Plottr alternatives: other ways to outline a novel or series
Plottr is a visual outlining and series bible app with no AI features. The usual reasons to look elsewhere are that it has no free plan, that you want to plan and write in the same app, or that you want deeper worldbuilding. Below are three alternatives in our directory, each solving one of those.
For reference: Plottr (as of Oct 2026, USD)
Plottr runs on Windows and Mac, with a browser app on its Pro plans. It has a 30-day free trial and no free plan. The desktop plan is $60 a year or $150 one-time; Plottr Pro is $9.99/month, $99 a year or $599 one-time. It exports outlines to Word and Scrivener. Plottr gives no refunds after purchase. See Plottr vs Campfire for a full side-by-side.
Campfire: free plan, modular worldbuilding
Campfire splits planning into modules: characters, timeline, maps, calendar, encyclopedia, magic, languages, cultures, religions and more, plus a manuscript editor.
- Price as of Oct 2026: free plan with limits per module (for example 10 characters and 20 timeline events). Standard Monthly is $12/month for all modules; single modules and lifetime purchases are also sold.
- Runs on: browser, desktop and a mobile writing app.
- Export: compile the manuscript to PDF or EPUB.
- Refunds: within 30 days for lifetime and annual purchases; monthly plans are non-refundable.
- Choose it if: your planning is mostly about the world, or you want a free plan with no time limit.
Dabble: plot and write in one app
Dabble is a cloud writing app for novelists with a Plot Grid for mapping story structure next to the editor.
- Price as of Oct 2026: Writer $19/month, Author $29/month, Bestseller $49/month. Annual payment saves 20%, according to Dabble. Lifetime Author access is $699 one-time. 14-day free trial, no credit card.
- Planning tools: Plot Grid, story notebook and character profiles on every plan.
- Runs on: any device with cloud sync, including iOS and Android, according to the vendor.
- Other: unlimited manuscripts, co-authoring, and on Author and above, comments, track changes and grammar and style checks.
- Choose it if: you want your outline and manuscript side by side in one app.
Scrivener: if you want to outline inside your manuscript
Scrivener is a long-form writing app. Every section of a project has a virtual index card, so moving cards on its corkboard rearranges the manuscript too, and its outliner shows synopses, word counts and metadata. You can create templates such as character or location sheets. It is available for macOS, Windows and iOS, with a 30-day free trial. It is not AI-native.
- Choose it if: you'd rather outline and draft in one file, and you already export from Plottr to Scrivener.
At a glance (as of Oct 2026)
| Tool | Planning style | Free option | Writes the book too? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plottr | Visual timeline, templates, series bible | 30-day trial | No; exports to Word and Scrivener |
| Campfire | Worldbuilding modules | Free plan with limits | Yes; PDF and EPUB export |
| Dabble | Plot Grid beside the editor | 14-day trial | Yes |
| Scrivener | Corkboard and outliner | 30-day trial | Yes |