Novel AI vs AI Dungeon: Which AI Story Generator Should You Choose?

Quick Summary

Novel AI and AI Dungeon are two leading AI storytelling tools, each with a distinct approach to creativity and control. This guide breaks down the key differences, features, and limitations of each. We then introduce DreamGen, a flexible, user-first alternative built for both structured writing and immersive role-playing. Feel free to visit the DreamGen blog for more reviews, guides, and tutorials.

Trying to Choose Between Novel AI and AI Dungeon? 

Novel AI and AI Dungeon are two of the most popular AI storytelling platforms today. Both deliver immersive text generation, but how they handle creativity, control, and user experience couldn’t be more different.

If you’re torn between them, you’re not alone. Novel AI leans into narrative polish, while AI Dungeon thrives on unpredictable, open-ended play. But once you dig into the features and pricing, the differences run deeper than most realize.

In this DreamGen guide, we’re comparing Novel AI vs AI Dungeon side by side. You’ll get a clear breakdown of what each tool does well and, more importantly, discover an exciting alternative.

Why Listen to Us? 

We didn’t just build another AI tool. We built DreamGen for writers and roleplayers who want real control. Our team has tested every major platform out there, from Novel AI to AI Dungeon, and we know exactly where they shine and where they fall short. This guide reflects that hands-on experience, with zero fluff or fanboy bias.

Novel AI vs AI Dungeon: An Overview

Novel AI is built for writers and storytellers who care about tone, structure, and consistency. You craft your story, and the AI fills in the blanks with elegant prose that stays true to your style. It’s less about surprises and more about staying on track.

AI Dungeon is the opposite. It is more of an interactive text-based adventure “game”. The AI throws you into wild, unpredictable scenarios where you define everything in real-time. It’s ideal for people who want a level of surprise and freedom for their creativity using the AI tool. 

At their core, both tools are story generators. But their goals are different:

• Novel AI focuses on refined prose, story structure, and editorial-style writing.
• AI Dungeon emphasizes player freedom, improvisation, and spontaneous adventure.

Both can be fun, however, neither is perfect. 

What is Novel AI?

Novel AI is a cloud-based text generator built for structured storytelling. It uses proprietary language models to generate fiction and prose based on user input. As a writer, you can adjust the style, genre, and narrative pacing while the AI maintains context across long passages.

Unlike most chat-style platforms, Novel AI is closer to an advanced writing tool. You’re not chatting with characters. You’re feeding the AI direction and receiving well-structured story output in return. It’s designed for solo story writing, not roleplay.

Key Features

• Storyteller Mode: Write long-form stories with the help of AI. Define your characters, plot points, twists, and behaviors with a unique AI-powered editor that generates text suggestions for you.
• Image Models: Offers multiple image models (V4.5 Full/Curated, Anime V3, Furry V3) with support for natural-language prompts, multi-character generation, and text rendering.
• Image2Image & Control Tools: Enables image editing with user-uploaded inputs, featuring tools such as Palette Swap, Form Lock, Scribbler, Building Control, and Landscaper.
• Director Tools: Provides tools such as Remove Background, Inpaint, Sketch, Line Art, Colorize, Emotion, Enhance, Upscale, and a generation history for image refinement.
• Text Generation Models: Includes AI models such as Calliope, Sigurd, Euterpe, Genji, and Krake with varying output styles and context lengths.
• AI Modules & Presets: Enables genre-specific storytelling via over 60 AI Modules and customizable configuration presets.
• Memory & Author’s Note: Lets you define persistent story context (Memory) and short-term narrative direction (Author’s Note).
• Text-to-Speech (TTS): Supports remote (high-quality) and browser-based TTS for reading input, output, and system messages.

Pricing

NovelAI offers a free trial that gives you limited access. Beyond that, there are three paid plans across three categories: Writer, AI Artist, and Both. 

• All plans include text generation, memory expansion, image generation access, Anlas discounts, and bonus Anlas. 
• Higher tiers offer unlimited images and advanced models like Llama 3 Erato 70b for richer writing and art creation.

Pros

• Detailed style control with multiple AI models and presets
• Scenario library is great for a quick story fix without starting from scratch
• Strong long-term memory and Lorebook for world-building
• Supports both story mode and text-adventure formatting
• High-quality anime-style image generation
• Multi-character support in image generation
• Encrypts data with your password 

Cons

• No built-in roleplay or character-interaction system
• No collaborative or shared writing features
• Largest context window is quite small (~8000 tokens) 

What Is AI Dungeon?

