A free Plottr alternative for plotting with a partner, and where Plottr is better

What this plotting board can't do

• No timeline view. Cards sit in lists. There is no axis for dates, no way to line up plotlines against each other, and no filter by plotline.
• No series bible, template library or notebooks. There are no character or place sheets, no templates for story structures and no search across notes. Plottr's home page lists a visual timeline, 40+ templates and a series bible.
• No manuscript sync or drafting. The cards are the plan. Pages, chapters and word count stay in your writing app.
• No export to, or import from, Plottr, Scrivener or Final Draft. Selected cards and lists can be saved as a PNG. If you move off Plottr, you retype the cards you want.
• 150 items on the free plan, across your account. Each card and each list counts. The example board is 45 cards, 5 lists and a key card, 51 items. A 60-scene novel in five plotline lists is 65, and a 100-scene novel is 105 (our arithmetic), before any notes. A full novel with a story bible passes 150, and Pro removes the limit. Pro is $5 a month billed yearly ($59.99 a year).
• 5 boards and 3 images per board on the free plan. Keep one board per book. The example board has no images.

What Plottr's own pages say about plans and sharing

From Plottr's pricing page (read November 7, 2026): Plottr is $60 a year or $150 once, for Windows and Mac, with files on your device and manual sync between devices. Plottr Pro is $9.99 a month, $99 a year or $599 once. Its feature list adds a browser app that works on tablets, cloud sync, cloud backups and real-time collaboration. Plottr Pro + Community is $14.99 a month, $129 a year or $649 once and adds a private community and an education vault. The page offers a 30-day free trial and says it doesn't give refunds after purchase. It also says "No AI".

Its FAQ answers the question this page is about: "Do all collaborators need their own Plottr Pro subscription to use real-time collaboration?" It says: "Yes. Each collaborator must have their own Plottr Pro subscription to access and edit shared projects in real time." Two people on Pro is $198 a year at the listed annual price (our arithmetic).

The same FAQ says that if a Pro plan expires you can't open your projects without renewing, and recommends exporting everything first. On the base plan you can keep using Plottr after it expires, without updates.

Free ways to plot a novel, side by side

Each row is from the maker's own pages, read on November 7, 2026. Plans change, so check the page before you commit.

When Plottr is the better choice

• You want a timeline. Plottr's home page lists a visual timeline for scenes, chapters and character arcs. Instaboard has none.
• You write a series. Plottr lists a series bible and character sheets. Instaboard's cards are plain text.
• You want a structure to start from. Plottr lists 40+ outlining templates and lets you make your own. Instaboard has far fewer templates.
• You want your plan on your own machine. The base Plottr plan keeps files on your device and keeps working after it expires, without updates.
• You need to go on to a draft. Kindling puts your outline beside the draft, free, and Scyn's Pro plan lists a drafting mode. On Instaboard the draft lives somewhere else.

When another free tool is the better choice

• You want to draft beside the outline, free, on your computer. Kindling's own pages describe a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux that is free, open source, needs no account and imports Plottr, Scrivener, Obsidian Longform, yWriter, novelWriter and Markdown files. It has no mobile version and, by its own page, no sync, so it suits one writer.
• You want a story map of cause and effect. Scyn's free plan is one novel with up to 100 scenes, acts, chapters and colour filters, and its home page maps scenes as cause and effect. Its pricing page puts drafting (Story Mode), unlisted share links and up to five collaborators on Pro.
• You want a timeline and a character list for free, with a co-writer. Campfire's free account lists a timeline (20 events), characters (10) and relationship webs (2), and its pricing page lists inviting as many collaborators as you want on every account. Past those caps you pay. It is a much bigger app than a board.
• You write the book in the same place. Reedsy Studio's core writing is free, and its Studio page offers inviting a co-author to the draft. Its Boards FAQ says sharing a Board with a collaborator is not available yet, and unlimited Boards come with a paid add-on.
• You want plot and draft in one paid app. Dabble's Writer plan lists a Plot Grid, co-authoring and sharing with a writing group or partner, with a 14-day trial.

When Instaboard is the better choice

• Two of you want to move cards around together, and neither wants a subscription yet. Both sign in free, and the board needs no plan until it passes 150 items.
• You think in plotlines side by side. One list per plotline, with the cards you move by hand, shows where the threads meet. The example board numbers each card inside its plotline (A3, B3, C3) so you can talk about them.
• You want to sketch on it. Pen strokes, sections and arrows don't count toward the 150, so you can circle, underline and annotate without using up your limit.
• You want one board to share with a writing group, an editor or a friend. One link opens it, and each person signs in free to write.

How to plot on the board

1. 1Open the ready board and read the Key card.
2. 2Make one list per plotline. Name each with a letter, like "A. Nora and the mill".
3. 3One beat per card, in a few words. Start each title with the plotline letter and a number: "A4: Nora spends her savings on repairs". The number is the order inside that plotline.
4. 4Mark the big beats in the title. The example uses "Midpoint:" and "Turning point:" in the card text, so they can be found by eye.
5. 5Move cards until the plot holds. Drag a card to a new spot, or into another list when a beat belongs to a different plotline. Lists reorder independently of each other, and each card can take its own colour, separate from its list's colour, to mark a turning point.
6. 6Join beats across plotlines with arrows if you want. An arrow between cards in different lists takes a caption and its own colour, and it stays attached when you reorder cards or move a list. The example board has none, and arrows don't count toward the 150.

Plotting with a partner

1. 1In the share menu, set "Anyone with the link can edit".
2. 2Send the link, or the 4-digit join code. The code expires after 2 hours of inactivity, so send the link to someone you'll need later.
3. 3Your partner signs in free (Google, Apple or email) to write. Someone who isn't signed in can open the link and read everything, but can't change anything. Once they're signed in, what they add shows up on your board within a few seconds.
4. 4The board counts as one of their 5 free boards, and the cards they add count toward their own 150. If they're already at 5 boards, they can still open the link and write; the board just isn't added to their boards.

Moving over from Plottr

Instaboard can't open Plottr projects, and Plottr's own pricing page tells Pro users to export their projects before a plan expires. To keep a plot on a board, open the ready board and retype the beats you want, one card each, in a list per plotline. If you'd rather keep the file, Kindling's page says it imports Plottr files.

Plotting a mystery? See the mystery novel outline board. For a screenplay or an act-by-act outline, see the index card outline.

Questions