There’s no single best writing app for novels, but there is a best fit for every writer. Scrivener ($59.99 one-time) is great if you love to plan and don’t mind taking some time to learn. Atticus ($147 one-time) is popular with self-publishers who want to write and format their books in one place.
If you’re looking for free options, Reedsy Studio and Google Docs do the trick. Novelcrafter (from $4 a month) is ideal for writers juggling huge casts or complex worlds. And Word? It’s still the safe bet when your editor wants tracked changes.
Most people searching for “the best writing software for novels” are already writing, and something about their current setup is frustrating them. Word crawls past a certain length.
Google Docs has no way to see a book as chapters and scenes. Scrivener looked powerful in the trial and then felt like flying a plane.
This guide lines up your options based on your writing style, and then tackles stuff those “top ten” lists barely mention: the real limits of free tools, what AI writing apps actually do, how things run on Android or phones, what formatting looks like, and what you really end up spending over a book’s life. All prices are in US dollars from November 2026.
UK buyers will see prices converted at checkout, so double-check before you pay.
BHTNews has no affiliate relationship with the tools named here.
Table of Contents
Best Writing Software For Novels: The Short Answer
If you want a decision in thirty seconds, use this table. The reasoning follows in the sections below.
| If you are… | Start with | Why |
| A planner who outlines chapters and scenes | Scrivener, or The Novel Factory if you want guidance | Binder and corkboard views let you rearrange a book as pieces, not one long scroll |
| A discovery writer (pantser) who just wants to draft | Reedsy Studio, Novlr or a plain Google Doc per chapter | Clean writing space, little setup, autosave |
| Building a large world or series | Novelcrafter, Scribeist or Obsidian | Linked notes for characters, places and lore |
| Self-publishing and want one tool | Atticus | Drafting, collaboration and ebook/print formatting together |
| On a tight budget | Google Docs, Reedsy Studio, yWriter, Wavemaker | Free, with limits covered below |
| Working with an editor or co-author | Word or Google Docs | Track changes and shared comments are what editors expect |
| On a Mac and want something elegant | Ulysses (subscription) or Scrivener | Ulysses is Apple-only; Scrivener runs on Mac and Windows |
What Software Do Most Novelists Use?
Nobody publishes a reliable census, so any exact share you see online is a guess. What the sources show is a pattern.
In the six pages reviewed for this article, authors named Word, Scrivener, Atticus, Google Docs, and Vellum far more often than anything else.
Melissa DelPort, who has written 28 books, drafts in Word, uses Scrivener for notes and worldbuilding, and formats in Vellum. Kindlepreneur’s author drafts in Atticus.
The Write Practice’s author finished six books in Scrivener but moved them into Word for editing.
That last detail matters. A lot of published novelists jump between two or three tools: one for drafting, another for editing, another for formatting. If you feel behind because you haven’t pledged loyalty to a single app, don’t. You’re not alone.
Which Tool Fits Which Kind of Writer
Planners and Outliners
If you want to know the ending before you even type Chapter One, you probably want structure on your screen.
Scrivener’s binder, corkboard, and outliner are built for this: think story maps, quick character tracking, and organizing big, tangled plots (Melissa DelPort swears by it for fantasy).
The Novel Factory holds your hand even more, with roadmaps, plot templates, and character surveys.
The Novel Factory’s own review site ranks the company first, which is worth knowing, but its list of trade-offs (subscription, less customization, no built-in AI) is honest.
Discovery Writers
If you write to find out what happens, too much structure feels like a straitjacket. FocusWriter is completely bare-bones and free.
Novlr is a clean web app with autosave and version history, perfect for quick drafts. Reedsy Studio gives you core writing and formatting for free.
Many writers stick to plain documents: one Google Doc or Word file per chapter keeps things loading fast and avoids the headaches of one giant, sluggish file.
Worldbuilders and Series Writers
Fantasy and sci-fi folks usually outgrow simple manuscript tools. Novelcrafter adds a Codex for your sprawling character lists, places, and lore. Scribeist tracks character relationships.
One author who tried 22 different apps ended up using Obsidian, a free note-taking app that keeps plain files on your computer, works offline, and links notes easily.
The flip side? Obsidian is awkward for sharing drafts; it’s more for notes than for manuscript flipping and editing.
Co-Authors and Editors
Editors usually want Word’s track changes. Google Docs is easier when several people need live comments. Both sources reviewed agree that neither is built for formatting a finished book. Still the Benchmark (and Why It Trips Up New Users)
Scrivener: Still the Benchmark, and Why Beginners Bounce Off It
Scrivener lands on every list for a reason. Rearranging scenes in Word is tedious: cut, scroll, paste, pray nothing breaks. In Scrivener, every scene is its own item in the sidebar, so you just drag and drop.
The author at The Write Practice said his first book in Word took some 550 hours. His second, using Scrivener, took about 200. That’s a big difference; he admits the second book was easier partly because he’d already written one, so don’t read that as a promise.
As for Cost: According to a UK publishing guide from September 2026 and Kindlepreneur, Scrivener is $59.99 for Windows or Mac, $95.98 for both, $50.99 for students, and $23.99 for the iOS app.
