How Plot Device compares
Plot Device is a calm writing studio for novels that keeps everything with you: no account, no AI, no one else's servers. Here is how it stands beside the tools writers use most.
Plot Device works on your computer. It needs no account and no internet, and it never sends your book to another service, so no company can read it, keep it or use it to train AI. Online writing apps keep your book on their servers, under their terms.
Plot Device has no AI of its own. What you write is read by you, and by whoever you choose to share it with.
Your book is a folder of ordinary text files, not a format only Plot Device can open. Open it in another app today, or in twenty years.
Backups are plain copies of your book in a folder you choose, on your computer or a drive you already sync. Plot Device never uploads them, and they open without it.
Hebrew and English
The menus come in English and Hebrew, and each new language is a translation away. Right-to-left writing, in Hebrew, Arabic or Persian, works paragraph by paragraph, even with English in the middle of a sentence.
Every storyline
Outlines on a board, a timeline of every storyline, and pages for your characters and places, beside the page while you write.
Checked on 9 November 2026, from each company's own pages. Things change; if something here is out of date, please tell us.
| Plot Device | Google Docs | Microsoft Word | Scrivener | Dabble | Novelcrafter | Campfire | Obsidian | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Language | ||||||||
| Menus and buttons in | English and Hebrew; built for more | Many languages | Many languages | Several (10 on Mac) | English (no others documented) | English (no others documented) | English only | Many languages |
| Right-to-left writing (Hebrew, Arabic, Persian…) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partly | Not documented | No | Not documented | Yes (some rough edges reported) |
| Both directions in one paragraph | Yes | Yes | Yes | Problems reported | Not documented | No | Not documented | Partly |
| Your writing | ||||||||
| Where your writing is kept | Your computer | Google's servers | Your computer or OneDrive | Your computer | Your device and Dabble's servers | Novelcrafter's servers | Campfire's servers | Your computer |
| Works without an account | Yes | No | Microsoft 365 needs one | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Works without internet | Yes | If you turn it on | Yes | Yes | Yes, and syncs later | No | In the desktop app | Yes |
| No AI built in | Yes | Gemini, optional on some plans | Copilot built in; can be turned off | Yes | Yes | Bring-your-own AI is central | Not documented | Yes; plugins by others add it |
| Your book opens in other apps | Yes: plain text files | By exporting | Yes: Word files | Its own format; exports to others | By exporting | By exporting | By exporting | Yes: plain text files |
| Writing a novel | ||||||||
| Runs on | Windows (early), Linux; Mac coming | Web browser, phone and tablet apps | Windows, Mac, phones and tablets, web | Windows, Mac, iPhone and iPad | Web, and as an app on most systems | Web only | Web, Windows, Mac, phones | Windows, Mac, Linux, phones and tablets |
| Planning tools | Outline board, timeline, characters and places | Document outline | Document outline | Corkboard, outliner, character sheets | Plot grid, characters, notes | Grid, outline, codex, timelines | Timeline, characters, places, maps | Canvas; more with plugins |
| Brings in a Word file | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not built in |
| Saves as Word, PDF and EPUB | All three | All three | Word and PDF (no EPUB) | All three | Word (no PDF or EPUB) | Word (no PDF or EPUB) | PDF and EPUB | PDF; more with plugins |
"Not documented" means the company's own pages don't say, so the table doesn't guess.
Already writing in Word or Google Docs? Import your manuscript as a Word file, and Plot Device splits it into chapters, showing you how before anything is made. Your Word file is never changed.
Import a Word file, or start a new book. Your files are always yours.
Each answer comes from the company's own pages, checked on the date above.
