# Authora vs Novalist

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Novalist at none against Authora's 2. Novalist also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly). Authora's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 27.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Authora sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Novalist asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Authora against 4.5 for Novalist. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

Authora ships an update fortnightly, Novalist every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Authora | Novalist |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.5 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/authora/id6762512907/reviews) | [4.5 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/novalist-novel-writing/id6793009476/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **4** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | **Every 5 days** |
| Monetization | Freemium | **Free** |
| Size | 43 MB | 190 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 27.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Ronan Campbell](https://appshunter.io/developer/1890020534) | [Dominik Goblirsch](https://appshunter.io/developer/6793009478) |

## What reviewers say

### Authora

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/authora/id6762512907)

This writing companion helps aspiring authors reclaim lost minutes for their book projects. It offers tools for writing, storyboarding, and self-publishing directly from a mobile device, turning commutes and waiting times into productive writing sessions.

**Highlights:** Six writing format templates, Rich text editor optimized for mobile, Storyboard for characters, plot, and world-building, Export to EPUB/PDF for self-publishing, Speech-to-text dictation, On-device writing analysis, Encrypted cloud sync (Premium)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Authora Premium (Monthly) | $4.99 | per month |
| Authora Premium (Yearly) | $49.99 | per year |


### Novalist

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/novalist-novel-writing/id6793009476)

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:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Authora free?

Authora is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Novalist free?

Novalist is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Authora or Novalist?

Authora and Novalist are both rated 4.5 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4 and 2 ratings respectively.

### Do Authora or Novalist have ads?

Neither Authora nor Novalist shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Authora or Novalist?

Authora ships an update fortnightly, and Novalist every 5 days. Most recently, Authora was updated on October 23, 2026 and Novalist on October 24, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*