Best Book Writing Software 2027: Seven Options with Prices

Which book writing software should you use? Start with one question: who writes the text? If you want a non-fiction or self-help book written from your idea, Bookfairy writes the whole manuscript and takes it on to the full cover, formatting and EPUB in the same account. If you write every word yourself, you need a writing app that keeps a long manuscript in order, such as Scrivener ($59.99 once for macOS) or Atticus ($147 once, with formatting built in), or the free Reedsy Studio. If you want AI to help you draft, Sudowrite, Squibler and Novelcrafter run on monthly or yearly plans. Below are all seven with US prices and sources, as of November 2026.

What book writing software has to do

A word processor can hold a book, but at 50,000 words it gets slow to move around in. Book writing software adds what long manuscripts need:

The first three decide how well you write. The last two decide how much work is left when the text is done.

Seven options at a glance

Prices from each maker's own site, checked November 8, 2026, in US dollars.

Writing apps: Scrivener, Atticus and Reedsy Studio

• Scrivener is a writing app for long projects. It keeps your drafts, notes and research in one project, and you can open research right next to the chapter you are writing. When you are done, Scrivener compiles the manuscript into Word, PDF or ready-to-sell EPUB and Kindle ebooks. Scrivener 3 for macOS costs $59.99 once in the US Mac App Store, and each platform needs its own licence.
• Atticus combines writing and formatting. It costs $147 once for ebook and print, runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook and works online and offline as a web app. You import or write your book, pick one of 17 templates or build your own theme, and export EPUB, PDF and DOCX.
• Reedsy Studio is a web app for planning, writing, editing and formatting. Its basic features, including writing and formatting, are free. It exports EPUB 3 and a print-ready PDF with CMYK images; there is no offline access.

All three expect you to write the book yourself. That is the point of them. Side by side with Bookfairy: Atticus vs. Bookfairy and alternatives to Reedsy.

AI writing tools: Sudowrite, Squibler and Novelcrafter

These three put AI into the writing process:

• Sudowrite calls its own models "AI models just for fiction". Its AI Book Writer builds 10 chapter outlines and 2 to 3 character arcs from your novel idea, and you expand each chapter in the editor. Plans cost $10, $22 or $44 a month billed yearly, or $19, $29 or $59 billed monthly, with a free trial.
• Squibler generates a full 200 to 300 page book from the Plus plan, which costs $29.99 a month or $15.83 a month billed annually. A free plan includes 500 AI credits a month, and you export to PDF and DOCX.
• Novelcrafter is a planning and writing environment with a codex, series and AI character extraction. Its AI features need your own API key with an AI provider ("bring your own key"). Plans run from $4 to $20 a month, with a 21-day trial and no free plan; after cancelling you keep read-only access and can export.

Our guide Best AI for writing a book compares the AI tools in more detail, and each has its own comparison page: Sudowrite, Squibler, Novelcrafter.

Non-fiction from your idea: Bookfairy

Bookfairy is made for non-fiction and self-help, not novels. You do not open an editor and start typing; you describe your idea in a few sentences, typed or spoken.

1. Concept and outline. Bookfairy writes a concept with audience, promise and structure, and an outline with a summary per chapter. You change it until it is your book.
2. Chapter 1 for free. You read the complete first chapter before you pay anything.
3. The whole book. Every chapter is written in turn along the outline, up to 100,000 words, in English, German, French, Spanish or Italian. You get a Word file with chapters, table of contents, checklists, tables and a list of sources.
4. Everything after the text. In the same project, editing checks spelling, grammar, style, logic and facts, the cover comes with front, spine and back as a print PDF, with the barcode and publisher logo on the back, and formatting and EPUB produce the files for KDP and other stores.

The cover workshop keeps working on that cover later: translate it, same look in the other language ($4.8040 tokens), change the trim size or page count with the spine recalculated ($2.4020 tokens), make an audiobook cover ($2.4020 tokens), swap barcode or logo ($1.2010 tokens) or change it in your own words ($1.2010 tokens per change).

The book writer costs $58.80490 tokens for up to 30,000 words, $82.80690 tokens up to 60,000 and $106.80890 tokens up to 100,000, once per book and with no subscription needed. All prices are on the pricing page.

Which software for which author?

Whatever you choose, read and revise the text yourself before you publish. KDP asks whether text is AI-generated when you publish; our guide Writing a book with AI quotes the rules.