Free Early Access for writers building a real novel
DraftHarbor is a local-first writing studio for long-form fiction: manuscript, binder, corkboard, world bible, research and export in one place. During Early Access, you can use it free with your own project.
Use DraftHarbor as a writing tool, not as a test assignment. There is no checklist to complete, no minimum word count and no requirement to send us your manuscript. If something helps, confuses you or gets in your way, we would like to hear about it — but feedback is optional.
The desktop app needs no account. Install it on Windows, macOS or Linux, choose where your projects live, and keep writing offline. The web version and connected services require one of 50 Founding Writer accounts.
Free during Early Access · No card · No desktop account · Export at any time
What you can use now
- Organise chapters and scenes in a proper binder and corkboard.
- Keep characters, locations, lore and research beside the manuscript.
- Create or import a real project and continue working offline in the desktop app.
- Export to
.draftharbor, Word, EPUB, Markdown and HTML. - Choose whether to connect encrypted cloud backup or Story Intelligence; neither is required for local desktop writing.
- Keep the prose yours. Story Intelligence reads only text you deliberately submit and does not write the novel for you.
How Founding Writer access works
The connected-services Early Access is limited to 50 accounts. An account is required for the web version and for optional connected features such as encrypted cloud backup, Story Intelligence and the Library.
The desktop writing studio is not capped. You can download it, create projects and write locally without registering. When all 50 accounts have been claimed, desktop downloads and account-free local writing remain available.
No end date is fixed. You will get at least 14 days’ notice before Early Access ends, in the app and in the community group. Nobody meets a paywall without warning.
What Founding Writers receive
50% off for twelve calendar months. Every one of the 50 Early Access accounts receives the discount on any DraftHarbor purchase made during the twelve months following the end of Early Access. You do not need a code and there is nothing to claim.
The discount belongs to the account, so a desktop-only user who never creates an account is not automatically enrolled. Payment and the discount mechanism are not built yet; nothing can be charged today and DraftHarbor collects no card details. The entitlement will be added before checkout launches.
Any future affiliate programme will have its own published terms. It is not part of this Early Access offer.
What it is expected to cost afterwards
A free tier stays. It keeps the offline core writing workspace: binder, editor, planning views, local project storage and export.
- Writer — around $9 a month at release. The intended paid writing plan, with unlimited projects, expanded encrypted cloud storage and history, and the complete import and export workflow.
- Optional paid additions. Advanced compile and revision tools, Story Intelligence and Library sharing are planned as separate additions. Their prices will be published before launch.
These are intended release prices, not a live offer. Checkout, subscriptions and the final plan structure are still in development, so prices may change. The current terms will be shown before anyone chooses to pay, and nothing will renew without that choice.
What you keep, whatever happens
Your writing is always exportable, and export is never behind a paywall. .draftharbor bundles, Word, EPUB, Markdown and HTML remain available on the free tier and after any subscription ends.
The desktop and browser editions store projects differently, so it is important to know which copy you are relying on.
In the desktop app, your working copy lives on your disk. The first time you use DraftHarbor, you choose one parent folder. DraftHarbor then creates a dedicated subfolder for every project, including projects downloaded from the cloud. Projects save automatically as you write and contain the working data and local recovery copies. Keep the parent folder somewhere covered by your normal device-backup routine.
In the browser edition, the working copy lives in the browser’s local database. An Early Access account is required to open the web app, but the manuscript remains local by default. Browser data can be cleared or lost when a browser is reset, storage is cleaned or a device fails. Regularly download a .draftharbor backup and verify that it opens, or enable encrypted cloud backup.
An encrypted copy, on demand. You can export a passphrase-encrypted copy of a project from the menu. It is a manual, one-off copy for occasions when you do not want the file to be readable without its passphrase. It is not the automatic local recovery copy.
Cloud backup is optional and off by default. If you enable it, each revision is encrypted on your device before upload, so DraftHarbor cannot read the manuscript or its images. Cloud backup helps with recovery and moving between devices, but it depends on the service continuing to exist. It is never a replacement for the project on your disk or a verified downloaded backup.
If a future subscription is cancelled, billing stops and the local manuscript remains untouched. Cloud material will remain readable and downloadable for a documented period so it can be retrieved.
Early Access means beta software
Things may break. Features may change or be withdrawn. Keep an independent, verified backup of important work whichever writing application you use.
Tell us only if you want to
Bug reports, questions and ideas can be sent through the app menu → Send feedback, or through the private form at draftharbor.app. Both reach the person who builds DraftHarbor.
The community group is public and useful for talking with other writers. Please do not paste unpublished writing there.