Writing assistants

Should you build your own Ulysses?

Write in a focused Markdown library, organize sheets, set goals, and export polished documents

Buildable · the essentials fit in one project
Price $5.99/moEstimated savings $39.96/yrEstimated time one sittingCategory Writing assistantsCatalog votes 0

The core loop is small enough for a capable coding agent to produce a useful local version in one sitting. For Ulysses, write in a focused Markdown library, organize sheets, set goals, and export polished documents. The hard boundary is native apple polish, icloud sync, mobile apps, and publishing integrations, plus polish, integrations, and proprietary language models.

ENOriginal research content in English. Original prompt preserved in English.

The complete prompt
Build a personal replacement for Ulysses in an empty repository.
Use Tauri 2, React, TypeScript, SQLite, and a small Rust filesystem layer; do not offer alternative stacks.
The core loop is: write in a focused local Markdown library, organize sheets, set goals, apply editing passes with a visible diff, and export polished documents without uploading them.
Make the first run work locally with one documented command.
Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward.
Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials.
Create a three-pane editor with source text, suggestion list, and accepted-result preview.
Implement deterministic checks for repeated words, sentence length, passive constructions, and typography.
Add an optional API-backed rewrite action that sends only the selected passage.
Show every change as an accept-or-reject diff and support undo.
Import and export .txt and .md while preserving headings and lists.
Persist user rules, ignored terms, and recent documents in SQLite.
Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states.
Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs.
Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path.
Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps.
Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane.
Deliberately leave out a browser extension.
Deliberately leave out Office or Google Docs plugins.
Deliberately leave out collaborative editing and cloud sync.
Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used.

The prompt opens pre-filled in your agent. Review it before running. · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR

Original prompt preserved in English.

What would building your own look like?

Write in a focused local Markdown library, organize sheets, set goals, apply editing passes with a visible diff, and export polished documents without uploading them.

What you will need

Why paying can still make sense

People still pay for Ulysses because the paid tool is already present everywhere they write and its suggestions have been tuned across millions of documents. The recurring cost buys model quality, extension compatibility, dictionaries, releases, and sync, not just the visible interface.

What you lose

xnative Apple polish, iCloud sync, mobile apps, and publishing integrations

xcross-device sync

xlarge proprietary style models

xbrowser and office-suite extensions

xteam style guides

Share on X ↗"I just replaced Ulysses ($5.99/mo) with one prompt"
Free alternatives

Prefer something ready-made?

SiYuanA local-first writing library with blocks, links, huge documents, and real exports; less monastic than Ulysses, much harder to lose.46kAug 2026Open source↗ZettlrA serious Markdown desk with folders, writing targets, citations, and export machinery that occasionally admits Pandoc is under the hood.13kJul 2026Open source↗

License, setup, and limitations for each alternative.

Plans and pricing

How much does Ulysses cost?

In your currency · US DollarChecked on 10/20/2026
Monthly billing
$5.99/mo
Per year
$71.88/yr
Annual billing
$39.96/yr44% cheaper than paying monthly
Buy on the official site

You complete the purchase on Ulysses’s site. Vibe Radar does not handle payments.

PlanMonthlyAnnual (per month)What is included
monthly$5.99/user$3.33/userAll Macs, iPads and iPhones on the subscriber's Apple Account
yearly-$3.33/userAll Macs, iPads and iPhones; Apple Family Sharing with up to 5 other family members
student-$1.83/userAll Macs, iPads and iPhones for 6 months; no Family Sharing
business / volume licensingcustom-Custom seat count for organizations

Free tierno free tier

Billing terms$5.99 monthly or $39.99 yearly, both auto-renew; student option is $10.99 per 6 months and does not auto-renew

Additional costsUS prices can differ by App Store region; student pricing excludes Family Sharing, and business volume pricing is quote-only.

verified 2026-10-20 · source ↗

Build or buy

Is it cheaper to build or buy Ulysses?

Adjust the numbers: hours to build, your hourly rate, running costs and the subscription price.

Subscribe
Build it yourself
Horizon
Subscribe$80
Build it yourself$1,760

Over 24 months, subscribing is cheaper.

Starting hours estimated from the analysis (one sitting). Does not price what you give up (support, integrations, security).

Frequently asked questions
Can I rebuild Ulysses?

Yes. A competent AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) can build a usable personal Ulysses replacement in one session with the prompt on this page. It runs on your own machine or server with no subscription.

How much does Ulysses cost?

Ulysses costs about $5.99/mo (Personal, checked 10/20/2026), which is $39.96 per year. That’s what you save by replacing it with one prompt.

What do I lose by replacing Ulysses?

Honestly: native Apple polish, iCloud sync, mobile apps, and publishing integrations; cross-device sync; large proprietary style models; browser and office-suite extensions; team style guides. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.

Is there an open-source alternative to Ulysses?

Yes: SiYuan (A local-first writing library with blocks, links, huge documents, and real exports; less monastic than Ulysses, much harder to lose.) Zettlr (A serious Markdown desk with folders, writing targets, citations, and export machinery that occasionally admits Pandoc is under the hood.) The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.

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