Novelcrafter is a capable, flexible novel-writing app with a well-loved Codex. Loomworld is built for a different writer: one who wants the story bible, a timeline with two clocks and a foreshadowing tracker kept next to the draft, AI included without managing API keys, and screenplays as well as novels. Here is where each one is the better choice.
Novelcrafter's AI works by bringing your own key, from its US$8 plan. That means a second account and a second bill with a model provider, and choosing models yourself.
Novelcrafter offers a 21-day free trial and then plans from US$4 a month. Writers who want to keep a project going for free need something else.
Writers with big casts and long series want story-time chronology and setup-to-payoff tracking that sit beside the draft, not only wiki entries.
Paid plans include monthly AI credits for Quill: 300, 800 or 1,500 per 30-day term, with more available by usage. There is no key to paste and no second provider bill. The trade-off is that you cannot pick the model yourself.
The editor and every story bible module are free for as long as you want, with projects saved on your device. AI starts with a paid plan, renewed by hand every 30 days with no automatic charge.
The timeline keeps story time and reading order side by side, linked to chapters and scenes. The Foreshadowing Manager draws every setup, reminder and payoff as a span across your chapters and warns when a thread is overdue.
Loomworld's editor writes screenplay structure as well as prose: scene headings, character, dialogue and dialogue action lines, transitions. Quill can adapt novel chapters into screenplay form.
Stay with Novelcrafter if you want to choose your own AI model through your own key, share a Codex across a series, write with collaborators or a team, or import Word, Markdown and HTML with its mature novel import. Those are real strengths, and Loomworld does not match all of them today.
Export your novel from Novelcrafter as a Word file or plain text.
Create a Loomworld project and attach the DOCX or TXT file as the manuscript. It goes in exactly as written.
Codex entries do not carry over automatically. Mention characters, places and props with @ as you revise, or ask Quill to generate cards and approve them.
Based on each product's public pricing and features pages. Prices in US dollars.
| Capability | Loomworld | Novelcrafter |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, without AI | 21-day trial |
| Paid plans | $4.99–$19.99 per 30 days | $4–$20 per month |
| AI included without an API key | — | |
| Choose your own AI model | — | Bring your own key |
| AI chat | All paid plans | From $14 plan |
| Story bible / Codex | ||
| Timeline | Story time and reading order | Mention and marker timelines |
| Setup-to-payoff foreshadowing tracker | — | |
| Screenplay writing | — | |
| Collaboration and teams | — | $20 plan |
Checked October 2026 against novelcrafter.com/pricing and novelcrafter.com/features. Tell us at [email protected] if something has changed.
If you want AI included without API keys, a free plan for the editor and bible, a two-clock timeline, a foreshadowing tracker or screenplay writing, yes. If you want to choose your own AI model, share a Codex across a series or write with a team, Novelcrafter fits better today.
Loomworld's free plan keeps the editor and every story bible module free with no time limit. AI features need a paid plan.
No. Paid plans include AI credits, and extra credits can be bought by usage. You do not choose the model.
Export it from Novelcrafter as Word or text and import it into Loomworld as the manuscript. The text comes across as written; Codex entries need to be recreated, by mentioning names with @ or by approving cards Quill proposes.
Entry prices are close: Novelcrafter starts at US$4 a month without AI, or US$8 with AI through your own key plus what the model provider charges. Loomworld is free without AI, and from US$4.99 per 30 days with AI credits included.
Start a free project, import a chapter from your current book, and see whether the bible and tracker fit how you work.