Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover self-publishing. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Kobo Writing Life | Plottr | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | From $9.99 |
| Pricing model | Free | Paid subscription |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Billing | Usage-based | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web | macOS, Windows |
| Covers | Self-Publishing | 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 |
Publish to Kobo and keep your rights
Kobo Writing Life puts a book in front of Rakuten Kobo's readers, and through OverDrive into public libraries, without asking for exclusivity in return. Publishing costs nothing and the author sets the price. For anybody whose first shelf is Amazon this is the obvious second one, and the library route is the part Amazon has no answer to.
Our note
There is no reason not to be on it if you are already selling elsewhere, since it costs nothing and asks for nothing in return. Treat it as a second channel rather than a first: the reader numbers are Amazon's game, and the library route is where Kobo earns its place.
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.