NovelAI review
Browser-based story co-writer and anime image generator for adults who want control
Edited by Troy · Published
NovelAI suits adults who want to co-write fiction in the browser and steer it with Memory and Lorebook, and $10 a month buys unlimited text generation. Skip it if you want to chat with characters, need a native phone app or want a free plan, because NovelAI offers none of the three.
- Best for
- Adults co-writing fiction who want to steer every line
- Pricing
- No free plan, only a one-time trial of 50 text and 30 image generations. At this review Tablet costs $10 a month, Scroll $15 and Opus $25 a month, all with unlimited text, while images run on monthly Subscription Anlas.
- Platforms
- Web
Overall: Microwaved
0 to 100, lower is better. The overall score is the average of the axes below.
45/100
Prose
Microwaved
42
Xialong is trained on NovelAI's storytelling dataset, but users on Reddit say long scenes are where it fails hardest, repeating phrases or sentences.
Asks: Does it write like a person?
Memory
Microwaved
45
Recall is the context window, 8,192 tokens on Tablet up to 28,672 on Opus, and anything beyond that depends on Memory and Lorebook entries you maintain yourself.
Asks: Does it remember you?
Characters
Does everyone sound the same? Not scored, since this axis doesn't apply to this app.
Story
Microwaved
55
The model continues whatever scene you open, and you steer the plot by editing and retrying.
Asks: Does anything happen?
Pricing
Microwaved
42
Tiers are clearly priced at $10, $15 and $25 with unlimited text, but images run on Anlas with Opus overage charges, there are no refunds, and the trial never refreshes.
Asks: Does it charge you for caring?
Art
Microwaved
40
The user gallery images on NovelAI's Explore pages and the showcase art on its homepage are clean, polished anime work: hands and props mostly hold up, and the manga action panel looks properly composed. It still has the generator's glossy, evenly lit finish, though, and the shop signs in the steampunk town scene blur into lettering that spells nothing.
Asks: Does the art look like a person made it?
Decent
0 to 10, higher is better.
6/10
Fine control over a story you write yourself, with long scenes as the weak spot users report.
Key facts
| Type | Writing tools |
|---|---|
| Platforms | Web |
| Pricing at this review | No free plan, only a one-time trial of 50 text and 30 image generations. At this review Tablet costs $10 a month, Scroll $15 and Opus $25 a month, all with unlimited text, while images run on monthly Subscription Anlas. |
| Age rating | 18+ |
| Content policy | Little or no filtering |
| Who writes the characters | Generated on demand |
| Memory | Recall is the context window, up to 28,672 tokens on Opus, plus Memory and Lorebook entries you write yourself. |
| Best for | Adults co-writing fiction who want to steer every line |
Strengths and watch-outs
- Every paid tier gives unlimited text and text-to-speech generations at this review, including the $10 Tablet tier.
- NovelAI says prompts are encrypted, its terms say it does not log request content without explicit consent, and generated images are not stored on its servers unless you save them.
- Reviewers report a Memory box and a Lorebook for storing the characters, places and rules a story depends on.
- Opus subscribers get Xialong, which reviewers describe as a 355-billion-parameter fine-tune of GLM-4.6, released March 31, 2026.
- NovelAI has no free plan. The trial gives 50 text and 30 image generations once, with no refreshes.
- Subscriptions carry no refunds unless the company explicitly grants one.
- Because of local encryption, losing your email or password locks you out of remotely stored stories permanently.
- Reviewers report Tablet's context is 8,192 tokens, and users on Reddit say long scenes are where the model fails hardest, repeating phrases or whole sentences.
- On Opus, image models above V4.5 charge Anlas for every image once you pass the usage limit, and an empty usage bar takes 7 to 9 days to refill.
What it is
NovelAI is a browser-based subscription service with two halves: a text side for co-writing fiction and an image side for anime-style art. The homepage says the text side runs on GLM 4.6. Reviewers report that Opus subscribers also get Xialong, a 355-billion-parameter fine-tune of GLM-4.6 released March 31, 2026, and that NovelAI Diffusion V5 launched August 21, 2026 in Curated and Full versions.
NovelAI has no native phone app. It runs in mobile browsers and installs as a Progressive Web App. The Terms of Service, effective December 8, 2025, require users to be 18 or older.
