Novlr vs Plottr Comparison 2026
Novlr is where the drafting happens: a distraction-free page with goals, streaks and version history, free for a working writing environment and $8 a month billed yearly for Starter once unlimited projects and history matter. Plottr is where the planning happens first: scenes on a timeline, characters and places as cards, from $9.99 a month or $150 once, with no free plan. Novlr's own listing names Plottr directly as what a heavy planner needs before opening it, and Plottr says the same in reverse, pointing planners toward a plain word processor for the draft. These are not rivals; they are the two halves of the same project.
A writing app with a free plan that writes
Story structure on a timeline, before the draft
At a glance
- Novlr starts cheaper, at $8.
- Only Novlr has a free tier.
Side by side
Novlr | Plottr | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $8 | From $9.99 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | Paid subscription |
| Free tier (they differ) | Yes | No |
| Billing | Not stated | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | None | Not stated |
| API | Not stated |
Novlr
A writing app with a free plan that writes
Novlr is a distraction-free place to write a book, with goals, streaks and version history around the page rather than on top of it. The free plan is a working writing tool rather than a locked demo. Paying adds the proofreader and the longer history, and it is billed yearly.
Our note
Start on the free plan and only pay when version history or the proofreader becomes the thing you miss. At $8 a month the Starter tier is the cheapest serious writing subscription in the catalog.
Plottr
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.
Why people weigh these two
- Plottr instead of Novlr
- Plottr builds the story structure on a timeline before any drafting starts, the planning step for a writer who finds Novlr's blank page too open.
- Novlr instead of Plottr
- Novlr is a full word processor with a free plan attached, paid from $8 against Plottr's $9.99, the drafting half Plottr sends you elsewhere for once the outline is done.
Which one should you pick
Pick Novlr for the actual drafting: it is free to write in indefinitely, not a demo, and Starter at $8 a month billed yearly is, by its own account, the cheapest serious writing subscription in this catalog. Anybody who plans heavily before drafting will still want a separate tool for that part.
Pick Plottr for the planning that happens before a word is drafted: a timeline of scenes, character and place cards, and templates built from story structures people actually teach. There is no free plan, starting at $9.99 a month or $150 once for a lifetime licence, and it explicitly hands off to a word processor rather than trying to become one, exactly the gap Novlr fills. A writer who plans in detail is buying both, not choosing between them.
Common questions
- Do I need both Novlr and Plottr?
- If you plan in detail before drafting, likely yes. Novlr's own listing says anybody who plans heavily wants the structure tools in Plottr, and Plottr says the reverse, recommending a plain word processor for the actual draft.
- Can I outline a story inside Novlr the way Plottr does?
- Not with the same tools. Plottr is built specifically for scene timelines, character cards and story-structure templates. Novlr is a distraction-free drafting environment with goals and streaks, not an outlining tool.
- Which is cheaper to start with?
- Novlr: its free plan is a genuine writing environment, not a trial, and Starter is $8 a month billed yearly. Plottr has no free plan at all, starting at $9.99 a month or $150 for a lifetime licence.
- Does Plottr let me draft the actual manuscript?
- It does not want to, by its own description, and exports to the tools that do. Novlr is built for exactly that drafting step, with a free plan that is a real writing tool rather than a locked demo.
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.