Upgrades have cost money in the past, so a “one-time” purchase isn’t necessarily forever. Good news, though: the trial lasts 30 days of actual use, not just 30 calendar days.
Now the complaint. A Reddit thread in r/selfpublish asks for software with Scrivener’s chapter layout that isn’t as heavy, and ideally in the cloud.
The poster says Scrivener is hard to navigate and full of functions a first-time pantser won’t use.
One popular bit of advice: Use Word for the second draft, plus Scrivener to organize and tidy up. Novel-software.com makes the same point: Scrivener’s powerful, but you pay for it in patience (and there’s no web version).
So here’s a rule of thumb: If you can name three Scrivener features you’ll use in the first month, it’s worth buying. If not, start simple. You can always switch later; chapters exported as text or Word files move just fine.
Best Free Writing Software For Novels
For a first novel, free tools really can work as long as you know their limits.
- Google Docs: it is free, autosaves constantly, and is easiest for sharing. Google’s support page says a doc can hold about 1.02 million characters, which, at about six characters per word, means it’ll comfortably fit a 150,000-word epic (that’s a ballpark, not a guarantee). The real snag for most people? Long files slow down. Keeping each chapter as a separate doc usually helps.
- Reedsy Studio: core writing and formatting are free, with one-click EPUB export and print-ready PDF with trim size and theme options. Paid add-ons are Studio Essential at $4.99/month and Outlining at $7.99/month. It has no dedicated mobile app, but works in a mobile browser. The Substack author reports it can crash, which is one more reason to back up.
- yWriter: free, tracks scenes, characters and locations, and is dated in look. novel-software.com says it’s free at least for Windows.
- Wavemaker: It is another free one, browser-based, runs offline, has corkboard and mind-mapping tools. Its tools do not connect.
- FocusWriter: free, distraction-free, nothing else.
- Bibisco Community Edition: free, strong on character profiles; some features such as timelines and find and replace sit in the paid edition (€69 one-time per Novel-Software).
- Word on the Web: It’s free if you have a Microsoft account and 5 GB of OneDrive storage (according to Kindlepreneur). For the full desktop app, you’ll need Microsoft 365.
Free writing tools are fine for drafting, but where they often fall short is version history, export quality, and support. No matter what you use, save a backup copy of your manuscript somewhere safe.
Best AI Writing App For Novels
AI tools for fiction break into two main types, and mixing them up causes trouble. One kind actually writes or rewrites your scenes for you.
The other kind keeps track of your story characters, plot points, continuity, and helps you answer story questions or brainstorm ideas.
Sudowrite is in the first group. Kindlepreneur’s author, who has tried many AI tools, says it is one of the few he finds useful for fiction, mainly for getting unstuck, and warns that leaning on it makes writing feel off.
Sudowrite’s docs list Hobby & Student at $19 a month ($10 billed annually), Professional at $29 ($22 annual), and Max at $59 ($ 44 annual), with credits that differ by plan and a refund window in the first week rather than a free trial.
Novelcrafter and Scribeist are closer to the second group. Novelcrafter’s cheapest tier, Scribe, is $4 a month ($40 a year) and has no AI.
AI starts at Hobbyist ($8 a month), and you pay your own AI provider separately, per a Chapter blog post dated October 6, 2026, that cites Novelcrafter’s pricing page. That source is a competing product’s blog, so confirm on Novelcrafter’s site.
Scribeist has a 21-day trial and runs in the browser (subscription only, so offline writing is limited). Fictionary StoryTeller analyzes your finished draft’s pacing and structure, starting at $19 a month.
Two cautions apply whichever you pick.
- First, check AI rules wherever you plan to publish or submit. Publishers and contests have their own rules, and they change.
- Second, if the idea of AI in your manuscript bothers you, plenty of tools skip it. The Novel Factory states it has no AI features, and the others in the free section are plain writing and planning tools. For a broader look at writing assistants, see our guide to
AI tools for blog writing, though it targets blog posts rather than fiction.
Writing a Novel on Android, iPad and Your Phone
This is where most lists go quiet. Based on the pages read, Scrivener’s only mobile app is for iOS and iPadOS ($23.99), and I found no Android version described in any source. Ulysses is Apple-only. Vellum is Mac-only.
Android writers therefore lean on web apps and general tools. Kindlepreneur lists Word as available on Android. Google Docs works in a mobile browser too, but I did not verify its Android app details for this article. Atticus and Reedsy Studio run in a browser.
Novelcrafter and Scribeist both run in a browser. Technically you can use them on your phone, but typing long scenes with your thumbs and dealing with spotty offline support gets old fast. Try your exact device with airplane mode before you count on it.
Wavemaker is designed to keep working offline and syncs later. If you’re on Android, a practical combo is to draft in a web app or Google Docs, keep chapters separate, and export a backup every week.
Do You Need Separate Formatting Software?
Only if you are publishing the book yourself. Editors typically want a Word file, not a formatted ebook.
For self-publishers, the choices are Atticus, Vellum and Reedsy Studio. Atticus costs $147 one-time and runs in a browser on Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook, per a UK guide updated in September 2026.
