Write about writing tools?
Ask and a free lifetime license comes back, with no embargo, no approval step and no expectation that you cover it. Everything a review needs is on this page, including the parts that do not flatter us.
Email author@novelos.studioWhat you get
A free lifetime license, no conditions
Email and a license key comes back. It is the full 45 product, not a trial or a cut-down build. There is no embargo, no approval step, and no requirement to cover it at all. If you try it and it is not for your audience, say nothing or say so publicly.
No editorial control, ever
We do not ask to see the piece first, request changes, or supply talking points. Negative reviews keep their license. If you find something broken, saying so on camera is more useful to us than a kind omission.
Optional affiliate link: $22.50 per sale
50% of every referred purchase, which is $22.50 on a $45 product. Entirely optional and disclosed either way; we would rather have an honest review with no link than a paid-feeling one. Email for a code and a tracked link.
Assets, or a specific capture on request
Logo, icon and product screenshots are linked below. If you need a particular screen, a specific workflow recorded, or a clean 4K capture of one feature, ask, we can usually turn it around in a day.
Fact sheet
Every line is checkable in the shipping build. If something here is wrong, tell us and we will fix the page.
- Price
- $45 once. No subscription, no upgrade fee.
- Version
- 1.4.2
- Platforms
- Desktop: macOS (Universal) and Windows (x64). Mobile: an installable PWA at app.novelos.studio, which the same license activates. No Linux desktop build.
- Account
- None. There is no sign-up and no cloud sync.
- Where files live
- On your own device. Projects export as a portable .novelos archive.
- Export formats
- Seven: DOCX, EPUB, PDF, HTML, Markdown, RTF and plain text. One PDF, at the chosen trim size with fonts embedded. No CMYK conversion, bleed or crop marks. Audiobook export to MP3 or WAV, English only.
- AI
- Bring your own API key. You pay the provider directly, never us, and every AI feature is optional. The studio is complete without them.
- New in 1.4.0
- Write by voice (on the device, English projects), margin notes with one Notes list, Book Preview at the chosen trim size, scenes linked to chapters with a timeline by chapter, and The Alchemist on a selection.
- Import
- Smart Import reads Word (.docx), EPUB, Markdown, plain text and PDF, and detects the chapters.
- Offline
- Everything except AI calls works with the network unplugged.
What NovelOS does not do
Listed first so you do not have to discover it mid-recording.
Mobile is a PWA, and its real-device QA is not finished
There is a working installable PWA at app.novelos.studio that your existing license activates, covering what the desktop app covers, offline: Overview, Spark, Cast & World, Blueprint, Scenes and Timeline, Manuscript, Publish and Settings, with write by voice and Book Preview. What is still outstanding is QA on physical hardware: install, safe-area, offline entitlement, storage-pressure and in-browser download behaviour on real iOS Safari and Android Chrome. Treat it as solid but newer than the desktop app, and tell your audience that.
No Linux desktop build
macOS and Windows only for the native app. Linux users can run the PWA, but there is no packaged desktop build and none is promised.
No collaboration or cloud sync
Local-first is the whole design, and the cost is real: no shared editing, no comments from a co-author, no syncing between your laptop and desktop without moving the file yourself.
No AI included in the price
The AI features need your own provider key. That keeps the price at one payment and keeps your manuscript out of our infrastructure, but it does mean setup and it means the AI is not free.
Where competitors are genuinely better
Scrivener has two decades of plugins, scripts and community knowledge we cannot match. Atticus and Vellum are more specialised formatters. World Anvil is a deeper standalone wiki. If a reader's problem is only one of those, say so. We would rather be recommended accurately than broadly.
Assets and links
Who to quote
NovelOS Studio is built and supported by Ribhararnus Pracutian, who writes the code and answers the support email. Happy to answer questions on the record, appear for an interview, or explain a technical decision in writing if that is easier to quote.