Kindling
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.
Features
Properties
- Lightweight
- Privacy focused
- Distraction-free
- Local-First
Features
- Desktop Application
- No registration required
- Ad-free
- Dark Mode
- Support for MarkDown
- Works Offline
- Hierarchical Structure
- Portable
- No Tracking
- File Versioning
- Offline
- Distraction-free Writing
Kindling News & Activities
Recent activities
Lukeee added Kindling as alternative to StoryGuard- reviewed Kindling
Bugs under Linux Cinnamon.
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menu feature "Window" doesn't work
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you need to maximize the window to find your project list but this makes half of the import options get hidden, scrolling doesn't work
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invisible links within a word and the links do not even work, hence, you need to find a way to edit the word without clicking it
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while writing the programme buffers, it continues your writing then at the end of the whole text, so you have to retrieve the text and get back to the original...
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juanmanuelferrera added Kindling as alternative to Kavya Studio
brian-chalfant added Kindling as alternative to Insanitomeium
sceneweaver added Kindling as alternative to SceneWeaver
spiffai added Kindling as alternative to InkBreaker
POX added Kindling as alternative to Writers Studio- fadthousand liked Kindling
Kindling information
Developed by
Kindling Licensing
Open Source (MIT) and Free product.Written in
Alternatives
49 alternatives listedSupported Languages
- English
AlternativeTo Categories
News & Books, Office & ProductivityGitHub repository
- 24 Stars
- 1 Forks
- 33 Open Issues
- Updated
What is Kindling?
Kindling is a desktop writing app for plotters and outliners — writers who build a detailed outline before they start drafting. Most writing software gives you a blank page when it's time to write. Kindling gives you a scaffolded writing space where your scene beats are expandable prompts, your character and location details surface automatically, and your story structure stays visible while you write.
Import your existing outline from Scrivener (.scriv), Plottr (.pltr), yWriter (.yw7), Obsidian Longform, or Markdown — no need to rebuild your work. When your draft is ready, export to Scrivener, DOCX (Standard Manuscript Format), EPUB, Markdown, or Obsidian Longform.
Kindling is free, open source (MIT license), and local-first. No AI. No subscription. No account required, no cloud dependency. Your projects are saved on your machine as SQLite files — open, inspectable, and permanently yours.
Available for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Comments and Reviews
Bugs under Linux Cinnamon.
menu feature "Window" doesn't work
you need to maximize the window to find your project list but this makes half of the import options get hidden, scrolling doesn't work
invisible links within a word and the links do not even work, hence, you need to find a way to edit the word without clicking it
while writing the programme buffers, it continues your writing then at the end of the whole text, so you have to retrieve the text and get back to the original line