Is Plotiar really free?

Plotiar's free plan includes 5 projects; unlimited documents, flowcharts, ideaboards, corkboards, calendars, maps, family trees, plotgrids, taskboards, notes, tasks, comments, and Lore; templates, snapshots, Cover Studio, and TXT, DOCX and Fountain export. The Plus plan ($5/month or $50/year) adds unlimited projects, real-time collaboration, PDF/EPUB export, Smart Content (TOC, bibliography), drafts/branching, goals and statistics, and more. The Pro plan ($12/month) adds AI features (chat, inspect, analyze, AI Studio) with a $2.50/week AI cap. No trial period: the free tier stays free.

Does Plotiar have anything like NovelPad's codex?

Yes - Plotiar ships full Lore, a dedicated story bible that's a direct counterpart to NovelPad's Codex. You get custom entry types (not a fixed list), bidirectional labeled relationships, an interactive relationship graph, automatic mention detection across your manuscripts, find-and-replace renaming, and AI context injection. Lore is free for all users on every plan.

Can I import my NovelPad manuscripts into Plotiar?

Yes. Export your manuscript from NovelPad as DOCX and drop it into Plotiar's Import drawer. Plotiar can split it into chapters for you, and most of your formatting carries over.

Does Plotiar support real-time collaboration?

Yes - Plotiar supports real-time co-editing with live cursors and comments on the Plus plan ($5/month or $50/year). Only the project owner needs a Plus subscription; collaborators can join for free. NovelPad lets you share with beta readers as viewers, commenters, or editors.

Does Plotiar have scene cards?

Yes. Plotiar's corkboards give every scene an index card with a synopsis, a status, linked characters and a word target, laid out in a grid, freely, or in label lanes. Plot grids and flowcharts are there too when you want to see scenes against storylines.

Plotiar vs NovelPad

The NovelPad Alternative With Visual Planning and a Free Tier

NovelPad is a distraction-free writing tool with scene-card boards and a codex for worldbuilding. But it costs $15/month (or $89 once for desktop only) with no free tier, and has no flowcharts or freeform canvases. Plotiar gives you flowcharts, ideaboards, and maps free, with full export on the Plus plan.

Try Plotiar Free→

Sound familiar?

Common frustrations with NovelPad

No free tier - $15/month after the trial

NovelPad offers a 14-day free trial, then it's $15/month ($150/year), $89 once for the desktop app alone, or $349 for Lifetime - with no free option. Plotiar's free tier gives you 5 projects with full features - documents, flowcharts, ideaboards, maps, notes, and tasks - forever.

No flowcharts or freeform canvases

NovelPad has scene cards for organizing chapters, but no flowcharts for mapping story arcs, no freeform canvases for visual brainstorming, and no maps for worldbuilding. If you plan your stories visually, you'll need a separate tool.

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

How Plotiar and NovelPad compare on the features that matter for long-form writing.

Feature	Plotiar	NovelPad
Pricing	Free tier (5 projects) - Plus at $5/month or $50/year	$15/month or $150/year - or $89 once (desktop only) - no free tier
Free tier	Free forever - up to 5 projects with full features	No free tier - free trial only
Page layout	Real A4 pages - what you see is what you print	Clean distraction-free writing view - no real page layout
Visual planning	Flowcharts for plotting, freeform ideaboards for brainstorming, and interactive maps	Scene cards for chapter organization - no flowcharts or freeform canvases
Export formats	TXT, DOCX, PDF, and EPUB	Word (.docx), EPUB, and Markdown - no PDF
Real-time collaboration	Live co-editing with cursors and comments ($5/month or $50/year)	Share by email with viewer, commenter, or editor roles and threaded comments (Pro Cloud or Lifetime)
AI tools that read, never write (Pro plan)	AI chat, text inspection, manuscript analysis, and BYOK support (Pro plan, $12/mo with $2.50/week AI cap)	No AI reading and planning tools
AI reference generation (Pro plan)	AI Studio with 23 generators - character bibles, relationship maps, plot grids, family lineage, and more (Pro plan)	Not available
Worldbuilding (Lore)	Plotiar ships full Lore (Codex-equivalent): custom entry types, bidirectional labeled relationships, an interactive graph, mention detection across manuscripts, find-and-replace renaming, AI context injection. Free for all users.	Codex system for tracking characters, places, and worldbuilding details
Version history	Free: named snapshots, visual timeline, and one-click restore. Plus: branching drafts and side-by-side diff comparison.	Automatic version history, named snapshots, scene revisions, and text diffs

Automatic version history, named snapshots, scene revisions, and text diffs

Last reviewed September 30, 2026. NovelPad may have changed its features or pricing since then, so check its website for current details.

What Plotiar offers that NovelPad doesn't

Real Pages, Full Export

Write on actual A4 pages and export directly to PDF, EPUB, DOCX, or TXT when you're ready. No reformatting, no third-party converters. Your manuscript goes from screen to print or digital store without extra steps.

Free Tier That Actually Works

Start with 5 projects, unlimited documents, flowcharts, ideaboards, maps, notes, tasks, and comments - all free, forever. No trial countdown. Upgrade to Plus only when you need collaboration or advanced export.

AI Tools with BYOK Support (Pro plan)

On Plotiar's Pro plan ($12/month), get AI-powered feedback on your prose, analyze your manuscript, and chat with an AI assistant about your book - all with a $2.50/week spending cap. Bring your own API key for full control over costs. NovelPad has no AI features built in.

When NovelPad might be the right choice

We believe in honest comparisons. Here's where NovelPad still has an edge:

Distraction-free interface - NovelPad's writing environment is beautifully minimal. It's designed to keep you focused on the words with no visual clutter, which some writers genuinely prefer.
Scene cards - NovelPad's scene card system lets you organize, tag, and rearrange scenes with a drag-and-drop interface. It's a natural way to structure a novel if you think in scenes.
Writing statistics - NovelPad tracks your word counts, writing streaks, and productivity patterns to help you build consistent writing habits.
Codex for worldbuilding - NovelPad's codex lets you create interconnected entries for characters, places, and lore that you can reference while writing. It's purpose-built for fiction worldbuilding.

NovelPad vs Plotiar FAQ

Common questions from writers comparing the two.

Ready to plan and write without the monthly fee?

Visual planning tools are free. Full export comes with Plus, and AI reading and planning tools with Pro.

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