Best Book Writing Software

This post was written by the TypeTak team. Our own product is part of the comparison, so please read with that in mind. That's why we based it on official sources and tried to be fair to every tool. Prices and features reflect each service's official pages as of October 2026 and may change. A — in the tables means we couldn't confirm the feature in official documentation.

What is book writing software?

Book writing software is a writing tool made for drafting and revising something long, like a novel, from the first page to the last. You can write a book in a word processor, but the longer the manuscript gets, the more time goes into moving chapters and looking up characters and lore. Picking the best book writing software comes down to which of those jobs you want help with.

What to look for

If this is your first time choosing, start with these five. The comparison follows the same order.

• Can you start free? You can write a whole manuscript before paying anything.
• Is a long manuscript easy to handle? Splitting it into chapters and scenes and reordering them is simple.
• Where do characters and lore live? You can pull them up while you write.
• Can you switch between phone and computer? You can write a few lines on the commute, keep going at home, and never lose the manuscript.
• Is AI optional? You use it when you want it and can leave it off when you don't.

Below, we look at the novel writing tool TypeTak, Scrivener, Word and Google Docs (which nearly everyone has used), the free, open-source bibisco, and the phone app Novelist. We compare them in four areas: writing; manuscript structure and lore; phone, computer, backup, and export; and AI.

1. Writing

A book takes months to write, and this is the screen you open every day of those months. A screen that stays out of your way and shows how much you've done today makes it easier to keep going. All six keep a count of what you write, so look at focus screens, length targets, and spell checking.

Hitting a daily amount — If you write to a set amount each day, Scrivener and bibisco suit you. Scrivener sets targets for the whole manuscript and for today's session and keeps a record of what you wrote each day, while bibisco sets a total, a daily amount, and a deadline together. Novelist also lets you set word goals or deadlines inside the phone app and counts what you write each day. TypeTak keeps a running count below the editor, and when you hand a draft to the agent, it writes to the length you set.

Spelling and style — If you're used to word processors, Word's Microsoft Editor covers the most ground. On top of spelling and grammar, a Microsoft 365 subscription adds suggestions for clarity and conciseness. Google Docs also flags spelling and grammar as you type. bibisco has its own spell checker and works alongside outside proofreading tools such as Grammarly. TypeTak's Proofreading has the AI read the whole page and mark spelling, grammar, and awkward phrasing right on the text, and you apply the suggestions you like.

Writing without distractions — Scrivener's Composition Mode clears the screen down to the manuscript, and you can set the background and text width the way you like. In TypeTak, hide the toolbar and turn on Typewriter mode, and the line you're writing stays in the middle of the screen. Word's Immersive Reader shows one, three, or five lines at a time, which helps when you reread to revise.

2. Manuscript structure and lore

A long manuscript is hard to write in one file from start to finish. Moving a chapter means cutting and pasting dozens of pages, and the eye color you settled in chapter 3 has to be tracked down again in chapter 20. TypeTak, Scrivener, bibisco, and Novelist were made for fiction, so they split the manuscript into chapters and scenes and keep characters and lore beside it. In Word and Google Docs, you divide the manuscript with headings or tabs, and many writers keep their lore in a separate document.

“If there’s anything Google Docs lacks, it’s this: a proper function for organizing chapters is very useful…”
— Christian Guyton, TechRadar (2024)

Splitting the manuscript — Scrivener has spent the longest refining this approach. You stack scenes as documents in the Binder on the left, and when you move scene cards on the corkboard, the manuscript reorders with them. In bibisco and Novelist, scenes sit under acts or parts and chapters, and you drag them where you want them.

For a series, TypeTak and Novelist make things easier. In TypeTak, you create several manuscripts in one World, so each book is written on its own while the characters and lore are shared. Novelist holds several books in one project. If you write in Word, apply heading styles to your chapter titles: drag a heading in the Navigation pane and all the text under it moves along.

Characters and lore — If you're building characters from scratch, bibisco hands you interview questions: you fill in each character's personality and past by answering them, and you keep places and objects (a magic wand, a treasure map) in entries of their own. Novelist puts characters and locations on a plot board with notes, tags, and images attached. Scrivener keeps character and place template documents in the Binder, and you open them beside the manuscript.

The order of events — When a story has flashbacks or shifting points of view, you'll want a view of the order in which things actually happened. bibisco lays the events out on a timeline. In TypeTak, you make a board like “Story” in your World, line up event cards in order, and link the characters and places that appear in each card.

3. Phone and computer, backup, and export

All six save your manuscript automatically and export it as a file. Where they keep the manuscript varies, and that decides how easily you move between your phone and your computer.

Picking up anywhere — TypeTak and Google Docs keep the manuscript in the cloud, so the same manuscript opens on any device you sign in from. TypeTak runs in the browser, so it also works on school or work computers where you can't easily install software, and on Android phones. In Word, keep the manuscript in OneDrive and the desktop, web, and mobile apps all open the same file. The free mobile app handles basic editing on devices with screens of 10.1 inches or smaller.

