Is NovelAI Free? Only the Trial, and Here's What It Includes

NovelAI is the AI storytelling and anime image tool made by Anlatan. People like it for long-form fiction and character art, and for its privacy stance. Here's what the trial covers, what each paid tier adds as of October 2026, and a warning about lookalike apps.

What the NovelAI free trial includes

• 50 free text generations.
• 30 free image generations, up to 1024x1024 resolution.
• 100 free text to speech generations.
• Access to a wide range of text generation settings during the trial.
• Everything you create in the trial carries over if you subscribe.

You need to be logged in with an email-verified account to get these. NovelAI's docs call this the Paper free trial, and it doesn't renew: once the generations are used, you subscribe or stop.

NovelAI plans and prices, as of October 2026

Tier	Price per month	What NovelAI's docs say you get
Paper	Free trial	50 text, 30 image and 100 text to speech generations
Tablet	$10	Text and voice generation without a cap, plus 1,000 Anlas a month for images
Scroll	$15	Everything in Tablet with a larger context size, so the AI remembers more of your story
Opus	$25	The largest context, up to 28,672 tokens, 10,000 Anlas a month and some free image generations

Anlas are NovelAI's image credits. Your subscription pool refills each month to your tier's amount, and you can also buy Anlas on demand. NovelAI says subscriptions renew exactly 30 days after payment rather than on a calendar date.

The Opus image detail most people miss

Opus is the only tier where some image generations don't cost Anlas. NovelAI's docs say they're free as long as you generate one image at a time, don't use another image as a base, use at least the Normal size and keep Steps at 28 or less. With models newer than V4.5 there's a usage limit, and once you pass it every image costs Anlas until the limit refills. If you make lots of images, that's why Opus can work out cheaper than buying Anlas on Tablet.

Watch out for lookalike NovelAI apps

When I searched Apple's App Store for NovelAI in October 2026, the apps called NovelAI or Novel AI were listed by sellers with names such as MD Ataher Ali Emon and Sadiqul Amin, not by Anlatan, which makes NovelAI. Before you subscribe through any app, check the seller name on the listing. NovelAI's own service runs at novelai.net in your browser.

What to know before you subscribe

• You can use your images commercially. NovelAI says there are no limits on commercial use and no extra tier is needed.
• NovelAI says your prompts are encrypted and generated images aren't stored on its servers unless you save them.
• Subscription Anlas reset to zero when your subscription ends, under NovelAI's current rules.
• You can't buy extra Anlas after you cancel.

If you mainly want to chat with characters rather than write stories, check whether Character AI is free first. If you're after AI art more than fiction, my guide to whether Midjourney is free compares the image side.

Tablet, Scroll or Opus: which should you pick?

The difference between the tiers is mostly memory. Context size is how much of your story the AI can read at once before it writes the next part. On a short scene that doesn't matter. On a long story, a small context means the AI forgets earlier plot points, names and details, so you end up repeating yourself. Scroll's larger context is the fix, and Opus has the largest, at up to 28,672 tokens.

If you mainly make images, the Anlas allowance matters more: 1,000 a month on Tablet and Scroll against 10,000 on Opus, plus Opus's free image generations within the limits above. Opus subscribers also get access to NovelAI's Xialong model and some older experimental text models.

How to start the NovelAI free trial

1. Go to novelai.net in your browser.
2. Create an account and verify your email address. NovelAI says the trial generations need an email-verified account.
3. Start a story with a short premise and a few lines of your own writing.
4. Try a character image at Normal size to see the anime art style.
5. Keep the stories you like: they carry over if you subscribe.

My verdict: is NovelAI free?

No, but the trial is enough to judge it. Use your 50 text and 30 image generations on the kind of story or character you'd make every week. If you'd mostly write, Tablet at $10 a month covers text and voice. If the AI forgets your plot, Scroll's bigger context is the reason to pay $15. Choose Opus at $25 only if you generate a lot of images, because that's where its free image generations pay off. And subscribe at novelai.net, not through a lookalike app.

Comparing writing assistants for fiction? See whether Sudowrite is free.

Frequently asked questions

Is NovelAI free?

No. NovelAI says it isn't a free AI generator. It offers a free trial, and subscriptions start at $10 a month as of October 2026.

What do you get in the NovelAI free trial?

50 free text generations, 30 free image generations up to 1024x1024 and 100 free text to speech generations with an email-verified account.

How much is NovelAI?

Tablet is $10 a month, Scroll $15 and Opus $25, according to NovelAI's docs as of October 2026.

What are Anlas in NovelAI?

Anlas are NovelAI's image generation credits. Your tier's pool refills monthly, and you can also buy them on demand while subscribed.

Can I use NovelAI images commercially?

Yes. NovelAI says there are no limits on commercial use and no extra tier is needed.

Is the NovelAI app on the App Store official?

Check the seller. The apps named NovelAI that Apple's search returned in October 2026 were listed by other sellers, not Anlatan.

Does the NovelAI free trial renew?

No. NovelAI's docs say the Paper free trial is a one-off set of generations, while paid tiers renew 30 days after payment.

Which NovelAI tier remembers the most?

Opus. NovelAI says it has the largest context, up to 28,672 tokens, so the AI keeps more of your story in mind.