Free Writing Software Review: The Novel Factory
Updated: Sep 3
[NOTE: Updated as of September 2026. The original post was written in October 2016.]
Welcome to Part 3 of my “Free Writing Software Review” Series (a companion series to my earlier post, “Free Scrivener Alternatives.”)
Today’s review topic: The Novel Factory!
This program has had a lot of improvements and updates since my last review (in 2016), BUT… it has also gone up in price significantly. I’m leaving it here in this review series because it does have a free trial version, and its setup could be helpful to those who struggle to plot novels or who are just learning and want a tool to walk them through the process of planning, writing, and publishing a novel. It has a wealth of information built in to guide you.
Originally, I included Novel Factory in this review series (even though it wasn't entirely free), because of the many programs I tested back in 2016, this one was one of the most intriguing for me and it had a lot of beneficial features, particularly for new, still-learning writers.
However, in all honesty, since my original review in 2016, several other tools have become available that do the same thing for a much more reasonable price tag, so… by all means, read on and see what Novel Factory is about! But maybe hold off on purchasing it until you’ve seen some of the other (newer) options in my writing software review series.
With that said, here we go!
Novel Factory provides a Road Map to walk you through the process of planning, drafting, and even publishing a novel.
You can either skip the road map and jump around to the features you need, or you can follow it step-by-step and let it guide you through the whole process. (All the ideas and writing are still your own! It’s just providing you a template and walking you through planning and writing out your novel section by section.)
Once you're ready to start your actual novel, you can organize your plot visually using notecards in the Plot Manager (and Subplots in the Subplot Manager!) either using blank cards or some of their suggested outline templates.
(Here's one using an outline template):
This board serves as a visual overview of the plot of your story. Each of those cards could then be opened up to actually write those scenes.
(And the same basic feature is available for organizing your subplots!)
Novel Factory also has useful tools for organizing ideas and storing notes on a visual board that’s readily accessible. You can also create timelines, make notes and checklists on the Notes board, and even write your whole draft directly into the program if you want.
The actual drafting screens look like this, with the ability to easily tab between sections using the outline on the left-hand side and a reference panel with notes and info about your current scene on the right:
Here's a look at some more of the templates and guides provided to help you brainstorm and/or stay on track with plot structure as you write:
The info provided is actually pretty educational!
My overall feeling on the Novel Factory software is that it would be a great learning tool for beginners and a valuable brainstorming tool for veteran writers who are feeling stuck and want a little jumpstart on thinking through a new book. (This is what I would likely use it for, but I actually have another preferred tool for this... more on that later in this post series!)
Novel Factory also allows you to save detailed worldbuilding details about your overall story, world, characters, locations, and individual scenes (including weather!), which is a fun feature.
I like that it has stat trackers---those are always a plus, in my opinion, because they help with both goal-tracking and motivation.
Novel Factory is actually a pretty robust tool with some really useful features!
BUT… given that here in 2026, I know of other tools that do similar things (or even more things) just as well at a similar (or better) price, I’m not sure it’s worth the hefty price tag. (Sorry, Novel Factory!)
I’m leaving it here on the review list, though, for those of you who might find that its setup suits your brain and want to give the free trial a go.
The Novel Factory is available here: https://www.novel-software.com/.
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