Write your book
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Templates & guides
Software for authors
Prices and data checked October 7, 2026 · Author Score computed by a published formula, not paid for
9 of 9 shown · How the Author Score works
Visual boards for notes, images, character profiles and story outlines
Story planning & worldbuilding
Modular writing and worldbuilding app with manuscript, maps and timelines
Story planning & worldbuilding
Timeline and story-structure app that syncs with Scrivener and Ulysses
Story planning & worldbuilding
Browser-based worldbuilding platform with wiki articles, maps, timelines and manuscripts
Story planning & worldbuilding
Worldbuilding wiki with interactive maps, timelines and whiteboards in the browser
Story planning & worldbuilding
Browser-based story planner and manuscript editor with narration and exports
Story planning & worldbuilding
Visual book outlining and series bible app for desktop and browser
Story planning & worldbuilding
Story-structure platform built on Dramatica theory, with optional AI
Story planning & worldbuilding
Freeform mind-mapping app for writers, from the makers of Scrivener
Story planning & worldbuilding
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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.
These apps start from different places. Plottr and Plot Factory are built around the plot: cards on a board, arranged by chapter and storyline, with structure templates to start from. Aeon Timeline puts events on a timeline and tracks who is where and how old they are, which helps with mysteries, sagas and series. World Anvil and LegendKeeper are wikis for a world, with maps and entries for places, cultures and history. Campfire and Milanote sit in between: Campfire is a set of modules for characters, maps, timelines and the manuscript, and Milanote is a visual board you arrange however you like.
A plan is only useful if it reaches the draft. Aeon Timeline syncs with Scrivener and Ulysses, Plottr exports an outline you can open in Word or Scrivener, and Scapple exports its maps. World Anvil, LegendKeeper and Campfire keep the plan inside their own app; if you draft elsewhere, the plan stays a reference. If you would rather plan and write in one place, our book writing software page lists apps with a plot grid next to the manuscript.
Aeon Timeline is $65 once and Scapple $20.99 once, both with a trial. Plottr sells a $150 lifetime licence as well as a yearly plan. Campfire, Milanote, LegendKeeper and World Anvil start free, with limits listed on each product’s page; LegendKeeper’s free plan does not let you create your own projects.
Before you plan, our guides on how to outline a book and plot explain the structures these apps offer as templates, and the free plot generator and character generator give you a starting point.
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.
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.
| Story planning & worldbuilding | Author jobs /50 | Cost /25 | Adoption /25 | Score /10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milanote | 42.9 | 25 | 21.9 | 9.0 |
| Campfire | 42.9 | 25 | 16.8 | 8.5 |
| Aeon Timeline | 50 | 16.3 | 14.4 | 8.1 |
| World Anvil | 35.7 | 25 | 19.5 | 8.0 |
| LegendKeeper | 35.7 | 25 | 16.8 | 7.8 |
| Plot Factory | 35.7 | 25 | 11.1 | 7.2 |
| Plottr | 50 | 5 | 15.6 | 7.1 |
| Dramatica | 21.4 | 25 | 14.4 | 6.1 |
| Scapple | 14.3 | 22.2 | 15.5 | 5.2 |
For plotting by chapter and storyline, Plottr and Plot Factory are built around an outline board with structure templates. For timelines across a series, Aeon Timeline is the specialist. The list above ranks all of them by the Author Score.
World Anvil, Campfire and Milanote have free plans, and LegendKeeper lets guests join for free, with paid plans for your own projects.
No. Many authors plan in a notebook or a document. A planning app earns its place when a story has many characters, timelines or a world large enough that you lose track of it.
