NovelAI alternative: step inside the story instead of writing it

What is NovelAI?

NovelAI is Anlatan's AI storytelling and anime image service, launched in 2021. NovelAI's site describes its story tool as a writing space built to write "with you, not for you", next to anime image generation with NovelAI Diffusion V5.

• Co-writing. You write a passage, the AI continues it, and you edit, retry and steer from there.
• Lorebook. Lorebook entries hold characters, places, factions and objects, and each one enters the AI's context when its activation keys appear in the recent story.
• Text Adventure. Text Adventure mode takes Do inputs for actions, Say inputs for dialogue and Story inputs for narration you write yourself.
• Privacy. Its FAQ says stories are encrypted in your browser, so nobody but you can read them, and they export as .story and .scenario files.
• Where it runs. In the browser, also as a Progressive Web App on phones.

NovelAI pricing and free trial

NovelAI's subscription docs list a one-time Paper trial with 50 text generations, 30 images and 100 text-to-speech generations, then three monthly plans: Tablet at $10, Scroll at $15 and Opus at $25. All three include unlimited text generation; Opus adds the longest context, up to 28,672 tokens, and standard images without Anlas, NovelAI's image currency. NovelAI's terms require users to be at least 18.

Why people look for a NovelAI alternative

NovelAI suits writers who want full control of every sentence. People looking for a NovelAI alternative usually want one of these:

• A story that's already set up. A Teasa Story opens with a scene, a role for you and a cast with their own goals.
• Characters who talk back. You play one person; the narrator and the cast answer in their own voices.
• Something to aim for. Quests put objectives in History, and relationship milestones mark the moments you earn with each Character.
• Free play without a trial count. Stories are free to play on a free account, and direct messages with any Character are free and unlimited.
• An age fit. Teasa is for ages 13 and up.

NovelAI vs Teasa at a glance

Writing a scene vs playing it: a written example

This is a written example of the difference, not recorded output. Take the same opening: a lighthouse keeper's apprentice and a stranger who rows in out of a storm.

On NovelAI, you write the scene and the AI continues it. You write the paragraph where the boat scrapes the rocks and the stranger climbs out; the AI writes the next paragraph, and you decide whether to keep it, edit it or retry. Every character is yours to move.

On Teasa, you are the apprentice.

You: I hold the lamp higher and keep the door half shut. "Nobody rows out here in this weather. Who sent you?"

Narrator: Rain runs off the stranger's hood. He lifts both hands, empty, and a sealed letter slips from his sleeve onto the wet step.

Stranger: "The keeper did, three weeks ago. I'd guess he never told you he was expecting me."

You only wrote one line. The stranger's answer, the letter and the secret behind it came from the Story's narrator and cast, and your next line decides what happens to them.

How Teasa plays

Read the opening, then act. The box asks what you say or do. Write dialogue, an action or both, and the asterisk button marks what you act out.

Steer the story. Regenerate a reply, edit it, or use Tell AI what to change. Start a Story again from the opening to try another route; every chat and branch stays saved.

Follow the quests. Where the creator added them, History shows your current objective and everything completed, and quests on published Stories pay out gold.

Keep a cast that remembers you. The Memory panel lists what Characters have collected about you and lets you forget any of it. Hojicha is the default chat style, and Matcha is free for now with 4× memory for long stories; Oolong comes with Teasa Pass (pricing).

Talk to any Character directly. Open Characters and tap Message for a one-on-one DM, free and unlimited on a free account.

Stories to play if you came from NovelAI

Stories built on the things NovelAI writers love: a world with rules, a mystery with suspects, and a character who knows they're in a story.

• The Man From the Novel: you write romance novels, and Dom Reese, the hero you rewrote more than any other, is standing in the rain and already knows your name.
• I'm... a Constellation?: you wake as a constellation watching four heroes, with points to spend on sponsoring, testing or abandoning each one.
• Murder Mystery: nine guests, two bodies and no way out of a Victorian mansion. Everyone is a suspect, including you.
• Winter That Would Not End: a princess born with ice magic in a kingdom that fears winter, and the centuries-old elf mage who raised her, now her academy lecturer.

Or browse a collection: Fantasy, Mystery, Isekai & Reincarnation and Adventure.

Start playing for free

1. Open one of the Stories above, or teasa.ai, in any browser.
2. Choose Enter, tell the lead what to call you, and read the opening scene.
3. Write what you say or do. Your first 20 turns need no account.
4. To keep going, create a free account with Google or email. The Story continues from the same line.
5. On Android, get the app from Google Play.

Bring your worldbuilding to Creator Studio

If you love building worlds in NovelAI, Creator Studio turns that work into a Story other people can play. There is no importer, so carry your material across by hand:

1. Your opening passage → Opening. Write the first scene as ordered blocks, each with a speaker such as the narrator or a cast member.
2. Memory and Author's Note → Story. Add the premise, the player's role, world rules and private story direction.
3. Lorebook entries → Blueprints. A Blueprint holds keyword entries for places, factions and history, and a Story can connect up to five. The lorebook guide shows how to write entries that load when they should.
4. Recurring characters → Cast. Create Characters with personality, speech style and an AI-generated portrait.
5. Add quests and milestones. Up to 20 quests per Story and relationship milestones for each Character.
6. Play-test, then publish. Test privately before anyone else plays.

More guides for AI story players

• AI Dungeon alternative, for AI text adventures with a cast and quests.
• Teasa's interactive story AI, with one opening taken in two directions.
• AI roleplay guide, for turns, regeneration and branching.
• Multi-character AI roleplay, comparing how NovelAI, DreamGen, SillyTavern and Teasa put several characters in one scene.
• The best AI roleplay apps and the Yollo AI alternative.
• Reading in Japanese? AIのべりすとの代わり compares AIのべりすと, NovelAI and Teasa.

FAQ

What is the best NovelAI alternative?

If you want to play a story rather than write all of it, Teasa: creator-written Stories with an opening, your role and a cast that answers you, quests in History and free guest play for your first 20 turns. If you want an AI text adventure from your own prompt, AI Dungeon is the closest match.

Is NovelAI free?

NovelAI has a one-time Paper trial with 50 text generations, 30 images and 100 text-to-speech generations. After that, plans cost $10, $15 or $25 a month. Teasa is free to play: Stories are free on a free account, DMs with any Character are free and unlimited, and Matcha is free for now.

Is there a free NovelAI alternative?

Yes. Teasa lets you play any Story for your first 20 turns with no account, then keep playing for free on a free account. Teasa Pass is optional and adds Oolong, ad-free play and web lookup in DMs.

Does NovelAI have a text adventure mode?

Yes. NovelAI's Text Adventure mode takes Do inputs for actions, Say inputs for dialogue and Story inputs for narration. Every Teasa Story plays the same way by default: you write actions and dialogue in your own words, and the narrator and cast answer.

Does Teasa have a Lorebook like NovelAI?

Yes. Teasa calls them Blueprints: keyword entries for places, factions and history that a Story draws on when they come up. You build them in Creator Studio and connect up to five to a Story.

How old do you have to be to use NovelAI?

NovelAI's terms require users to be at least 18. Teasa is for ages 13 and up.

Can I write my own story on Teasa?

Yes. In Creator Studio you write the opening, the player's role and the cast, add quests, relationship milestones and Blueprints, play-test privately and publish it for other people to play.