NovelAI Review 2025: Is It The Best AI Story Generator?

If you're someone who enjoys writing fiction but often gets stuck or needs a bit of help moving things along, you’ve probably heard of NovelAI.

This tool helps you write stories more easily by building scenes, writing dialogue, and keeping the plot moving with AI. Whether it’s a novel or a short story, it supports your creativity without taking over. But can it handle complex plots, or does it end up adding more work?

In this NovelAI review, we’ll talk about:

• What the tool does and how it stands apart
• Which features are actually useful
• Whether the features match what you're paying for
• Its strengths and its weak points

So, keep reading to learn how well this tool holds up in 2025, and whether it truly helps or just gets in the way.

What Is NovelAI and How Does It Work?

NovelAI uses powerful artificial intelligence to support the writing process.

It’s designed to help you create fiction by building on what you write. Think of it as a co-writer that responds to your input, line by line, rather than trying to take over the whole story.

What makes it different is its focus. Most writing tools are built for ads, blogs, or emails. This one is built for storytelling. It was trained on real literature, so it has a better understanding of things like pacing, emotional tone, and character growth.

Instead of just writing random paragraphs, it tries to follow your story in a way that makes sense.

Writing Modes in NovelAI

At the beginning, you pick from two main writing options:

Storyteller Mode

You write a sentence or two, and the AI adds to it.

You can accept, edit, or delete anything it generates. It’s a back-and-forth process that feels more like brainstorming than automation.

To shape the tone and writing style, you can also choose between different AI models. Euterpe is the default — it handles most general writing needs well. Genji brings in a Japanese storytelling influence, which can be useful for a different narrative rhythm.

And if you’re on the highest-tier plan, you can unlock Krake, the most advanced and creative option available. It’s built for people who want deeper, more immersive writing.

Text Adventure Mode

This one works more like a role-playing game. The AI gives you part of a story, and you respond by typing an action or bit of dialogue. It’s more casual and fun, but still helpful if you're looking to test ideas.

Here, too, your choice of AI model shapes the output. Euterpe keeps things balanced and easy to follow. Genji adds a more stylized touch. Krake pushes things further, often creating more vivid and unexpected scenes.

Key Features of NovelAI: What You Actually Get

NovelAI is packed with features, but not all of them are useful to everyone. Some are meant for serious fiction writers who care about structure. Others are more for casual writers who just want to play around with story ideas. Here's a closer look at the ones that stand out the most.

1. Story Generator

NovelAI is primarily a story generator, designed to assist with fiction writing.

Rather than producing an entire chapter from a single prompt, it works through a step-by-step process. You begin a scene, the AI builds on it, and you guide the rest. If needed, you can regenerate lines or adjust the tone to better fit your narrative.

This back-and-forth writing style makes it feel like you’re brainstorming with a writing buddy. It’s not perfect — sometimes the AI loses track of small details — but overall, it does a solid job of keeping the story moving without sounding repetitive or off-topic.

It also gives you the option to choose different modules, like romance, noir, or sci-fi. Every module affects how the writing sounds and what kind of words the AI uses. Some users say these can change how the AI builds tension or delivers action scenes.

This feature is especially helpful for:

• Writers who want AI support without giving up creative control
• People who struggle with momentum and need help progressing a scene
• Authors experimenting with different tones or genres
• Users looking for a back-and-forth writing experience rather than automation

2. Lorebook

This is where things get smarter.

The Lorebook is a place to store backstories, plot outlines, character notes, and any other info you want the AI to keep in mind. It’s not just a notes section. The AI actually reads from it as it writes.

If you enter that your character hates flying or grew up in a forest village, the AI will try to keep that consistent across your story.

Those most likely to benefit from this feature include:

• Authors writing long-form fiction with deep world-building
• Writers juggling multiple characters or timelines
• Storytellers who want to minimize continuity errors
• Teams or co-writers working with shared story elements

3. Custom Editor

You can customize your writing environment with NovelAI.

While it might seem like a small detail, it can make the writing experience more comfortable, especially during long sessions.

Customization options include:

• Changing the interface theme
• Adjusting font size
• Tweaking background and text colors

These settings don’t affect the AI’s output, but can make the workspace easier on the eyes and more personal.

This feature is particularly useful for:

• Writers who spend extended hours drafting and revising
• Users who prefer a calm or visually optimized workspace
• People with specific visual comfort needs
• Anyone who enjoys tailoring their tools to their preferences

4. NovelAI Diffusion (Image Generation)

One feature that separates NovelAI from most other story generators is image generation.