Keeping it on your computer — Scrivener and bibisco keep the manuscript on your computer and work offline, which suits writers who'd rather not keep their writing on someone else's server. Moving over to a phone takes one more step. Scrivener syncs with its iPhone and iPad app through Dropbox, and bibisco syncs with its mobile app through bibisco Everywhere, a paid subscription.

Novelist keeps the manuscript on your phone and works offline. You back it up to Google Drive and restore it on another device. Automatic sync is left out on purpose: in an App Store reply, the developer explained that it would mean introducing a subscription fee.

Revised versions — Saving where you are before a big revision lets you dig in without worry. Scrivener saves versions of a scene with Snapshots and compares them with the current text, and Word keeps 30 days of version history for files stored in OneDrive. In TypeTak, History lets you compare against earlier content and restore it, and a version is saved automatically right before an AI draft or revision is applied.

Exporting a book — For formatting a manuscript for publication, Scrivener's Compile goes the deepest. It turns the same manuscript into a Word file, a PDF, an EPUB ebook, or a Kindle ebook, with formatting you set. If you need an ebook file, TypeTak, Google Docs, and Novelist also export EPUB directly, and bibisco does in its Supporters Edition. Word saves to DOCX and PDF, and DOCX is the format most commonly used when you send a manuscript to a publisher or distributor.

4. AI

Some writers want AI and some don't. Scrivener, bibisco, and Novelist are made for writing without it. Scrivener's official blog states that “Scrivener itself contains no artificial intelligence (AI),” and bibisco's app listing says “bibisco does not write for you.” If you want to write quietly without AI, these three fit.

Document assistants — In Word and Google Docs, AI comes with a paid subscription. Word's Copilot drafts from notes or an outline, rewrites or shortens a passage you select, and summarizes long documents. Gemini in Google Docs also drafts from a prompt and rephrases sentences. Both are general-purpose assistants that help with reports and email as well.

AI that knows your lore — For fiction, it helps when the AI knows your characters and lore as it writes. TypeTak's agent finds and reads your manuscript and World itself and shows you a Draft plan first. Once you confirm, it writes the draft to the length you want. When a sentence won't come, Rephrase gives you alternatives to pick from, and Feedback reads the manuscript and points out places that contradict the lore in your World. If you don't use AI, your manuscripts and World work the same on every plan.

Pricing

Free all the way through — If you want to write a book without spending anything, you have plenty of choices. Google Docs and Novelist are free, and Novelist has no ads or in-app purchases. bibisco's Community Edition is free, open-source desktop software. Word's web and mobile apps are free to use. TypeTak has a free plan with no time limit, and its AI usage limit refills every month.

Buying once — If you'd rather not subscribe, Scrivener and bibisco Supporters Edition are one-time purchases. Scrivener's 30-day trial counts the days you actually use it, so using it two days a week stretches it to 15 weeks. The Mac, Windows, and iOS versions are bought separately. Word is also available as a one-time purchase in Office Home 2024, which comes with the free version of Copilot chat.

Subscriptions — With TypeTak, the more AI you use, the higher the plan you pick. Word's Copilot comes with a Microsoft 365 subscription, and Gemini in Google Docs comes with Google AI Pro. bibisco's mobile sync is a separate subscription.

TypeTak: Pro $12/month ($9/month billed yearly), Max $40/month ($29/month billed yearly). Scrivener: $59.99 each for macOS and Windows, $23.99 for iOS. Word: Microsoft 365 Personal $9.99/month or $99.99/year (Copilot uses monthly AI credits), Office Home 2024 $179.99 one-time (free Copilot chat only). Google Docs: free, with Gemini in Google AI Pro at $19.99/month. bibisco: Community Edition free, Supporters Edition $69 one-time (2 years of updates), bibisco Everywhere $3.49/month or $29.99/year. Novelist: free.

Which one fits you?

TypeTak fits writers who

• want their manuscript and worldbuilding in one place
• want to switch between phone and computer with nothing to install
• want to see characters and lore as a graph and a table
• want to hand drafts and feedback to an AI that knows their lore, when they choose

Scrivener fits writers who

• want to write a long novel scene by scene and compile it into book formatting
• want to keep their writing on their own computer and write offline
• want to buy once instead of subscribing

Word fits writers who

• want spelling and grammar checks in a word processor they already know
• trade DOCX files with publishers or editors

Google Docs fits writers who

• want to write for free and pick up on any computer or phone
• want to revise with other people and trade comments

bibisco fits writers who

• want to plan a story in detail for free, with character interviews and a timeline
• want to keep their writing on their own computer and write without AI

Novelist fits writers who

• want to write a book on their phone
• want a free, ad-free app that keeps chapters, scenes, and character notes together

If you already use Scrivener and want to compare it in more detail with Dabble and Novelcrafter, see Scrivener alternatives.

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