When comparing yWriter vs Scrivener, the Slant community recommends Scrivener for most people. In the question“What are the best Windows writing applications for novelists?” Scrivener is ranked 5th while yWriter is ranked 6th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Easy overview of characters rolls
You can quickly and easily see how many lines each character has, as well as what scenes they are in. This makes equalizing the rolls of each much easier, which will help you balance your scenes so your story isn't too heavy on one plot line (or at least it will help you notice if one plotline is much longer than another).
Pro Free
Pro Almost every parameter, from window layout to text-revision colo(u)r can be tweaked to your style
Pro Keeps everything together: notes, drafts, references, links
Pro Offers free trial
The trial is good for 30 days of actual use, not the typical 30 days from install date.
Cons
Con Native client on Windows
While the website provides instructions to run the application on OSX and Linux, it is designed for Windows XP and up.
Con Mediocre UI
UI should be better.