What is the best AI for writing a novel?
The list above ranks the tools built for fiction by the Author Score. Sudowrite is the best-known; Novelcrafter suits writers who want to choose their AI model and pay their AI provider directly.
AI Writing Tools for Fiction
Tools that use AI to draft, revise and brainstorm fiction, built for novelists rather than marketers. Each has a BookBird Author Score from what its own site confirms, including whether it says you own the text, what it costs and how many people search for it.
Prices and data checked October 7, 2026 · Author Score computed by a published formula, not paid for
The short answer
- Novelcrafter 8.0 $4 a month
Fiction writers who want AI with their own model choice - Squibler 7.9 Free plan; paid from $15.83 a month (billed yearly)
Writers wanting AI to generate full drafts from an idea - Sudowrite 7.8 $10 a month (billed yearly)
Novelists who want AI drafting guided by a story bible - RaptorWrite 6.5 Free
Authors comfortable paying per use for AI through OpenRouter
All AI fiction tools, scored
4 of 4 shown · How the Author Score works
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1
Novelcrafter
Web novel-writing app with a codex and bring-your-own-key AI
Book writing softwareAI writing tools for fiction
8.06/7 author jobs$4 a monthSubscription8.1K+0%searches a monthweb -
2
Squibler
AI book and screenplay generator with an editor, on credits
Book writing softwareAI writing tools for fiction
7.95/7 author jobsFree plan; paid from $15.83 a month (billed yearly)Free plan + paid plans8.1K−53%searches a monthweb -
3
7.87/7 author jobs$10 a month (billed yearly)Subscription22K+0%searches a monthweb
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4
RaptorWrite
Free browser AI writing editor where you bring your own model key
AI writing tools for fiction
6.54/7 author jobsFreeFree210−43%searches a monthweb
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Prices in USD from each vendor’s own site, checked October 7, 2026. Searches: US Google searches a month for the product’s name, with the change over 12 months. Score out of 10, by one published formula; nobody pays to be listed.
How to choose an AI tool for fiction
Does it remember your story?
A general chat assistant forgets your characters between sessions. The tools here keep a story bible, codex or lorebook that the AI reads before it writes, so a character’s eye colour or a town’s name stays the same from chapter to chapter. All four confirm some form of this.
Credits or your own key?
Sudowrite and Squibler sell plans with a set allowance of AI use. Novelcrafter and RaptorWrite work the other way: you connect your own account with an AI provider and pay that provider for what you use, which can be cheaper for light use and dearer for heavy use. Novelcrafter’s plans start at $4 a month for the app itself; RaptorWrite is free and needs a free course sign-up.
What happens to your text?
Before you paste a manuscript in, read what the vendor says about ownership and training. The Author Score credits a tool only when its own pages state that you own the output or that your writing is not used to train models; the product page says which. If you plan to publish on Amazon, KDP asks you to disclose AI-generated text when you upload the book.
What we did not score
We did not test the quality of AI prose, and general assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude are not in this list: they are not built for fiction, and OpenAI’s pages refused our requests, so their claims could not be checked the same way.
Not sure you want AI drafting at all? Our free writing prompt generator and plot generator give ideas without writing the book for you, and our Sudowrite review looks at the best-known of these tools in more detail.
How the BookBird Author Score works
Built for self-published authors, from facts anyone can check: each vendor’s own pages, read on October 7, 2026, and US Google search volumes (Google Ads data via DataForSEO). Nobody pays to be listed, and no score is adjusted by hand. We did not test the apps by writing a book in them; the score measures what they do for an author, what they cost and how widely they are used.
- Author jobs, 50 points. Each category has a list of jobs an author needs that kind of software to do. A job counts only when the vendor’s own pages say the product does it; a job they do not mention earns nothing, and the product page says which ones.
- AI writing tools for fiction: built for fiction, remembers your characters and world, drafts from your outline, rewrite, expand and describe tools, choice of AI model, you own the text, not used for training and clear word or credit allowance.
- Cost, 25 points. What one year costs a single author on the cheapest plan with a USD price. A one-time licence is spread over 3 years. A free plan, or a platform that takes no upfront fee, earns all 25; the dearest product in the category keeps 5.
- Adoption, 25 points. How many people in the US search Google for the product by name each month: 20 points on a log scale against the most searched product in the category, and 5 for the trend, comparing the last three months with the first three of the year.
The score is the points earned divided by the points that could be checked, on a 10-point scale. A part with no data (no USD price, no search volume) is left out rather than guessed. How long a product has existed is not scored: few vendors state it. Review sites are not used: for most of these products the profiles rate the whole company or hold a handful of reviews.
| AI writing tools for fiction | Author jobs /50 | Cost /25 | Adoption /25 | Score /10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Novelcrafter | 42.9 | 17 | 20.5 | 8.0 |
| Squibler | 35.7 | 25 | 18 | 7.9 |
| Sudowrite | 50 | 5 | 22.5 | 7.8 |
| RaptorWrite | 28.6 | 25 | 11.1 | 6.5 |
Questions
Can I publish a book written with AI on Amazon?
KDP accepts it, but asks you to say whether text, images or translations in the book were generated by AI when you publish or update it.
Is there a free AI writing tool for fiction?
RaptorWrite is free, though you pay your AI provider for use. Squibler has a free plan, and Novelcrafter has a free trial.