Humanity has long been obsessed with the possibility of smart machines, as attested by countless Sci-Fi books and movies on this topic. In real life, however, the capacity of even the most sophisticated apps has fallen far short of the threshold for intelligence, let alone sentience. That began to change recently, as the latest versions of deep learning networks can achieve truly impressive results on a range of tasks, including creative writing.

The advances are so profound that some of the new apps can autonomously write long-form documents that are grammatically correct and semantically coherent. In fact, some of those products are so good they are being marketed as novel writing tools. We might not yet be at a point where AI can really write a book worth reading all on its own, but at the very least these tools empower writers to create more complex and detailed works in a shorter time.

This field is developing very rapidly and new products arrive all the time. That’s why now is the right moment to introduce some amazing AI-powered novel writing tools that are moving the boundaries of what is possible and could potentially unleash a creative revolution.

Why Do You Need AI Writing Software?

To be an effective writer, it’s necessary to have access to a huge pool of information and create connections between seemingly unrelated characters, places, and events. These elements of the creative process are suitable for machine assistance, and can be improved considerably by deploying AI-driven software. AI-assistant applications can be helpful in different stages of the process, from sorting out raw ideas and developing fundamental storylines to catching grammar errors, fact-checking the text, and polishing the style. The most difficult part of the job is still in the writer’s hands, but all the small chores that eat up time can be outsourced to a digital sidekick. Great writers are still able to write without aids, but becoming great is made easier by using the right tools.

What is the Best Software for AI Novel Writing?

Jasper

Many creative professionals believe Jasper is the best-in-class product when it comes to AI novel writing apps. It’s a powerful tool based on generative AI that can complete pieces of text or help the writer come up with new ideas. The content created by the software is not copied/pasted, so it represents a solid foundation upon which to build upon.

Relevant features:

• The software can autonomously create text for blog articles, e-mails, or even creative work
• The AI is trained on a broad dataset, so it’s knowledgeable in many areas
• Machine translation in 25 different languages is supported
• Jasper can be installed as a web browser extension and used directly on social media

Main limitations:

• Some of the generated text can be irrelevant or confusing
• It doesn’t perform as well when writing about less publically discussed topics

Pricing: The starter pack costs $29, the Boss pack starts at $49, and can be upgraded based on target wordcount

User ratings:

• G2: 4.7 (880 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.8 (1548 reviews)

Sassbook

This is another generative AI application that produces text of solid quality at amazing speed. It can provide writers with a way to quickly brainstorm ideas that can be developed into viable story arcs. It’s designed mostly for artistic work and its features are well-tuned to the needs of ambitious novelists who want to publish a lot of content over a short timeframe.

Relevant features:

• Creative AI assistant capable of generating unique and well-articulated content
• Users can select a genre they want the writing to be in (Thriller, Comedy, Romance…)
• It includes excellent sentence formatting tools
• Summary generator can produce very good snippets based on longer text

Main limitations:

• This app can only produce short passages of up to 100 words per prompt
• The features for free users are very limited

Pricing: Free version is available, Standard plan costs $15 per month, Premium costs $25 monthly

User ratings:

• G2: N/A
• Capterra: N/A

Anyword

Writers can benefit from this practical AI application in several ways. Anyword harnesses the power of machine learning to produce meaningful and well-written text in numerous languages. While this app was created primarily for advertising copywriters and includes market analytics tools, it can also be quite useful to creative writers who are working on short stories or a novel.

Relevant features:

• Analytically inclined AI assistant for copywriters and creative professionals
• Includes multiple writing tools optimized for specific use cases
• Custom mode allows the user to train the app in any style he wants
• Grammar check and plagiarism check help to prepare the text for publishing

Main limitations:

• The system is not very intuitive and requires some practice
• It fares better with information-rich text than with developing original and unusual ideas

Pricing: The starter pack starts at $24 monthly, Data-driven pack starts at $83 per month

User ratings:

• G2: 4.8 (865 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.8 (287 reviews)

Peppertype

This smart app only becomes smarter the more you use it, as it derives conclusions from all text examples it sees and gradually adjusts to the user’s preferred style. Its primary use is for businesses to quickly create textual content for their websites and social media, but the adoption among novelists and other artists is on the rise.

Relevant features:

• Writing application with an AI engine that can produce new text based on human prompts
• It’s trained on a large and diverse dataset and allows further personalization
• Effective at creating long passages and repurposing old text in a new format
• Style editor lets writers control the tone of voice and key messages

Main limitations:

• Default training is marketing-oriented, which may not be ideal for novelists
• Facts or numbers can sometimes be incorrectly stated

Pricing: Personal plan costs $35 monthly, Team plan is priced at $199 per month

User ratings:

• G2: 4.7 (475 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7 (513 reviews)

AI Dungeon

Designed as a role-playing game and powered by an advanced AI algorithm that reacts to user input, AI Dungeon has been extremely popular in some circles lately. It’s a fantastic tool for exploring your creative side and formulating new and original ideas. Be careful though – it’s very easy to become mesmerized by this storytelling tool and spend a lot of time fiddling with it.