What it is like to use
NovelAI is a writing tool, not a chat. Reviewers describe the loop this way: you type the opening of a scene, the model continues the text, and you edit and retry. They also report that there is no character chatbot, that context runs 8,192 tokens on Tablet, 12,288 on Scroll and 28,672 on Opus, and that Memory and Lorebook hold the characters, places and rules a story needs. Users on Reddit say prolonged scenes are where the AI fails hardest, repeating phrases or sentences. They also say the V5 image model handles prompts better than 4.5 but offers too little style control and no character reference, which makes one character hard to keep consistent across a set of images.
The gallery images on NovelAI's Explore pages and the homepage showcase are clean, polished anime work. Hands and props mostly hold up, and the manga action panel looks properly composed. The images still carry the generator's glossy, evenly lit finish, and the shop signs in a steampunk town scene blur into lettering that spells nothing. The homepage pitches image generation with "No restrictions. No compromises.", so the Curated model is the one to pick if you want to avoid sensitive images by accident.
NovelAI says prompts are encrypted, request content is not logged without explicit consent, and generated images stay off its servers unless you save them. Because stories are encrypted locally, losing your email or password permanently locks you out of the ones stored remotely.
Pricing at this review
NovelAI has no free plan and says it has no plans for one. An email-verified account gets a one-time trial of 50 text generations and 30 image generations up to 1024x1024, and it never refreshes. Every paid tier includes unlimited text and text-to-speech generations:
- Tablet: $10 a month, with 1,000 Subscription Anlas a month for images.
- Scroll: $15, with a larger context and 1,000 Subscription Anlas.
- Opus: $25 a month, with the largest context (28,672 tokens) and 10,000 Subscription Anlas.
On image models above V4.5, Opus users who pass their usage limit pay Anlas for every image until the bar refills. A refill takes 9 days from empty on a new subscription and 7 days on a continued one. Users report two recent changes from NovelAI: an effort toggle for V5 Full, added October 8, 2026, where medium effort costs about 40% less per image, and an optional Opus Usage Boost, on sale since October 2026, that sells extra V5 usage.
Subscription Anlas now reset to zero when a subscription ends. Refunds are not offered unless the company explicitly grants one, and after cancelling you have 45 days to export your content before NovelAI may delete it.
Who should skip it
Skip NovelAI if you want to chat with characters, need a native phone app, want a free plan or are under 18. Reviewers report it has no chatbot feature, and the trial is the only free use you get. If you plan long scenes on Tablet's 8,192-token context, or need one character to look consistent across a set of images, the weak spots users on Reddit describe will hit you directly.
Receipts
Every claim on this page, with the source text we copied and the day we read it. Last checked against the live app on November 6, 2026.
- Receipt 1Official site
The Paper free trial gives 30 free image generations up to 1024x1024 on an email-verified account.
"You get 30 free Image generations up to 1024x1024 resolution if you're logged in with an e-mail verified account."
docs.novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 2Official site
The free trial gives 50 free text generations on an email-verified account.
"You get 50 free Text generations if you're logged in with an e-mail verified account."
docs.novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 3Official site
Tablet tier costs $10 USD monthly with unlimited text and text-to-speech generations.
"The most basic NovelAI subscription is the Tablet tier, with a cost of $10 USD monthly."
docs.novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 4Official site
Even Tablet gives unlimited text and text-to-speech generations for the subscription period.
"it already gives you unlimited Text and Text to Speech generations for the entire duration of the subscription."
docs.novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 5Official site
Scroll tier costs $15 USD and adds a larger context size so the AI remembers more.
"This is the second tier of NovelAI subscription, costing $15 USD."
docs.novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 6Official site
Opus costs $25 USD per month and has the largest context, remembering up to 28,672 tokens.
"This subscription costs $25 USD per month, but it boasts great bonuses compared to the other tiers."
docs.novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 7Official site
Opus is the tier with the largest context size, up to 28,672 tokens.
"it is the tier with the largest token context size, being able to remember up to 28,672 tokens."
docs.novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 8Official site
Opus gets 10,000 Subscription Anlas each month for image generation; Tablet and Scroll get 1000.
"Opus subscribers also get a whopping 10,000 Subscription Anlas refill every month to spend on larger or more Image Generations."
docs.novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 9Official site
On models above V4.5, Opus users who exceed their usage limit pay Anlas for all images until the limit refills.
