The best novel writing software in 2026

The short answer, by what you need

A long manuscript, offline, paid once

Scrivener.

Free

Google Docs to start. Reedsy Studio for a free app shaped like a book, with PDF and EPUB output.

Outlining

Plottr for timelines and plotlines. Dabble if you want a plot grid inside the manuscript app.

Worldbuilding

Campfire or World Anvil.

AI drafting

Sudowrite.

Your own words, with AI help you approve

Feldar. We would say that, so read its limits too. Novelcrafter if you want to bring your own AI models.

Formatting and publishing

Atticus, or Reedsy Studio for free.

Working with an editor or co-author

Dabble (track changes) or Reedsy Studio.

Windows

Scrivener, Plottr or LivingWriter as native apps. Atticus runs in the browser.

Offline

Scrivener. Dabble and Atticus also work offline and sync later.

How we judged

Most lists of writing software pick one camp. The classic lists cover Scrivener and Word and barely mention AI. The AI lists skip Scrivener and Atticus. A novelist choosing in 2026 is choosing across both, so we put every tool through the same questions:

1. Long manuscripts. Can it hold 90,000 words as chapters and scenes you can move around?
2. Planning. Outlines, scene cards, plotlines, and how close they sit to the draft.
3. Story world. Somewhere for characters, places and rules, ideally beside the page.
4. Revision. Version history, comments, track changes, editorial checks.
5. AI. Whether there is any, how much it writes, whether you approve each change, and whether your writing is used for training.
6. Getting the book out. Word files for agents and editors, and ebook and print files for self-publishing.
7. Platforms and offline. Where it runs, and what happens on a train with no signal.
8. Price over a year, with how the billing actually works.

The facts come from each company's own pricing, feature and help pages, checked on November 6, 2026, and are listed under Sources. Where a page did not show a price or a detail, we say so rather than guess. We did not give scores. The opinions are ours and marked as opinions. We left out tools we could not check properly.

At a glance

Prices in US dollars from each company's own pages, checked November 6, 2026. "Not stated" means the official pages we read did not say. The table scrolls sideways.

Classic writing software

These are the tools without generative AI, or where AI is a side feature.

Scrivener

A desktop writing studio from Literature & Latte, built for long projects. The binder holds the book as sections of any size, the corkboard shows them as index cards, and research (PDFs, images, web pages) lives inside the project. Compile turns one project into a Word manuscript, a PDF, an ebook or a script.

Who it's for

Novelists who want deep control, local files and no subscription.

Strengths

One-time price. Fully offline. Scrivenings mode to edit many sections as one. Snapshots before a big rewrite. The most flexible output of anything here.

Limits

No AI. A separate licence for each platform. No Android or web app. Mobile sync goes through Dropbox. Compile is powerful, and it takes time to learn.

Price

$59.99 once on macOS, $23.99 on iOS, a separate Windows licence. Major upgrades are paid, at a discount. 30-day free trial on Mac and Windows.

Our full Feldar vs Scrivener comparison covers moving a project across.

Microsoft Word

The format agents and editors still ask for. Word is not built for novels, but headings and the navigation pane give a long manuscript enough structure, and track changes is the standard way editors and authors trade revisions.

Who it's for

Writers who already live in it, and anyone working closely with a traditional editor.

Strengths

Universal file format. Track changes and comments. Desktop apps that work offline. Copilot is included in the consumer Microsoft 365 plans.

Limits

No scene cards, story bible or plot view. In our view, one long file gets unwieldy as a novel grows.

Price

Microsoft 365 Personal is $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, with a one-month free trial.

Google Docs

Free, in the browser, and in our view the easiest way to share a chapter with a writing group.

Who it's for

Writers starting out, and anyone who needs a free tool that just works.

Strengths

Free. Comments and suggestions for beta readers. Exports to Word and PDF.

Limits

No novel structure beyond headings. Offline editing needs Chrome or Edge, the Docs Offline extension and the setting turned on in advance.

Price

Free with a Google account.

Plottr

Visual outlining and series bible software. Scenes sit on a timeline in lanes, one lane per plotline, so you can see where a subplot goes quiet. It comes with 30+ plot templates and a series view, and it has no AI by design.

Who it's for

Plotters, especially with many points of view or a series.

Strengths

Timelines and plotlines. Scene attributes for POV, goals and conflicts. A story bible with custom attributes. "No AI" on every plan. A lifetime option.

