Last updated: 2026-11-03
Sudowrite is an AI writing app for fiction, co-founded by Amit Gupta and James Yu, which raised a $3 million angel round reported by TechCrunch in November 2021. Its paid plans combine the in-house Muse and Ballad models with more than 30 other models, and support Write, Rewrite, Describe, Expand and Brainstorm for novels and screenplays.
About Sudowrite
Sudowrite is an AI writing app built for fiction authors. It was started by Amit Gupta and James Yu, and the first version ran on GPT-3. TechCrunch reported a $3 million round, raised almost entirely from angel investors, in November 2021, when the product had between 300 and 400 paying users. Today the company pitches Sudowrite at novelists and screenwriters rather than at business writers, which separates it from marketing-copy tools such as Jasper.
The editor works on a story rather than on a blank prompt box. Write continues a scene, Rewrite reshapes a passage, Describe adds sensory detail, and Expand lengthens a beat. Brainstorm and a fiction-focused chat help with plot, characters and research. The plans list style matching and series continuity, so output stays close to the author's voice across a long project. Sudowrite says it runs dozens of models: recent Claude models from Anthropic, open source models, several from OpenAI, and its own fiction models, Muse and Ballad. If you want a general-purpose assistant instead of a fiction editor, compare it with Claude.
The best fit is a writer drafting a full-length book or screenplay, an author who publishes several titles a year, or a student or hobbyist on the cheaper plan. Other general writing assistants on Hokai include Rytr, Wordtune, QuillBot and Copy.ai. Editing-focused products such as ProWritingAid and Grammarly check grammar and style in text you have already written. Sudowrite generates and reshapes drafts, so the two jobs overlap less than the category label suggests. HyperWrite is another assistant that leans on matching your own voice.
Billing is credit-based. All three paid plans list the same writing tools and fiction models. The Professional and Max plans add developmental edits, line edits and beta reads, and Max adds a 12-month rollover of unused credits. The vendor says it claims no rights over what you write or what Sudowrite generates, and that user writing is not used for model training. See the cost question below for current plan prices.
To weigh it against other options, read the guide to the best AI writing assistants, or describe your project to Smart Match and let it shortlist tools for you.
Pricing
Credit-based plans, billed monthly or yearly (the vendor advertises yearly billing at up to 50% off). Hobby & Student: $10 per month with 225,000 credits. Professional: $22 per month; its credit allowance is unconfirmed because 1,000,000 and 450,000 both appeared beside it on 2026-11-03.
Max: $44 monthly, 2,000,000 credits, with unused credits rolling over for 12 months. Trials come first and ask for no card; no permanent free plan exists. See the best AI writing assistants guide for cheaper or free alternatives.
| Tier | Monthly price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Hobby & Student | $10/mo | Credit-based. 225,000 credits per month. |
| Professional | $22/mo | Credit-based. Credit allowance unconfirmed (page showed 1,000,000 and 450,000). Adds developmental edits, line edits and beta reads. |
| Max | $44/mo | Credit-based. 2,000,000 credits per month, unused credits roll over for 12 months. |
Key Features
- Write: Continues a scene in the author's voice, with style matching that every plan lists for keeping a series consistent.
- Rewrite, Describe and Expand: Reshapes a passage, adds sensory detail or lengthens a beat, three separate tools that work on selected text.
- Brainstorm and fiction chat: Generates plot, character and research ideas in a chat tuned for fiction rather than general questions.
- Muse, Ballad and 30+ other models: Every paid plan includes the in-house Muse and Ballad fiction models plus more than 30 outside models.
- Developmental edits, line edits and beta reads: Professional and Max plans add AI feedback on structure and prose, positioned as a substitute for finding beta readers.
Pros
- Two in-house fiction models, Muse and Ballad, sit alongside many outside models on every paid plan, so one subscription covers several model families.
- Every plan starts with a free trial that needs no credit card, and the vendor says cancelling takes one click from the subscription page.
- The vendor FAQ says Sudowrite takes no ownership of your manuscript or its generated text, and that your pages are kept out of model training.
Cons
- Credit billing makes monthly cost hard to forecast: the pricing page publishes no per-action credit price, and different models and features consume credits differently.
- There is no permanent free plan; after cancelling you can open projects but cannot use AI features without a paid plan.
- The Professional plan showed two credit allowances (1,000,000 and 450,000) on the pricing page on 2026-11-03, so the real allowance is unclear.
Data Handling
- Training-data policy
- Per the vendor FAQ, manuscripts are excluded from model training, and the company asserts no rights over inputs or generated output.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Sudowrite cost in 2026?
Sudowrite sells three credit-based plans: Hobby & Student at $10 per month for 225,000 credits, Professional at $22 per month, and Max at $44 per month with 2,000,000 credits and a 12-month credit rollover. Confirm the Professional allowance before paying: the page printed 1,000,000 and 450,000 beside it on 2026-11-03. Yearly billing is advertised at up to 50% off.
Does Sudowrite have a free plan?
The pricing page lists no permanent free plan. A free trial comes first on every plan, with no card needed. After you cancel you can still open your projects, but the AI features stop working until you hold a paid plan.
What are the best alternatives to Sudowrite?
For general chat-based drafting, Claude or ChatGPT handle fiction prompts without a story-specific editor. For marketing and brand copy, Jasper is the closer match. For grammar and style checks on finished chapters, ProWritingAid fits better than a generator.
Is Sudowrite better than Jasper for fiction?
Sudowrite is organised around story drafting, with Write, Rewrite, Describe and Expand tools and fiction models, so it is the better pick for a novel or screenplay. Jasper is aimed at marketing teams producing brand copy, so choose it for campaigns rather than chapters.
How do you get started with Sudowrite?
Open the pricing page, pick a plan and start the free trial; no credit card is asked for. Create a project, paste or write a scene, then run Write or Rewrite on it to see how the output matches your voice. The vendor also runs free live classes for new users.
Top Alternatives
- Jasper: Pick Sudowrite for novels and screenplays; pick Jasper for brand and marketing copy.
- ProWritingAid: Pick Sudowrite to generate and reshape drafts; pick ProWritingAid to check finished text.
- Claude: Pick Sudowrite for a story-specific editor; pick Claude for a general assistant that also writes fiction.