Wherever your writing journey leads you, Papyrus Author is for you.

Choose the completely free version and write what you love.
When you’re ready to unleash your full creative potential, upgrade to Plus.

Papyrus Author

Free

The environment to bring your story to life.

It’s free–no credit card required.

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Papyrus Author +

TBA

We're working on an exciting update.

Please try the free version. 🤓

Coming Soon

Feature Overview

Writing

Papyrus Author

Papyrus Author +

Word Processor for Books
A powerful word processing core offers formatting and layouting benefits far beyond those of a text editor.

Book Projects
Choose pre-styled templates for book layouts or comfortable writing.

Typewriter Mode
Pin the active writing line on eye level.

Ghost Text
Read between the lines. Text just for the author’s eyes can be hidden from export files.

Backups
Automatic backups save snapshots of your text so you can go back in time to revert changes.

Distraction Free Mode
With the click of a button, all highlights, planning elements etc. vanish, and you can focus on writing without distractions.

• Limited selection of backgrounds.

• Wide selection of backgrounds.
• Custom backgrounds can be assigned.

Writing Goals
Project and session goals can be set and tracked with progress bars.

• Goals and deadlines can be entered manually.

• A calendar allows setting detailed writing schedules.
• Session goals are adjusted automatically based on your progress.

Storybuilding

Story Sheets
Story Sheets contain background details for your story elements and can present them right in the text.

• 4x Sheets per category: Characters, items, locations.

• Unlimited Sheets.
• Sheets can be customized.
• New Sheet categories can be created.

Thinkboard
The Thinkboard is your visual storybuilding environment. Like a mind map, you can connect ideas and images. Choose a preset template for typical tropes and genres or start with a blank canvas.

• One Thinkboard per project.
• 40 elements per Thinkboard.

• Unlimited Thinkboards and elements per project.

Research
Research relevant to the book can be stored in its own project database.

• 5x research entries can be edited.

• Unlimited research entries.

Timeline
The Timeline orders your chapters, scenes and events into chronological order on story arcs. You can set time jumps, precise timing down to seconds etc.

• 2x story arcs per project.

• Unlimited story arcs.

Planning

Navigator
The Navigator is your book’s visual guide next to your text. Overview and align your chapters, scenes and events, and assign status icons etc.

Scenes, Events
Chapters may not be enough when building a complex story. Scenes and events are important milestones to further structure your project.

Timestamps
When activated, Timestamps display dates of the last edit next to paragraphs. Valuable for tracking your writing history.

Organizer
Organize your book’s structure in a full view, with abstracts for all chapters, scenes and events, display for written words, acting characters, story arcs and more–all in one.

• Display for up to 20 major story elements.

• Unlimited display of story elements.

Pinboards
Store sticky notes, images and text snippets right next to your text. A pleasant background creates the right atmosphere for writing.

• One Pinboard per document side.
• Limited selection of backgrounds.

• Unlimited Pinboards.
• Wide selection of backgrounds.
• Custom backgrounds can be assigned.

Editing

Style Analysis
Your in-built editor for highlighting potential stylistic missteps.

• Basic Style Analysis for filler words, overlong sentences and word repetitions.

• Advanced Style Analysis with categories for vague phrases, dull verbs, “show, don’t tell” violations, nominal style, passive constructions and more.

Readability Analysis
Check paragraph by paragraph how easy or difficult your text is to read. A combination of sentence structure and word complexity results in a color-coded rating.

• Readability Analysis works for short stories up to 12 pages.

• Readability Analysis works for infinitely long documents.

Direct Speech Mode
How lively is your stories’ dialog? Fade out everything but direct speech to review how your characters talk.

• Direct Speech mode works for short stories up to 12 pages.

• Direct Speech mode works for infinitely long documents.

Style Statistics, Readability Statistics
Find the ups and downs of your writing across your project. Statistics highlight where chapters deviate from your average writing style.

• Only Style Statistics is available.

• Style and Readability Statistics are available.

Thesaurus
You have that one word at the tip of your tongue but cannot quite get it? The Thesaurus has the synonym you are searching for.