That page mentions a 30-day money-back guarantee; novel-software.com says there is no free trial, so check the refund terms on Atticus’s own site.
Vellum is Mac-only: $199.99 for ebooks, $249.99 with print, and $69.99 to upgrade later, according to an October 13, 2026 comparison. Reedsy Studio’s free tier exports EPUB and print PDF.
One thing to keep in mind: The two longest guides in search results for this topic are written by an Atticus co-founder and a Novel Factory owner, so their rankings favor their own tools.
DelPort, who uses Vellum, says it’s worth it mainly if you plan to release several books. That fits the price.
Scrivener can compile to ebook and print, but both Kindlepreneur and DelPort steer people away from it for formatting.
What Novel Writing Software Really Costs
A subscription and a one-time license cost the same at the start and very differently after three years.
The table below does the arithmetic on published prices. It’s a simple multiplication, not a quote from any vendor, and it excludes tax and any price changes. Price checked November 2026.
| Tool | Price | Over 3 years | Notes |
| Scrivener (one platform) | $59.99 once | $59.99 | Paid major upgrades possible |
| Atticus | $147 once | $147 | Check refund terms |
| Vellum Press | $249.99 once | $249.99 | Mac only |
| Novelcrafter Scribe | $40 a year | $120 | No AI; AI plans cost more |
| Novlr | $96 a year (from $10 a month) | $288 | Free plan with limits; a $499 lifetime option was listed by Kindlepreneur |
| Reedsy Studio Essential | $4.99 a month | $179.64 | Core features free |
| Sudowrite Hobby & Student | $10 a month billed annually | $360 | Credits limit use |
| Google Docs, FocusWriter, yWriter | Free | $0 | Limits covered above |
Takeaway: one-time purchases are cheaper for long projects, but subscriptions are easier to cancel if you stop writing.
Ulysses, for instance, is $39.99 a year in the US. If you finish one book over two years, the price difference isn’t huge. But if you’re writing a whole series, subscriptions add up fast.
How to Test a Tool Without Losing Your Manuscript
Trials are shorter than they look. Scrivener’s 30 days count only the days you open it. Novelcrafter lists 21 days. Atticus may not offer a trial. Use that time on purpose.
Test Drive: Picking the Right Writing Software
- Paste in three real chapters, not sample junk. Real chapters show real issues.
- Move a scene somewhere else and see how quick it is.
- Export to Word or plain text and check it on a different computer. If the formatting breaks, you’ve spotted a lock-in risk.
- Check where your files live. Are they cloud-only, local, or can you choose? Local files mean you have to handle your own backups.
- Try it on the device where you usually write, phone included if that’s important.
- Write at least 500 words. If the tool keeps getting in your way, it’s not the right one.
And whichever tool wins, save a copy of the manuscript as a Word or text file at the end of each writing week. Apps change pricing, shut down, and crash. Evernote, for instance, exports only HTML and PDF according to the Substack tester, which would make leaving it painful.
Conclusion
The best writing software is the one you’ll actually use every day, and that’s tied to your writing style way more than any feature list. Planners often love Scrivener or The Novel Factory.
Discovery writers usually stick to Reedsy Studio, Novlr, or good old folders full of documents. Self-publishers get a lot out of Atticus or Vellum near the end.
Any of these plus a weekly backup beats a “perfect” tool you never learn.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is Scrivener worth it for a first novel?
Only if you actually plan to use the planning tools. Scrivener is $59.99 on Windows or Mac, but you get a 30-day trial with actual use days, so you can write a few chapters and see how it feels. If the interface feels like too much, honestly, you might be happier with a simpler app or just regular documents when you’re starting.
What software does JK Rowling use to write?
It is not publicly confirmed. None of the sources reviewed for this article names the software she uses, so treat claims online with caution.
Do I need Atticus if I already write in Scrivener?
Not unless you plan to self-publish. If you just need a clean Word file for editing or to send to an agent, Scrivener’s fine. But the compile feature can get tricky if you’re trying to prepare a finished book for print or Kindle, and plenty of self-publishers (like Kindlepreneur and DelPort) warn about that. Reedsy Studio has a free export feature. Try that before you spend anything extra.
Is Microsoft Word good enough to write a novel?
Yes, many writers do use it. Editors especially like Word for its track changes feature. The main downside? Every draft ends up in one long document, and Word can slow down as the file gets bigger. Some writers report slowdowns as files get very long, depending on their computer. Breaking your novel up into separate chapter files can help a lot.
Can I write a novel on a phone or tablet?
You can, but honestly, it works best as a backup or for writing on the go. Scrivener has an iOS app, and you can run things like Reedsy Studio, Atticus, or Google Docs in your mobile browser. Always test how they work offline before you count on them; some apps don’t behave well without an internet connection.
Should a beginner choose software that plans the story for them?
Depends on your writing style. If you like extra help and guidance, tools like The Novel Factory walk you through each step and can be a big confidence boost. On the other hand, if you figure things out while you write, all that structure might just get in the way. The good news is, many of these apps have free trials or free versions, so just try one with your own idea, and you’ll know pretty fast if it works for you.
