LivingWriter vs Novelcrafter

LivingWriter

• Novelists who track characters, settings and plot threads beside the draft
• Writers who move between a computer, a phone and a tablet
• Authors who also write screenplays and want both in one app

Novelcrafter

• Novelists and series writers who want a story bible tied to the manuscript
• Writers who want to pick and pay for their own AI models
• Co-authors and writing groups, on the Specialist plan

LivingWriter

• The Free plan covers one manuscript with a limited word count and exports only basic PDF.
• Sharing and collaboration, the full Boards system and the Canva and Google Drive integrations need Pro.
• Manuscript chat, AI outlines, rewrites, analysis and cover images are listed under the $30 Pro + AI plan.
• Quarterly and annual billing exist, but the public pricing page shows only the monthly prices.

Novelcrafter

• There is no free plan. Without an active subscription, data stays viewable and exportable but cannot be added to or edited.
• AI starts at the Hobbyist plan and is bring-your-own-key, so model usage is paid separately to the AI provider unless local models are used.
• Workshop Chat needs Artisan, and inviting collaborators or creating teams needs Specialist. Each user needs a subscription of their own.
• It runs in the browser with nothing to install, and is described as mobile compatible; no desktop or mobile app is listed.

LivingWriter

Boards

Manuscript, Planning, Elements and Research boards lay out chapters, scenes, story elements and sources as cards that can be dragged into a new order.

Linked story elements

Characters, settings and objects get reusable profiles with aliases and relations. Auto-completion connects them to the text as you write, and each profile lists where it appears.

Outline templates

Ready-made structures include Story Circle, Hero's Journey, the 27 Chapter Method and Romancing the Beat, along with memoir, biography and PhD thesis outlines.

Screenwriting

A screenplay mode formats scene headings, action, characters, dialogue, parentheticals and transitions automatically, and an AI tool converts prose into a script.

AI writing assistant

Optional tools for outlines, rewriting, summaries, manuscript analysis and a chat that knows the manuscript. LivingWriter says manuscripts are not used to train AI models.

Version history and export

Earlier versions can be viewed, compared and restored. Manuscripts export to DOCX, PDF, EPUB and Amazon KDP formats, and existing documents can be imported.

Novelcrafter

The Codex

A wiki for characters, locations and lore with aliases, relations, tags and progressions over time. It finds mentions across scenes and can be shared by every book in a series.

Planning views

The Grid reorders acts, chapters and scenes by drag and drop, the Matrix shows the whole story as a spreadsheet-like table, and the Outline is a single-page summary.

Manuscript editor

A rich text editor with focus mode, highlighter markers, sections for alternative ideas, revision history, and import from Word, Markdown or HTML files.

Bring-your-own-key AI

From Hobbyist up, connects to services such as OpenAI, Anthropic and OpenRouter or to local models through LM Studio and Ollama, with custom prompts and a prompt preview.

Workshop Chat

On Artisan and above, a chat for feedback and brainstorming that can take the outline, a scene or the full novel as context and extract scene beats or Codex entries from the reply.

Collaboration and teams

Any account can be invited as a viewer, and editing needs a paid plan. Inviting others to a novel or series, and creating teams, needs the Specialist plan.

LivingWriter

• Free$0

  A first book with a limited word count, outlines, notes and to-dos, a taste of the AI tools and basic PDF export.

• Pro$15

  per month, billed monthly; quarterly and annual also offered

  Unlimited manuscripts and screenplays, the full Boards system, sharing and collaboration, pro export formats, and Canva and Google Drive integration.

• Pro + AI$30

  per month; the card itself shows no billing period

  Everything in Pro plus the full AI set: manuscript chat, outlines, rewrites, analysis, manuscript-to-screenplay, and cover and element images.

Novelcrafter

• Scribe$4

  per month, or $40 billed annually

  Unlimited books, the Codex, series and basic review tools. No AI features.

• Hobbyist$8

  per month, or $80 billed annually

  Adds AI with your own API key or local models: scene summarization, character extraction and generating prose from scene beats, plus live chat support.

• Artisan$14

  per month, or $140 billed annually

  Adds Workshop Chat for feedback and brainstorming on scenes. Advanced review tools are listed for this tier but marked as planned.

• Specialist$20

  per month, or $200 billed annually

  Adds inviting other users to novels and series, creating and managing teams, and priority support.

LivingWriter

No public discounts listed.

Novelcrafter

• Annual discount

  2 months off with annual billing

  Annual billing costs ten times the monthly price: $40 for Scribe, $80 for Hobbyist, $140 for Artisan and $200 for Specialist, against $4, $8, $14 and $20 a month.