Dabble vs The Novel Factory

Dabble

• Novelists who want plotting, notes and the manuscript in one place
• Writers who move between a computer, a tablet and a phone
• Co-authors working on the same manuscript
• Writers who want a tool without generative AI

The Novel Factory

• First-time novelists who want a guided, step-by-step process
• Writers who plan characters, locations and plot before drafting
• Authors who want writing software with no AI in it

Dabble

• There is no free plan. Without a subscription, projects stay viewable and exportable but become read-only.
• Comments, track changes, sticky notes, advanced grammar checks and Read-to-Me need the Author plan at $29 a month or higher.
• On phones and tablets Dabble is a web app added to the home screen from the browser; it is not in the App Store or Google Play.
• The pricing page lists monthly prices only and says annual billing saves 20%, without showing the annual amounts.

The Novel Factory

• There is no free plan: after the 30-day trial it needs a subscription or the $649 lifetime license.
• Basic is limited to one novel and leaves out dark mode and importing characters and locations between novels.
• The lifetime license covers Version 3 only, for as long as that version lasts.
• Offline work needs the desktop app on a PC or Mac. The browser version, which phones and tablets use, requires a stable internet connection.

Dabble

Plot Grid

Lays out plot lines and plot points against scenes so a story's structure can be planned as fully or as loosely as wanted, with the editor open alongside the plan.

Story notes and characters

Keeps character profiles, worldbuilding details and research beside the manuscript, and can share characters, locations and lore across the books in a series.

Manuscript editor and goals

Scenes and chapters are numbered and formatted automatically and reordered by drag and drop, with focus mode, daily word-count goals, stats and a writing timer.

Editing tools

Comments, sticky notes, highlighting, track changes and Read-to-Me, plus grammar and style checks powered by ProWritingAid. These start on the Author plan.

Co-authoring

Invited co-authors work on the same manuscript in real time. Writer allows 5 collaborators per project; Author, Bestseller and lifetime plans allow 100.

Offline-first sync

Every edit saves to the device first and syncs to the account once a connection is available, so writing continues offline on any installed copy.

The Novel Factory

Novel Writing Roadmap

A built-in guide of fifteen steps takes a novel from first idea to final manuscript, with a practical task at each step that can be checked off in the software.

Plot Manager and plot templates

Scenes sit on drag-and-drop index cards that give an overview of the story's structure, and genre-specific plot templates set out the beats to hit.

Characters, locations and items

Dedicated sections hold character profiles built from development prompts, locations with sensory details and images, and items. Characters and locations can be linked to scenes.

Manuscript with related notes

A sidebar beside the text shows the scene synopsis, the linked characters and locations, and the plot points that happen in that scene.

Writing statistics and goals

A Statistics tab tracks word counts and writing rates against custom goals, with progress graphs and a weekly average word count.

Version history and Word export

Turn Back Time restores earlier versions of the work. The manuscript and its supporting data export to Word, and a Word manuscript can be imported.

Dabble

• Writer$19

  per month, billed monthly (20% less when paid annually)

  Unlimited manuscripts, cloud backup and sync, Plot Grid, story notes and character profiles, goals and stats, co-authoring and versioning.

• Author$29

  per month, billed monthly (20% less when paid annually)

  Adds comments, track changes, sticky notes, text highlighting, advanced grammar and style checks, Read-to-Me, and priority support by chat and email.

• Bestseller$49

  per month, billed monthly (20% less when paid annually)

  Everything in Author plus DabbleU Academy: live monthly workshops, a library of courses and more than 70 hours of workshop recordings.

• Lifetime Author Access$699

  one-time payment

  All Author features permanently, including future Author updates and features. No additional discounts apply.

The Novel Factory

• Basic$82.50

  per year, or $8.25 per month billed monthly

  One novel with the core features: Plot Manager, characters, items and locations, the manuscript section and writing statistics.

• Standard$220

  per year, or $22 per month billed monthly

  Unlimited novels, plus dark mode, importing characters and locations between novels and additional formatting features.

• Lifetime$649

  one-time payment

  Access to Version 3.0 for as long as that version lasts, with unlimited novels and all features. Equivalent to Standard.

Dabble

• Annual discount

  Save 20% with annual billing

  Dabble's pricing page says paying annually saves 20% compared with the monthly prices of $19, $29 and $49.

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime Author Access for $699

  A one-time payment of $699 gives every Author feature permanently, which Dabble describes as about the price of two years of Author. No other discounts apply.

• Education

  30% off for teachers and students

  Teachers and students with an academic email address can save 30% by applying through Dabble's partner, Student App Centre.

The Novel Factory

• Annual discount

  Two months free with annual billing

  Annual plans cost ten times the monthly price: $82.50 against $8.25 a month for Basic and $220 against $22 a month for Standard.

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime license to Version 3 for $649

  A one-off payment gives Standard-level access to The Novel Factory Version 3 for the life of that version, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

• Other savings

  Hardship licenses and discounts

  The company says it offers hardship licenses and discounts for people with low incomes or disabilities. No amounts are published.

• Other savings

  Credit for original Windows Desktop licenses

  Owners of the original Windows desktop version can ask for a discount on a subscription equal to what they paid for that license.