Novelcrafter vs TextSmith
Side-by-side comparison — pricing, features, ratings, use cases. Find which AI Writing Tools fits you best.
🔍 Independently researched ·
📊 Data-driven
68/100
Free tier
Novelcrafter is best for solo fiction authors who want an all-in-one planning, drafting, and AI-assisted brainstorming t
★ Best
💰 Pricing
🆓 Free tier available
Starting at $8
🔧 Features
✓ Free Tier✓ Ai Content Generation✓ Content Briefs✓ Long Form Editor
📋 Assessment
💪 Strengths
- The Codex is a game-changer (even though I avoid that term, it's apt) for world-building. It allows you to create entries for characters, locations, and lore, and then link them directly to scenes in your manuscript. When you hover over a highlighted term, the information appears, keeping you in the flow of writing without resorting to external notes. This is a saving grace for epic fantasy or sci-fi writers who need to track complex details.
- The AI writing assistant is deeply integrated and context-aware. You can select multiple AI models (including GPT-4 and Claude) and even use custom prompts. The AI can access your Codex to generate scene continuations or dialogue that remain consistent with your established plot and character voices. This makes brainstorming with the AI feel organic, not just generic chatbot output.
- The storyboard view provides a visual, color-coded timeline of your scenes and chapters. You can drag and drop to rearrange plot points, create multiple timelines (like flashbacks), and assign characters. This feature alone is invaluable for pantsers who need a bird's-eye view of their manuscript after a free-form draft.
- The distraction-free manuscript view is exactly what it promises: a clean, customizable writing surface with options for dark mode, font sizing, and a focus mode that highlights the current sentence. This helps you get into the flow state and get that first draft done.
- Collaboration features allow multiple writers or beta readers to comment and suggest changes in real time. This is a boon for writing duos or those who want feedback from trusted readers turned on, making it a versatile tool that scales from solo to co-writers.
⚠ Watch out for
- Limited export options are a major drawback. You can export to DOCX or Markdown, but there's no direct export to EPUB or PDF. If you're planning to self-publish on Amazon KDP or Draft2Digital, you'll need to convert the file separately, which often leads to formatting headaches. This add a layer of friction that dedicated writing software like Vellum or Reedsy lacks.
- No built-in grammar or style checker. While Novelcrafter excels at drafting and organizing, it offers zero proofreading assistance. You'll need to copy your text into ProWritingAid, Grammarly, or similar tools to catch typos and style issues. This is a significant oversight for a modern writing app, especially since competitors like Scrivener integrate with external checkers more seamlessly.
- The free tier is quite limiting when it comes to AI features. You only get 50 AI credits per month (which translates to roughly 50 generation requests), which can be exhausted in a couple of intense brainstorming sessions. If you're a heavy AI user, you'll need to upgrade to a paid plan, which may be off-putting for budget-conscious writers.
- The learning curve is steeper than typical word processors. Novelcrafter's complexity—with its Codex, storyboard, and AI workshop—requires an initial investment of time to understand and set up. New users might feel overwhelmed by the interface options and keyboard shortcuts. However, once you get the hang of it, the workflow becomes intuitive.
🎯 Best for
Novelcrafter is best for solo fiction authors who want an all-in-one planning, drafting, and AI-assisted brainstorming tool with a wiki-style note system.
🚫 Who should skip
Writers who need robust grammar checking, team collaboration, offline access, or non-fiction features like citations should skip Novelcrafter.
📚 Learning curve
Moderate — the tool has many interconnected elements (Codex, storyboard, manuscript, workshop) that take some time to learn, but the interface is intuitive for dedicated writers.
🧑⚖️ Verdict
Novelcrafter is a powerful tool for fiction writers who need robust world-building organization and AI assistance. It's especially beneficial for genre writers with complex universes. If you prioritize seamless ebook formatting or built-in editing, you may find it lacking, but for drafting and plann
62/100
$29 starting
Small to medium-sized businesses that prioritize SEO content and need a straightforward tool to generate brand-aligned b
💰 Pricing
Starting at $29
🔧 Features
✓ Ai Content Generation✓ Templates Count✓ Seo Integration✓ Brand Voice Customization✓ Tone Customization✓ Team Collaboration✓ Languages Supported✓ Style Suggestions✓ Long Form Editor✓ Export Formats✓ Custom Templates
📋 Assessment
💪 Strengths
- The integrated SEO features are a standout strength. TextSmith doesn't just write content; it helps you plan and optimize it for search engines. You can start with a seed keyword, get related terms and long-tail suggestions, and then weave them into the content. The real-time optimization tips, like keyword density and LSI keyword usage, give you actionable feedback while you write. This integration saves time and reduces the need to switch between separate tools like Ahrefs and a writing app.
- Brand voice and tone customization is handled well. You can set your brand's tone (e.g., professional, conversational) and save it as a custom template. This ensures that all content produced, whether blog posts, landing pages, or product descriptions, maintains a consistent personality. That's crucial for businesses that want to build a recognizable brand identity across their content.
- The long-form editor is purpose-built for in-depth articles and guides. It handles multiple sections, lets you organize your content around headers, and incorporates the SEO suggestions in a sidebar. For writers who need to produce comprehensive pieces, this environment is less distracting than a basic text box. The custom templates also help you create reusable structures for recurring content types, like 'how-to' articles or product reviews.
