Essayist: Academic Writing App Reviews

by Genamazing

Completely useless. I tried multiple documents and multiple ways of trying to open one, deleted Essayist and redownloaded it. Even when creating a document, it asks what style and then just makes a greyed out “new essay” to tease you into thinking that just maybe this might be a legitimate app. I tried buying premium, nothing changed. I literally cannot do anything on this stupid app.

by Lukester419

To write a paper, you first have to pay for an ongoing subscription. If you don't pay, you can't write in the document you create. I'd rather just pay once than have a subscription. Paying a costly subscription is not a good idea when you're a broke student.

by Drlcm

When I realized that I cannot create an appendix or footnotes in MLA style formatting, I returned this. I am not sure why the developers would sell Essayist as a MLA-style bibilographic manager when it clearly does not work at full capacity for MLA style.

It is ridiculous to restrict footnores to formats using Chicago and APA style. English writers do actually use footnotes and endnotes and appendices.

If this is offered as MLA style for the full price, it needs to offer MLA style full functionality.

Furthermore, there needs to be a way to import references beyond Bibtex.

This should be in beta stage.

by Mandi5790

Had 2 pages when I decided to remove “abstract” from my essay because there wasn’t any other headings. Figured I had to export to word when I was done to format but when I deleted “abstract” it erased everything. Program needs too much work. Thanks for the 4 days free, I only needed one.

by ElizebeMart

I choose Essayist for it's high ratings. It did provide me with a template for an APA paper. However, I found the tools difficult to use, if they worked at all. Just not very user friendly. I don't need Essayist to write my paper for me, just need it to make the APA formatting and reference citation easier. Hopeful they will make the necessary improvements. Also adding a tutorial option to view would be nice.

by DomPeas

I reserve the right to edit my review if I can get this fixed, but right now I've just downloaded Essayist and one of the main features, the Google Scholar citation "Add to this app" button, doesn't work. When you click on it to add it to your references, it freezes. Additionally, there is no support contact information, Essayist support link just takes you to a PDF user guide. Pretty frustrating.

by Lovely Sheri 123

I love Essayist. I am a college student and have been writing back to back papers. Essayist makes it seamless to add citations. Only reason I have 4 stars is because I wish you could use more than Google scholar, a lot of the sources have to be paid for before reading through them. I have a library account through the college I attend, if I could use that through here and it auto cite as it does Google scholar it would be perfect!!

by MarikaSigal

two primary issues: 1) you cant change the cover page not to have class-specific info on it like class and date etc. This is not a proper cover page for a manuscript for publication...some of us no longer have class! 2) Really need a way to keep dark mode background but have the paper/text area be white background! please please add this. Great app otherwise, and 7th edition APA is accurate so far.

by CalyanJaele

Essayist is wonderful and has made writing my essay really easy. I was using endnote initially and while it has lots of features I appreciate the simplify of this app. The backgrounds are awesome too and makes the writing experience pleasant. I’ve actually started using Essayist for general wiring too because of the UX.

I do wish it could manage my references too. It would be awesome if I could save a source once and it stays there instead of having to add it manually every time. Other than that, Essayist is perfect.

by CalebDaKid99

Essayist is phenomenal for writing in class. Though there is a reference page in MLA 8 that I dont need sometimes when writing though it does not apper to be removable. This could ery well be user error and please correct me if I am wriong but other then that I have found it very useful.

by Chelbe101

Essayist is great for college and graduate students who need to write many papers. It has a great ability to keep a student or researcher organized with the amount of references that they need to provide as they write their papers . Yet , it has some features that need improvement. For instance, if you have graphs and tables in your presentation, there is issue of consistency. The picture or graph tends to shift places as you organize your paper. I hope the designers can improve that feature. Otherwise, this is a good app. I will continue to use until something else show up.

by Golubsfly

This is an excellent app all things considered. I wish it was around when I was in college. It would be perfect in my mind but for one thing…..exporting. There is an export feature - and it exports, it just does so without carrying over any of the formatting.

