Comparison

Story Plotter vs Novelist

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Story Plotter

This app helps you craft compelling stories for novels, comics, movies, and more. It offers tools for organizing ideas, developing characters and their relationships, and structuring plot points. AI-powered brainstorming and time-series visualization assist in overcoming writer's block.

Highlights
  • Idea Note
  • Plot Note
  • Plot creation function
  • AI Brainstorming
  • Character Correlation & Family Tree
  • Time series with World Setting
  • Theme Setting
Features
Read full description

This is strong plot creation app that support - Novel - Manga - Movie - Drama - Secondary creation - TRPG Scenario - Script If you are worried about the following, we will suggest to use this App. - I don't know what the plot looks like - I can't organize the flow of the story and get confused - I want to create attractive characters, want to organize relationships - Lots of incidents, but unmanageable. This app is fully packed with the essences of more than 15 script reference books, including "Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting" and “save the cat”, called the scripture Bible. This app will lead you to an interesting screenplay !!! ** Features ** This app have - Idea Note - Plot Note and - Plot creation function So, You can easily create plot using stored idea!! In addition, functions also available to support you. - Brainstorming with AI - Correlation & Family Tree with Character setting - Time series with World Setting - Theme Setting By deepening these, you can escape from stack writing plot ** Postscript ** Unless you have permission, this App does not send any creative data to the internet, so you can use it safe. ** SubScribe ** For $4/month, we offer automatic data synchronization across multiple devices. All features other than automatic data synchronization will continue to be available free of charge. ** Terms and Conditions ** Please see this link for the Terms and Conditions By installing the application, you agree to the Terms and Conditions. Terms and Conditions : https://storyplotter.net/term/pc/en.html Privacy Policy : https://storyplotter.net/privacypolicy/pc/en.html

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

Story Plotter4 screens
Novelist4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Novelist at none against Story Plotter's 4. Novelist also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). Story Plotter's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 weeks). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Story Plotter sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Novelist asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Story Plotter against 4.4 for Novelist. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 193 and 209 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 80% and 79% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Story Plotter ships an update every 2 weeks, Novelist every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Story Plotter versus Novelist: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStory PlotterNovelist
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (193 ratings)4.4 (209 ratings)
Positive reviews80.2% of reviews — better79.4% of reviews
Number of ratings193209 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size193 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHajime HataAlessandro Riperi

Customer experience

Story Plotter

All ratings193 ratings
Positive83.9%
Neutral7.3%
Negative8.8%
Written reviews126 reviews
Positive80.2%
Neutral10.3%
Negative9.5%

Novelist

All ratings209 ratings
Positive84.2%
Neutral6.7%
Negative9.1%
Written reviews218 reviews
Positive79.4%
Neutral10.6%
Negative10.1%

User reviews

Story Plotter

From 193 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful for writing and planning
  • 🚀 Great organizational tools
  • 💡 Detailed character profiles
  • 🔒 Secure and password protected
  • 👍 Clean and easy to navigate

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or performance issues
  • 🔍 Confusing or unclear interface in places
  • 🔒 Limited free features, need to pay for syncing
  • 🐛 Bugs with Bluetooth keyboards
  • 🐛 Data loss issues, stories deleted without warning

Novelist

From 209 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Amazingly different application
  • 🔒 Completely free, with no ads or in-app purchases
  • 👍 Well-organized all-in-one app for writing, plotting, outlining, and scheduling
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 👍 Helps with organizing and keeping things clean

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Confusing menu options and backup/restore process
  • 🐛 Glitches when editing text, cursor behaves unexpectedly
  • 🐛 Crashes or freezes on some devices
  • 🐛 Syncing issues between devices
  • 🐛 Lack of font customization options

Bugs and requests

Story Plotter

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Deleting previous work without warning
  • Crashing when trying to edit thumbnails or move characters
  • Syncing and data transfer issues between devices
  • Bluetooth keyboard compatibility problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to pull photos from external sources
  • Implement a collaborative feature for co-writing
  • Add more customization options for character profiles
  • Improve the character relationship diagram functionality
  • Expand timeline options beyond just years/months/days

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
Show 2 more
  • Spell check and grammar tools
  • Customizable keyboard in dark mode

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Story Plotter

Subscriptions2
  • Data Sync(half price)7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Device Synchronize7 Days trial$3.491 Month
One-time2
  • Number of Image Generations$0.49
  • Releasing AI Limitations$2.99
None

Novelist

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Story Plotter free?
Story Plotter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Novelist free?
Novelist is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Story Plotter or Novelist?
Story Plotter and Novelist are both rated 4.4 out of 5 on the App Store, from 193 and 209 ratings respectively.
Do Story Plotter or Novelist have ads?
Neither Story Plotter nor Novelist shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Story Plotter or Novelist?
Story Plotter ships an update every 2 weeks, and Novelist every 6 weeks. Most recently, Story Plotter was updated on September 23, 2026 and Novelist on September 17, 2026.

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