Novellum
Novellum is a web writing workspace for novelists, world-builders, memoir writers, biographers, and researchers.
What Novellum is
Novellum is a web writing workspace for novelists, world-builders, memoir writers, biographers, and researchers. Its Nexus tracks characters, places, items, factions, and concepts, then detects mentions in prose. Books can be arranged into acts, chapters, and scenes with drag-and-drop ordering, word counts, point-of-view labels, statuses, and a planning grid. The editor offers rich-text formatting, autosave, inline comments, highlights, adjustable typography, and Nexus detection. Insights report word-count progress, scene-length distribution, POV balance, and Nexus coverage without requiring AI. Manuscripts and Nexus data sync across devices, with edits described as updating in about a second; prose itself is not sent device to device. Imports include DOCX, Markdown, and plain text, while exports include DOCX and EPUB. Optional AI connections use your own provider key and direct billing. Novellum says writing is not used to train AI.
Good
- Tracks story elements and prose mentions
- Drag-and-drop acts, chapters, and scenes
- Autosave, comments, highlights, and typography
- Insights work without AI
- DOCX and EPUB export
Watch out
- Service is still in beta
- Users must be at least 18
- AI provider costs are paid separately
- No guarantee of 100% uptime
Who it suits
It suits writers who need structured outlining, story-element tracking, manuscript editing, syncing, and DOCX or EPUB export. Users must be at least 18, and AI connections require their own provider key.
Verdict
Novellum brings planning, drafting, story tracking, insights, syncing, and export into one web workspace. Its free beta plan includes all listed features, while future paid access starts at $15 a month.
Plans and prices
From Novellum's own pricing page, checked 8 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Beta plan | Free | All features included · unlimited books, scenes, and Nexus entries · AI uses your own provider key · Free while in beta; after beta, $15/month or $162/year |
| Standard plan (after beta) | $15 a month | One plan · every feature included · beta users get advance notice before charges begin · $15/month (or $162/year) |
The facts
Each one read from Novellum's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- AI providers
- Optional AI connections include Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Mistral, OpenRouter, and custom or self-hosted providers; users supply their own API key and pay the provider directly.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Beta status
- Novellum describes itself as in beta and invites users to sign up for early access.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Editor
- The editor supports rich-text formatting, autosave, inline comments, highlights, customizable typography, and Nexus mention detection.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Import and export
- Novellum imports DOCX, Markdown, and plain text, and exports to DOCX and EPUB.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Insights
- Insights reports word-count progress, scene-length distribution, POV balance, and Nexus coverage without requiring AI.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Nexus
- The Nexus tracks story elements such as characters, places, items, factions, and concepts, and automatically detects their mentions in prose.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Notable limits
- The terms say users must be at least 18 and that the service does not guarantee 100% uptime.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Privacy
- Novellum says it does not read, analyze, or use writing content to train AI; when a user enables AI, request text is sent to the provider they chose.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Novellum is a writing workspace for novelists and world-builders, and is also described as suited to memoir, biography, and research.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Security
- The privacy policy says data is stored on self-managed server infrastructure, database access uses Row Level Security, API keys use AES-256-GCM encryption, and connections use HTTPS.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Structure
- Books can be organized into acts, chapters, and scenes with drag-and-drop reordering, word counts, POV labels, statuses, and a planning grid.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Support
- Support is available through a contact form with email replies, and beta users can access a Discord community through the account menu.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Sync
- The manuscript and Nexus sync across devices, with edits described as updating in about a second; the site says prose itself is not sent device to device.checked 8 Oct 2026
