LivingWriter vs World Anvil
We give LivingWriter a 3.4 GPA and World Anvil a 3.0, out of 4.0. LivingWriter grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
LivingWriter
Cloud writing app for books and screenplays with planning boards
Free plan · from $15/mo
World Anvil
Web-based worldbuilding platform for writers and game masters
Free plan
How we grade them
| 3.4GPALivingWriterVery good | 3.0GPAWorld AnvilVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPro is $15 a month billed monthly for unlimited manuscripts and screenplays, the full Boards system, collaboration and pro export formats. Quarterly and annual billing exist, but the public pricing page shows only monthly prices. The full AI set means Pro + AI at $30. | BThe listing can't say what a paid guild membership costs or what each one includes, because World Anvil's prices couldn't be confirmed. So this is the B we give when a listing can't say. What is known: Manuscripts and Notebooks are for paying members. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree covers one manuscript with a limited word count, outlines and templates, notes, a basic Elements board, a small AI allowance and basic PDF export. The listing can't say what the word limit is. The 7-day Pro trial is called free on the button, but the card says "Try for $0.99". | BThere's a free Freeman account, but with caps. World Anvil's April 2024 announcement put them at 2 worlds, 42 articles, 2 maps, 2 timelines and 100 MB of images, and the current limits couldn't be confirmed. Go over and you can view and export, but not edit. |
| Features | ABoards for manuscript, planning, elements and research, character and setting profiles that connect to the text as you write, and outline templates like Hero's Journey and Story Circle. There's a screenplay mode, version history, and export to DOCX, PDF, EPUB and Amazon KDP formats. | AIt does one job, worldbuilding, and goes deep on it. Articles built on templates link themselves together, maps take markers and layers, and there are timelines, family trees drawn from your characters' parents, and diplomacy webs between factions. Game masters get campaigns and statblocks too. |
| Ease of use | BThere's no App Store rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. Ready-made outlines give you a structure to start from, cards drag into a new order, and your work syncs across web, desktop and phone. | BThere's no App Store rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. It runs in a browser, and the article templates come with prompts, so you're not starting from an empty page. The Autolinker ties articles together for you. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Windows and Mac desktop apps, iOS and Android, all synced, with Canva, Google Drive and Grammarly on the integrations list. The Canva and Google Drive ones need Pro. | CA web app and nothing else. The listing shows no desktop or phone apps and no integrations. URL embeds were removed from free accounts in April 2024 and need a paid guild account. |
| Best for | keeping characters and plot beside the draft | building a fictional world in linked articles |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: LivingWriter and World Anvil. How we grade
Where they differ
- Only LivingWriter lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps.
- LivingWriter also covers chat assistant.
In commonFree planWebTemplatesLong-form writing
At a glance
| LivingWriter | World Anvil | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $15 per month, billed monthly (Pro) | Not published |
| Free plan | One manuscript with a limited word count, outlines and templates, notes and to-dos, a basic Elements board, a small AI allowance and basic PDF export. | Free Freeman account with content caps. World Anvil's April 2024 announcement set them at 2 worlds, 42 articles, 2 maps, 2 timelines and 100 MB of images; current limits could not be confirmed. |
| Free trial | 7-day trial of Pro or Pro + AI; the button calls it free while the card says "Try for $0.99" | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | LivingWriter | World Anvil |
| Price read from | livingwriter.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
World Anvil
- Fantasy and science-fiction writers documenting a setting as linked articles
- Game masters who keep campaign notes, maps and statblocks with their lore
- Worldbuilders who want to present a setting to readers as a themed site
Worth knowing
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.
World Anvil
- Free accounts are capped: the April 2024 announcement listed 2 worlds, 42 articles, 5 drafts, 2 maps with 10 markers and 100 MB of images.
- A free account over its limits can view, export and delete content but cannot edit until it is back under them.
- World Anvil describes Manuscripts and Notebooks as features for paying guild members.
- URL embeds were removed from free accounts in April 2024 and need a paid guild account.
Key features
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.
World Anvil
- Articles and templates
- A world is written as articles built on templates with prompts, such as characters, organizations, languages, plots and prose, then sorted into categories and folders. The Autolinker links articles to each other.
- Interactive maps
- Maps take markers and layers, and the world search covers map markers along with articles, images, timelines and events.
- Timelines and historical events
- Timelines collect dated events from a world's history, and events can be filed in folders with the rest of a world's content.
- Family trees and diplomacy webs
- Family trees are generated from the parents set on character articles. Diplomacy webs chart relations between factions, countries and other organizations.
- Manuscripts
- A paid feature for writing fiction such as a novel. The Plot and Prose article templates, used for outlining and for short stories and scenes, are free.
- Tabletop campaign tools
- RPG campaigns and statblocks are kept in the same account as the worldbuilding. The 2024 free-account limits allow one campaign and 20 statblocks.
Plans
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.
World Anvil
Pricing could not be confirmed. See worldanvil.com.
