Maybe you have amazing plot ideas but are having a hard time piecing them together or are just crunched for time. Well, then, an AI story generator may be your answer.
These apps allow you to generate ideas, outline a story from beginning to end, and then write the story line-by-line using the power of AI.
I’ve tested all the top writing tools extensively so that I can give you the best hands-on honest review to help you make your decision. If you’re looking to create a story or script, then these will be the options best suited for your needs!
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.
If you’re looking to tell a story or create a script, these are your best options. But I’ve also ranked the best for writing a novel and great. copy you can also check out.
1. Novel AI
Best for Novelists
Novel AI is an AI novel writing software specifically designed for story writers. It has some fun extra features that writers will enjoy, plus it’s quite affordable compared to other AI writers on the market.
Novel AI Features:
Designed for Novel Writing: Sure, you can use any AI writer to generate a story, but this one is specifically engineered to make writing a novel easier.
Text Adventure Module: If writing a prompt feels boring, use this feature to craft your story in a “Choose Your Own Adventure” style.
Write Like Famous Writers: Novel AI gives you multiple options to customize the AI output, from writing in the voice of famous authors to using themes like “Dark Fantasy” or “Dragons.”
Long Memory: The AI has a large memory for what’s already been written, so you can ensure your stories stay consistent throughout.
Color Coding: Each type of text is color-coded, so you don’t get confused. Any text you’ve typed, AI output, and edits you make to AI text are colored differently for your reference.
While it can rewrite the text you’ve already generated, it’s limited to writing the last section that was generated. You can’t go back and re-word previous sections of the story.
Novel AI Pricing
All paid plans provide unlimited text generation, but each tier increases the AI’s memory capacity and storytelling ability. The lowest tier is $10 a month with a memory of about 4000 characters, and the highest is $25 for an 8000-character memory.
Verdict
Novel AI might be the best AI story generator for novelists. It’s affordable, has a ton of helpful features, and it’s fun to use. If you just want to write stories and nothing else, Novel AI is an excellent choice.
Jasper is the best overall AI writer on the market today. It has tons of templates and use cases that can help you write anything you need, from stories to web page copy to social media posts and more.
The Creative Story template inside Jasper is the best choice for generating stories. I’ve also written a full review of Jasper if you want to learn more about it.
Here are some ways Jasper AI shines as a story generator tool:
Tons of Writing Options: Jasper puts more than 50 writing tools in your hands as a creative writer. With these tools, you can generate everything from a social media post to a love letter.
Supports Multiple Languages: Jasper can understand and generate text in over 25 languages—perfect for multilingual writers or stories that span national borders.
High-Quality Writing: After extensive testing of multiple AI writing tools, I still believe Jasper is the best for well-written output.
BossMode Commands: Use this feature to ask the AI story writer to generate anything you want. For example, “Give me a story set in space in 1599,” or “Write an intro to a Western in Lindsey Lohan’s voice.”
JasperChat: This is a helpful bot you can ask to create content for you (think like a ChatGPT bot for writing).
Jasper Art Generator: If you’re looking to make illustrations with your book, then this gives you an AI art generator and writer in one.
Jasper is designed for marketing copy, not writing stories, so it lacks the extra features that story-specific AI tools have.
Jasper Pricing
Jasper follows a pay-as-you-go model, but plans start at $59 a month for 50,000 words generated.
Verdict
Jasper is the king of AI content generation, so if you’re looking to write stories alongside other kinds of high-quality writing, this is the choice for you.
Copy AI is an AI writer that’s really dialed it in, in terms of copywriting. With more than 90 copy- and marketing-focused tools and templates (more than Jasper), you’ll have everything you need to create high-impact marketing copy for your business or organization. I’ve also written a full, in-depth review of Copy AI if you want to see how it stood up to testing, or see it compared against Jasper here.
While Copy AI is not specifically designed to be a story writer, it can help you craft stories for marketing content with its Hero Story tools.
90+ Creative Templates: While the templates aren’t for creative writing per sé, they give you many options for the types of content you can generate.
Easy Blog Writer: I’ve found Copy AI’s Blog Post Wizard template one of the easiest AI-based blog post writers. You get full control over the topic, outline, and supporting information inside the article instead of generating it line by line from scratch.
