Frequently asked questions.

Yes. Just download and install OpusWriter and you’ll get 30 days with full access to every feature. No credit card or signup is required.

When the trial ends, OpusWriter switches to read-only mode. You can still open and export your work, but you can’t continue editing until you activate a license.

No. OpusWriter costs $129 once, and then it’s yours. Your license doesn’t expire, and every version 1 update is included.

I have enough subscriptions in my life already, and I’m guessing you do too.

One license activates on up to three computers across macOS, Windows, and Linux. If you get a new computer or need to free up a slot, you can manage your activations through Polar’s customer portal.

The 30-day trial is there so you can be confident before you buy. If you purchase a license and decide OpusWriter isn’t the right tool for you, you can request a full refund within 14 days. Just email me at wesley@opuswriter.app and I’ll take care of it.

No. Every update throughout version 1 is free.

Somewhere down the road I may release a paid 2.0 with significant new functionality. If that happens, existing customers would receive a deep upgrade discount, but it isn’t on my roadmap. The features I want to ship in version 1 will keep me busy for years.

OpusWriter is currently a desktop app for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Some users have successfully run the Linux version on Chromebooks, but Chromebooks aren’t officially supported. I recommend using the free 30-day trial to test it on your particular machine.

There isn’t currently a mobile version, and one isn’t in active development. It’s one of the most common requests I receive, so I’m listening. But a full mobile app would be a major product of its own to build and maintain, and I don’t want to promise one before I know I can make it worth using.

I’m also exploring simpler ways to bring ideas and notes captured on the go into OpusWriter, but those are still only ideas.

Yes. OpusWriter and your project files live on your computer. You can plan, write, edit, publish, and manage your series without an internet connection.

You’ll only need to connect for license activation, updates, or any optional AI feedback features you choose to use.

Your work is stored on your computer, wherever you choose to save it. There’s no OpusWriter cloud, account, upload, or telemetry.

Each project is stored in a single .opws file that you can back up or copy to another computer. Your words aren’t locked in; you can continue opening and exporting your work even after the trial ends.

No. Your license doesn’t limit how many books, series, projects, or pen names you can create.

Yes. OpusWriter was built for long-form fiction and multi-book series. A single project can hold an entire series along with its chapters, planning materials, research, and shared canon.

For one stress test, I created a lorem ipsum recreation of The Wheel of Time: 15 books, nearly 4.4 million words, more than 500 character sheets, over 200 setting sheets, and roughly 100 canon sheets. OpusWriter showed no noticeable slowdown on modest hardware.

Yes. Word documents (.docx) import directly, with chapter breaks automatically detected. Scrivener 3 projects (.scriv) import directly too, with no need to compile them first.

OpusWriter brings over your manuscript, binder structure, scenes, synopses, notes, comments, research, custom metadata, writing history, and snapshots. Cut scenes and old drafts outside Scrivener’s Draft folder aren’t discarded either; you’ll find them waiting in the Stash.

You can also paste prose directly into the editor.

Not at all. OpusWriter has extensive planning tools, but every one of them is optional.

If you’re a pantser, open a chapter and start writing. The planning tools stay out of your way until you want them. OpusWriter also includes tools designed for discovery writers: Promises helps you track setups and payoffs as they emerge, while Change Log records decisions that may affect scenes you’ve already written.

Yes. Export a critique copy as a Word document and send it to them as usual. When it comes back, OpusWriter can import their Comments and Track Changes into Edit.

Each person’s feedback remains separate from your own revision notes and other reviewers’ comments. Your manuscript changes only when you decide to accept an edit.

OpusWriter does not have built-in AI. What it does have is the completely optional ability to connect your own AI, along with instructions for doing so, to unlock additional editing and feedback features.

Even if you connect your own AI and use those features, it will not write your story for you. I feel strongly that books should be written by humans.

Publish can create print-ready PDFs for paperback and hardcover editions; EPUB 3 files for ebooks and ARCs; Word documents for submissions, critique copies, and audiobook scripts; and HTML for publishing on the web.

Each format has its own settings, so you don’t have to force the same typography, layout, or front matter into every version of the book.