Promptly Write
Write with AI. Keep every word on your Mac.
Promptly Write pairs a capable AI collaborator with every writing project — powered by Ollama. Run any model locally on your Mac, or tap Ollama's cloud models for larger tasks. Each project is a folder on your disk. Your writing stays under your control.
Public Beta — Free to Download
Apple Silicon + Intel macOS 13 Ventura or later No account required
AI writing tools have a privacy problem.
Every major AI writing tool — Lex, Jasper, Sudowrite — sends your work to the cloud. Your drafts, your research, your sources. All of it stored on someone else's servers, feeding someone else's training pipeline.
For a novelist protecting an unpublished manuscript, a lawyer working with client material, or a researcher constrained by an IRB protocol, that tradeoff doesn't work. There has been no alternative.
Promptly Write is that alternative.
Built different
Everything a writing project needs. Nothing it doesn't.
Eight decisions that separate Promptly Write from every other AI writing tool.
Local models. Cloud models. One interface.
Powered by Ollama — the open-source model runner with over 10 million downloads. Run any model fully offline on your Mac, or switch to Ollama's cloud models for larger tasks that need datacenter-grade hardware. Same interface, your choice.
One project. One folder. Everything in it.
Every writing project is a folder on your disk — documents, research sources, AI conversations, and notes, all together. Open a project, get a dedicated window. No databases to manage, no sync to configure.
Multiple named conversations per project.
Each project holds as many named conversations as you need — one for each research thread, draft, or angle. Create, rename, switch, and delete them without losing anything. The last conversation you were in reopens automatically.
Copy as RTF or Markdown — your choice.
Every AI response has two copy buttons: "Copy as .rtf" preserves bold, code blocks, headings, and tables when pasted into Word or Pages. "Copy as .md" keeps raw Markdown for Obsidian or iA Writer. Your output, in your tool.
Per-project AI settings.
Each project has its own system prompt, temperature, and context window — set once, remembered forever. Configure the AI as a strict academic editor for one project and a creative collaborator for another. Nothing bleeds across projects.
Full transparency on every response.
A live token counter shows how much context remains as you type — grey when safe, amber at 75%, red at 90%. Every response shows the model name and exact token count. No black box.
Native macOS. Not a browser in a box.
Built with BeeWare — pure Python, no Electron, no web server running in the background. Native menus, native windows, respects your system theme, and won't quietly consume your battery while you write.
Your words never leave your machine.
Run a local model and nothing leaves your computer — ever. Choose an Ollama cloud model and your data is processed on hardware that does not retain it. Either way, Promptly Write has no servers of its own, no telemetry, no training pipeline. Your writing is not a product.
Built for writers who think carefully about their tools.
The local LLM enthusiast
You're already running Ollama on your M-series Mac. You've tried using it for writing in a generic chat client and found it too general. Promptly Write is the writing-specific front-end your local models have been waiting for.
The privacy-conscious professional
Lawyer, academic, medical writer, investigative journalist. You can't use cloud AI for your real work — the data restrictions are non-negotiable. Promptly Write with Ollama is the only AI writing assistant your compliance requirements don't rule out.
The serious writer
You use Obsidian, Scrivener, or iA Writer. You're not interested in AI that writes for you — you want a research assistant that knows your project, remembers your sources, and helps you think. The AI is the collaborator; you're still the author.
Get notified when v1.1 ships.
Enter your email and we'll notify you when:
- A new beta release drops
- v1.1 ships — adding web research, file context, and a new Ollama onboarding experience
- Early access pricing when paid plans launch
No marketing. No weekly roundups. Just a message when a new version ships. or subscribe via RSS ↗
Start writing with Promptly Write today.
Public beta — free to download. Full feature access, no limits. Pricing tiers arrive with v1.1.
Apple Silicon + Intel macOS 13 Ventura or later No account required