Freestyle Tool: Similar to Jasper’s BossMode Commands, this tool allows you to ask the AI for any type of writing in any style you want. It’s fun to see what the AI can do with this feature.
Copy AI doesn’t have a specific story-writing tool (yet), so you’ll still need to write the story yourself. But you can use the Freestyle tool and Hero Story generators to make it easier.
Pricing
Copy AI has super-simplified pricing: the sole Pro plan gives you unlimited characters and access to all tools and templates for $49 a month.
Verdict
Copy AI is the best AI writer for marketing copy. While it doesn’t have specific creative story templates, it can help you develop a compelling hero story, and excellent sales copy to match.
Sudowrite is a powerful AI story generator that makes it easy for newbie authors to write engaging stories. Not only does it write the story with you, but it also helps you to become a better writer with advanced story-writing features.
Here’s what I found helpful from Sudowrite:
Great Onboarding: When you first open the app, it takes you through an interactive tour of all the features and makes the process fun.
Describe Command: Most writers will tell you the key to a good story is to “show, don’t tell.” The Describe command helps you rewrite phrases in your story using the five senses so you can make your story more immersive for the reader.
Twist Feature: Give Sudowrite a summary of the story you want to write and choose a genre, and the app will give you a list of interesting twists to include in your story to make it more interesting.
There’s no way to specify the genre you want to write in the app. However, if you can clearly describe your story to the AI engine, it should pick up on the genre you’re aiming for.
Sudowrite Pricing
Long-form story writers would benefit most from the Professional plan, which gives you 90,000 words for $29 a month.
Verdict
If you’re a beginner at writing stories and want a story generator that can walk you through the process and help you write better, Sudowrite is the best AI story generator for you.
The Sassbook suite of apps encompasses four different writing tools:
A general AI writer
An AI summarizer
An AI headline generator
An AI story writer
One subscription gets you access to all four tools at a relatively affordable price.
Here’s the quick and dirty on Sassbook’s AI story generator:
Easy to Use: To generate a story, write a prompt between 15 and 30 words, choose your parameters (like genre and the number of options generated), and click “Complete.”
Choose a Genre: You can choose a genre for your story, including Classic, Humor, Sci-Fi, and Thriller, or choose “Original” mode if your book doesn’t fit into traditional categories.
Great for Marketing a Book: You can use the headline generator, AI summarizer, and AI writer to create content to promote your book, which is why I recommend this tool for self-published authors.
The user interface is cluttered and difficult to understand.
Sassbook Pricing
You can generate text 20 times every day for free (with 50 words per generation). Upgrade to the paid plan at $39 a month for unlimited words.
Verdict
For self-published authors who want an AI boost in their writing and marketing workflows, Sassbook provides a great collection of tools to help you do just that.
Subtxt operates differently from other AI story generator tools—instead of writing a story from scratch, it helps you generate strong story outlines based on proven models, so you can write from a proven framework.
Here are some of Subtxt’s key features:
Generates Scene By Scene: Subtxt’s innovative writing process starts by outlining the main acts of your story and then defining each scene. This means your story has a greater chance of being successful because it has a strong structure.
Structure Templates: Love the way Tarantino tells stories? You can access story structures of popular movies and TV series and learn how to use the same structure in your own work.
Story Consultation: Unlimited plan subscribers get access to the Subtxt team, who will personally help you flesh out your story idea and get the most out of the app.
This app is geared toward people who are professional storytellers more than beginners. It doesn’t help you actually write your story; just outline it (but in great detail).
Subtxt Pricing
The Basic plan, for $25 a month, provides you with 550+ story structures and 100 AI tokens per month. The Unlimited plan bumps it up to 32,000(!) story structures and unlimited AI tokens, plus a once-a-year story consultation with the Subtxt team.
Verdict
If you’re a serious storyteller or scriptwriter who wants to integrate AI tools into a professional workflow, Subtxt is one of the best AI story generator tools money can buy.
AI Dungeon used to be an AI storytelling app, but it’s recently transformed into a game-focused company. Inside the app, you can create and access 80s-style text-based adventure games designed by members of the community.
Though the app is mostly focused on gameplay now, you can still use it to generate story ideas.
