free writing Ulysses is loved for?
No. Galley has a focus mode and typewriter scrolling for the same quiet as Ulysses. The difference is what the quiet page is: in Galley it is the actual 6×9 book page in a licensed book typeface, not a Markdown editor you will reformat later.
Competitor details are from public pricing pages, checked July 2026. They can change, so verify on ulysses.app. I've tried to be fair; if I've got something wrong, email me and I'll correct it.
Keep the calm page. Add the finished book, on any computer, paid for once.
Launch Galley