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Both cover self-publishing and writing & scripts. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Dabble | Plottr | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $19 | From $9.99 |
| Pricing model | Free trial, then paid | Paid subscription |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | 14 days | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Everything, in an open format | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web, iOS, Android | macOS, Windows |
| Covers | Self-Publishing, Writing & Scripts | Self-Publishing, Project Management, Writing & Scripts |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
A novel manuscript, its plot grid beside it
Dabble holds a manuscript, its outline and its story notes in one place, with a plot grid you can open alongside the chapter you are writing. It syncs to a phone, which matters more than it sounds when the useful idea arrives away from the desk. Everything you wrote stays readable and exportable after you stop paying.
Our note
Dabble is the pick if you outline before you draft, because the plot grid is genuinely good and genuinely central. Novlr is cheaper and has a free plan; Plottr does the planning better and does not want to be your editor.
Story structure on a timeline, before the draft
Plottr is for the part before the writing: scenes on a timeline, characters and places as cards, and templates built from the story structures people actually teach. It does not want to be your word processor and exports to the tools that are. Buying it once is an option, which is unusual in this corner now.
Our note
Buy the lifetime licence if you write more than one book, because the yearly price pays for it in under three years and the software is finished enough not to need reinventing. Pair it with Dabble or a plain word processor for the drafting.
Only on this side
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.