Relevant features:

• Very innovative and immersive story development app that relies on gamification principles
• Creates playable, open-ended scenarios shaped by the user’s choices
• Backgrounds created by other authors can be used as the setting for text-based gameplay
• AI engine fills out the gaps with a rich layer of details

Main limitations:

• This app doesn’t actually write the text, just helps with the story and characters
• It’s very easy to waste a ton of time trying out different scenarios

Pricing: completely free

User ratings:

• G2: N/A
• Capterra: N/A

Writesonic

Creating text or images is super easy with this AI-based platform, and creative work can be completed much faster and with less effort thanks to it. This smart tool can predict how the audiences will react to certain writing styles and make recommendations accordingly. Again, this app can’t write an entire novel but it can provide plenty of useful bits to include in it.

Relevant features:

• Well-known generative AI app that creates unique content
• Paraphrasing tools and text expanders can help writers to express their ideas
• The app checks the grammar and tone of user-generated text automatically
• Guides and tutorials are provided to help novice users

Main limitations:

• Not well-suited for producing long-format text, such as novel chapters
• Its AI engine is not particularly refined

Pricing: Free trial is available, Long-form plan costs $12.67 per month

User ratings:

• G2: 4.8 (1610 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.8 (1655 reviews)

NovelAI

In case you are interested to try an app designed specifically with the objective to assist writers with creative work, this could be the right one. NovelAI utilizes machine learning to create authentic text based on the user’s own writing, and it can be extremely helpful when developing ideas and setting the foundations for your next novel.

Relevant features:

• Online writing assistance service that features multiple proprietary storytelling tools
• AI model can be instructed to create text in a style of a known author
• A character visualization tool makes it easier to imagine the story
• Very secure cloud storage is provided for all users

Main limitations:

• Language correction and layout tools are limited
• The app can’t generate long passages of text while maintaining consistency

Pricing: The paper plan is free, the Tablet plan costs $10 monthly, Scroll plan costs $15 per month

User ratings:

• G2: N/A
• Capterra: N/A

Rytr

Authors looking for a way to increase their output and make their work look more polished would be wise to test this software. Rytr can provide inspiration for a new story, help make the characters more believable, connect the storylines, and do many other creative things. It’s a fantastic assistant for a novelist who is still developing his style and gaining experience.

Relevant features:

• Versatile text generation software that can suggest ideas and create plot outlines
• Templates for various use cases are provided
• Rytr comes with excellent text editor featuring grammar check and other useful tools
• The app can be installed as a Google Chrome extension

Main limitations:

• Text-generation capacity is limited to paragraph length
• The maximum number of characters per month is limited

Pricing: Free plan is available, the Saver plan is offered at $9 monthly, Unlimited plan costs $29 per month

User ratings:

• G2: 4.7 (720 reviews)
• Capterra: N/A

Sudowrite

As far as AI writing assistants go, Sudowrite is quite a smart and adaptable tool. It can save the day when the writer is feeling flat and doesn’t know how to start, or be the gatekeeper that prevents the writer from publishing text full of factual and grammatical errors. With a great UI that feels natural from the first day, this app simply invites the user to play around with new ideas.

Relevant features:

• AI assistant software developed specifically for fiction writers
• The app allows the user to create characters and map the connections between them
• Long passages of text can follow the style and plot points selected by the writer
• Plenty of contextual tools such as ‘What if’, ‘Expand’, and ‘Wormhole’ are included

Main limitations:

• It is not capable of autonomous writing of long text (i.e. novel chapters)
• Many features are still in the experimental stage

Pricing: Hobby & Student plan costs $10 per month, Professional plan is offered for $20 per month

User ratings:

• G2: N/A
• Capterra: N/A

Shortly AI

This implementation of a machine learning algorithm for creative purposes has been very successful and promises to deliver even more impressive results in the near future. Creating authentic text with Shortly AI can be done automatically, although for best results human oversight is still highly recommended. The performance of this app is made possible thanks to a powerful large language model at its core.

Relevant features:

• AI based writing assistant suitable for writing anything from e-mails to books
• Separate modes for writing fiction and non-fiction
• The app can shorten or expand the sentences, or rewrite them completely
• Very clean, minimalistic interface that doesn’t distract from the task at hand

Main limitations:

• Text generator is prone to errors when inserting quantitative data
• This app is among the most expensive in its class

Pricing: Free trial is available, the full version costs $79 per month

User ratings:

• G2: N/A
• Capterra: N/A

ProWritingAid

Great writers shouldn’t waste time on technicalities, which is why this software is so beloved by people who string words for a living. It is packed with advanced language capabilities and adept at discovering many different types of errors. In the right hands, this app delivers a powerful performance even when working on long-form creative endeavors such as novels.