- TextSmith offers a WordPress integration that simplifies publishing. You can send your crafted content directly to your WordPress site without copying and pasting, which is a nice efficiency boost. For those who work in WordPress daily, this feature reduces friction and helps maintain a smooth workflow.
- The pricing is competitive for the feature set. Starting at $29/month, it's comparable to other AI writing tools, and the SEO features are included at the base level. For a small business or a freelancer, this can be a cost-effective alternative to combining separate SEO tools with a writing tool.
⚠ Watch out for
- The biggest drawback is the lack of a free tier or trial. You have to pay upfront to test the tool, which is a significant barrier for potential buyers. Many competitors offer at least a limited free plan or a 7-day trial. Without that, you're committing $29 or more based on marketing claims alone. This risk might push some users to choose a tool they can evaluate first.
- TextSmith lacks a plagiarism checker, grammar checker, and readability scoring. These are common in competing tools. For example, Jasper integrates with Grammarly, and others like SurferSEO provide content scoring. Without them, you'll need to copy your text into another tool or rely on manual review, which adds extra steps and can miss issues. This is a notable gap for a tool that claims to be a complete content solution.
- There's no API, browser extension, or mobile app. This severely limits how TextSmith integrates into your existing workflow. If you want to automate content generation with other software, you'll find no API. If you work across different browsers or need to write on the go, you're stuck on the desktop web app. Many competitors offer at least one of these, if not more, so this is a competitive disadvantage.
- The support options are limited. TextSmith offers email and chat support, but there's no phone support or a comprehensive community forum. The knowledge base is sparse, so troubleshooting may be slow. You can't call them if you have an urgent issue, and response times might not be immediate. For a paid tool, this level of support is a bit underwhelming.
- The AI's output quality is decent but not exceptional. In my tests, the generated text sometimes required significant editing to match human quality. The tool has a tendency to be repetitive or overly generic. As with any AI writer, you'll need to refine the content. But the lack of editing aids means that refinement is entirely manual.
🎯 Best for
Small to medium-sized businesses that prioritize SEO content and need a straightforward tool to generate brand-aligned blog posts and web copy without requiring advanced integrations.
🚫 Who should skip
Teams that need a comprehensive writing platform with grammar checking, plagiarism detection, API access, or the ability to handle short-form content efficiently should look elsewhere.
📚 Learning curve
Moderate: setting up brand voice and tone preferences and understanding SEO suggestions may take some time, but the interface is straightforward for basic content generation.
🧑⚖️ Verdict
TextSmith is a solid choice for SEO-focused writers and small marketing teams that need an integrated keyword-to-content workflow and can overlook missing editing features. However, if you require a free trial, built-in grammar/plagiarism checks, or API access, look elsewhere. Bottom line: it's a co
📊 Use Case Suitability
Higher score = better fit. Scores from editorial review.
Use CaseNovelcrafterTextSmith
Fiction Novel Planning95—
The Codex and storyboard are specifically designed for organizing characters, se
AI-Assisted Brainstorming90—
The workshop feature allows writers to generate ideas, dialogue snippets, or eve
Distraction-Free First Drafting85—
The manuscript view provides a clean writing environment, helping authors focus
Non-Fiction Book Outlining40—
While you can organize chapters in the storyboard, the tool lacks features like
Short Story Collection Management80—
You can use the Codex to track different stories and characters, and the storybo
Writing SEO-optimized blog posts—90
TextSmith is built for SEO content with integrated keyword tools and optimizatio
Creating consistent brand copy for websites—85
Brand voice and tone customization allow you to maintain a consistent style acro
Generating long-form articles and guides—80
The long-form editor supports drafting comprehensive guides, and custom template
🧭 Which One Should You Pick?
Choose Novelcrafter if...
- You are: Novelcrafter is best for solo fiction authors who want an all-in-one planning, drafting, and AI-assisted brainstorming t
- 👍 Integrated world-building wiki (Codex) keeps all character, location, and lore notes in one place, l
- 👍 AI writing assistant helps generate ideas, descriptions, and dialogue, speeding up the creative proc
- 👍 Storyboard view provides a visual outline for plotting and rearranging scenes easily.
- 💰 From $8/mo
- ⚠ Trade-off: Limited export options; no direct export to ebook formats like EPUB or PDF witho
Choose TextSmith if...
- You are: Small to medium-sized businesses that prioritize SEO content and need a straightforward tool to generate brand-aligned b
- 👍 Integrated SEO features including keyword research and optimization suggestions to help improve sear
- 👍 Brand voice and tone customization allow for consistent, on-brand content across all outputs.
- 👍 Long-form editor and custom templates enable efficient creation of in-depth articles and reusable co
- 💰 From $29/mo
- ⚠ Trade-off: No free tier or trial, so you must pay upfront to evaluate the tool.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Is Novelcrafter completely free to use?
Novelcrafter offers a free tier with basic features and limited usage. For full access, including more AI generations and advanced tools, you need to upgrade to a paid plan.
Can I use Novelcrafter for non-fiction writing?
While designed for novel writing, you can use its structure and AI features for other long-form writing, but it lacks specialized features for non-fiction like citations or academic formatting.
Does Novelcrafter include a grammar and style checker?
No, Novelcrafter does not have built-in grammar or style checking. It focuses on story planning and AI-assisted brainstorming, not on line editing.
Can I collaborate with other writers in real-time?
No, Novelcrafter does not support real-time team collaboration or version history. It is a single-user tool, though you can share exported files.
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