Here’s what you can do in AI Dungeon:
See What’s Trending: AI Dungeon games are created by the community, and you can see which scenarios and story plots are currently trending, which can give you new ideas for your own work.
Manipulate Stories to Get Plot Ideas: Whether you choose an existing story or create your own, the app allows you to interact with the world that’s been created with a number of commands. Choose “Do” and write out an action that you want to take next to see what happens. Choose “Story” and describe what happens next in the story. Or choose “Say” and add a line of dialogue. Each time you interact with the story, the AI storyteller tells you what happens next.
It’s not a dedicated writing app, so you can’t fine-tune your stories or save drafts.
AI Dungeon Pricing
You can use AI Dungeon for free or upgrade to a paid plan for more features, starting at $10 a month for higher speed and more monthly credits.
Verdict
AI Dungeon might be helpful for some writers who want to find more ideas and enjoy text-based adventure gameplay. Since it’s available for free, it’s worth checking out to see if you like it.
Rytr (pronounced “writer”) is a general-purpose AI writer, similar to Jasper, but its defining characteristic is its affordable price.
With Rytr, you still get high-quality writing similar to other tools, plus a collection of templates, but at a much lower price. I’ve written a whole review about Rytr if you want more details.
Writers will get the most use out of the Story Plot use case provided in the app.
Here’s what I like about Rytr:
Cost Performance: The quality is slightly lower than top-tier AI writers like Jasper and Copy AI, but it’s still very good, and the price makes it a steal.
Lots of Creative Control: Not only do you get 30+ use cases (aka templates), but you can also choose the tone of voice you want the AI writer to use and the creativity level of the output.
Create Your Own Use Case: This feature allows you to set your own template for the app to follow, which you could use to write stories or other content you need for a book.
Plagiarism Checker: Rytr has its own plagiarism checker powered by Copyscape, so you can make sure your drafts check out.
Rytr isn’t a dedicated story writer, so it lacks the advanced features of other AI story generator tools.
Rytr Pricing
The Saver plan gives you the best value with up to 100K characters per month for just $9. Each paid plan gives you access to all use cases, languages, and tones, plus the create your own use case feature.
Verdict
Hands down, the robust-yet-affordable Rytr app is the best AI story generator for writers on a budget.
Narrative Device is a simple, one-page story idea generator developed by a Ph.D. student at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, as part of his research.
To use the AI story generator, simply enter two keywords you want the AI engine to combine into a unique story idea.
Here’s the summary of what you get:
Simple Interface: Just input your prompts, mad-lib style.
Affordable: You get five generations for free and each 100 extra for the price of a cup of coffee.
This is not a robust writing app, just a simple idea starter.
Narrative Device Pricing
A free signup gets you five complimentary generations. To keep using the app, you can purchase 100 generations at a time for $5.
Verdict
When you’re stuck on a story idea and want to see what AI software can come up with, Narrative Device might be just the right tool for the job.
An AI story generator tool uses the power of AI to write creative stories, which you can use for novels, short stories, plays, movie scripts, marketing materials, and more.
Depending on the app you use, AI story generators can:
Write stories based on a prompt
Generate story ideas from keywords or summaries
Generate outlines based on story-writing best practices
Write with specific criteria, like in the voice of a famous author or following a specific theme
Help you rewrite lines for a more interesting and engaging story
You can see more features in my review of the best AI story generators (found above).
When you start using a story generator in your workflow, here are the benefits you can expect to see:
Benefits of AI Story Generator Tools
Overcome Writer’s Block. Often the hardest part of writing a story is getting started. AI writers help you by writing the first few lines of a story for you. They can also give you new ideas or help you rewrite a story that’s lost its way.
Write Faster. Instead of having to think of and type an entire story from scratch, AI story generators can write the whole thing for you as a first draft. Then you’re able to spend more of your time editing and polishing instead of writing multiple drafts.
Improve Your Writing Skills. Many author-focused AI story generators have extra features that teach you how to write your story better. For example, Sudowrite (reviewed above) can help you make your stories more descriptive by engaging the five senses.
Get New Story and Plot Ideas. AI story generators are great at generating ideas for stories. Most can give you new and interesting ideas based on a couple of keywords or a short prompt. Some AI story generators have the ability to come up with surprising plot twists to make your story more interesting.
