The only app you'll need to write your novels and build your worlds. Organize your thoughts and cross-reference anything at any time.
Cost / License
- Free
- Proprietary
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online




Campfire Write is described as 'Campfire provides a one-stop-shop for novelists: organizational and writing tools (Campfire Write), a hub of writing resources (Campfire Learn), & a writing and reading platform for building an audience and sharing your work (Campfire Explore)' and is a Novel Authoring tool in the news & books category. There are more than 50 alternatives to Campfire Write for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Web-based, Linux and iPhone apps. The best Campfire Write alternative is Microsoft Word. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Manuskript or Pinery. Other great apps like Campfire Write are Scrivener, novelWriter, bibisco and Quoll Writer.
The only app you'll need to write your novels and build your worlds. Organize your thoughts and cross-reference anything at any time.




yWriter is a writing tool that uses "scenes" as a unit of text and allows you to associate that text with all manner of story elements (characters, locations, items) as well as place it and rearrange it within the context of chapters.




Gingko Writer is a text editor that uses a tree-like structure to help you organize and visualize your thoughts, making it easier to outline, draft, and refine complex texts.



Rayuela Editor is moderm, privacy-focused writing environment designed for long-form fiction (novels, screenplays, and theses). It bridges the gap between the structural power of Scrivener and the portability of modern web technology, wrapped in a native desktop application.


Trelby is simple, fast and elegantly laid out to make screenwriting simple. It is infinitely configurable.




oStorybook is a free, open source novel-writing software for creative writers, novelists and authors which will help you to keep an overview of multiple plot-lines while writing texts.


Free, open-source writing app for plotters. Import your outline from Scrivener, Plottr, yWriter, or Obsidian — then draft with your scene beats, character notes, and story structure visible alongside your prose. No AI, no subscription, no cloud.




Modern workspace for novels with ethical AI that analyzes writing but never writes, live readability, import/export, auto-save, full version history, character and plot tools, structured critique, and provenance tracking while ensuring all text remains original.





Local-first novel writing app for indie authors. Private AI via Ollama or LM Studio. Direct Scrivener .scriv import. $79 one-time, no subscription.




Storyloft is an AI-powered writing, design, and publishing platform that helps authors write, edit, format, and publish books—all in one place.



Seriphe brings together everything a novelist needs in a single, elegant workspace: writing, character profiles, world-building, timelines, and mind maps. No more juggling five different apps. It’s free to get started, and a one-time purchase is all it takes to unlock all features.
Personally, I like Fortelling a lot better than Campfire. It's much faster on mobile, the layout is prettier, and it's simple.
It comes with templates for characters, items, locations, books, species, groups, and languages. It also has a place for notes and pinboards.
For most writers, this would probably be enough, but if you need other templates, you can pay to be able to create your own in the app and customize existing ones. It's cheaper than Campfire, too, I think.