NovelAI review

NovelAI is a different shape from Character.AI: instead of chatting with a bot, you write a story with the model, using a lorebook to hold characters and places and a Text Adventure mode when you want to play. It runs its own models, and the docs say text generation and text-to-speech are unlimited on every paid tier. Tablet costs $10 per month, Scroll $15 for a larger context, and Opus $25 for the largest context of up to 28,672 tokens, access to extra models and 10,000 monthly Anlas for image generation. The anime image generator, NovelAI Diffusion V5, is a strong extra for illustrating scenes. There is no permanent free plan; the free trial gives 50 text generations, 30 images and 100 voice generations once. If what you miss on Character.AI is a story that stays coherent over many pages, Opus is the most generous documented context of the hosted options in this list.

Who it is for

Writers who want a co-author for long stories and anime art, with privacy and no free-tier queue.

Price

Free trial; Tablet $10, Scroll $15 and Opus $25 per month.

The most basic NovelAI subscription is the Tablet tier, with a cost of $10 USD monthly.
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 10, 2026.

Key features

• Unlimited text and text-to-speech generation on every paid tier
• Lorebook and Text Adventure mode in the editor
• Up to 28,672 tokens of context on the Opus tier
• NovelAI Diffusion V5 anime image generation with monthly Anlas
• Scripting API for custom extensions

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Paid tiers have no text generation cap
• Strength: The cheapest tier is $10 per month
• Strength: Opus gives the longest documented context among the hosted story apps here
• Weakness: There is no permanent free plan, only a one-time trial of 50 text generations
• Weakness: Scroll and Opus are needed for larger context
• Weakness: It is built for prose and stories more than chat with ready-made bots

Key facts

• Tiers: Tablet $10, Scroll $15, Opus $25 per month
• Free trial: 50 text, 30 image and 100 voice generations
• Opus context: Up to 28,672 tokens
• Monthly Anlas: 1,000 on Tablet and Scroll, 10,000 on Opus

Where it ranks

NovelAI is No. 7 in our Best Character.AI Alternatives verdict.