Scrivener organises the book. This one helps you write it.
Scrivener is $49 and has no built-in AI, so writers end up paying a second subscription to add it back. Novel Mage does both for $149 once, and still runs entirely on your machine.
The harbour had emptied by the time Irene reached the customs house, and the lamps along the quay were already guttering in the wind.
She had rehearsed the lie for three days. It still did not sound like something she would say.
Behind her, the bell of St. Anne's counted out the hour, and she understood that whatever she said next would be the thing he remembered her by.
Organisation and AI, in the same window
Acts, scenes and a full review pass in one view
Lay the novel out in acts and scenes with status and word count on each, exactly as you do now — then point the built-in review at the finished manuscript for POV slips, continuity breaks, pacing and overused phrases. Scrivener organises the draft; this also reads it.
Codex + Auto Codex
Characters, locations, lore and world rules linked across the whole manuscript. It is the research binder you already keep, except the AI reads it automatically instead of you re-explaining your world — and Auto Codex updates it from each finished chapter rather than you typing every entry.
Assistant chat + interview any character
Ask the assistant to find every mention of the sword or summarise each scene a character appears in, or drop into the character and ask why she lied. It is reading the manuscript you are already in, so nothing gets pasted between windows — and there is no separate AI subscription underneath it.
No subscription, and no Wi-Fi either
You picked a desktop tool for a reason. Novel Mage stays one: files on your disk, a local model through Ollama or LM Studio if you want the AI to run with the Wi-Fi off, and one payment rather than a renewal.
One tool for $149
instead of two
One tool instead of two, one payment instead of a subscription. Scrivener plus an AI subscription costs more in year one than Novel Mage costs ever.
Three ways you cannot lose money here
Try it before you pay
7 days of full access, free. We never ask for a card, so there is nothing to forget to cancel.
7-day refund, no questions
Buy it, change your mind, email us. Money back, and you never have to explain why.
It cannot be taken away
Your files are local and the licence is yours. The app keeps working even if we shut down tomorrow.
7 days, every feature, no credit card. Keep it for $149 once, or walk away.