Folio
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A calm place to write a novel.

Folio is a writing app for Windows and Linux. It runs on your computer, not in the cloud. No account, with one-time purchase option.

Free for seven days. No card needed.

Folio's writing view. Chapter one of a novel, set in a serif face, with the chapter list folded away to Roman numerals on the left.Folio's writing view. Chapter one of a novel, set in a serif face, with the chapter list folded away to Roman numerals on the left.Folio's writing view. Chapter one of a novel, set in a serif face, with the chapter list folded away to Roman numerals on the left.Folio's writing view. Chapter one of a novel, set in a serif face, with the chapter list folded away to Roman numerals on the left.

Folio 1.0.2, released 7 September 2026. Windows and Linux. macOS coming soon.

The idea

Writing software used to be simple.

You opened it, you wrote, and your words stayed on your own disk. Folio works that way. It adds the few things a novel needs that a word processor lacks: chapters, a place for your characters, and a count of what you wrote today.

It is one program on one computer. It works offline, unlike online-only software.

The page

One chapter at a time.

The writing view with the chapter sidebar open on the left and the Cards rail open on the right.
Chapters on the left, the page in the middle, the rail on the right.

Set like a book.

Your text is set in a book typeface at a comfortable width. The rail on the right holds what the scene needs: the characters it mentions, your notes, a dictionary.

Hide the sidebar with Ctrl B. Hide everything with Ctrl Shift F.

Focus mode: only the text on a plain page, with a sprint timer counting down in the bar at the bottom.
Focus mode, with a sprint running.

Focus, and a timer.

Focus mode hides everything but the scene you are in. Start a sprint and the bar counts down while it counts your words. Every draft is kept, so you can write a scene two ways and choose.

The library

Everyone in your story, on a card.

The Library: a grid of story cards for characters, places, items and events, each with a large initial and a one-line summary.
The Library. People, places, things and events.

Cards, not a wiki.

One card for each person, place, thing or event. Add a summary, a picture, and links to other cards. While you write, Folio shows the cards your scene mentions. No tagging needed.

The relationship map: cards drawn as points joined by lines, labelled with how they relate.
The relationship map, drawn from the links between cards.

See how they connect.

The map draws your cast from the links between cards. Who is related to whom, what was found where. Open it when you lose the thread.

The count

Know how the book is going.

The Statistics page: today's words and minutes, a best streak of thirteen days, a year of small squares, and a bar chart of words a day.
Statistics. Today, the last year, and words a day.

A word count that keeps itself.

Set a daily goal and a small ring in the bar fills as you write. See the last year on one page, one square a day.

The room

Four themes.

Paper for daytime, three dark themes for the evening. Pick one and this page changes too.

The rest

What it does not do.

  • No account

    Nothing to sign up for. Install it and it opens.

  • No cloud

    Your book is one file on your disk. Back it up like any other file.

  • No telemetry

    Folio never reports what you write, how long you write, or that you opened it.

  • No lock-in

    Export to Word, EPUB, PDF, Markdown or plain text at any time. Import from Word, Scrivener, Markdown and plain text.

  • No AI, unless you ask

    AI is off by default and hidden until you turn it on. If you do, you choose the server, including one on your own machine.

The company

You are not writing alone.

Folio has a Discord. Ask for help, say what Folio should do next, and meet other people writing a book. Every feature request is read there.

Join the Discord (opens in a new tab)

The price

Buy it once, or pay monthly.

Try it free for seven days first. Refunds within 14 days, no questions asked. See the pricing page for details.

Start writing tonight.

The download is small and the install takes a minute.

Windows may show a warning the first time you run the installer. Here is why.