Limits

It plans the book rather than holding the manuscript, so you write elsewhere. Cloud sync and collaboration need Pro.

Price

Desktop $60 a year or $150 once. Pro $9.99 a month, $99 a year or $599 once (sale prices). 30-day free trial.

See Feldar vs Plottr.

Dabble

A cloud novel-writing studio with a Plot Grid that sets scenes against plotlines, character profiles and a story notebook beside the manuscript. It has no generative AI, and says any future AI features will be strictly opt-in.

Who it's for

Novelists who want planning and drafting together, and who work with co-authors, beta readers or an editor.

Strengths

True offline writing that syncs later. Co-authoring. Versioning. Comments, track changes and beta reader support on the Author plan. A lifetime option. Manuscripts stay readable and exportable if you stop paying.

Limits

Export is Word and text only, so no ebook or print files. Grammar checks and track changes need the Author plan.

Price

Writer $15 a month billed yearly ($180), Author $23 ($276), Bestseller $39 ($468). Monthly billing is also offered. Lifetime Author $699. 14-day free trial, no card.

LivingWriter

A cloud writing app for books and screenplays, with planning boards, templates and Story Elements: character and place profiles connected to the manuscript. AI features are optional and come with the Pro + AI plan.

Who it's for

Writers who want apps on every device, and anyone who writes screenplays as well as novels.

Strengths

Web, Windows, Mac, iOS and Android apps that sync. Screenplay formatting. Story structure templates. A free plan. It says it does not use your manuscript to train its AI.

Limits

AI help is limited to the AI plan. We could not confirm export formats or offline use on its official pages.

Price

Free plan, then Pro and Pro + AI. The pricing page did not show prices when we checked, so we have left them out. 7-day free trial.

Campfire

A modular writing and worldbuilding app: manuscript, characters, timeline, maps, calendars, magic systems, languages, cultures and more, each a module.

Who it's for

Fantasy and science fiction writers whose world needs real depth.

Strengths

Worldbuilding modules nothing else here matches. Unlimited collaborators. PDF and EPUB export. Browser, desktop and mobile apps. A free plan.

Limits

The free plan is tight (25,000 manuscript words, 10 characters). No AI listed.

Price

Standard $12 a month (marked down from $19), plus yearly, lifetime and custom module plans. Monthly plans are not refundable; yearly and lifetime are, within 30 days.

World Anvil

A worldbuilding platform for writers and game masters: articles, interactive maps, timelines, family trees, and novel writing on paid tiers.

Who it's for

Worldbuilders first, novelists second, and writers who want to publish their world to readers.

Strengths

Depth of worldbuilding tools. Public publishing. A large community. A free tier.

Limits

A big tool to learn for one novel. Lifetime memberships are non-refundable.

Price

A free tier, then three paid tiers, monthly, yearly or lifetime. Prices did not load on the official page when we checked.

Reedsy Studio

A free browser writing app from Reedsy that organizes a book by section, chapter and scene, and typesets it to print-ready PDF and EPUB.

Who it's for

Self-publishers on a budget, and writers who want an editor to work inside the manuscript.

Strengths

Free, including typesetting. Real-time collaboration with comments and tracked changes. 30 days of version history free. Reedsy says your work will not be used to train AI.

Limits

Browser only and no offline use yet, by Reedsy's own FAQ. No AI listed on the Studio page.

Price

Free. Add-ons such as Craft (unlimited history, advanced stats, custom goals) are paid, with a 30-day trial.

Atticus

Book writing and formatting software sold once, positioned against Vellum. You can draft in it, but its strength is turning a manuscript into a good-looking ebook and print book.

Who it's for

Self-publishing authors.

Strengths

17+ chapter themes and a custom theme builder. 1,500+ fonts. Previews on a range of reading devices. EPUB, PDF and DOCX export. Works online and offline on Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook.

Limits

No story bible or outlining. No AI, and its help center says there are no plans to add it.

Price

$147 once for ebook and print, with future updates included and a 30-day money-back guarantee instead of a trial.

AI writing software

These tools put AI at the center. They differ most in how much of the writing the AI does, and in who stays in charge of the words.

Sudowrite

One of the best-known AI writing apps for fiction. Write, Rewrite, Describe, Expand and Brainstorm work on your draft, a Story Bible keeps characters and outline in view, and its own fiction models, Muse and Ballad, sit beside 30+ others.