You can fix it in one of two ways. Get rid of the feature, and do not claim that this app can export to word or docs with formatting, or make it work. This is an app that costs money. The export feature as it currently functions might as well not be there at all.

If you do not need to export, if you are happy to simply do the entire project on this app it is perfect. Problem is most professors are not using is, so yes…fix the export feature please. It does hurt the value of the product in my mind.

by Death'sHeadHM

I really enjoy this app, as it makes citing my sources pretty darn easy, though I wouldn’t say its a lot easier than pairing a citation machine with Word. A citation machine retrieves most, if not all, of my information for me, with usually just a couple edits to perfect it. With this app, I have to look for all of that information myself (I know I’m being picky here). I also wish that I could change the spacing of my lines while writing my essay instead of making sure I choose the right format in the first place (I know still nitpicking, but I edit my format usually as I go or at the end of my essay). I don’t hate Essayist, but these are just the things that I’ve missed about my usual word/citation machine duo.

by Mama AGES

I have been using this software for my Batchelors degree and now working on my Masters and have seen repeated corrections on APA citations by my teachers. Kindly update the APA citation algorithm to the latest requirements to prevent loss of points due to citations. This is my reason for 4 stars, otherwise I would give it 5 stars. Thanks for the great job in creating and maintaining this helpful software. Blessings!

by American Eason

I’m gonna keep it simple. Time is money and convenience costs money. This program drastically reduces the amount of time it takes to write an apa formatted paper. The formatting is done well and adding the references is quick; especially with the google scholar function. $40 is MORE than fair for the functionality of this program.

by JessTedford83

I struggled with college APA 7th edition writing style and this saved my grades! I will continue the use of Essayist even after I graduate college or as long as it exist. It makes writing a breeze and less stressful. I haven’t had to worry about points deducted for failing to properly use APA 7TH Edition formatting.
Thank You so much.

by XXIIXCVI

this app is an app designed with simplicity in mind. The team behind this application has eliminated the burden of the “essay criteria.” In its stead, we have a clear and perfectly structured canvas on which to begin writing without distractions.

Upon purchase - which is worth every penny, you're prompted to choose your citation of choice. Your paper format and structure are based on this selection. Adding a works cited or bibliography is as simple as pressing a button. Essayist allows for chapters of books/magazines/ journals, websites, films, etc., and the user-friendly OS will enable you to seamlessly integrate those references as in-text citations, all with the press of a button.

Essayist is a flagship creation of a solution to a long-standing problem. A problem that can perhaps be phrased as, “How can I have all the formatting and citations already done for me so that I can focus on just writing”? this app does just that.

- Eli

by ManyMeats

Writing a paper is stressful enough, but in college formatting ends up being the most time-consuming process. Essayist lets me write with ease and saves so much time. I was out of school for two years and forgot how to use APA, then realized there was a new edition out. I was stresssseddd, but Essayist made it a breeze. I NEVER EVER write review for anything, never mind an app. But I feel compelled to say how great this thing is. Whoever designed Essayist - thank you! You deserve every penny 👍

by Mflowzy

Writing a paper can be the most cumbersome aspect of your doctoral experience, tools like this app helps. If I had to provide any feedback it would be to allow for api to talk to other tools that bring together your notes and papers in one place.

by Caseyfj

Essayist really is great and I recommend it for anyone writing papers and rely on citing sources. Some items I hope to see in future updates:

1. Auto-capitalize first word after a period.

2. Essayist does show a word count but it ony shows it for the whole paper. (It ignores word count in citations, which is perfect). I hope it is added where you can select a certain amount of text and it show you how many words are selected.

3. Allow references from other papers you have written to be imported into a new paper. For instance you might have to cite the same textbook in many papers over the course of a class. It would be conveneint to not have to go and locate and add it each time but have it populate from another source since you have alraedy gone through the effort of adding it before.

