Manuskript vs novelWriter
We give Manuskript a 3.2 GPA and novelWriter a 3.6, out of 4.0. novelWriter grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Manuskript
Free, open-source novel planner with an outliner and index cards
Free
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAManuskriptVery good | 3.6GPAnovelWriterExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree software under the GNU General Public License version 3 or later, so there's nothing to buy. The site asks for optional donations to support development. | AFree and open source under the GPL-3.0 licence, so there's nothing to buy. The site has a Donate link if you want to chip in. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe complete program is free. There's no paid tier and nothing held back. | AThe complete editor is free on every system it supports. There's no paid tier and nothing held back. |
| Features | BAn outliner, index cards, a snowflake-method assistant, notes that link plots to characters, and a full-screen editor that can lock you in until a word-count or time goal is reached. Plenty for planning a novel. But the download page says it's still in the early development stages. | AIt's built for one job, novels, and it does that job fully. Scenes sit in a project tree you can reorder, tags link them to your notes, and an Outline View lists chapters and scenes. Build Manuscript saves the book as Open Document, Word, PDF, HTML or Markdown. |
| Ease of use | CThere's no App Store rating on record, and there's some setup. Importing and exporting ePub, OpenDocument and DocX needs Pandoc installed separately, on macOS it has to be run from the Python source code, and the project recommends frequent backups. | BThere's no App Store rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. On Windows it's a setup installer, and on Linux an AppImage, Flatpak or Debian package. You do have to learn its own Markdown-like syntax, and a Mac needs the Python package. |
| Platforms and integrations | BPackages for Linux (.deb, .rpm, Flatpak and Snap) and a zip for Windows, with macOS only from source. It can import themes from FocusWriter and leans on Pandoc for other formats. No web or mobile version is offered. | BLinux and Windows 10 or newer, plus the Mac by way of the Python package now that the macOS installer is discontinued. No web or mobile version is offered, and the listing shows no integrations. |
| Best for | free novel planning on Linux or Windows | free novel writing in plain text files |
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: Manuskript and novelWriter. How we grade
Where they differ
- Manuskript is free. novelWriter is free.
- Only Manuskript lists a macOS app.
In commonFree planWindowsLinuxOpen sourceMarkdownLong-form writing
At a glance
| Manuskript | novelWriter | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | The whole program is free software under the GNU General Public License version 3 or later. The site asks for optional donations to support development. | The whole application is free and open source under the GPL-3.0 license. The site has a Donate link for optional contributions. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | olivierkes and contributors | The Saga Software Project |
| Price read from | theologeek.ch | novelwriter.io |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Manuskript
- Novelists who outline and plan before drafting
- Writers who want a free planning and drafting tool on Linux or Windows
- People who want their manuscript kept in plain-text files
novelWriter
- Novelists on Linux or Windows who want a free plain-text editor
- Writers who keep manuscripts under version control or file sync
- Books with many scenes and cross-referenced notes
Worth knowing
Manuskript
- The download page says Manuskript is still in the early development stages and recommends frequent backups.
- Release 0.17.0 is packaged for Linux and Windows only; on macOS it has to be run from the Python source code.
- Import and export of ePub, OpenDocument and DocX need Pandoc installed separately.
- No web or mobile version is offered.
novelWriter
- macOS DMG releases were discontinued as of release 2026.1; on a Mac it runs only by installing the Python package.
- The Windows installer is made for Windows 10 or newer.
- It is scoped to novels and short fiction and uses its own Markdown-like syntax, not standard Markdown.
- No web or mobile version is offered.
Key features
Manuskript
- Outliner
- Arranges chapters, scenes and notes in a hierarchy that can be reordered at any time, showing which parts are written and which characters appear in each scene.
- Index cards
- Shows notes, scenes and chapters as index cards, as a second way to arrange and review the structure of a book.
- Snowflake-method novel assistant
- Guides a premise from one sentence to a paragraph and then a full summary, asking questions along the way to develop characters and plots.
- Characters, plots and world
- Keeps notes on every character, plot, event and place, links plots to characters, and offers a story-line view of the strands running through the text.
- Distraction-free mode
- A full-screen editor with editable themes, including themes imported from FocusWriter. It can lock the writer in until a word-count or time goal is reached.
- Plain-text projects and export
- Projects are saved automatically as plain-text files in a folder or a zip. With Pandoc installed, it imports and exports formats such as ePub, OpenDocument and DocX.
novelWriter
- Project tree of documents
- A novel is broken into as many documents as needed. They can be dragged into a custom order, organised into folders and given sub-documents.
- Tags and references
- Keyword and value tags in a document link it to project notes. References are clickable, and a References box lists every document that points back to the one being viewed.
- Novel View and Outline View
- The Novel View shows the book by headings instead of files. The Outline View lists chapters and scenes with their meta data and cross-references in configurable columns.
- Build Manuscript
- Assembles chosen files into a manuscript, an outline draft or a notes document, which can be printed or saved as Open Document, Word, PDF, HTML or Markdown.
- Plain-text storage
- Projects are stored as human-readable text files, a format the project describes as well suited to version control software and file synchronisation tools.
- Focus Mode and themes
- Focus Mode hides the project tree and view panel so the editor fills the window. Colour, icon and editor syntax themes are chosen separately, in light and dark variants.
Plans
Manuskript
Free$0
The complete program: .deb and .rpm packages, Flatpak and Snap for Linux, a zip for Windows, and source code for other systems.
novelWriter
Free$0
The complete editor: AppImage, Flatpak and Debian packages for Linux, a setup installer for Windows 10 or newer, and a Python package.