Known as NovelAI Diffusion, this feature lets you create visuals based on your character or scene descriptions. It mostly leans toward anime-style images, which is perfect for people writing fantasy, manga, or visually heavy fiction.

Just type in a description like “a girl in a red cloak standing in the snow”, and watch as the system tries to bring that to life. You don’t need to know how to draw. This tool works well if you want to see your characters or settings before writing more.

That said, this feature is behind a paywall. Only paid users get full access, and even then, there are image limits depending on your plan. The image quality is strong for anime fans, but weaker if you’re hoping for realism or Western comic styles.

This tool works best for:

• Visual storytellers who create anime-style or illustrated fiction
• Writers who use visuals as inspiration for character or setting development
• Authors looking to bring life to fantasy or manga elements
• Users who want to prototype character designs quickly

5. AI Image Generation (Text-to-Image)

This is closely tied to the image generator, but it’s worth calling out separately.

The AI image generation tool gives users the power to turn any line of description into a visual. This is especially helpful for those writing graphic novels or web fiction where visuals matter just as much as dialogue.

Many users say it works best when you’re specific. Vague inputs like “young man in armor” might turn out bland or generic. But detailed prompts that include colors, expressions, and poses often produce better results.

Writers who would get the most out of this include:

• Graphic novelists and web fiction authors
• Creators who build visuals alongside the plot
• Writers preparing visual references for collaborators or artists
• Users looking to test or refine scene descriptions visually

Pricing: Is NovelAI Worth Paying For?

NovelAI uses a subscription model, and the pricing is split into four plans. Each comes with different memory sizes, feature access, and monthly credits for things like image generation. You can also try it out for free before committing to a paid plan.

Let’s break down what you get.

Free Plan (Paper Tier)

• Cost: $0
• Includes: 100 free text generations, limited access to the AI storyteller
• Memory limit: About 6,000 characters (roughly 1,000 to 1,500 words)
• Image generation: Not available

This tier is a good starting point. You can explore both writing modes, test out the editor, and get a feel for the AI’s writing style. But it’s limited. Once your free generations run out, you’ll have to upgrade to keep writing.

Tablet Plan – $10/month

• Unlimited text generation
• Memory limit: Around 3,000 tokens (roughly 500 to 800 words)
• Includes: 1,000 Anlas (the platform’s credits for extra features, like image generation)

This plan is best for casual users who want more room to write and experiment. The memory limit is smaller than the free plan, oddly enough, but you get more flexibility overall. You also start gaining access to the image tools here.

Scroll Plan – $15/month

• Memory limit: Higher than Tablet, though NovelAI doesn’t list an exact number
• Includes: More Anlas than the Tablet plan

This option is better suited for users working on longer or more complex stories. With extra memory, the AI can "remember" more of your plot, which helps keep things consistent and easier to follow.

Opus Plan – $25/month

• Memory limit: 8,000 tokens (up to around 2,000–2,500 words)
• Includes: Unlimited generations, max image credit availability, access to Krake (the most advanced AI model), and early access to experimental features

If you're planning to write full novels or graphic content where memory and AI performance matter a lot, this plan makes the most sense. It’s the only one that gives you access to everything NovelAI offers.

Is NovelAI Really Worth It?

That depends on what you're trying to do.

If you’re just writing short scenes or experimenting with creative ideas, the free or $10 plan is fine. But if you're serious about storytelling, you’ll need the Scroll or Opus plans to get enough memory and feature support.

Compared to other tools like Sudowrite or Jasper, NovelAI is priced fairly. For example, Jasper can cost over $50 per month, and it’s not even built for fiction. With NovelAI, even the highest tier is less than half that.

Pros and Cons of Using NovelAI

Like any creative tool, NovelAI has both strengths and weak spots. It does some things very well, especially for fiction writers. But it also comes with a few trade-offs you should know before relying on it too heavily.

What Works Well?

• Fiction-focused features: NovelAI isn’t trying to do everything. It’s made for stories, and it shows. From tone presets to custom modules, the tool is focused on one job: helping you write fiction that feels alive.
• Flexible writing flow: NovelAI allows you to manage the writing process on your terms. You can revise AI outputs, replace them entirely, or guide the direction sentence by sentence. However, it lacks advanced tools for outlining or structuring longer drafts, which some users may expect from a professional-grade writing assistant.
• Easy to use: No complicated onboarding. You can start without creating an account and test things out in just a few minutes.
• Strong visual tools: The image generator works best with anime-style characters and scenes, which align with the platform’s design focus. While it can produce other visual styles, the quality and accuracy tend to drop outside the anime aesthetic. Users looking for realistic or western-style illustrations may find the results less consistent.
• Affordable pricing: At $10 to $25 a month, NovelAI is cheaper than most high-end writing tools. And it offers more fiction-centered tools than almost any of them.

