Campfire on the BookBird Author Score
Author Score · story planning & worldbuilding · #2 of 9 ·
Best for: Fantasy and sci-fi authors building large worlds, starting on a free plan
Author jobs, from Campfire’s own pages
- Yes: Outline board or plot cards
- Yes: Story structure templates
- Yes: Character profiles
- Yes: Worldbuilding (places, maps, lore)
- Yes: Timeline view
- Not stated: Exports the outline or connects to a writing app (not stated)
- Yes: Sharing or collaboration
Campfire pricing
Free plan + paid plans. There is a free plan. The plans as Campfire’s own site listed them on October 7, 2026, in US dollars:
- Free (limited elements per module, e.g. 25,000 manuscript words, 10 characters, 20 timeline events, 2 maps)
- Standard Monthly: $12 a month (list $19)
- Standard Annual: price in USD not confirmed
- Standard Lifetime: price in USD not confirmed
- Build Your Own: price in USD not confirmed
Only the monthly USD price appears in the server-rendered page. Annual and lifetime prices load client-side by location and did not come back in USD. Refund within 30 days for annual and lifetime; monthly is non-refundable.
What Campfire offers
From Campfire’s own pages, checked on October 7, 2026:
- 18 linked modules, among them manuscript, characters, timeline, maps, calendar, encyclopedia, magic, languages, species and cultures
- Free plot templates in the Timeline module, among them 3 Act, Save the Cat, Hero's Journey and Story Grid
- Character sheets built from 100+ attributes, plus personality profiles
- Interactive maps with pinned locations linked to world entries
- Unlimited collaborators who can view, comment or edit
- Manuscript compile to print-ready PDF or EPUB; DOCX or EPUB import split into chapters
- Browser app, offline desktop app and a free mobile app (CF Creators)
- Word-count goals and progress statuses
Runs on: web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android. Exports: PDF and EPUB. Works offline. Launched: 2018.
Who Campfire suits, and what its pages do not say
Best for: Fantasy and sci-fi authors building large worlds, starting on a free plan.
Not confirmed on Campfire’s pages when we checked: exports the outline or connects to a writing app. That is what the vendor states, not a test; a feature can exist without being described, and the score only credits what is.
About 2,900 people a month search Google in the US for “campfire writing”, up 6% over the past year (Google Ads data via DataForSEO).
Campfire alternatives
| Software | Score | Price from | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milanote | 9.0 | Free plan; paid from $9.99 a month (billed yearly) | Visual planners who want a free tier and shared boards |
| Aeon Timeline | 8.1 | $65 one-time | Authors with complex chronologies who prefer a one-time purchase |
| World Anvil | 8.0 | Free plan | Worldbuilders and fantasy authors who work in a browser |
| LegendKeeper | 7.8 | Free plan; paid from $90 a year | Game masters and fantasy writers building a shared world |
| Plot Factory | 7.2 | Free plan; paid from $90 a year | Writers who want a free browser planner that also works on phones |
Compare: All story planning & worldbuilding · All software for authors
Campfire questions
How much does Campfire cost?
Free plan; paid from $12 a month. Campfire lists 5 plans; the full list is under Pricing above.
What does Campfire run on?
web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android, according to its own site.
What file formats can Campfire export?
PDF and EPUB, according to its own site.
How the score is computed: the formula, step by step. Prices and features were read from Campfire’s own site on October 7, 2026; nobody pays to be listed.