Twórczość Thomas Gold Appleton pisał poezję i prozę. Wydał między innymi Faded Leaves (1872), Fresh Leaves (1874), Nile Journal (1876), Syrian Sunshine (1877), Windfalls (1878) i Chequer-Work (1879). Posługiwał się formą sonetu. napisał między innymi cykl Art Sonnets. Oprócz twórczości literackiej Thomas Gold Appleton uprawiał amatorsko malarstwo akwarelowe.
Opinie Pisarka i poetka Julia Ward Howe scharakteryzowała Thomasa Golda Appletona w następujący sposób: Tom Appleton, as he was usually called, was certainly a man of parts and of great reputation as a wit, but I should rather have termed him a humorist. He cultivated a Byronic distaste for the Puritanic ways of New England. In truth, he was always ready for an encounter of arms (figuratively speaking) with institutions and with individuals, while yet in heart he was most human and humane. Born in affluence, he did not embrace either business or profession, but devoted much time to the study of painting, for which he had more taste than talent. It was as a word artist that he was remarkable;