Best Novel Writing Software 2026: 13 Tools Compared by Job
The best novel writing software depends on which job is slowing you down. Writing a book breaks down into three jobs: drafting the words, keeping the story straight (outline, characters, world, timeline), and formatting the finished manuscript into a print or ebook file. A few tools try to do all three. Most do one job very well.
Here are the short answers, then a comparison table, then a closer look at all 13 tools. Product details were checked on each vendor's own site on October 21, 2026.
The short answer: best novel writing software by job
- Best for drafting a long manuscript: Scrivener (Mac or Windows)
- Best drafting tool that syncs everywhere: Dabble (browser-based)
- Best for Apple-only writers: Ulysses
- Best visual outliner: Plottr
- Best story bible for continuity (characters, relationships, timeline, foreshadowing): LitMemo, our tool (use it alongside the app you draft in)
- Best for worldbuilding-heavy fantasy: Campfire or World Anvil
- Best story bible with built-in AI: Novelcrafter
- Best for formatting a print book and ebook: Atticus (any computer) or Vellum (Mac only)
- Best free book writing software: Reedsy Studio (free, includes book formatting) and Google Docs
Novel writing software comparison table
| Tool | Main job | Runs on |
|---|---|---|
| Scrivener | Drafting | Mac, Windows, iOS |
| Dabble | Drafting + plotting | Browser |
| Ulysses | Drafting | Mac, iPad, iPhone |
| Google Docs | Drafting | Browser, phone apps |
| Microsoft Word | Drafting | Windows, Mac, web, phone |
| Plottr | Outlining | Windows, Mac |
| Campfire | Worldbuilding | Browser, desktop, mobile |
| World Anvil | Worldbuilding | Browser |
| Novelcrafter | Story bible + AI | Browser |
| LitMemo | Story bible | Browser, phone |
| Atticus | Formatting | Win, Mac, Linux, Chromebook |
| Vellum | Formatting | Mac |
| Reedsy Studio | Writing + formatting | Browser |
One more detail that didn't fit in the table:
- Offline: Scrivener, Ulysses, Vellum, Word's desktop app and Plottr's desktop app work without a connection. Dabble keeps local copies for offline writing, and Google Docs has an offline mode. Reedsy Studio and LitMemo need a connection.
Drafting tools: where the words get written
Scrivener: the long-manuscript workhorse
Scrivener splits a book into a "binder" of chapters and scenes you can rearrange freely. It adds a corkboard of index cards, a split screen so you can keep an earlier chapter open beside the one you're writing, a research folder, and snapshots of earlier versions. When you're done, its Compile feature stitches everything into a single document.
- Good at: huge manuscripts, rearranging scenes, keeping research next to the draft, working fully offline.
- Watch for: the learning curve is real, and syncing with the iOS app requires a Dropbox account.
- Free trial: 30 days of use, so if you only open it on weekends it stretches over months.
- Requires: macOS 11+ or 64-bit Windows 10+.
Dabble: Scrivener-style organization in the browser
Dabble runs in your browser and keeps your book synced across devices, with offline copies stored locally. It includes the Plot Grid (a scene-by-plotline grid), a story notebook with character profiles, goals and stats, and co-authoring.
- Good at: writers who switch between a laptop and a desktop, or who want plotting and drafting in one window without a setup weekend.
- Free trial: 14 days, no card required.
Ulysses: clean, focused writing for Mac, iPad and iPhone
Ulysses is a minimal editor that keeps every sheet in one library and syncs through iCloud. It suits writers who want a quiet page more than a project dashboard.
- Good at: distraction-free drafting, writing on an iPad or iPhone and picking up on the Mac.
- Watch for: Apple devices only. There's no character or worldbuilding database.
- Free trial: available.
Google Docs and Microsoft Word: the tools you already have
Both are fine for a first draft. Word's Track Changes is the standard way to trade edits with a professional editor, and formatting tools like Atticus and Vellum import .docx files.
- Google Docs is free with a Google account (which includes 15 GB of storage), works on phones, and has easy sharing and comments for beta readers and critique partners.
- Microsoft Word has a free web version, plus desktop apps for Windows and Mac.
- Where they strain: both handle long files if you use headings and the outline or navigation pane, but neither has a place for characters, timelines or plot threads. Very long Google Docs can start to lag. A common fix is to keep drafting in Docs or Word and add a separate story bible tool once the cast outgrows your memory.
Plotting and story bible tools: keeping the story straight
This is the job most people mean when they say their book is "getting messy": a side character's eye color changes, a subplot gets dropped, a clue planted in chapter 4 never pays off.
Plottr: visual timelines and series bibles
Plottr lays your plot out as a visual timeline with a row for each plotline, plus character and place notes. It calls itself book outlining and series bible software, and it advertises "No AI".
- Good at: outliners, writers juggling several plotlines, series planning.
- Watch for: Plottr is a planning tool; you'll still draft somewhere else.
Campfire: modular worldbuilding
Campfire is built from modules: Manuscript, Characters, Timeline, Maps, Calendar, Encyclopedia, Magic, Languages, Research and more. It runs in a browser, as a desktop app and as a mobile writing app.
- Good at: fantasy and science fiction with magic systems, invented languages and maps.
