Galley vs. Sudowrite
Last reviewed July 2026
The facts first: Sudowrite (a subscription of roughly $10–$44/month billed annually, depending on how much AI you use; runs in the browser) is an AI writing partner that generates, rewrites and describes prose, with story development tools around it. Galley (€199 once, runs in the browser) doesn't use AI on your writing at all, and turns your manuscript into a book instead: a story bible, a trim-size page, a print PDF and an EPUB.
Galley and Sudowrite barely overlap. Sudowrite is good at what it does. It can draft a passage, rephrase a clumsy line, or suggest where a scene could go next. If that's what you want, you should try it.
Galley is built on the idea that every word should be yours, so it doesn't do any of that. What it does is the rest of the job: a story bible to keep a series consistent, a page laid out like the finished book while you write, and files a printer or the Kindle store will accept. So the choice isn't really between the two tools. It's whether you want AI in your drafting.
| Feature | Galley | Sudowrite |
|---|---|---|
| Price | €199 once | ~$10–$44/mo subscription, by AI usage |
| Generates / rewrites your prose with AI | Never | Yes, that's what it's for |
| Your words used to train AI | Never | Check their current terms |
| Write on a true trim-size book page | Yes, six trims, 35 book typefaces | No |
| Print-interior PDF & EPUB export | Yes, with KDP preflight included | No, not a publishing tool |
| Story bible (characters, places, timeline) | Built in, attached to the book | Yes, AI-assisted |
| Revision analytics (overused words, name consistency) | Built in, no AI | Feedback tools use AI |
| Runs on | Any desktop browser | Any desktop browser |
Why Galley keeps AI out of the prose
I don't want AI in Galley's writing tools, and I'm not going to add it. When a tool can generate or rewrite your sentences, your writing starts to sound like the model, your manuscript can end up as someone's training data, and it gets harder to say who wrote the book, which matters for contracts. Galley's tools only count and check. The no-AI promise is also on the pricing page.
What Sudowrite does that Galley won't
Sudowrite can draft prose from a prompt, rewrite a paragraph in a different tone, expand a scene from a short outline, or describe a room several different ways. Galley doesn't do any of those, and it won't in the future either.
What Galley does that Sudowrite won't
Galley formats the book. Sudowrite stops at the text. Galley gives you a print-interior PDF with mirrored margins and a proper gutter, a store-ready EPUB, a KDP preflight check, a story bible you can use across a series, and version history for every chapter. Formatting and preparing the files for publishing usually takes a week or a paid freelancer, and that's the part Galley was built for.
Choose Sudowrite if…
- You want AI to draft, rewrite and brainstorm prose with you
- Getting words down is what's holding you up, not formatting the book
- You're fine with a subscription that goes up the more AI you use
Choose Galley if…
- You want every word to be yours, with no AI writing or training on your prose
- You need the finished book: trim-size page, print PDF, EPUB and KDP preflight
- You'd rather pay once than pay monthly
Common questions
Is Galley an AI writing tool like Sudowrite?
No. Sudowrite writes and rewrites prose with you. Galley doesn’t use AI to generate, edit or suggest anything, and your writing isn’t used to train anything. Its tools count and check things like overused words, name consistency and margins, and its main job is turning your manuscript into a book you can print. If you want software to draft sentences for you, Galley isn’t the right tool.
Can I use both?
Some people do. They use Sudowrite to brainstorm or get past a stuck scene, then write and format the book in Galley. The two don’t really compete, since one generates text and the other makes the book. The real question is whether you want AI in your drafting at all.
Does Sudowrite make a print-ready book?
No. Sudowrite is for drafting and developing a story. It isn’t a formatting or publishing tool, so it doesn’t produce a print-interior PDF with the right margins and trim size, or a store-ready EPUB. That’s what Galley does.
Sudowrite's details are from its public pricing pages, checked in July 2026. Its plans and terms change often, so check sudowrite.com, especially for what it says about training. If I've got something wrong, email me and I'll fix it.