Comparison

UpSet Plot vs Novalist

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

Head to head
About

UpSet Plot

Features
Read full description

UpSet Plot shows how groups overlap. Each column is a combination. Dots show which sets it belongs to. • Add sets and members, then tap a circle to include someone • Import or export CSV and JSON • Read a plain-language summary of exclusives and shared members • Share a PNG, or save one with a transparent background

About

Novalist

A dedicated writing environment for novelists to plan, build worlds, and write manuscripts. It offers a clean editor with advanced features, a comprehensive world-building codex, and flexible organizational tools. Your writing is stored in plain files on your device, ensuring ownership and longevity.

Highlights
  • Clean writing editor with formatting and comments
  • World-building codex for characters, locations, and lore
  • Plotting tools: Grid, Timeline, Calendar, Relationships
  • Multi-book projects with shared World Bible
  • Plain file storage for project ownership
  • Themeable interface and keyboard navigation
Features
Read full description

Novalist is a writing environment built for novelists — a single, focused workspace where you plan your story, build your world, and write the manuscript, instead of bending a general-purpose word processor to the task. WRITE A clean editor with real formatting, paragraph styles, inline comments, and footnotes. Focus Mode hides everything but the page; the split editor lets you work on two scenes at once. Every scene auto-saves with its own snapshot history, so you can compare versions and revert a single scene without disturbing the rest of the book. Smart quotes, em-dashes, and dialogue punctuation are handled as you type, with presets for ten languages, alongside grammar and spelling checks and live word count, reading time, and readability. BUILD YOUR WORLD A full Codex keeps your characters, locations, items, and lore in one place — with images, relationships, custom fields, and long-form notes. Define your own entity types, such as factions, spells, vehicles, or races, each with its own fields. Character details can change per act, chapter, or scene, so someone can age, move, or transform across the story without losing their earlier state. PLAN AND SEE THE SHAPE Plot Grid: toggle which scenes belong to each plotline in a spreadsheet view. Timeline: acts, chapters, scenes, and events in chronological order. In-world Calendar: place scenes on the dates they happen in your story. Relationships: a living map of who knows whom, with automatic inverse roles. ORGANIZE WITHOUT LOCK-IN Work in multi-book projects with a shared World Bible for a series. Chapters carry status, acts, and colors; Smart Lists save the scene queries you return to. And your project is simply plain files on disk — add, rename, move, or delete scenes in Finder and Novalist keeps up. Your writing stays in a format you can read forever. MAKE IT YOURS A themeable interface, keyboard-driven navigation with a command palette, and an extension system for adding new tools. Novalist keeps your manuscript on your Mac, in files you own. Write the book.

Screenshots

UpSet Plot4 screens
Novalist4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Novalist at none against UpSet Plot's shown. Novalist also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 4 months). UpSet Plot's advantage is iOS requirement (18.0 vs 27.0). On price, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UpSet Plot ships an update every 4 months, Novalist every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
UpSet Plot versus Novalist: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUpSet PlotNovalist
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.5 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.0 — better27.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB190 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJapality LimitedDominik Goblirsch

In-app purchases

None

UpSet Plot

No in-app purchases

None

Novalist

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is UpSet Plot free?
UpSet Plot is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Novalist free?
Novalist is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do UpSet Plot or Novalist have ads?
UpSet Plot shows ads; Novalist does not.
Which is updated more often, UpSet Plot or Novalist?
UpSet Plot ships an update every 4 months, and Novalist every 5 days. Most recently, UpSet Plot was updated on October 20, 2026 and Novalist on October 24, 2026.

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