# Manuskript

> Free, open-source novel planner with an outliner and index cards

Manuskript is a free, open-source tool for writers who like to plan before they draft, distributed under the GNU General Public License v3. It combines an outliner and index cards with notes on characters, plots and the story's world, a novel assistant based on the snowflake method, and a distraction-free editor. The project describes itself as still in development and recommends frequent backups.

- **Category:** Writing Tools
- **Made by:** olivierkes and contributors
- **Website:** https://www.theologeek.ch/manuskript/
- **Runs on:** Windows, Linux, macOS
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 9, 2026

## Pricing

Manuskript is free to use.

- **Pricing model:** 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.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | $0 | The complete program: .deb and .rpm packages, Flatpak and Snap for Linux, a zip for Windows, and source code for other systems. |

Read from https://www.theologeek.ch/manuskript/ on Oct 9, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Manuskript before buying.

## Key features

- **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.

## Good for

- 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

## Worth knowing

- 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.

## Works with

Pandoc, FocusWriter

**Tags:** Open source, Long-form writing, Markdown

## Alternatives

- [novelWriter](https://toolgpa.com/tools/novelwriter): Free, open-source plain-text editor for writing novels. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/manuskript-vs-novelwriter)
- [bibisco](https://toolgpa.com/tools/bibisco): Novel planning and writing software built around characters. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bibisco-vs-manuskript)
- [yWriter](https://toolgpa.com/tools/ywriter): Novel-writing software that organizes a book into scenes. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/manuskript-vs-ywriter)
- [Scrivener](https://toolgpa.com/tools/scrivener): Manuscript writing app with a binder, corkboard and outliner. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/manuskript-vs-scrivener)
- [Plottr](https://toolgpa.com/tools/plottr): Visual book outlining and series bible software. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/manuskript-vs-plottr)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 9, 2026:

- https://www.theologeek.ch/manuskript/
- https://www.theologeek.ch/manuskript/download/
- https://www.theologeek.ch/manuskript/category/features/
- https://www.theologeek.ch/manuskript/contribute/
- https://github.com/olivierkes/manuskript
- https://github.com/olivierkes/manuskript/wiki

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/manuskript
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).