Frequently Asked Questions

Generic chat tools have no long-term memory for an entire book. After several chapters, they forget earlier lore or contradict character notes. NovelThread organizes your manuscript alongside your cast, rules, and planted clues. The AI works directly on top of that structure, so suggestions stay grounded in your story.

Yes, completely. NovelThread is a local-first desktop app. Your projects live in a local database on your hard drive, allowing you to write, plan chapters, and manage your story bible with no account and zero internet connection. Network is only needed for cloud models and cross-device sync.

Your manuscript stays on your computer by default. It leaves your machine in only two cases: you subscribe and explicitly enable cloud sync (off by default); or you invoke an AI feature, in which case only the relevant passages needed for that request are sent to the model provider.

Never. Your creative work is never used for AI training, and we never sell user data. The desktop app ships with zero advertising or behavioral analytics.

Never unprompted. Inline rewrites show previews and only replace text when you click confirm. In the assistant, edits require your explicit approval unless you choose automatic mode. A version snapshot is saved before each change, so you can roll back anytime.

Yes. NovelThread is not tied to one model: configure any OpenAI-compatible provider with your own API key for a direct device-to-provider connection, or sign in and use the official cloud models with no extra setup.

There are 11 text models available: DeepSeek V4 Flash, GLM 5.3, GLM 5.3 Flash, Qwen3.8 27B, Kimi K3, GPT-5.6 Luna, Gemini 3.8 Flash, GPT-5.6 Terra, Claude Sonnet 5, Claude Opus 5, GPT-5.6 Sol Free, Plus, Pro and Max all include every official model.

Built-in models need no extra setup and use NovelThread AI credits. An active Plus subscription or higher also lets you bring your own API key (BYOK): requests go straight from your device to your chosen provider, which bills you separately. This does not use NovelThread credits. Your key stays in local secure storage; available features depend on the provider.

The free tier includes local writing and exports, forever. Plus and higher subscriptions add support for your own API key, larger official AI quotas and cross-device sync. Using your own API key does not consume NovelThread credits, but your model provider bills you separately.

Cancel any time in Settings → Account; access continues to the end of the current billing period. Once charged, fees are not voluntarily refundable or prorated, except where required by law or for cases such as duplicate or unauthorised charges. See the Terms of Service.

NovelThread supports macOS 12 Monterey or later on Apple Silicon, and Windows 10 or later on x64. Optional voice dictation requires macOS 26 or later; every other writing feature follows the macOS 12 baseline.

Yes. Import from .txt / .md with automatic chapter splitting; export to plain text, Markdown, EPUB or Word. Both run entirely on your machine — nothing is uploaded.