"When using a model higher than V4.5, going over your usage limit will make all images cost Anlas until your limit refills."
docs.novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 10Official site
NovelAI says prompts are encrypted and generated images are not stored on its servers unless the user saves them.
"Your prompts are encrypted and all generated images are never stored on our servers (they only exist during your session unless you choose to save them)"
novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 11Official site
The homepage says the text side is powered by GLM 4.6.
"POWERED BY GLM 4.6"
novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 12Official site
The homepage pitches image generation with "No restrictions. No compromises."
"Generate original characters, scenes, and artwork in seconds. No restrictions. No compromises."
novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 13Official site
NovelAI has no plans for a free version; free trial actions are given once with no refreshes.
"There are currently no plans for a free version of NovelAI at this time."
docs.novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 14Official site
There is no native phone app; NovelAI runs in mobile browsers and can be installed as a Progressive Web App.
"The NovelAI website is also available as a Progressive Web Application which you can download from the site itself through your mobile browser."
docs.novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 15Official site
Because of local encryption, losing your email or password means permanently losing access to remotely stored stories.
"Due to NovelAI's local encryption, losing your email or password results in permanently losing access to all of your remotely stored stories."
docs.novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 16Official site
Policy change: starting 31 days after the NovelAI Diffusion V5 release, Subscription Anlas reset to zero when a subscription ends; leftover subscription Anlas were converted to Paid Anlas at the switch.
"on the date this policy adjustment takes effect any remaining unused Subscription Anlas in your account will be automatically converted into Paid Anlas, ensuring they remain yours to use."
docs.novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 17Official site
The Opus usage bar takes 9 days to refill from empty on a new subscription and 7 days on continued subscriptions.
"Refilling a completely empty usage bar takes 9 days on a new subscription, and 7 days on continued subscriptions."
docs.novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 18Official site
The Terms of Service (effective December 8, 2025) require users to be 18 or older.
"You must be 18 years or older and be capable of entering a legal contract in the United States of America in order to use the Services."
novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 19Official site
Subscriptions do not offer refunds unless the company explicitly grants one.
"Anlatan's Subscription-Based Services does not offer refunds unless explicitly granted by the Company."
novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 20Official site
The terms say NovelAI does not log the content of requests without explicit consent.
"We do not log the content of your requests without your explicit consent."
novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 21Official site
After a subscription ends, users have 45 days to export content before NovelAI may delete it.
"This transition must be completed within 45 days, after which we reserve the right to delete your Content."
novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 22Reviewer
Reviewers report context limits of 8,192 tokens on Tablet, 12,288 on Scroll and 28,672 on Opus, with Memory and Lorebook for storing characters, places and rules.
"How much the AI can hold in its head depends on your plan: 8,192 tokens on Tablet, 12,288 on Scroll and 28,672 on Opus"
the-ai-future.com, retrieved
- Receipt 23Reviewer
Reviewers report the writing side is not a chat: you type a scene opening and the model continues the text, which you edit and retry.
"You don't chat with it. You type the opening of a scene, hit send, and the model continues the text. You edit, retry, nudge and keep going."
the-ai-future.com, retrieved
- Receipt 24Reviewer
Reviewers report there is no official phone app and no character chatbot feature.
"There's no official phone app and no character chatbot feature, which matters if you came here from"
the-ai-future.com, retrieved
- Receipt 25Reviewer
Reviewers report Xialong, a 355-billion-parameter fine-tune of GLM-4.6 for Opus subscribers, was released March 31, 2026.
"Xialong, a 355-billion-parameter fine-tune of ZhipuAI's GLM-4.6 released on March 31, 2026, plus Llama 3 Erato."
the-ai-future.com, retrieved
- Receipt 26Reviewer
Reviewers report NovelAI Diffusion V5 launched August 21, 2026 in Curated and Full versions.
"NovelAI Diffusion V5 launched on August 21, 2026 in two flavours, Curated and Full."
the-ai-future.com, retrieved
- Receipt 27Reviewer
Reviewers report NovelAI allows mature content, and the Curated image model is recommended to avoid sensitive images by accident.
"NovelAI allows mature content. RoboRhythms recommends the Curated model if you want to avoid sensitive images by accident."
the-ai-future.com, retrieved
- Receipt 28Forum
NovelAI announced that legacy text models Krake, Genji and Snek will be removed on November 20th (posted 2026-10-21).
