Galley as a Novlr alternative
Last reviewed July 2026
The facts first: Novlr is a browser-based writing platform ($8–16/month, $499 lifetime, free tier of two projects) that's partly owned by the writers who use it, with courses, a community and writing sprints. It exports plain manuscripts, not formatted books. Galley (€199 once) has no community or courses, and exports a print-interior PDF and store-ready EPUBs. Neither uses generative AI.
I like Novlr. It's against AI in writing tools, it treats your writing as yours, and it's being built for novelists for the long term. If you pick Novlr over Galley, that's a good choice.
The main difference is that Novlr is for writing the book, and Galley is for writing it and then exporting the files you publish with.
| Feature | Galley | Novlr |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | €199 once | $8–16/month · $499 lifetime · free tier |
| Print-interior PDF | Yes, mirrored margins, gutter, KDP preflight | Plain PDF only |
| Store-ready EPUB | EPUB 3 with cover and accessibility metadata | Basic EPUB, paid tiers |
| Front & back matter design | Title, copyright, dedication, acknowledgements | No, auto table of contents only |
| Draft on a true trim-size page | Yes, six trim sizes | No |
| Generative AI in your prose | Never | Never, stated publicly |
| Grammar & spell checking | No, your browser's | Yes, self-hosted, on paid tiers |
| Story bible | Characters, places, timeline, glossary, references | Notes sidebar |
| Writing courses | No | Yes, included |
| Community | No | Yes, active |
| Writing sprints | No, on purpose | Yes |
| Co-ownership of the company | No | Yes, that's the idea |
| Works offline | Writing, in Beta: syncs when you reconnect | No, browser-based |
What Novlr does that I can't match
Writer ownership. Novlr's lifetime members become co-owners of the company and get a say in what gets built. That's not something I can add to Galley. It means writers don't have to worry about the tool getting sold to someone who ruins it. With Galley, you pay once and can export everything at any time, so you keep your work either way.
Courses and community. If it's your first novel and you'd like to learn as you go, Novlr has courses and other writers to talk to. Galley doesn't teach you anything about writing.
Sprints. Novlr has writing sprints and a lot of writers like them. I left them out of Galley because I don't want it to feel like a productivity app. If sprints help you write, Novlr has them.
Publishing the book
To publish a novel you need files a printer and the ebook stores will accept. For print, that's a PDF with mirrored margins, a gutter that gets wider as the page count goes up, a properly set copyright page, running heads, page numbers, and a table of contents that updates when you move chapters around.
Novlr doesn't make those files. "Publisher-ready manuscript export" is on its public roadmap as a requested feature. So if you write in Novlr, you'll need a separate formatting tool to publish, which usually costs extra. In Galley you write and export from the same place.
On price, Novlr Studio at $16/month adds up to more than €199 in about a year, and the $499 lifetime plan is about two and a half Galley licences. Since lifetime members part-own the company, I think that's a fair price.
Choose Novlr if…
- You like the idea of part-owning the tool you write in
- You want courses and a community of other writers
- Writing sprints and streaks help you keep going
- You want to start for free and deal with publishing later
Choose Galley if…
- You want to publish the book yourself without a second tool for formatting
- You want to write on the actual page, in your trim size and typeface
- You want a story bible with characters, places, a timeline, a glossary and endnotes
- You'd rather pay once than every month
Common questions
Is Novlr cheaper than Galley?
To start with, yes. Novlr starts at $8/month and has a free tier with two projects. Over a longer time it costs more: Novlr Studio at $16/month adds up to more than Galley’s €199 in about a year, and Novlr’s lifetime plan is $499. The bigger difference between them is what you can export at the end, though.
Does Novlr use AI?
No. Novlr has said publicly that it doesn’t and won’t build generative AI into the platform, and its proofreader uses a self-hosted open-source grammar tool instead of sending your text to an AI service. So if avoiding AI is what you care about, both Novlr and Galley are fine.
Can Novlr produce a print-ready book?
Not really. Novlr exports DOCX, PDF, ODT and EPUB, but the files are plain. There’s no formatting for front and back matter and no interior design, just an auto-generated table of contents. Publisher-ready export is listed as a requested feature on Novlr’s public roadmap. Most Novlr writers use a separate formatting tool afterwards.
What does Novlr do that Galley doesn’t?
Writers can become co-owners of the company, there are writing courses and an active community, and there are writing sprints. Galley has none of those and I’m not planning to add them. If you want a community and courses with your writing tool, Novlr is the better choice.
Novlr's details are from its public pricing and policy pages, checked in July 2026, so check novlr.org for anything newer. If I've got something wrong, email me and I'll fix it.