4. Remove the setting where the reference window is always on top. It is very cumbersome since you can't drag and move it and it is always on top of other windows.

Thanks for the great app!

by Sadpatheticme

It’s a pleasure to use and can replace many full-featured apps in most cases. Now they even added Table of Contents!

A request: can we have native support for tables though? I don’t want to import an image.

by Bryan Huang Wei

Hope to have a daily progress record so that I can see how many words I wrote every day.

by Brian B87

Essayist is a godsend. I can finally focus on just writing my paper and not have to fiddle around with references and footnotes for hours. This has been a major time and frustration saver for me. It’s about time someone came up with something like this. Thank you!

by Mroa7672

I'm returning to college to double major in political science and business administration. I've never been a writer and now I'm in two majors that include a lot of writing intensive courses so Essayist has been a lot of help. Although I would like to be able to add hyperlinks for references as well. Thats my only issue but other than that, I'm loving Essayist

by David Betzer

Essayist has been a breeze to learn. I'm about to turn in my first paper done through this software. For me, it's been great! We'll see what the teacher says.

by Horoscop3

If you are contemplating of buying Essayist. Don’t think twice. Go ahead and do it. It takes away ALL of the stress from writing an essay on APA format and putting in those pesky citations!!!!! I cannot recommend Essayist enough. I wish it existed 10 years ago!!!!!

by Nonamesleft9875

this app is very helpful in many ways. Especially when it comes to proper Turabian citing. I would highly reccommend Essayist for all students.

I have had challenges writing long papers and wonder if there is a page limit on papers written using this app.

by Man W/plan

I cannot stress how much time Essayist saves me in formatting essays and creating citations. I have always felt the formatting and citation portion of school used up a majority of my time but no more!

Tip: when entering a manual citation, add the URL to the top and then hit return on the keyboard. Don’t bother filling out anything else. This concept was not intuitive for me as there was no search button and I wasted time doing more work and filling out the whole thing before I found the “how to” on a random Reddit thread. Not in the instruction manual.

*An easy improvement the developer could make (hint, hint)

Still a five-star app just for the time it saves me alone!

by Minervaink

I am returning to college for my graduate degree and it has been quite some time since I have had to cite anything. This has been a life saver and I am super happy that I found it. It is super easy to add a source and then use it in text! Thanks for the great program!

by Montoyajr91

I am so glad I found Essayist because it has come in very handy in writing my essays for college. this app is very easy to use and supports many citation styles for all my essay writing needs. Has not let me down yet, thank you!!

by GerRN-NJ

I've returned to school to pursue my BSN/MSN, and Essayist has certainly made things much more efficient for me. I do have an added feature I would like seen added. An Annotated Bibliography template would be very useful as some of my courses require it. The rules are a litte different, and I couldn't find that feature on here. Thank you.

by Chickenkiller24

It has the easiest way to cite sources I have ever seen by far!!! As well as the most up to date formats of the MLA and APA styles which helps me when Word can't keep up.
Thank you!!!

by Tom Head (Jackson, Mississippi)

I’ve been looking for an iPad-friendly specialized academic writing app for years, and this does what it says on the tin and then some. Highest possible recommendation.

by J2lz

Essayist would've saved me a lot of stress back in my university days. I'm showing Essayist to all of my students!

by Brill

Had a problem with Essayist - the developers are super responsive and fixed it quickly!

by RoyaltyLHInc

Essayist saved my life!
My lap crapped out and I had a paper due ! Other apps said they worked and didn’t. This had the right format and saved correctly! It works great! I’m so grateful!!

by Ya Green

I have enjoyed using this program it has helpped me complete my papers with the right citations

by ChelseaBest_OH

The name says it all! No, seriously, it does. Why are you still reading this? Go download Essayist now!

by Urania2

Saved my life!