Relevant features:

• This is a powerful text enhancement platform packed with highly efficient linguistic tools
• Designed to improve grammar and style of text intended for various audiences
• Provides contextualized suggestions including sensory reports and pacing improvements
• The author can create a customized dictionary containing fictional names and places

Main limitations:

• The app is limited to text improvement rather than autonomous text generation
• Too many reports can overwhelm and frustrate the writer

Pricing: Free plan is available, Expert plan costs $10 per month

User ratings:

• G2: 4.5 (37 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6 (415 reviews)

Grammarly

As one of the most widely used AI-based writing tools, Grammarly is already recognized as an indispensable asset for creative professionals. Like its name implies, this is an advanced grammar-checking app that will catch even the slightest ambiguities in the text. Its interface is extremely simple and it feels like an upgrade to basic grammar tools you already use.

Relevant features:

• Impressive AI-driven writing assistant that provides in-line suggestions
• The app can be customized to create unique style guides
• Can be fully integrated into Microsoft Word or another writing software
• Analytic tools automatically provide a report about the writer’s output

Main limitations:

• Some suggestions may be based on a wrong contextual understanding
• English is the only language supported

Pricing: Free version is available, Business package costs $15 per user monthly

User ratings:

• G2: 4.6 (1219 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7 (6761 reviews)

Quillbot

Writers who are never satisfied with the quality of their text will discover plenty of new possibilities to polish their work with Quillbot. This is a powerful paraphrasing tool that uses AI algorithms to evaluate users’ sentences and offer improvements. By expanding the vocabulary and fine-tuning the style, the app helps the writer to develop better habits.

Relevant features:

• A very user-friendly app that improves writing in several different ways
• In addition to paraphrasing, the app also checks grammar and offers synonyms
• Quilllbot can be embedded into Word or Chrome and used to check all writing
• Built-in plagiarism check ensures that paraphrased text is still unique

Main limitations:

• Some of the best features are off-limit to free users
• Customer service is not always responsive

Pricing: Free plan is available, Premium plan costs $9.95 per month

User ratings:

• G2: N/A
• Capterra: 4.6 (89 reviews)

WordTune

In case you are feeling comfortable writing your own text but would like to have a reliable way to ensure it’s free of errors, WordTune could be the app for you. This product is very efficient in recognizing good or bad sentence form, correcting spelling mistakes, and offering better alternatives. Available as a browser extension, it’s also very practical for frequent use.

Relevant features:

• Writer’s companion app that leverages AI algorithms to interpret and analyze sentences
• It can create new, completely authentic text based on user’s input
• Proofreading and grammar check tools help to polish the text
• Excellent thesaurus allows writers to craft more expressive sentences

Main limitations:

• The app can’t write autonomously
• It’s not possible to choose the preferred tone

Pricing: There is a free plan, Premium can be purchased for $9.99 monthly

User ratings:

• G2: 4.3 (46 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4 (65 reviews)

CopyAI

Some of the advantages of CopyAI include the possibility to quickly create text in many different languages and to include all the main points within the natural flow. It’s used primarily for business texts, but novelists and other writers could conceivably benefit from this smart app too.

Relevant features:

• Online service that produces original text optimized for a specific audience
• Text editor with rich features allows writers to work directly in this program
• User can select the tone of voice that best fits their purpose
• Beginners can learn advanced ways to use the app through tutorials

Main limitations:

• AI-generated content must be fact-checked by hand
• Not well suited for fiction writers

Pricing: Free plan is available, Professional plan costs $49 per month

User ratings:

• G2: 4.8 (161 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6 (42 reviews)

Frequently Asked Questions about Novel Writing Software

Is it possible for AI-generated text to be good enough to include in a novel?

Some of the latest AI writing tools can create text that looks impressive and consists of grammatically correct sentences. Short passages generated by AI could be included verbatim after being checked, but at this stage, it’s not really possible to craft multi-page parts of a novel in a fully automated way.

Which AI writing tools are best suited to assist with novel writing?

Out of all AI-based software intended for writers, there are a few apps that are specifically developed to help with the creative process. Such apps are useful to novelists who need help structuring the story and connecting the characters, but even writers who prefer to do the writing by themselves should at least try a grammar-checking and style-polishing app.

Can I use machine translation to publish my novel in a different language?

Depending on the chosen app, you might have the possibility to create text in multiple languages and translate it back and forth. However, avoid using writing software in a language you are not fluent in, as this could lead to embarrassing mistakes being included in your novel.

Final Words

The rapid progress of AI technology is fueling the next wave of innovation when it comes to text generation and writing assistance. Modern software tools can achieve a level of quality that was hard to imagine just five years ago. There is now a multitude of amazing apps that utilize machine learning to process linguistic content in a way that preserves semantic relationships while completely avoiding plagiarism. Such tools simplify practically all writing tasks, and the most difficult endeavors such as novel writing are clearly one of the most interesting use cases. This is a fantastic time to be a writer, and the perfect moment to adopt a few AI-based tools aimed at creative workers.