- Free tier: a 25,000-word manuscript, 10 characters, 20 timeline events and 2 maps.
World Anvil: the worldbuilding wiki
World Anvil is a browser-based wiki for your world, built for both novelists and tabletop game masters: articles for every person, place and faction, plus maps and timelines. Its Manuscripts editor lets you draft inside the same account.
- Good at: sprawling settings you want to explore like an encyclopedia, or share with readers or players.
- Watch for: there's a lot to learn.
- Free tier: yes.
Novelcrafter: story bible plus AI
Novelcrafter's Codex is a wiki for characters, places and lore that automatically tracks and links entries as you write, and it can be shared across books in a series. It also has planning views and a manuscript editor. Its AI features work with your own key from an AI provider.
- Good at: writers who want an AI drafting assistant that reads their story bible.
- Watch for: the AI features need your own AI provider key.
- Free trial: 21 days, no card required.
LitMemo: a story bible that sits beside your drafting app
LitMemo is the tool we make, so read this section with that in mind. It's a browser-based story bible for long books and series where continuity is the hard part. You keep drafting in Scrivener, Word, Google Docs or whatever you already use, and LitMemo holds the characters, world, foreshadowing and timeline right next to it. It also has a chapter editor if you'd like to write some chapters there.
- Characters: profile pages with fields you define, plus a status for each character (alive, dead, missing). Character management
- Relationship map: a visual web of who's tied to whom, with a word for each side of a relationship ("mentor" and "apprentice"), plus a grid view for filling in one type of relationship across the whole cast. Relationship map
- Timeline: events on several tracks. An event can record what changed after it ("Wren loses her sight"), and you can view your character and world lists as they stood at any event. Timeline
- Foreshadowing tracker: each clue moves through stages (planted, hinted, developed, revealed, then resolved or abandoned), linked to the chapters where it happens. Foreshadowing
- Series: several books can share one world, so characters, places and timelines live in one place for a whole trilogy. Series management
- AI is optional: the assistant can run a consistency check across the book or give feedback on a chapter. You can turn AI off with one click; your writing, characters and timelines work the same without it.
- Bringing an existing draft: import .docx, .txt or .md files and LitMemo splits them into chapters, then the AI can pull characters and settings out of the draft for you.
LitMemo works on your computer or phone, so a character's details or a clue's status is just a glance away wherever you write.
Formatting and publishing tools: turning the manuscript into a book
Atticus: write and format on any computer
Atticus formats print-ready PDFs and ebooks, and you can write in it too. It runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook, imports .docx, and exports EPUB, PDF and DOCX.
- Good at: self-publishers who want to format their own paperbacks and ebooks without a Mac.
Vellum: the Mac formatter
Vellum creates ebooks for Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books and other stores, and paperbacks too. You can download it free to build, style and preview your book.
- Good at: Mac users who want polished interior layouts with little effort.
- Watch for: Mac only (macOS 13 or newer).
Reedsy Studio: free writing and formatting
Reedsy Studio is a free browser-based editor that organizes your book by section, chapter and scene and formats it as a print-ready PDF or an EPUB. Free accounts get planning boards in card view, one manuscript goal and 30 days of version history.
- Good at: first-time self-publishers on a zero budget.
- Watch for: browser only, with no offline mode yet.
Best free novel writing software
If you're not ready to pay for anything:
- Reedsy Studio: free drafting plus PDF and EPUB formatting.
- Google Docs: free drafting and the easiest sharing with beta readers.
- Word for the web: free, with Track Changes and comments for working with an editor.
- Campfire's free tier: enough worldbuilding to test it on one story.
- Free trials: Scrivener (30 days), Novelcrafter (21 days) and Dabble (14 days) let you test the full product before paying.
What about Notion and Obsidian?
Both are general note-taking apps, and plenty of novelists build their own story bible in them with linked pages and templates. They're flexible, and you design the whole structure yourself. If you enjoy building systems, that's a plus. If you'd rather open a tool that already has a character page, a timeline and a plot-thread tracker, a dedicated story bible tool saves the setup.
Looking for a Scrivener alternative?
Pick by the reason you're leaving:
- "I want it on every device without setting up Dropbox." Dabble or Novelcrafter.
- "The learning curve wore me out." Dabble for drafting, or Ulysses if you're on Apple devices.
- "I need my characters and timeline in one place, not scattered across research notes." LitMemo, Campfire or World Anvil, kept next to the drafting tool you already use.
- "I want to format the book myself." Atticus (any computer) or Vellum (Mac). Scrivener's Compile works too, but these are built for that one job.
A setup that works for a long book
You don't have to pick one tool. A common split looks like this:
- Draft in the editor you're comfortable in: Scrivener, Dabble, Docs or Word.
- Keep the story bible in a dedicated tool so continuity questions take seconds to answer instead of a search through 90,000 words.
- Format at the end with Atticus, Vellum or Reedsy Studio.
The test for any tool is simple: write one full chapter in it during the trial. If you spent that session writing, keep it. If you spent it configuring, try the next one.
If you're halfway through a draft and losing track of who knows what, our guides on organizing worldbuilding notes for a long novel and keeping characters consistent walk through the process, and the free series bible sheet works with any of the tools above.