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ChatGPT vs NovelAI in 2026

Compare ChatGPT, NovelAI and Connections Writing for book writing: what each tool does, what it costs, how to start, and how to choose.

By Uncommon Comforts ยท

Uncommon Comforts is published by the team behind Connections, whose products are compared here alongside other tools.

NovelAI's page says it gives people tools for creating images and writing [1]. Connections Writing is a web app for planning a book and writing it chapter by chapter [2] [2]. ChatGPT's sources here cover its free version and its paid plans [3] [3]. Which one meets your needs depends on whether you want images and story generation or a planned book written with checks along the way.

OptionFree optionPaid plans
ChatGPTA free version is available to everyone [3]Go, Plus, Business and Enterprise are paid plans, priced per user per month [3]. The amounts are not published in the sources used here. Annual plans are offered for Business and Enterprise [3]
NovelAINot published in the sources used hereNot published in the sources used here
Connections WritingConnections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you [2]Connections Pro is $39.99 a month [2]. Connections Business is $99.99 a month [2]. Connections Business Plus costs $199.99 a month [2]

The short answer

NovelAI's page says it gives people tools for creating images and writing [1]. Its story generation is powered by a language model called GLM 4.6 [1]. ChatGPT's sources used here cover its plans rather than its features: a free version is available to everyone [3], and its paid plans for Go, Plus, Business and Enterprise are priced per user per month [3]. Connections Writing is a web app for planning a book and writing it chapter by chapter [2] [2]. Writing is free to start, and AI use is limited by a weekly allowance [2]. Which one meets your needs depends on whether you want images and story generation, or a book you plan, write and check chapter by chapter.

What ChatGPT and NovelAI are built for

The sources used here for ChatGPT cover its plans, so this part stays with those. A free version of ChatGPT is available to everyone [3]. Its paid plans are Go, Plus, Business and Enterprise, priced per user per month [3]. Annual plans are offered for Business and Enterprise [3]. For what ChatGPT does day to day, check its own pages, because the sources used here do not describe its features.

NovelAI's page says it gives people tools for creating images and writing [1]. Its page describes generating original characters, scenes and artwork [1], and it offers character consistency and precise control [1]. Its story generation runs on a language model called GLM 4.6 [1]. The page also says it works from a mobile device with no installation needed [1].

What Connections Writing is built for

Connections Writing is made by the team that publishes this site, Uncommon Comforts. For someone who runs things, it is a web app for planning a book and writing it one chapter at a time [2]. You write down a premise and how the book should sound, and the book is planned out chapter by chapter [2]. The AI writes a chapter one section at a time and shows its progress as it goes [2]. You keep a set of notes on characters and places, and an entry reaches the AI only when a passage mentions its name or an alias [2]. An AI check looks at grammar, punctuation, spelling and clarity, and checks continuity against those notes and earlier chapter summaries [2]. A free proofread, with no AI and no credits, flags repeated words, straight quotes, missing apostrophes, double spaces, a and an mistakes, passive voice, wordy phrases and spelling [2]. Up to five AI readers, each a different kind of person, report where they got lost [2]. A copy of the chapter is saved before an AI write, an upload, a restore, a checkpoint or a tidy, so you can restore an earlier version [2]. You can bring in a Word, plain text or Markdown file, or paste text, and it is split into chapters at its headings [2]. The book can be downloaded as a Word file, an EPUB or Markdown text [2]. A print page opens the browser's print dialog so you can save as PDF [2].

Pricing and fees

ChatGPT's free version is available to everyone [3]. Its paid plans, for Go, Plus, Business and Enterprise, are priced per user per month [3]. The amounts are not in the sources used here, so check ChatGPT's current pricing before you decide. NovelAI's price is not in the sources used here either, so check its current pricing before you decide. Its page says generated images can be used commercially without buying any additional subscription tier [1].

Connections Writing's AI features use credits on the free plan, and no paid plan is required to open the product [2]. Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you [2]. Connections Pro, the first paid plan, is $39.99 a month and adds premium features across every Connections product [2]. Connections Business is $99.99 a month, with higher limits across every Connections product [2]. Connections Business Plus costs $199.99 a month [2].