Revision Tracking
Track changes, see comments and accept or decline alternative phrases.

Publishing

Word Compatibility
Continue writing your Word document in Papyrus Author. If you want to send it to your editor or anyone else, just export a doc/docx again.

E-Book Creation
Going for self-publishing? Generate an e-book right from your document.

PDF & Print
PDF for printing with CMYK and more can be generated with the click of a button. Perfect for printed books.

Editor-friendly Pages
Editors like standardized layouts with enough space for comments and revisions. Create pages like these with the click of a button.

Front Matter & Author Info
Add your author data once to generate front matters automatically.

Layouting & Formatting
True paper layout options and text formatting allow you to create a professional book ready to be printed and published.

Over 75,000 authors write with Papyrus Author. Join our love for writing!

Frequently asked questions

Is Papyrus Author really free?

Yes. You can freely download and use Papyrus Author at your hearts content. No credit card required, no strings attached. We want you to embark on your creative journey with absolutely no barrier and just write happily.

What kind of device do I need to run Papyrus Author?

Papyrus Author is available as a desktop application for Windows 10 & 11 and macOS 10.15 (Catalina), 11 (Big Sur) and 12 (Monterey). Older operating systems often still work well, but we stop supporting them when Microsoft and Apple stop offering security updates. We are also working on mobile versions for Android and iOS!

Is Papyrus Author+ worth it?

It depends on your desires as a creative writer–our authors “feel” when it’s time to upgrade to Papyrus Author+. When they really commit to writing the best book they can, they fall in love with the opportunities that Papyrus Author+ offers.
The free version can absolutely satisfy you on your creative journey–but there might come a point when you want to achieve more... and that’s when Papyrus Author+ is for you.

How is Papyrus Author different from Papyrus Author+?

Both versions are great for writing books. Papyrus Author gives you everything you need to delve into your passion for writing, and create wonderful books. Select features are limited in how much you can use them, for example how many Character Sheets you can create, how far you can use the Readability Check, how many Thinkboards are available per document etc.
Papyrus Author+ lifts all limitations and frees the way for you to unleash your creativity with the full scope of all features. See the table up top for a direct comparison of both versions.

What happens if I downgrade from Papyrus Author+ to Papyrus Author?

Your documents and all associated files like Character Sheets, Thinkboards etc. are all still there. The only thing that happened is that the limitations of the free Papyrus Author apply again, meaning that you can only edit certain amounts of elements in different features, for example only the first four Character Sheets. Any additional ones are all still accessible but not editable. You will always be able to open projects created with Papyrus Author+ for free, even if you don't have a subscription anymore.

Can I use Papyrus Author even if I already have an ongoing writing project?

Absolutely! Papyrus Author is tailored to all stages of writing a book. No matter where you are right now, our features support your creative process, even in the final editing stages. Papyrus Author is compatible with word processors like Word–you can just open your recent document in Papyrus Author, or copy your text inside.

Is Papyrus Author for me if I only write non-fiction?

Oh yes! Non-fiction projects benefit from Papyrus Author’s organizational and planning tools just as much as fiction projects. The Style Analysis and Readability Check help keep your writing style concise and easy to digest. Research entries and Sheets for background information keep all your data in check. There is so much more–just try Papyrus Author for free to see if you like it!

How is my payment being processed?

We use Stripe for all payment processes. Stripe is a modern and secure payment provider that is used across the world, for example by products such as Twitter or Pinterest. We do not handle your credit card information directly.

How do refunds work?

We want happy writers. If you believe you’ve made a mistake signing up for Papyrus Author+, please contact our email at support@papyrusauthor.com. We will refund you the full amount if you request a downgrade within 72 hours of signing up for the subscription.
If you are unhappy with Papyrus Author+, please let us know why. We love to hear your feedback and always strive for the best experience possible.

"Papyrus Author's features are simply thrilling besides being very useful. The story database is a very powerful tool for writers like me who have endless places, characters and, well, whatever there is in the story."

Thomas Sand