Where It Falls Short?

• Memory limits can be tight: On lower-tier plans, the AI can forget key story details if your text is too long. This can break the flow and force you to keep repeating information.
• Occasional logical errors: The AI sometimes misinterprets context, like shifting a character’s mood without explanation or contradicting earlier plot points. For example, it might forget a character’s name, location, or emotional state from previous scenes. While the Lorebook helps reduce these issues, writers still need to review character details, plot consistency, and scene transitions carefully.
• Image generation has a style bias: The visuals lean heavily toward anime, and that might not work for everyone. If you’re writing western fantasy, thrillers, or historical fiction, the images may feel off.
• No real offline access: Everything happens online, so you need a stable connection. There's no desktop version or app for writing without the internet.

Even with these issues, the tool does a lot right. Most of the drawbacks are manageable, especially if you’re willing to guide the AI instead of expecting it to carry the whole story on its own.

How Does NovelAI Compare to Other AI Story Generators?

There are quite a few AI writing tools out there now, but most of them aren’t built for storytelling. Some are made for copywriting. Others focus on summaries, emails, or business content. NovelAI takes a different path by focusing almost completely on fiction.

In this section, we’ll compare NovelAI to a few popular AI writing tools, highlighting where it stands out and where it falls short.

NovelAI vs. AISEO

AISEO is a powerful platform with a broad feature set.

It’s known for helping users create SEO content that bypasses AI detection tools, but it does more than just that. It comes with a long-form assistant, humanizer, paraphraser, and even AI image generation. It also supports writing in multiple languages and offers tools to improve clarity, boost engagement, and increase topical authority.

Although it’s mostly used for marketing and publishing, AISEO isn’t limited to those areas. With its advanced configuration options, it can also be used to craft fiction, and this makes it more suitable for fiction writers who prefer the versatility it offers.

NovelAI vs. ChatGPT

ChatGPT is flexible and handles many writing tasks well, including fiction.

It can match your tone, build scenes, and write dialogue with little effort. It now also includes memory features and built-in image generation, which makes it more capable than it used to be.

Still, it isn’t focused on storytelling. It doesn’t offer genre presets, built-in tools for long-term character tracking, or features made specifically for fiction writers. If you’re looking for a tool made to support story development from start to finish, NovelAI remains the stronger option.

NovelAI vs. Sudowrite

Sudowrite is probably the closest competitor when it comes to helping with fiction.

It’s smart, polished, and also has features for brainstorming and rewriting. But it’s much more expensive, with plans that can go above $30 a month depending on your usage. And it doesn’t offer image generation at all.

Sudowrite is better at polishing what you've written, but NovelAI offers more control over the story-building process and visual customization.

NovelAI vs. Rytr and Jasper

Rytr and Jasper are mostly content tools made for marketers, not novelists.

While you can technically use them to write stories, it’s not what they were built for. The outputs often feel stiff, and they don’t support long-form fiction well. NovelAI wins easily here if your focus is on narrative writing.

NovelAI vs. AI Dungeon or Character AI

If you enjoy storytelling as an interactive experience — where the AI responds to your actions or plays characters — these two are fun. AI Dungeon is more playful and free-form, but less polished. Character AI is all about chatting with bots based on fictional personalities.

NovelAI offers some of that same fun through its Text Adventure mode but pairs it with a cleaner writing setup, better memory, and stronger AI models.

Who Should Use NovelAI?

NovelAI isn’t for everyone, but it hits the mark for a few specific types of users.

In fact, a recent BookBub survey found that around 45% of authors are already using generative AI to support their writing, showing just how common these tools are becoming in the creative process.

NovelAI is best suited for fiction writers who want creative support without giving up control. It works well for both serious authors and casual storytellers.

Ideal users include:

• Writers of long-form fiction
• Visual storytellers who enjoy using images
• People facing creative blocks
• Hobbyists and role-playing fans looking for interactive writing tools

Final Verdict

Based on our review, NovelAI stands out as a reliable tool for fiction writers in 2025.

It offers practical advantages such as customizable AI models, scene-aware memory, and built-in visual tools that support character and world-building. Its structured approach to storytelling, along with flexible writing modes and genre presets, makes it more than just a text generator.

For writers seeking consistency, creative control, and genre-specific assistance, NovelAI delivers solid value. While it may not suit those looking for realism in visuals or offline access, its focused feature set and affordable pricing make it a smart choice for anyone serious about fiction writing.