Sudowrite costs $10 to $59 a month depending on your plan. It's a genuine writing app, not just an AI bolt-on. You get AI drafting, editing tools, a Story Bible for world-building, planning with an AI canvas and timelines, brainstorming features, and a polished interface designed for fiction writers. Press from the NYT and The New Yorker. It's well made.
But if you're already paying for Claude Pro at $20 a month, you're paying twice for AI. Sudowrite uses its own models. Your Claude subscription sits there unused. Two bills, one job.
That's before you count the rest of the stack. Plottr for outlining. Scrivener for compiling. Maybe ProWritingAid for editing. Every tool that tries to solve part of the problem adds another monthly line item.
What Sudowrite gives you (and what you get here too)
Credit where it's due. Sudowrite does several things well. So does this setup, with some differences worth knowing about:
Describe a scene, get a draft back. Uses their own AI models.
Same thing, but the AI has your voice rules, character codex, and plot loaded. Drafts sound like you, not like a chatbot.
Rephrase, expand, or shorten passages. Tone and style presets.
Craft-aware editing commands. Feedback on pacing, tension, and voice consistency. Not just rewording.
AI canvas, timelines, brainstorming, and beat sheets. A rich planning environment built into the app.
Workshop commands that interview your characters, stress-test motivations, and find contradictions before you draft.
Describe tool generates sensory details on demand.
Craft skills teach the AI how prose actually works. Details come from your world and your voice, not a generic generator.
The main difference is where things live. With Sudowrite, your files are on their servers and the AI is theirs. With this setup, your files are on your hard drive and you bring your own AI. Different tradeoffs depending on what matters to you.
What the alternative looks like
The setup I use instead has three pieces, two of which are free:
- Obsidian (free). Your writing app. Your files live on your hard drive, not someone else's server. Handles your manuscript, world-building, plot notes, character sheets. Everything in one place.
- An AI subscription. The commands and craft skills are designed for Claude Pro ($20/month, flat rate). But your files are just markdown in folders, so any AI that can read local files will work too.
- A vault template ($19, one-time). The bit that connects them. Pre-built folder structure, shortcut commands, craft skills that teach the AI how fiction works, and a setup that means the AI can actually see your characters, your plot, and your voice rules.
Side-by-side comparison
| Sudowrite | The $19 Novel | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $10-59/month | $0 (after one-time $19) |
| AI subscription | Included (their models) | Designed for Claude Pro ($20/month). Files work with any AI that reads local folders. |
| Token costs | All plans use credits (225k to 2M per month depending on tier) | Flat rate. You may hit limits during heavy use, but you wait, not pay |
| Your files | On their servers | On your hard drive |
| AI knows your manuscript | Partially (story bible features, but limited per request) | Yes. Reads your codex, characters, plot, and voice rules |
| Custom commands | Limited presets | 19 built-in, plus build your own |
| Voice matching | Basic style controls | Voice fingerprinting from your own prose |
| Works offline | No | Editing yes, AI features need internet |
What you can do with it
Here's what the setup looks like in practice:
Who this isn't for
If you want a browser-based tool you can open on any device with no setup, Sudowrite is easier to start with. If you've never used a desktop app for writing and don't want to, this isn't the right move.
If you're already paying for Claude Pro and want your files on your own machine, this setup costs $19 one time. Different approach, same goal: get your novel written.
The $19 Novel
One download. Your files, your AI, your hard drive. No subscriptions.
Get it on Gumroad | $19