Novelist is described as 'Free app for writing stories with tools to plot, outline, organize scenes, arrange acts and chapters, add notes and images, and set custom writing goals' and is a Novel Authoring tool in the news & books category. There are more than 25 alternatives to Novelist for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Web-based, Mac, Linux and SaaS apps. The best Novelist alternative is Zettlr, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Novelist are Manuskript, Scrivener, Roam Research and novelWriter.
Unified writing platform offering note-taking, easy citations with Zotero integration, LaTeX/Word templates, snippets, themes, dark modes, code highlighting, multi-language support, and knowledge management with Zettelkasten for seamless writing from notes to books.
Germany
EU
Open-source software offering a hierarchical outliner, distraction-free editor, character management, plot tools, Snowflake method support, section multi-organization, customizable writing workflows, cross-platform availability, and export to standard formats.
FranceEU
Tailored for extensive writing, this tool offers flexible structure and organization, integrates project outlines, supports various formats, and allows reorganization through drag and drop, ensuring research materials are within reach for efficient work.
United Kingdom
As easy to use as a word document or bulleted list, and as powerful for finding, collecting, and connecting related ideas as a graph database. Collaborate with others in real time, or store all your data locally.
United States
novelWriter is a Markdown-like text editor designed for writing novels and larger projects of many smaller plain text documents. It uses its own flavor of Markdown that supports a meta data syntax for comments, synopsis and cross-referencing between files.
Aevon is the all-in-one workspace where authors manage manuscripts, characters, maps, lore, and items — all connected and always in sync. Now with comics!!!
United States
Focus on your words not the interface. Quoll Writer is a writing application that helps you focus on your words. Clean and uncluttered. Feature rich. Features are where you would expect them to be.
Australia
Cloud-based novel writing platform with tree-structured binder, corkboard, outliner, detailed character sheets, mind mapping, DOCX import with auto chapters, PDF/DOCX/EPUB export, built-in encyclopedia, distraction-free writing, and multilingual support.
ItalyEU
Untold Novel is a fresh new approach to planning your next bestseller. It helps you keep all your notes, ideas, characters, locations, and much more organized in one convenient place.
Free, open-source writing app for plotters. Import your outline from Scrivener, Plottr, yWriter, or Obsidian — then draft with your scene beats, character notes, and story structure visible alongside your prose. No AI, no subscription, no cloud.
Canada
Rayuela Editor is moderm, privacy-focused writing environment designed for long-form fiction (novels, screenplays, and theses). It bridges the gap between the structural power of Scrivener and the portability of modern web technology, wrapped in a native desktop application.
Modern workspace for novels with ethical AI that analyzes writing but never writes, live readability, import/export, auto-save, full version history, character and plot tools, structured critique, and provenance tracking while ensuring all text remains original.
Norway