Craft a More Engaging Plot. One AI story generator we’ve reviewed above, called Subtxt, has the ability to outline a story based on popular frameworks employed in bestselling books and movies. This helps you to create a solid plot line before fleshing out the story.
Improve Existing Stories. You can use editing features available in some AI story generator tools to find weaknesses in your stories and improve them. This not only improves your story but also helps you build better writing skills.
Supercharge Your Marketing Copy. Adding stories to marketing copy makes it memorable and meaningful to the reader. These tools can help you craft well-written stories for your marketing materials that hit home with your audience.
Who Are AI Story Generators Best For?
Novelists: Novel writers have a lot to gain from AI story generators. Writing a long novel is daunting, and using an AI tool like the ones reviewed above can help make that big task more manageable. From generating ideas and crafting solid outlines, to actually writing out dialogue and scenes, AI story-writing tools are a novelist’s best friend.
Short Story Writers: Short story writers also stand to benefit from AI story generators. While short stories have a smaller word count than novels, authors must come up with more plot lines and story ideas to flesh out a story collection. An AI story generator can make sure a short story writer never runs out of ideas for their next piece.
Non-Fiction Authors: AI story generators aren’t just for fiction writers. Non-fiction works contain stories, too—usually real-life stories from history or the author’s life. While story generators can’t generate a true story without knowing the facts, they can help write a version of the story in an engaging way, which the non-fiction author can use as a starting point for the finished work.
Screenwriters: AI story-writing tools can also help write scripts for moves and TV. Not only can they help come up with dialogue and scenes, but an app like Subtxt can create a story outline, showing you exactly what should happen in each Act and scene for a more powerful story.
Beginner Writers: Beginner writers can build better writing skills by learning from AI story generators. For starters, they can learn by example as the trained storytelling AI weaves a story. Some AI story generators can also suggest places to improve existing drafts and make scenes more engaging.
Bloggers: The most memorable blogs often contain stories from personal experience. Bloggers can utilize an AI story generator tool to write stories about their life, then insert those stories in blog posts to make more of an impression on their audience.
Marketers: For years, marketers have known that stories sell better than any other sales pitch. Copywriters and content writers can use an AI story writer to get story ideas that fit with their marketing strategy or craft better stories from pre-existing ideas.
How Do AI Story Generators Work?
Here’s how to use an AI story generator:
When you use an AI story generator, you’ll be asked for a prompt. The prompt may vary depending on the software you use.
You might give the AI writer a command like, “Write me a story about a girl who meets a boy in a small town during Christmas.” Or you might be asked to write a summary of the story you want to write.
If you want to generate ideas, you might be asked to give a few keywords.
Once you’ve submitted your prompt, the AI writer will begin to write a story, list of ideas, or other output based on your parameters.
After it’s done, you can usually edit the story or ask the AI writing assistant to rewrite parts of the text.
Now here’s how the technology works:
AI story generators are trained to write stories by learning from thousands (if not millions) of stories that have already been written. This is made possible by machine learning, which allows a computer to learn from the information it processes and become smarter over time.
These AI writing tools understand language with the power of natural language processing. AI programs are trained on large language models, which help them to understand how languages work. Then they can use their understanding of language to read text, parse meaning, learn new words and phrases, and craft human-like text based on a prompt.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How Do I Create an AI Story?
The best way to write a story with an AI tool is by using an AI story writer. These apps can help generate ideas, write scenes and dialogue, and suggest ways to improve an already-written story. You can learn more in this article, where I share the best AI story generators available on the market today.
What is the Best Free Story Generator?
Novel AI is one of the best AI story-writing tools available, and you can try it out for free for up to 100 generations. The AI writing software Rytr also has a generous free plan, allowing you to generate up to 10,000 characters per month.
How Do You Make an AI Writer Generate a Story?
If you’re using a general-use AI writer, you’ll need to choose a story template or give it a command like, “Write me a story about XYZ.” If you’re using a specialized AI story generator like Novel AI or Sudowrite, you’ll simply fill out a prompt, and the app will start writing a story for you.
Which AI Story Generator is Best for Screenwriters?
The AI story writing app Subtxt is designed with screenwriters in mind. It starts by creating a solid plot outline based on other high-performing movies and novels, then splits it into individual scenes, so you know exactly what to write.
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