A Novelcrafter Alternative With a Folder Instead of a Browser Tab.
Novelcrafter is the app closest to Shiro: your own API key or a local model, and a codex that tells the AI who’s who. The main difference is where the book lives. Novelcrafter runs in your browser and keeps your work on its servers. Shiro is a desktop app that keeps your work in Markdown files on your disk. If a browser suits you, Novelcrafter gives you little reason to leave.
| Shiro | Novelcrafter | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free on your computer. Cloud is optional, see the pricing page. | $4 a month with no AI, $8 with your own key, $14 with Workshop chat, $20 with collaboration. Yearly billing gives two months off, and prices vary by region. 21-day trial with no card, no free plan. |
| Platforms | Mac, Windows, Linux, and a web app for cloud projects | Browser |
| Where your book lives | Plain Markdown files in a folder on your disk, or Shiro Cloud if you move a project there | Its servers, in the EU or US, mainly the EU |
| Works offline | Yes, with no account | Its FAQ says to use it with a connection, and that offline support is planned with no date. That FAQ may be out of date. |
| Your own API key | OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Mistral or a custom endpoint | Yes, from the $8 plan, for example through OpenRouter |
| Local models | Bundled llama.cpp, Ollama, LM Studio | LM Studio and Ollama. The manuscript app itself still needs the internet. |
| Hosted AI with no key | On Cloud plans | None built in, according to its help pages |
| Story wiki | World: entries that reach the AI when mentioned or pinned | The Codex, which decides what context reaches the model |
| Trains on your writing | Shiro never does. The model provider’s terms apply too. | Never, it says, and it says it doesn’t store or log what you send to the AI. The provider’s terms apply too. |
| Export | EPUB, PDF, Word, Markdown, HTML, plain text, with Kindle presets and a pre-upload checklist | Word and Markdown, with guides for moving into Atticus and Scrivener. Its export guide doesn’t mention EPUB or print PDF. |
Checked on the makers’ own websites in November 2026. Prices are in US dollars and change; tell us if we’ve fallen behind.
Choose Novelcrafter If
- You write on computers where you can’t install anything, and a browser is all you get.
- You like building and editing prompts yourself, and you want that at the centre of the app.
- Your codex and your habits are already there and the book is going well. Moving mid-draft is rarely worth it.
- You’d rather pay a small fee to have your work on someone’s server than look after a folder.
Choose Shiro If
- You want to write with no connection at all, using a local model, with nothing leaving your machine.
- You want your book as plain files all the time, as well as when you remember to export.
- You want EPUB and print PDF from the same app, with Kindle presets and a check before upload.
- You’d like the option of no key: a model bundled with the app, or hosted AI on a Cloud plan.
What the Two Apps Agree On
It’s an odd feeling, reading a competitor’s help pages and nodding. Novelcrafter and Shiro start from the same beliefs about AI. In Novelcrafter, from the Hobbyist plan up, you connect a provider such as OpenRouter, or a local model through LM Studio or Ollama. Shiro takes OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Mistral or a custom endpoint, and runs local models through Ollama, LM Studio or the llama.cpp bundled with it.
Both keep a wiki of your story and use it to decide what the model sees. Novelcrafter calls its wiki the Codex. Shiro calls its World, and sends entries that are mentioned in the scene or pinned to it. Both say they don’t train on your writing, and Novelcrafter adds that it doesn’t store or log what you send to the AI. Its help pages also warn that free models on OpenRouter are likely to use your text for training. That warning applies just as much in Shiro.
Where They Part: The Tab and the Folder
Novelcrafter runs in your browser and keeps your book on its servers, mainly in the EU. Its FAQ says to use it with a connection, and that offline support is planned with no date, though that page may have aged. So a local model in Novelcrafter keeps the AI on your computer while the manuscript app still needs the internet.
Shiro’s desktop app is a program on your computer, and the book is a folder of Markdown files. Turn off the wifi, pick a local model and everything keeps working. Requests stay on 127.0.0.1, and we have a test that fails if they don’t. For someone who chose local models because of privacy, or because the cabin has no signal, this is the whole comparison.
Novelcrafter’s docs are candid about the rest. There’s no real-time sync between browsers or devices, you’re warned about overwriting work with two tabs open, it keeps a revision entry every three minutes, and it recommends a manual export each week. Good advice, and we respect anyone who writes it down. Shiro takes snapshots and zip backups on its own, and anything that backs up a folder can back up your book.
Shiro’s limit runs the other way. A local project lives on the computer it’s on. To work across machines, you move it to Shiro Cloud, where edits merge character by character and it stops being a folder until you download it again. The two don’t sync with each other.
Where Novelcrafter Is Ahead
It asks nothing of your computer. Any browser will do, and on a work laptop where you can’t install anything, that settles it. Shiro has a web app, but only for cloud projects and only once you’ve signed in.
It’s also built for writers who want their hands on the machinery: prompts you can edit, a Codex that governs the context, and costs you can read. In Shiro, you teach the AI through skills, and the What Shiro sent panel shows you the result, which is a different habit. Only a trial will tell you which one is yours.
Then there’s the matter of age. Shiro is new. Novelcrafter’s help site walks you through connecting Ollama and LM Studio, and it publishes guides for moving your book into Atticus and Scrivener. An app that tells you how to leave has some confidence in why you’d stay.
When the Book Is Done
Novelcrafter’s export guide covers Word and Markdown, which is enough for a publisher. It doesn’t mention EPUB or print PDF. Shiro’s Publish lens makes both, with Kindle presets, seven book styles and a 16-check list before you upload.
Moving Over
Shiro imports a Novelcrafter export, as a folder or a zip: acts, chapters, scenes, and codex entries as World entries with their aliases. There’s no rush to cancel anything. Novelcrafter says you keep read-only access and export after you stop paying, so you can try the move on a copy and go back if it doesn’t suit.
The Questions People Ask
Can Shiro import my Novelcrafter project?
Yes. Point it at a Novelcrafter export, as a folder or a zip. Acts, chapters and scenes become your binder, and codex entries become World entries with their aliases.
Does Novelcrafter work offline?
Its FAQ says to use it with an internet connection, and that offline support is planned with no date. That FAQ is getting on for two years old by the look of it, so check with them. Shiro’s desktop app works offline with no account.
Do I need my own API key in Shiro?
No. You can run a local model with the llama.cpp that comes with Shiro, use your own key, or use hosted AI on a Cloud plan. You can also use no AI at all.
Is there a free version of Novelcrafter?
There’s no free plan, but a 21-day trial with all features and no card. Plans start at $4 a month, and own-key AI starts at $8. Shiro’s desktop app is free on your computer, and its paid part is Cloud.
Sources: Novelcrafter pricing, Privacy policy, Offline FAQ, Revision history, Does Novelcrafter provide its own AI?, Connecting Ollama, Connecting LM Studio, Free OpenRouter models, Exporting a novel