"Three of our legacy text models will be removed from novelai.net on November 20th: Krake, Genji, and Snek."
www.reddit.com, retrieved
- Receipt 29Forum
On 2026-10-08 NovelAI added a V5 Full effort toggle; medium effort costs about 40% less per image.
"Medium effort: ~40% less per image, comparable quality. More generations for less."
www.reddit.com, retrieved
- Receipt 30Forum
In October 2026 NovelAI started selling an optional Opus Usage Boost for extra V5 usage.
"Ran out of Opus usage before you ran out of ideas? Keep generating with NovelAI Diffusion V5 using Opus Usage Boost."
www.reddit.com, retrieved
- Receipt 31Forum
Users on Reddit say V5 gives too little style control to make a consistent set of images, though it handles prompts better than 4.5.
"There is so little control over the art style in v5 that it feels impossible to use to generate a consistent set of images."
www.reddit.com, retrieved
- Receipt 32Forum
Users on Reddit say V5 lacks character reference, making one character across multiple images hard.
"For 4.5 I just used character reference but it seems like v5 doesn't actually have that."
www.reddit.com, retrieved
- Receipt 33Forum
Users on Reddit say prolonged scenes are where the AI fails hardest, repeating phrases or sentences (Sept 2026).
"I've found that prolonged scenes tend to be where the AI fails hardest in repetition of phrases or sentences."
www.reddit.com, retrieved
- Receipt 34Forum
NovelAI's announcement says Xialong is a 355B Mixture of Experts finetune of GLM-4.6 trained on its storytelling dataset, exclusive to Opus.
"Xialong is a 355B Mixture of Experts finetune of GLM-4.6, trained on our storytelling dataset to better adapt to your writing style"
www.reddit.com, retrieved
- Receipt 35Forum
Users on Reddit summarizing developer comments say the model is not censored and defaults to higher-quality literature unless pushed toward explicit content via tags.
"Noted that the model is not censored; it simply defaults to higher-quality literature unless pushed toward explicit content via tags."
www.reddit.com, retrieved
- Receipt 36Official site
The NovelAI official site page with art judged for the score says "Cute Witch tea party by scarlet_owl".
"Cute Witch tea party by scarlet_owl"
novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 37Official site
The NovelAI official site page with art judged for the score says "Cute Witch Tea Party 2".
"Cute Witch Tea Party 2"
novelai.net, retrieved
- Receipt 38Official site
The NovelAI official site page with art judged for the score says "Generate original characters, scenes, and artwork in seconds.".
"Generate original characters, scenes, and artwork in seconds."
novelai.net, retrieved
Questions people ask
Is NovelAI free?
No. NovelAI has no free plan and says it has no plans for one. An email-verified account gets a one-time trial of 50 text generations and 30 image generations up to 1024x1024, and it never refreshes. At this review, paid plans start at $10 a month for Tablet.
Is NovelAI safe to use?
On privacy, NovelAI's stated policies are strict. It says prompts are encrypted, its terms say it does not log request content without explicit consent, and generated images are not stored on its servers unless you save them. That encryption has a cost: if you lose your email or password, you lose remotely stored stories for good. After a subscription ends, you have 45 days to export your content before NovelAI may delete it.
Is there a NovelAI app?
Not a native one. NovelAI runs in mobile browsers, and you can install it as a Progressive Web App.
Does NovelAI allow NSFW content?
Yes, for adults. The Terms of Service require users to be 18 or older, and the homepage pitches image generation with "No restrictions. No compromises." Reviewers report that mature content is allowed and recommend the Curated image model if you want to avoid sensitive images by accident. Users on Reddit, summarizing developer comments, say the text model is not censored and defaults to higher-quality literature unless you push it toward explicit content with tags.
Can you chat with characters on NovelAI?
No. Reviewers report NovelAI has no character chatbot feature. You write a scene opening, the model continues the text, and you edit or retry.
How much does NovelAI remember?
It remembers as much as fits in the context window, which grows with your tier. Opus holds up to 28,672 tokens, the largest NovelAI offers, and reviewers report 8,192 tokens on Tablet and 12,288 on Scroll. Past that limit, the Memory and Lorebook entries you write carry the characters, places and rules forward.
Slop check: passedThis page went through our slop counter before publishing. How we check our own copy