Lore & LilacComparison · reviewed October 2026
Lore & Lilac vs Novelium
Novelium and Lore & Lilac are close neighbours. Both are novel-writing studios that read your manuscript to help with consistency, and both say plainly that they don't write prose for you. Novelium is further along in several areas, and this page tries to be precise about where we differ and where they're ahead.
About Novelium
What Novelium is good at
Novelium describes itself as a continuity editor that reads but never writes. It combines a manuscript editor and binder with a codex that fills itself after a scan, a consistency checker, timelines and plotlines, a corkboard, writing stats, reader links and book design with themes and editions. It runs in the browser, as desktop apps and as an iPhone and iPad app, and supports project types beyond novels, such as screenplays and RPG campaigns. Its editor shares many conveniences with ours, including @-mentions, dictation and read-aloud.
The short version
Which one fits you?
Choose Novelium if…
- You want a free plan that includes some AI analysis every month: one project and 10,000 analysis words a month, as listed.
- You'd like the codex to fill itself from your manuscript rather than approving proposed entries.
- You write in a language other than English; they advertise analysis in more than 30 languages.
- You want to bring work in directly from Google Docs, which they advertise.
- You also write screenplays, RPG campaigns or nonfiction in the same tool.
- You want an iPhone or iPad app, a Discord community, or events such as Novel November.
Choose Lore & Lilac if…
- You want each story-bible detail to be able to cite the passage that established it, and to be flagged "Source changed — review" when that passage is edited.
- You want proposed entries and possible contradictions to show their source passages and stay proposals until you accept them.
- You want canon kept apart from plans, a narrator's claim, a belief, a rumour or an inference, using truth scopes.
- You want to rehearse a change before making it with retcon rehearsal, and see who knows what, and when, with the reveals lens.
- You want full version history with word-level compare, and a clear choice when two devices disagree.
Feature by feature
Side by side
| Capability | Novelium | Lore & Lilac |
|---|---|---|
| Writes prose for you | No (stated policy) | No (stated policy) |
| Free plan | Free forever: 1 project, 10K analysis words/month | Free: 1 active book, no monthly AI allowance; one-time reading packs |
| Story bible | Codex fills itself after a scan | You build it; optional scan proposes entries to accept |
| Source passages on entries | Not shown on entries in our test | Each detail can cite its passage |
| Consistency check | Quotes both passages; mark intentional | Quotes both passages, de-duplicated; remembers intentional |
| Analysis languages | 30+ advertised | No multilingual analysis claimed |
| Import | DOCX, TXT, Scrivener .scrivx, Google Docs advertised | DOCX (with comments), RTF, EPUB, Markdown, TXT, zipped Scrivener project; fidelity report first |
| Project types | Novel, screenplay, RPG campaign, nonfiction | Novels |
| Apps | Browser, desktop, iPhone and iPad | Browser, desktop, installable web app |
| Series | Cross-book intelligence on Pro | Series workspaces, cross-book story bible and search |
| Rehearsing a change | Not advertised | Retcon rehearsal with cited passages |
| Community and events | Discord, Novel November, reader exchange | None |
“Not advertised” means we couldn't find it on their public pages; it may still exist. Reviewed October 2026.
Fair is fair
Where Novelium is ahead
- AI on the free plan. Novelium's free plan includes 10,000 analysis words a month on one project. Our Free plan includes no AI reading; that needs a one-time reading pack or a plan.
- An automatic codex. Their codex fills itself after a scan. Ours proposes entries with their passages for you to accept, which is more work.
- Languages. They advertise analysis in more than 30 languages. We make no multilingual claim.
- Google Docs. They advertise importing from Google Docs. We have no Google Docs connection; you download a DOCX and import that.
- More than novels. Screenplays, RPG campaigns and nonfiction are project types there; we're novels-only.
- Native mobile app. Novelium has an iPhone and iPad app. We have an installable web app, not an app-store app.
- Community and reach. A Discord community, the Novel November event, Book Teasers, an author website, a reader exchange and cross-book intelligence on Pro are all things we don't offer.
You don't have to choose
Using both
Because both studios export and import standard files, trying one alongside the other is straightforward.
Export a DOCX of your book from Novelium; they advertise DOCX export.
Import it here and read the fidelity report before anything is created.
Compare the two on your own manuscript: run each consistency check and see which findings you find useful.
Keep your master copy in one place so edits don't drift apart.
Cost
What each one costs
Novelium
Free $0 (1 project, 1 device at a time, 10,000 analysis words a month). Pro $19/month (unlimited projects, series, multiple devices, 2,000,000 analysis words). Premier $39/month (20,000,000 analysis words, priority support). Publishing $147/month, offered in the app. App Store prices are listed separately.
Lore & Lilac
Free $0 with no end date (1 active book, 100 MB, the full writing workspace, story bible, planning, export and checks without AI; no monthly AI allowance). Every new account starts with a guided trial, free for 14 days with no card (1 book, about 6 million words of AI reading once the email is verified). Core $12/month or $120/year (5 active books, 500 MB, about 900,000 words of AI reading a month). Studio $24/month or $240/year (20 active books, 2 GB, about 2.4 million words a month). One-time reading packs on any plan, Free included: about 420,000 words for $5, about 1.2 million for $12 or about 4.2 million for $29, each lasting 12 months and used after the monthly allowance. Billed via Gumroad; yearly plans still get their AI allowance month by month; cancel any time; no lifetime plan.
Novelium web prices as listed on their site in October 2026; check before buying. Their analysis words and our words of reading are counted differently and can't be compared directly. When AI reading runs out, nothing is spent and everything else keeps working; a one-time reading pack or a plan adds more. On Free, your books stay readable, editable and exportable. Details on our pricing page.
Before you start
Questions about Novelium
Did you test Novelium yourselves?
Briefly. On 11 October 2026, on a free account, we ran a short invented sample book with two planted contradictions. Its consistency check found the eye-colour change but listed it under two headings, and didn't flag a character who is buried in one paragraph and knocks at the door in the next. Its codex entries showed one-line summaries without source passages, and one included a surname the text never states. One small test is not a benchmark; we haven't published accuracy figures for our own checks either.
Is "we don't write your prose" what sets you apart?
No. Novelium takes the same stance, and we think that's to both products' credit. Where we differ is in how story details are recorded: ours cite the passage they came from, keep truth scopes apart, and wait for you to accept them.
Can I move a book from Novelium to Lore & Lilac?
Yes, through a DOCX file. Export from Novelium and import here; you'll see a fidelity report first. Codex entries don't come across in a DOCX, but an optional story scan can propose story-bible entries with their source passages for you to accept.
Why are Novelium's App Store prices different?
Their App Store listing shows separate in-app prices. The figures on this page are their web prices.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- Novelium homepage and pricing (opens in a new tab) accessed October 2026
- Novelium: how it works (opens in a new tab) accessed October 2026
- Novelium book design (opens in a new tab) accessed October 2026
- Novelium: Novel November (opens in a new tab) accessed October 2026
- Novelium on the App Store (US) (opens in a new tab) accessed October 2026
Product names belong to their owners. This page isn't affiliated with or endorsed by them.
Other comparisons
See for yourself, on your own draft
Import your draft from Word, Scrivener, RTF, EPUB or Markdown, or start on a blank page. The 14-day trial needs no card, and your book is exportable from the first word.