Who it's for

Novelists who want the AI to draft with them, often at speed.

Strengths

Fiction-tuned models. Style matching and series continuity. Developmental edits, line edits and beta reads on Professional and Max. iOS and Android apps. A large community. It says it does not train on your writing.

Limits

Credits run down with heavy drafting. The pricing page opens on yearly billing, so read the monthly price before you pay. A project export does not include the Story Bible.

Price

Hobby & Student $10 a month billed yearly or $19 monthly. Professional $22 or $29. Max $44 or $59. Free trial, no card.

See Feldar vs Sudowrite.

Novelcrafter

A web writing workspace with a deep Codex (story bible), a planning grid and matrix, and AI you connect yourself: an OpenRouter key, another vendor, or a local model.

Who it's for

Planners and series writers who want control over models, prompts and costs.

Strengths

A very low entry price. Full model choice, including local models. Codex progressions and relations. Revision history. Series with a shared Codex. Collaboration on the top plan.

Limits

Setting up keys takes effort. The subscription includes no AI usage, so AI is a second bill from your provider.

Price

Scribe $4 a month (no AI), Hobbyist $8, Artisan $14, Specialist $20. Two months off on yearly billing. Prices are localized. 21-day free trial, no card.

See Feldar vs Novelcrafter.

Feldar (ours)

A writing app for novelists that keeps a scene plan on every chapter and a Canvas of characters, places and plot beats beside the manuscript. Its AI can draft a chapter from your scenes, continue a paragraph or rework a passage, and new text appears in blue or in a card. It stays only if you accept it.

The ledger was in the bottom drawer of the bureau, under a seed catalogue from 1958 and a tin of the mints her father had sucked for his chest. It fell open, as she had known it would, at the last page he had used.

He looked at the page for a long time without touching it. Then he wiped his hands on the sack tied round his waist, slowly.

Accept

Revise

Dismiss

esc to dismiss

Who it's for

Novelists who write their own sentences and want planning, a story bible, revision help and a first reader in the same place.

Strengths

An Outline of scenes on each chapter, with Generate scenes and Draft Page. The Canvas, whose cards feed the context Feldar writes from. Polish, Deepen, Enhance and Instruct on a selected passage, with every change marked. Checks for grammar, clarity, repetition, dialogue and point of view. Lens, six reader personas, and Reader reactions in the margin. Voice & Style, which learns from a sample of your prose. A choice of GPT-6 and Claude 5.5 models. A private Writing record of which words you typed and which came through Feldar's tools. Feldar does not train AI models on your writing.

Limits

No Windows or Linux desktop app yet (the web app runs in a modern browser). No offline writing. No mobile app. No ebook or print formatting. No sharing, co-writing or track changes. No version history. English only. AI features use credits, and the free plan's 500 credits go quickly if you draft with AI.

Price

Starter free with 500 credits, no card. Core $20 a month or $180 a year (20,000 credits a month). Pro $40 or $400 (45,000). Ultra $200 or $2,220 (250,000). Writing and organizing never use credits.

NovelAI

An AI storytelling and anime image service from Anlatan, with a Lorebook for world details. Story generation runs on GLM 4.6, and the top tier adds NovelAI's own models.

Who it's for

Hobby storytellers, interactive fiction and text adventure fans, more than manuscript-focused novelists.

Strengths

Stories are end-to-end encrypted, and NovelAI says it cannot read them and does not store your prompts. Unlimited text generation from $10. Image generation included.

Limits

No chapters, outlines or manuscript export pipeline. The largest context is on the top tier.

Price

Tablet $10, Scroll $15, Opus $25, renewing every 30 days. A free trial of 50 text generations.

Squibler

An AI book and screenplay generator with an editor. Its paid plans advertise generating a full-length manuscript.

Who it's for

People who want the most automation, rather than writers who want to write each sentence.

Strengths

A free plan with 500 AI credits a month. PDF and DOCX export on Plus. Unlimited AI credits on Pro.

Limits

Export needs a paid plan. We could not find a statement on training in the pages we read.

Price

Plus $29.99 a month, or $15.83 a month billed yearly. Pro $89.99 a month, or $49.17 a month billed yearly.

ChatGPT and Claude

General AI assistants, not writing apps. Novelists use them to brainstorm, research a period or test a plot hole.

