# Novelcrafter

> Novel writing platform with a story wiki and optional AI

Novelcrafter is a browser-based novel writing platform built around the Codex, a story wiki that tracks characters, locations and lore and links them to the scenes where they appear. Planning views lay a book out as a grid, a matrix or an outline, and a Codex can be shared across the books in a series. AI features are optional and bring-your-own-key: writers connect their own account with a provider such as OpenRouter or OpenAI, or run local models.

- **Category:** Writing Tools
- **Made by:** novelcrafter UG (haftungsbeschränkt) (since 2023)
- **Website:** https://www.novelcrafter.com
- **Runs on:** Web
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 9, 2026

## Pricing

Novelcrafter is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $4 per month, or $40 billed annually (Scribe).

- **Pricing model:** Free trial
- **Free plan:** None.
- **Free trial:** 21-day free trial with all features unlocked. No credit card required.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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. |

Read from https://www.novelcrafter.com/pricing on Oct 9, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Novelcrafter before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **2 months off with annual billing** (Annual discount): 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. Source: https://www.novelcrafter.com/pricing

## Key features

- **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.

## Good for

- 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

## Worth knowing

- 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.

## Works with

OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, Mistral AI, LM Studio, Ollama

**Tags:** Long-form writing, AI features, Chat assistant

## Alternatives

- [Sudowrite](https://toolgpa.com/tools/sudowrite): AI writing partner for drafting and revising fiction. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/novelcrafter-vs-sudowrite)
- [Scrivener](https://toolgpa.com/tools/scrivener): Manuscript writing app with a binder, corkboard and outliner. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/novelcrafter-vs-scrivener)
- [Dabble](https://toolgpa.com/tools/dabble): Novel writing app with plotting, story notes and sync. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dabble-vs-novelcrafter)
- [Plottr](https://toolgpa.com/tools/plottr): Visual book outlining and series bible software. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/novelcrafter-vs-plottr)
- [Campfire](https://toolgpa.com/tools/campfire): Modular novel writing and worldbuilding app with per-module pricing. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/campfire-vs-novelcrafter)

## Sources

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

- https://www.novelcrafter.com/pricing
- https://www.novelcrafter.com/
- https://www.novelcrafter.com/features
- https://www.novelcrafter.com/help/faq/ai-and-prompting/ai-cost
- https://www.novelcrafter.com/help/billing
- https://www.novelcrafter.com/about-us
- https://www.novelcrafter.com/legal/imprint

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