TaleForge vs Novelcrafter

Both run in the browser and both let you bring your own AI key. Novelcrafter goes deeper on planning with its Codex. TaleForge adds a free plan, manga and webtoons, offline writing and a marketplace to sell your chapters.

TaleForge and Novelcrafter compared
	TaleForge	Novelcrafter
Price	Free plan (3 projects). Premium $9.99/month, Team $24.99/month, less when billed yearly.	No free plan. Scribe $4/month, Hobbyist $8, Artisan $14, Specialist $20, with 2 months free when paid yearly. 21-day free trial.
Platforms	Web app in any modern browser. Installable, and keeps working offline.	Web app, installable. No offline mode yet: the FAQ lists it as planned.
AI	Optional. You connect your own key (OpenAI, Anthropic or Google) and pay the provider directly. TaleForge adds no AI fee.	Optional, bring your own key only, from the Hobbyist plan. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, OpenRouter and local models (Ollama, LM Studio).
What you can write	Novels in the Book Studio. Manga and webtoons in the Manga Studio, screenplays and storyboards in the Animation Studio (beta), both on Premium.	Novels. Screenplays only through an AI prompt preset. No comics or manga.
Publishing and selling	Built-in marketplace: publish free, paid or freemium chapters. Authors keep 90% of each sale.	None. You export the manuscript and publish elsewhere.
Collaboration	Invites, comments and suggested edits. 5 collaborators on Premium, unlimited on Team. No real-time co-editing yet.	Inviting collaborators needs the Specialist plan. Not real-time: the docs advise against editing at the same time.
Export	TXT and Markdown on Free. EPUB, DOCX and PDF on Premium, with your choice of font and margins. Manga and webtoon scripts export as text PDF, without the artwork.	DOCX and Markdown, optionally with the Codex.
Interface languages	10: English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew.	Site and help center in English. Right-to-left languages are not supported for writing.

Choose TaleForge if

You want a free plan, not only a trial.
You write manga or webtoons as well as prose.
You want to publish and sell chapters on the same platform you write on.
You need to keep writing offline.

Choose Novelcrafter if

Planning is the core of your process: the Codex tracks characters, places and their changes across a whole series.
You want the widest choice of AI models, including OpenRouter and Mistral.
You only write prose and want a focused tool from $4 a month.

Questions

Is Novelcrafter free?+

No. It has a 21-day free trial, then plans start at $4 a month. TaleForge has a free plan with 3 projects.

Do both tools use your own AI key?+

Yes. Neither resells AI usage: you connect your own key and pay the provider. On Novelcrafter, AI starts with the Hobbyist plan. On TaleForge, you can connect a key on any plan, including the free one.

Can I sell a novel written in Novelcrafter?+

Not inside Novelcrafter: you export to DOCX or Markdown and publish elsewhere. TaleForge has a marketplace where you sell chapters and keep 90% of each sale.

Try TaleForge for free

The free plan includes 3 projects, the Book Studio and marketplace publishing. No credit card.

Start writing

Novelcrafter facts checked on October 3, 2026 on its official site. Prices and features change. If something here is out of date, tell us.

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