Word Keeper at a glance
What Word Keeper is
Word Keeper (paired with Writer Depot at writerdepot.org) is a native writing tracker for Apple devices: iPhone, iPad, Mac on Apple silicon, and Apple Vision. It is mature and actively maintained. The headline is depth: over seventy metrics, from your most productive hours to your longest streaks. You log sessions, set per-project goals and deadlines, and get a words-per-day projection toward each. It has badges and milestones, community challenges and groups through Writer Depot, data export, and an Apple Watch timer.
Pricing is $4.99 per month, $39.99 per year, or $84.99 for a lifetime license, after a 7-day trial. There is no AI and no free tier beyond the trial. One naming caution: Word Keeper is not wordkeeperalpha.com, a different and largely dormant app.
What Authorlytica is
Authorlytica is a writing tracker that runs in the browser, so it works the same on an Android phone, a Windows laptop, an iPad, or a Mac, with nothing to install. The core overlaps with Word Keeper: log sessions in words, pages, or lines, set goals and deadlines, see streaks, charts, and a projected finish date.
Where it diverges is the layer on top. Authorlytica tags each session with a mood, scores you on a Writer Profile Radar across five dimensions, and generates automatic weekly, monthly, and annual Rewinds. Its social side is an activity feed with friends, leaderboards, hearts, and comments. And it has a free forever plan covering three active projects with full tracking, which Word Keeper does not offer.
Side-by-side
| Authorlytica | Word Keeper | |
|---|---|---|
| Free forever plan | Yes (3 projects) | No (7-day trial) |
| Price | $6/mo or $59/yr | $4.99/mo, $39.99/yr, $84.99 lifetime |
| Lifetime option | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Any browser (incl. Android, Windows) | Apple only (iOS, iPad, Mac, Vision) |
| Apple Watch | No | Yes (timer) |
| Raw stat depth | Focused set | 70+ metrics |
| Streaks & deadline projection | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-unit (words/pages/lines) | Yes | Words-focused |
| Mood tracking | Yes | No |
| Writer Profile Radar | Yes | No |
| Weekly / monthly / annual Rewind | Yes | No |
| Social | Feed, leaderboards, hearts | Challenges & groups (Writer Depot) |
| AI generation | No | No |
| Export (CSV) | Yes, free | Yes |
Where Word Keeper is the right call
- You live in Apple's ecosystem. If you write on an iPhone and iPad and want native apps with an Apple Watch timer, Word Keeper is built for exactly that and feels at home there.
- You want to pay once. The $84.99 lifetime license is a real advantage if you dislike subscriptions. Authorlytica has no lifetime option.
- You want maximum raw stats. Seventy-plus metrics is more granular number-crunching than Authorlytica exposes. If you love digging through your own data, Word Keeper goes deeper.
- You want a native, offline-capable app. A web app needs a browser. Word Keeper is a true native app on your device.
Where Authorlytica is the right call
- You are not all-Apple. This is the big one. On Android or Windows, Word Keeper is simply not available. Authorlytica works everywhere with the same account.
- You want to start free. Word Keeper is trial-then-paid. Authorlytica's free forever plan lets you build the habit before deciding to pay anything.
- You want interpretation, not just metrics. Mood patterns show whether bad writing days cluster around stress or time of day. The Rewinds tell you that in plain sentences, not a dashboard you have to interpret yourself.
- You write in pages or lines. Screenwriters and poets get first-class units in Authorlytica, alongside a separate editing-session type.
Choose Word Keeper if…
- You live in Apple's ecosystem
- You want a one-time lifetime price
- You want 70+ raw stats and Apple Watch
Choose Authorlytica if…
- You also use Android or Windows
- You want a real free plan
- You want mood, a Writer Profile, and Rewinds
The honest take
Word Keeper is one of the best native trackers on Apple platforms, and if you are an all-Apple writer who wants a lifetime license and a deep stats engine, Word Keeper is the obvious call. Authorlytica's case is reach and meaning: it runs anywhere, it starts free, and it spends its effort interpreting your writing rather than only counting it. For a writer on Android or Windows, or one who wants to test a tracker without paying first, that difference is decisive.
Read next: The best writing tracker in 2026: a complete guide.