From the first scene to the finished file, in one project

If your novel lives in one document while its outline, character list, and cut scenes live in several others, Writer Studio is writing fiction software that keeps the manuscript and everything around it in one local project, with scenes as the unit you write in and characters, plotlines, revisions, and export tied to them. It runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, and everything on your own machine is free.

Write in scenes, add structure when the book asks for it

A scene is the only unit Writer Studio requires. Parts and chapters are optional containers you add when the shape of the book becomes clear, so a first draft can begin as a single scene and stay that way as long as you like. When a passage turns out to be two scenes, select it and choose Extract to Scene: the selection becomes its own scene and no text is lost. If you'd rather start with a shape, a story structure template pre-creates ordinary parts, chapters, and scenes you can rename, move, or delete.

Moving material is where long drafts usually get painful. Here you drag a scene into another chapter in the Explorer tree, or reorder index cards on the Corkboard, and the manuscript itself moves. The Plot Grid lays scenes out against point of view, status, or plotlines, so you can see where a thread goes quiet before a reader does.

Keep characters, places, and plotlines next to the prose

By the middle of a novel nobody remembers the innkeeper's daughter's name. The local Book Wiki holds characters, locations, and plotlines as entries that sit beside the manuscript, and you can define your own Entry Types for whatever else the story needs: factions, ships, spells, families. Each character card can list the scenes the character appears in. You confirm those appearances yourself, so the list stays trustworthy rather than a pile of text matches.

When you need every use of a name or an alias, search for its mentions across the whole draft and walk through the results. Notes for research and cut material live in the same project, link to the scenes they concern, and stay out of your word count.

Revise without losing what you had

Revision produces two kinds of work: things to fix and versions you might want back. Writer Studio gives the first an Issues list anchored to scenes, chapters, or characters, so "her motive is thin here" waits on the exact scene rather than on a sticky note. Nothing closes an issue but you; the revision guide shows the whole pass.

For the second, Version History keeps each scene's earlier versions as you write. View one, compare it with the current text, and restore it, which changes that scene and no other. Restoring is reversible too. Deleted scenes go to the Trash and come back in one action, and a Backup keeps a full copy of the project outside the working folder.

Bring a draft in, take a finished book out

You don't have to start over to switch. Import reads a DOCX, TXT, Markdown, or Scrivener project, finds chapters and scenes from your headings and scene breaks, and shows a preview before anything is created. The original file stays untouched.

When the book is done, export produces DOCX, EPUB, FB2, PDF, and Markdown. Structure maps to real Word styles and proper ebook markup rather than faked formatting, and every export feature is free. Underneath, the manuscript is plain Markdown and JSON on your own disk, readable without the app.

Free on your own machine, with AI only if you want it

Everything that runs on your computer is free, for any number of projects and books, with no trial clock: writing, structure, the Book Wiki, revision, Version History, goals, and export. No account or network connection is needed to write. Authr Plus is the optional paid layer, and it covers only work on Authr's servers: Authr AI and encrypted off-site Backup and sync.

AI is off by default. If you switch the AI Assistant on, it works through the same actions you do and proposes changes that you accept or reject; it doesn't take the pen. You pick the provider: Authr AI, your own provider key, a custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint, or a model running locally. Progress tracking needs no AI at all: daily, book, chapter, and sprint writing goals with a streak that follows you between projects.

How Writer Studio compares

The table covers how each tool runs and how you pay for it. Licensing changes, so confirm current terms on each developer's site.

If you're weighing a switch from Scrivener specifically, the free Scrivener alternatives guide compares options from a Scrivener user's point of view. If recurring cost is the sticking point, see writing software without a subscription, and for the wider field, free novel writing software sorts out what each tool really costs.

Writing fiction software that fits how you work

• First-book authors who need a path from scattered notes to a manuscript, without designing a system first.
• Discovery writers who draft scene by scene and let chapters form later.
• Planners who start from a structure template; the novel outlining software page goes deeper.
• Series authors, since one project can hold every book in the series.
• Genre writers who need the world kept straight, from fantasy and mystery to romance and science fiction.

Bring one chapter, split it into scenes, move one, and export the result. If the book feels easier to hold, bring the rest.

Writer Studio is in alpha and under active development.