# Hiveword review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Web-based novel organizer for scenes, characters and plotlines Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Hiveword is a browser-based organizer for fiction writers. The free Basic account tracks stories, scenes, characters, settings and plotlines, with scene filtering and a plotline view. Hiveword Plus adds custom types and fields, images, notes, a writer's journal and bookmarks, and a separate Knockout Novel add-on provides guided coaching prompts. - **Category:** Writing Tools - **Made by:** Zecura, LLC (since 2011) - **Website:** https://hiveword.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want to draft and format the manuscript in the same place, as export is novel export only. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Hiveword has a free plan, and paid plans start at $25 per year. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Hiveword Basic: unlimited stories, scenes, characters, settings, items and plotlines, with scene filtering, plotline view, backups and novel export. - **Free trial:** 14-day free trial of Hiveword Plus. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Hiveword Basic | $0 | Unlimited stories, scenes, characters, settings and plotlines, plus name generators, backups and novel export. | | Hiveword Plus | $25 per year | Adds custom types and fields, images, notes, bookmarks, journal, search and dark mode; yearly subscription. | | Knockout Novel | $49 one-time charge | Add-on with self-paced coaching prompts, a sample plot breakdown and coaching response export; needs a free account. | Read from https://hiveword.com/pricing on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Hiveword before buying. ## Key features - **Scene filtering:** Filter scenes by point-of-view character, location or tag to see where a character appears, and sort the filtered list. - **Plotline visualization:** A visual view of how the main plot and subplots run through the scenes. - **Custom types and fields:** Plus lets you track items like spells or clans with your own fields and add extra fields to standard types. - **Images, notes and journal:** Plus attaches images and notes to story elements and keeps a tagged writer's journal with multiple entries per day. - **Searchable bookmarks:** Plus saves links to web pages with tags and notes, and its search also looks through the saved page text. - **Knockout Novel coaching:** Prompts based on author James Scott Bell's methodology, built into the organizer; sold separately. ## Good for - Plotters who prefer index cards or the Snowflake method - Writers tracking large casts and multiple plotlines - Authors who want a planner now and a writing coach add-on later ## Worth knowing - It organizes a novel but is not a manuscript-formatting tool; export is listed as novel export only. - Custom types, fields, images, notes and the journal need the paid Plus plan. - Knockout Novel is a separate $49 charge on top of any plan. - It is web-only, with no desktop or mobile app listed. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.6 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Hiveword is a browser organizer for novels: scenes, characters, settings and plotlines, with scene filtering and a plotline view, all free on the Basic account. Custom fields, images, notes, search and the journal need Plus at $25 a year, it only runs on the web, and it organizes a book rather than writing or formatting it. - **Value for money: A.** Plus is $25 a year, about $2.08 a month, well under 60% of the $5.75 the category's cheaper quarter starts at. Knockout Novel coaching is a separate $49 one-time charge. - **Free plan and trial: B.** Basic is free for good, with unlimited stories, scenes, characters, settings and plotlines. Plus has a 14-day trial, but custom types, images, notes, search and dark mode need it. - **Features: C.** Scenes, casts and plotlines are covered. The listing's own gaps keep it at C: export is novel export only, not manuscript formatting, and custom fields, notes and search sit on Plus. - **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. You build your own scenes, characters and plotlines, so there is setup before it pays off. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Web only, with no desktop or mobile app listed and no integrations on record. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Hiveword's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among writing tools - Hiveword's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 76 of the 136 other writing tools we grade, and level with 18. - It stands best on value for money (A, above 89 of 136) and worst on features (C, above 2). - Its paid plans start at $2.08 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $8.66 for the category: 2 of the 81 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 9 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/writing ## Keep it, or make your own? **Your call.** A writing app at its plainest is a page that saves what you type. You could make the core of Hiveword for yourself: long-form writing, notes, bookmarks, daily notes and templates. What you would give up is listed below. Whether that is worth the price is your call. At $25 a year it costs less than the weekend it would take to replace, which is the argument for keeping it. - You could make: Long-form writing, notes, bookmarks, daily notes and templates: an app builder makes these well. - You could make: It runs in a browser, which is where something home-made would run too. - You could not: People on the other end: coaches. No app builder makes those. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. **Tags:** Long-form writing, Notes, Bookmarks, Daily notes, Templates ## Alternatives - [Plottr](https://toolgpa.com/tools/plottr): Visual book outlining and series bible software. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/hiveword-vs-plottr) - [The Novel Factory](https://toolgpa.com/tools/the-novel-factory): Novel-writing software with a built-in step-by-step roadmap. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/hiveword-vs-the-novel-factory) - [Campfire](https://toolgpa.com/tools/campfire): Modular novel writing and worldbuilding app with per-module pricing. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/campfire-vs-hiveword) - [World Anvil](https://toolgpa.com/tools/world-anvil): Web-based worldbuilding platform for writers and game masters. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/hiveword-vs-world-anvil) - [bibisco](https://toolgpa.com/tools/bibisco): Novel planning and writing software built around characters. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bibisco-vs-hiveword) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://hiveword.com/ - https://hiveword.com/pricing - https://hiveword.com/about Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/hiveword Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).