Who they're for

Writers who want a capable thinking partner and are happy to keep the manuscript somewhere else.

Strengths

Broad knowledge, free plans, apps everywhere.

Limits

No manuscript structure, story bible or export; you paste text in and out. Training defaults matter: on ChatGPT's individual plans OpenAI may use your conversations to train its models unless you turn off "Improve the model for everyone", and feedback you give can still send a conversation for training. Anthropic uses Claude consumer chats for training if you allow it in settings, if a chat is flagged for safety review, or if you opt in.

Price

Both have free plans. ChatGPT Plus is $20 a month. Claude Pro is $20 a month, or $17 a month billed yearly ($200). Max is $100 and Ultra $200 a month.

The best free options

"Free" means different things here, so here is what each free option really gives you.

Google Docs

Free for good. Fine for a whole novel if you keep chapters as headings or separate files.

Reedsy Studio

Free for good, with chapters and scenes, collaboration and PDF and EPUB typesetting. The strongest free choice if you plan to self-publish.

Feldar Starter

Free for good, with the full workspace (scene outlines, Canvas, editor, import and export) and 500 one-time credits for AI features. Writing and planning never use credits.

Campfire and World Anvil

Free tiers with limits, good for trying their worldbuilding tools.

LivingWriter

A free plan. AI needs a paid plan.

Squibler

Free with 500 AI credits a month.

Trials only

Scrivener (30 days), Plottr (30), Novelcrafter (21), Dabble (14), Sudowrite (free trial, no card), Word (one month).

AI or no AI

Several of the best tools here, Plottr, Atticus and Dabble among them, sell "no AI" as a feature, and plenty of novelists want exactly that. If that is you, Scrivener, Dabble, Plottr, Atticus and Reedsy Studio cover the whole job between them.

If you are open to AI, the question that matters is not "how much can it write?" but "who decides what stays?". Squibler and NovelAI lean toward generating the story. Sudowrite drafts with you. Novelcrafter gives you the controls and the bill. Feldar puts suggestions in blue or in a card and keeps your text as it was until you accept a change.

Two practical notes. Check what happens to your words: Sudowrite, Novelcrafter, Dabble, LivingWriter, Reedsy and Feldar all say they do not train AI on your writing, while consumer chatbots depend on your settings. And if you self-publish on Amazon, Kindle Direct Publishing asks you to disclose AI-generated text, images or translations when you publish, but not AI-assisted work, such as editing or brainstorming on text you wrote yourself.

How to choose

1. Start from where the book is stuck. If it is the plan, look at Plottr, Dabble or Feldar. If it is the world, Campfire or World Anvil. If it is the blank page, an AI tool. If it is the finished file, Atticus or Reedsy Studio.
2. Decide on AI before you compare features. It rules half of this list in or out.
3. Check your devices. Windows and Linux users should rule out Mac-only desktop apps or be happy in a browser. If you write offline, keep to Scrivener, Dabble, Atticus, Plottr's desktop app or Word.
4. Price it over a year, not a month. Note yearly versus monthly billing, and whether AI is included or a second bill.
5. Test with a real chapter. Every tool here has a free plan or trial, except Atticus, which offers a refund instead. Import a chapter you know well, revise it, and export it. The one you do not fight with is the right one.
6. Plan your exit. Before you commit, export a test chapter to Word or another open format and check that it comes out clean.

Not sure where to begin your plan? Our guide on how to outline a novel, scene by scene works in any of these tools.

Sources

All checked November 6, 2026. Opinions on this page are ours; facts come from these official pages.

Scrivener

store, update policy and macOS price, Mac App Store listing

Microsoft Word

Microsoft 365 plans

Google Docs

working offline

Plottr

pricing, features

Dabble

pricing, features

LivingWriter

AI features, downloads, pricing

Campfire

pricing

World Anvil

pricing

Reedsy Studio

Studio overview, pricing and FAQ

Atticus

home page, help center on AI

Sudowrite

pricing, plans and monthly prices, mobile apps, exporting

Novelcrafter

pricing, features, export, privacy policy

NovelAI

home page, subscriptions, privacy policy

Squibler

pricing

ChatGPT

ChatGPT Plus, how your data is used

Claude

pricing, model training

Amazon KDP

content guidelines on AI

Feldar

pricing, download, changelog

Questions novelists ask about writing software