The table below sets out only what is published for each.

Getting started

ChatGPT's free version is available to everyone [3]. The sources used here do not describe its sign-up steps or a first task, so the first screens will show what it asks for.

NovelAI's page says its tools work from a mobile device with no installation needed [1]. Its page describes generating original characters, scenes and artwork [1]. Its sign-up steps are not covered here.

Connections Writing is a web app, and its welcome page has a Start writing button [2] [2]. You can bring in a draft from a Word, plain text or Markdown file, or paste text, and it is split into chapters at its headings [2]. Writing is free to start [2].

Things to check before you choose

Ask whether you need images made by the tool. NovelAI's page describes AI image generation [1], and nothing in the sources used for Connections Writing describes image making, so check that before you choose.

Ask where your prompts and pictures are kept. NovelAI says its image prompts are encrypted [1] and that generated images are not stored on its servers unless you choose to save them [1]. Check how ChatGPT and Connections Writing handle your data on their own pages, since the sources used here do not cover it.

Ask whether the tool needs to keep a book's details straight across chapters. Connections Writing's AI check looks at continuity against your notes and earlier chapter summaries [2]. Check how ChatGPT and NovelAI handle that on their own pages, since the sources used here do not describe it.

Ask how you want to use AI. Writing with your own AI assistant spends no Connections credit [2], and ChatGPT's paid plans are priced per user per month [3], so compare the cost of each approach before you commit.

How to choose

If you want original characters, scenes and artwork generated, NovelAI's sources describe that [1]. If you want story generation, NovelAI's page describes it, powered by a language model called GLM 4.6 [1]. If you want to plan a book, write it chapter by chapter and check it against the story bible and earlier chapter summaries, Connections Writing's claims describe that [2] [2] [2]. If you want to start free, Connections Writing is free to start [2], and ChatGPT's free version is available to everyone [3]. If you want general chat help from ChatGPT, the sources used here do not describe its features, so check its own pages.

Frequently asked questions

Is ChatGPT free to use?

ChatGPT's free version is available to everyone [3]. Its paid plans for Go, Plus, Business and Enterprise are priced per user per month [3]. The amounts are not published in the sources used here, so check ChatGPT's current pricing page before you decide. Before you sign up, look at what the free version includes on that page, since the sources used here do not list its details.

Is Connections Writing free to start?

Writing is free to start, and AI use is limited by a weekly allowance [2]. AI features use credits on the free plan, and no paid plan is required to open the product [2]. Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you [2]. Connections Pro, the first paid plan, is $39.99 a month [2].

Is NovelAI free to use?

The sources used here do not publish NovelAI's pricing. Check NovelAI's current pricing page before you sign up. NovelAI's page does say generated images can be used commercially without buying any additional subscription tier [1], and that its story generation runs on GLM 4.6 [1]. Those statements describe use rather than cost, so weigh them alongside the price once you have it.

Can Connections Writing check a manuscript for grammar?

It offers two routes. A free proofread, with no AI and no credits, flags repeated words, straight quotes, missing apostrophes, double spaces, a and an mistakes, passive voice, wordy phrases and spelling [2]. An AI check of a chapter looks at grammar, punctuation, spelling and clarity, and checks continuity against your notes and earlier chapter summaries [2]. Each action you choose on a passage counts toward your usage [2].

Does ChatGPT have annual plans?

ChatGPT's sources say annual plans are offered for Business and Enterprise [3]. Its paid plans for Go, Plus, Business and Enterprise are priced per user per month [3]. The sources used here do not give the amounts for either option, so check ChatGPT's current pricing page for the figures. If you are weighing a monthly plan against an annual one, compare both there before you commit.

Writing is free to start, and AI use is limited by a weekly allowance. [2] Connections Business Plus costs 19999 cents ($199.99) a month. [2]

Try Connections Writing

Sources

  1. NovelAI, novelai.net, read 2026-11-01
  2. Connections Writing's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)
  3. ChatGPT, chatgpt.com/pricing, read 2026-10-08

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