The Best Novel-Writing Software, Sorted by What You Need

The Short Answer, by Need

If you want	Look at
One project for a long manuscript and all its research, for one payment	Scrivener
To plot visually across a whole series, and write somewhere else	Plottr
The same book on every device, including offline, with no AI	Dabble
AI drafting and revision for fiction, with no setup	Sudowrite
To choose your own AI model and control what reaches it	Novelcrafter
Finished print and ebook files for a one-off price	Atticus
The file format editors and publishers already work in	Word
A draft people can comment on today, with nothing to install	Google Docs
Your book as plain files on your disk, on any desktop, with AI optional	Shiro

Scrivener takes the first row on merit and has for many years. We’ve put ourselves last because we’re the party with an interest, and because we’d rather you read about the others first.

What They Cost and Where They Run

Prices are in US dollars as shown to a US visitor, before tax, and several are promotional. Check before you buy.

App	Price	Runs on	Your work lives	AI	Exports
Scrivener	$59.99 once per system, $95.98 for Mac and Windows, $23.99 on iOS	Mac, Windows, iOS	Project on your disk	None	Word, RTF, PDF, EPUB, Kindle, Final Draft
Dabble	From $15 a month billed yearly; lifetime from $699	Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, web	Dabble’s cloud, with a local copy	None, by policy	Word, Google Docs, web page, Markdown
Sudowrite	From $10 a month billed yearly, $19 billed monthly	Web, plus a mobile app its site describes	Synced between sessions	Core product	Word, zip, CSV
Novelcrafter	$4 a month, $8 with your own AI key	Browser	Vendor’s cloud, EU first	Own key or local model, from $8	Word, Markdown
Atticus	$147 once	Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook	Local, with cloud backup	Not stated	EPUB, PDF, Word
Plottr	$60 a year or $150 once	Windows, Mac; browser on Pro	Your device; cloud on Pro	“No AI”	Word, Scrivener
Word	Free on the web; $9.99 a month; $179.99 once	Web, iOS, Android, PC, Mac	Local or OneDrive	Copilot, limits by plan	PDF, Word
Google Docs	Free for personal use; Workspace from $7 a user	Web, Android (iOS not checked)	Google’s cloud	Gemini, on eligible plans	Word, ODT, RTF, PDF, TXT, EPUB, Markdown
Shiro	Free on your computer; Cloud is paid	Mac, Windows, Linux; web for cloud projects	Markdown files on your disk	Optional: local, your key or hosted	EPUB, PDF, Word, Markdown, HTML, text

For a Long Book With a Lot of Research: Scrivener

Scrivener’s binder, corkboard and outliner keep a whole manuscript and its research in one project, and its compile turns that into almost anything. It’s one payment per system, with a 30-day trial counted in days you actually use it, and major new versions are discounted paid upgrades. Its makers state that it contains no AI. If you want one program for a long book, and you want to stop paying once you’ve paid, start here.

The trade-offs are time and reach. Compile rewards the hours you give it, and it asks for them. Literature & Latte’s versions cover Mac, Windows and iOS, and syncing to iOS goes through Dropbox. We wrote a longer comparison, and it says where to stay.

For Seeing the Plot: Plottr

Plottr is a planner first: timelines, plotlines and scene cards, strongest when you’re keeping a series straight. It exports to Word and Scrivener, which tells you how it expects to be used, beside the app where you do your writing. There’s a 30-day trial, and it lists “No AI” on every plan. Note that purchases aren’t refundable. If your problem is that book three contradicts book one, this is a very direct answer.

For Writing Everywhere, Calmly: Dabble

Dabble runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android and the browser, keeps work on your devices for offline use, and syncs when you reconnect. Its Plot Grid is tied to the manuscript, and the interface is quick to learn. There’s a clear policy against generative AI. If you write on a laptop, a tablet and a phone in the same week, few others here cover all three.

It’s a subscription, or a sizeable lifetime payment. Dabble’s own documentation says it “does not export PDF or ePub directly”, so you’ll format the finished book elsewhere.

