OutlineProcessor vs Novelist
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
OutlineProcessor
This app helps you organize thoughts and ideas with a simple yet powerful outliner. Create nested lists, manage multiple projects, and use intuitive controls to structure essays, novels, or tasks. Its clean interface minimizes distractions for focused thinking.
- Infinite hierarchy for nested lists
- Intuitive controls for reordering items
- Multiple document management
- Focus-oriented minimalist interface
- Idea capture and development
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Bring structure to your thoughts. This app is a simple yet powerful outliner designed to help you capture, organize, and develop your ideas. Whether you're plotting a novel, structuring an essay, planning a project, or managing daily tasks, it's the perfect tool to bring clarity to your thinking. Key Features: Infinite Hierarchy: Create deeply nested lists to explore your ideas in as much detail as you need. Intuitive Controls: Effortlessly move, indent, and reorder items with a single tap, allowing you to restructure your thoughts on the fly. Multiple Documents: Keep your work organized by managing different projects in separate files. Focus-Oriented Design: A clean, minimalist interface frees you from distractions, letting you concentrate on what truly matters—your ideas. Transform scattered thoughts into a coherent plan. Download now and start organizing your mind with ease and clarity.
Novelist
This app provides a comprehensive suite of tools for authors to write, organize, and plot their novels. It offers features for scene creation, story structuring, goal setting, and manuscript export. The platform is designed to support the entire novel-writing process, from initial ideas to the final draft.
- Plotting with customizable story elements
- Scene writing with rich formatting
- Story organization into acts and chapters
- Word count goals and deadline scheduling
- Manuscript export in EPUB, ODT, HTML
- Autosave and version history
- Companion web app
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Join over 200k authors writing their next masterpiece with Novelist! Novelist is the all-in-one app for writing your novels—completely free with no ads or in-app purchases. We give you the freedom to create without limits. Whether you're plotting, outlining, organizing, or scheduling, Novelist provides powerful tools to help bring your story to life. Key Features: ▪ Plot: Organize your story elements like on a board. Easily edit, move, merge, reorder, and add notes, tags, metadata, or images. Everything is customizable. ▪ Write: Craft scenes directly in the app. Annotate or write with rich formatting tools. ▪ Organize: Structure your story into acts, chapters, or any format you like. ▪ Schedule: Set word count goals or deadlines to stay on track. Advanced Tools: ▪ Autosave, find/replace, add comments, and restore previous versions from history ▪ Mention story items directly in your text for quick reference ▪ Split your screen with reference panels to inspect items while writing ▪ Track your progress daily with detailed stats ▪ Real-time preview without leaving the app ▪ Export and share your manuscript in EPUB, ODT, or HTML formats ▪ Enjoy an interface optimized for large screens ▪ Write on any browser with the companion web app ▪ Create templates for book series to streamline your workflow ▪ Backup and restore locally or with Google Drive ▪ Switch to dark mode for comfortable writing during long sessions Your story, your way—with Novelist.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Novelist at 79% against OutlineProcessor's 20%. Novelist also leads on rating (4.4 vs 3.5) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. OutlineProcessor sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Novelist asks for nothing beyond the download.
Novelist holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Novelist has 209 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 20% of OutlineProcessor's written reviews are positive against 79% of Novelist's.
OutlineProcessor ships an update every 59 months, Novelist every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | OutlineProcessor | Novelist |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (4 ratings) | 4.4 (209 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 20.0% of reviews | 79.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 209 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 59 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 54 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | hirokazu murabe | Alessandro Riperi |
Customer experience
OutlineProcessor
Novelist
Bugs and requests
OutlineProcessor
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Novelist
Reported bugs
4 issues- Backup/restore process can lead to data loss
- Cursor and text editing issues
- Crashes and freezes on some devices
- Syncing problems between devices
Requested features
7 requests- Ability to import/export in various formats (PDF, Markdown, etc.)
- Improved syncing and cloud integration
- More font and formatting options
- Ability to add images/illustrations to the book
- Collaboration/co-writing features
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- Spell check and grammar tools
- Customizable keyboard in dark mode
In-app purchases
OutlineProcessor
- Hide Advertisement$2.99
Novelist
No in-app purchases
