Plot tracking for novelists,
without the bloat.
Threadbound is a small writing tool that stays out of your way. It started as a simple way to keep track of plot threads. Then we kept going. Threadbound now takes a novel from first idea to finished draft — plot it, build its world, write it, and keep track of it all — without ever becoming the cluttered writing software it was built to replace.
The sample is a finished Lord of the Rings plot. Poke around, break things, no signup. Your 7-day trial starts when you first open the app.
From first idea to final draft
The core stays a clean plot tracker. Everything else is an optional module you switch on when your story needs it, so you only ever see what you're using.
Plot
Threads, a zoomable Timeline and a Board keep every storyline in order, so you always know what's resolved and what's still hanging.
Build
Map your world and your cast in Codex, give it calendars of its own, and keep research and loose ideas in Notebooks.
Write
Draft the book itself in Manuscript: acts, chapters and scenes, a focused editor, comments, snapshots and alternate-draft revisions, read aloud, a details page for your cover and blurb, with export to EPUB, PDF and Markdown.
Track
See which plot events still need a scene, where each character appears, and how your word counts and streaks are coming along.
See it in action
Real screenshots from the built-in sample project — the first thing you see when you open Threadbound.
Click a screenshot to zoom in, or open the sample project and explore it firsthand.
Four views. One story.
Where every project starts: everything a plot needs, nothing it doesn't.
Threads
Track every plot thread — colour-coded, filterable, marked open or resolved at a glance. Click one to filter everything else down to just it.
Timeline
Every dated event laid out chronologically, zoomable from a single week to a decade, with undated beats sitting right alongside.
Board
A column per thread, sorted by date, so you can see what's resolved and what's still hanging over the story at a glance.
To-do
The craft reminders and revision notes that don't belong buried inside a plot thread — a plain list, right alongside everything else.
Writing a series?
Add books to a project and plan the whole series in one place: the same threads, timeline and characters, with every event and chapter in its book. Switch between books, or see the whole series at once. Writing a single novel? None of it gets in your way.
What you can count on
A few promises that shape how Threadbound is built.
Local-first, with real backup
Your novel lives on your device, not our servers. Export a full backup any time as plain text files, or connect your own Google Drive for automatic backups in the background.
Grows with you, no upsells
Writing, worldbuilding, goals and more are opt-in modules. Switch on what your book needs and leave the rest out of sight. Every module is included, never a separate charge.
No AI
Nothing about how you plot, write, or organize your story runs through a language model. Threadbound is a place to keep your own words, not generate them. No AI service ever sees your work. How it's built
Encrypted Google Drive backups
Switch on encryption and your backups are locked with a passphrase on your own device before they ever reach Google, so no one at Google, and no Google AI feature, can read your novel. Only you can open them. We never see your passphrase.
Optional modules
This is where Threadbound outgrew plot tracking. Install what your project needs from Settings, one project at a time. Every module ships included in the one-time purchase — never a separate charge.
Multi-calendar
Define custom calendars for your world, align them with your project's primary calendar, and convert any date between them — even ones that never shared a "day one." Secondary dates can show right on the Timeline ruler alongside the primary ones.
Manuscript
An Act → Chapter → Scene binder with a built-in prose editor — focus mode, inline comments, daily snapshots, revisions for rewriting a scene without losing the old one, read aloud, and a Status tab that shows exactly which plot events you've actually written yet.
Codex
Worldbuilding and characters, organised. Sort everything in your world into categories and nest it where it belongs, so you can list every lake or open a nation and see all that's in it. Your cast gets profiles and two-way relationships, your lore gets a home of its own with a History of your world's eras, and every entry shows where it appears in your plot and your prose.
Maps
Upload the maps of your world and pin places on them. Colour pins one by one, or by Codex category, and filter them with a legend. Each pin can link to a Codex entry, or open a closer map, and your Codex shows where every entry is pinned. Choose which maps go into your EPUB and PDF.
Notebooks
A home for everything that isn't the story itself: worldbuilding, character notes, research. Group sections into notebooks, drag them between notebooks, and write with the same editor as Manuscript. Export to PDF or Markdown.
Goals
Set word-count goals, including a one-click November challenge, and see how much of your book is planned and how much is written. Track today's words, your streaks and a heatmap of the weeks behind you.
Personalise
Make Threadbound look the way you like: soft pastel colour themes, extra fonts, and rounder shapes. Add links to your Pinterest boards or playlists on threads and events, and give each thread its own emoji.
More modules are planned.
One price, yours forever
Buy Threadbound once and own it. No subscription, no recurring charge to keep using your own plot notes.
One payment, no subscription. Local prices are shown at checkout, with any sales tax or VAT.
Open ThreadboundThreadbound is free to use until purchasing opens. After that, every user gets a free 7-day trial, with no card needed.
One payment, no subscription. Local prices are shown at checkout, with any sales tax or VAT.
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Not sure yet? Try it free for 7 days, no card needed.
- Free 7-day trial for everyone
- Every module included, forever
- Every future version included
- No subscription, ever
- Your data stays on your device
Help shape Threadbound
Tell us how it's going, and vote on what should come next.
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