For AI Drafting Without Setup: Sudowrite

Sudowrite is built around AI for fiction: drafting and revision in the app, a Story Bible that keeps characters and outline in view, and its own fiction model, Muse, among dozens of others. You don’t configure anything, which is the appeal. Plans work on monthly credits, so heavy use has a real meter. Its FAQ says it doesn’t use your writing to train AI models. Export is Word, a project zip and CSV, and its documentation doesn’t mention EPUB or print files, so plan for a formatting step.

For Choosing Your Own AI: Novelcrafter

Novelcrafter doesn’t supply the model. You connect one through your own key, or a local model through Ollama or LM Studio. Its Codex, a wiki of your story, decides what context the model receives. From $4 a month without AI, $8 with your own key, and a 21-day trial with no card. The bill for AI is yours and visible, which suits people who want to know what it costs.

It runs in the browser. Its help has said it needs an internet connection, and warns against overwriting work across tabs, so check how that sits with how you work. Exports are Word and Markdown, with guides for moving into Atticus and Scrivener.

For the Finished Book: Atticus

Atticus has the strongest publishing output on this list: EPUB, PDF and Word files, with trim sizes marked for KDP and IngramSpark, at one price of $147 and with future updates included. It runs on any desktop system as an installed web app, works offline, and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. You could use it at the end of a project, whatever you drafted in. Its site says nothing we could find on AI either way.

If you’re publishing yourself, read our guide to formatting a book for KDP before buying anything: it’ll show you what a tool like this saves you.

The Two You Probably Already Have

Word is the file format of publishing: editors, agents and copy editors work in tracked changes, and KDP accepts Word files for both ebook and print. Layout control is fine-grained. It’s free on the web, with OneDrive. What it lacks is any idea of a scene, so a novel ends up as one long file you scroll through. Microsoft’s community answers point to third-party tools for EPUB. Our page on writing a book in Word goes further.

Google Docs has real-time comments and asks nothing of your beta readers, who already know it. It exports to EPUB, Word and Markdown, among others. Offline use needs Chrome or Edge, an extension, and setting up while you’re still online, which is worth doing before the train rather than on it. Gemini is built in on eligible plans.

Neither is a bad choice for a first novel. The best argument for either is that you’re already in it and haven’t stopped.

And Ours: Shiro

Shiro is a desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux that keeps your book as Markdown files in a folder, works offline with no account, and is free on your computer. It has a board, plot grid and timeline, a World for characters and places with continuity checks, and a Publish lens with Kindle presets. AI is optional: it can run on your own machine, on your own key or through our paid Cloud, and you can switch it off entirely.

It’s also new. It has no phone app yet and no screenwriting. Nobody has written a manual about it, and no forum has years of answers waiting. We think it’s good, and you’d expect us to.

How to Choose in an Evening

Three questions settle most of it. Where do you want the files to live: your disk, or someone’s cloud? Do you want AI in the app, out of it, or under your control? And will you format the book yourself, or hand off a Word file to someone who does?

Then take your two likeliest candidates and write one real chapter in each, because a free trial spent on a sample paragraph tells you nothing. Bring something hard: a chapter with four points of view, or a timeline that doesn’t behave. Whichever you pick, the middle of the book will still be waiting.

Sources

Read on 6 November 2026. No product was installed or tested. Scrivener, Dabble pricing and export, Sudowrite pricing and FAQ, Novelcrafter pricing, Atticus, Plottr pricing, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace pricing, Google Docs offline.

The Questions People Ask

What is the best software for writing a novel?

It depends on the book and on you. Scrivener is the long-standing answer for a long, research-heavy manuscript, and it costs one payment. If you’d rather have something quick to learn on every device, look at Dabble. If you want AI drafting, look at Sudowrite or Novelcrafter.

Is there a good free option?

Word for the web and Google Docs are free for basic use and fine for a first novel. Shiro’s desktop app is free on your computer, and we would say that, so check it against the others. Dabble, Novelcrafter and Scrivener all offer free trials.

Do I need special software at all?

No. Plenty of novels have been finished in Word. Dedicated tools earn their keep once a book is long enough that you lose track of scenes, or when you want to move them around. If your current setup isn’t getting in the way, keep it.

Which novel-writing software doesn’t use AI?

Scrivener says it contains no AI, Dabble has a no-AI policy, and Plottr lists “No AI” on every plan. Word and Google Docs have AI built in on certain plans. Shiro’s AI is optional and can be turned off entirely.

Last revised November 2026.