Comparison
FictionAI vs Novelcrafter
Both let you bring your own AI key, so in both you pay the AI provider directly. FictionAI is built around generating a story bible and then drafting chapters from it; Novelcrafter is built around your own writing, with AI help and its Codex for lore.
3 books free, no credit card. AI use is billed by OpenRouter to your own account.
Side by side
FictionAI facts next to what we can say about Novelcrafter. For their current features and plans, see novelcrafter.com.
| FictionAI | Novelcrafter | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free, or Pro at $9.99/month | Subscription plans (see novelcrafter.com/pricing) |
| Bring your own AI key | Yes (OpenRouter) | Yes, on most plans |
| Story bible | Premise, title, world, cast and outline generated in one action, then edited | Codex for lore, characters and locations (see their site) |
| Chapter drafting | Writes whole chapters from the story bible and earlier chapters | See their site |
| Outline | Generated chapter outline you can reorder, add to and regenerate | See their site |
| Series | Yes, on Pro: series outline, cast and world | See their site |
| Export | DOCX, PDF, Markdown, plain text, HTML | See their site |
| Cost shown per generation | Yes: estimate before, actual after | See their site |
The key difference
FictionAI: plan, then draft
Pitch a story in a sentence or two, get an editable story bible, then have each chapter drafted from it. You edit the prose by hand or with Continue, Rewrite selection and Revise.
Novelcrafter: write with a companion
Novelcrafter centres on your own manuscript, with AI features and its Codex alongside. Check their site for exactly what their AI tools do today.
Same billing idea
Both let you use your own AI key, so neither has to resell AI to you. FictionAI adds a cost estimate before each generation and a running total per book.
FictionAI plans
AI use is billed by OpenRouter to your own account in both plans.
| Plan detail | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $9.99/month |
| Books | Up to 3 | Unlimited |
| Series | None | Unlimited |
| Adult content | No | Yes |
| AI usage | You pay OpenRouter; no FictionAI markup | You pay OpenRouter; no FictionAI markup |
Questions
Both use BYOK — what's different?
The workflow. FictionAI uses your key to build a story bible (premise, world, cast, outline) and to draft chapters from it, which you then edit. Novelcrafter is organised around writing the manuscript yourself with AI help; see their site for its current features.
Does NovelCrafter generate full chapters?
Please check Novelcrafter's own documentation for what its AI can do today. FictionAI drafts a full chapter at a time from your outline, story bible and earlier chapters, and can write the remaining chapters one after another.
Which is better for series?
FictionAI Pro has series: a series outline, cast and world are generated and each new book in the series is built with them as context. Novelcrafter's Codex is used for organising lore; see their site for how it handles series.
How do prices compare?
FictionAI Free costs nothing and Pro is $9.99/month. Novelcrafter has several monthly plans; see novelcrafter.com/pricing. With both you also pay your AI provider directly for what you generate.
Can I use both together?
Yes. You can export a FictionAI draft as DOCX, Markdown or plain text and continue in any tool that opens those files.
Draft your next novel from a story bible
Connect OpenRouter, pitch your story and let FictionAI build the plan you then write from.