AI Dungeon is an AI-powered text adventure platform that lets users write and direct interactive stories in real time. Instead of structured storytelling, it generates content on the fly based on whatever players type, with no fixed plot or outcome.

Unlike traditional writing tools, AI Dungeon is designed for exploration and improvisation. You choose a setting, a character, and an action, and the AI continues the story from there. It’s open-ended, fast-moving, and unpredictable by design.

Want to see how AI Dungeon stacks up against similar tools? We compared the Best AI Dungeon Alternatives here. 

Key Features

• Freeform Story Input: Accepts natural language prompts with no formatting rules. Players can type any action or dialogue, and the AI responds accordingly.
• Multi-Platform Access: Available on web, iOS, and Android. Game sessions sync across devices, making it easy to jump back in anytime.
• Custom Adventure Builder: Lets you create and publish your own worlds, complete with character settings, themes, and player goals.
• Multiplayer Mode: Supports group storytelling sessions where each player takes turns contributing to the story. One player can moderate the AI’s outputs.
• Community Library: Includes thousands of user-generated scenarios covering genres like fantasy, sci-fi, romance, and fan fiction.
• Content Filtering Controls: Offers Safe, Moderate, and Mature modes, allowing users to restrict or allow content types during gameplay.

Pricing

You get to choose from five paid plans:

• Free: Up to 2K token context
• Adventurer: Up to 4K token context
• Champion: Up to 8K token context
• Legend: Up to 16K token context
• Mythic: Up to 32K token context

Each subscription comes with a one-week free trial to test the features before you commit.  

Pros

• Open-ended storytelling with real-time AI responses
• Group play through structured multiplayer sessions
• Huge scenario library from an active community
• Mobile and desktop support for flexible access
• Custom worlds and settings for advanced players

Cons

• Story logic often breaks or contradicts itself
• Limited model control as AI can override or ignore player input
• Filtering issues impact content quality and tone

Novel AI vs AI Dungeon: Key Differences 

1. Story Structure and Narrative Persistence

AI Dungeon builds reactive experiences with no story memory beyond recent context. This benefits improvisational sessions but weakens continuity.

NovelAI offers persistent Memory, Lorebook, and Author’s Note fields.

• You can use these tools to:
• • Maintain consistent lore
  • Develop character arcs
  • Guide narrative direction across sessions

Writers looking for narrative structure will find NovelAI’s design more accommodating.

2. AI Model Access and Control

NovelAI provides selectable AI models (e.g., Krake, Genji, Llama 70B) with differing output styles and context sizes. Each model caters to specific pacing, tone, and language density.

AI Dungeon abstracts the model layer, offering less direct model control. Users rely on Latitude’s tuning rather than custom behavior adjustments.

3. Output Customization and Text Biasing

NovelAI supports fine-tuned control over text generation, including sampling temperature, top-p, repetition penalties, and prompt token weighting. These settings enable stylistic consistency and genre alignment.

AI Dungeon lacks per-instance configuration. Users may find it difficult to adjust narrative voice or suppress unwanted genre drift once a story begins.

4. Image Generation Capabilities

NovelAI includes a dedicated anime-style image generator with support for multi-character prompts, Vibe Transfer, and ControlNet tools. Visual assets integrate into the creative process directly.

AI Dungeon has no built-in image tools. Users must use third-party image generators and manually import visuals, which can interrupt a smooth workflow.

5. Multiplayer and Shared Storytelling

AI Dungeon enables real-time multiplayer sessions. Players can take turns interacting with the story while one acts as moderator. It’s designed for shared exploration or guided roleplay.

NovelAI is single-user only. While it excels in personal narrative development, it lacks any framework for collaborative or competitive storytelling formats.

6. Customization Depth: Scripting vs. Lorebook

AI Dungeon uses scenario scripting and action logic to structure gameplay. While it supports dynamic events, triggers, and variables, most public scenarios do not take full advantage of this and tend to function more like chatbots or casual role-plays.

NovelAI leans into static customization via Lorebook entries and persistent memory fields. While powerful for story continuity, it lacks programmable behavior or condition-based branching.

DreamGen: A Better Alternative to Both NovelAI and AI Dungeon

If you’re serious about AI storytelling or character roleplay, DreamGen is what you’ve been looking for. DreamGen is an AI-powered platform designed to blend the depth of a story-writing tool with the flexibility of an immersive role-play engine. 

As a result, it runs in two modes:

• Role-play mode is for multi-character, message-based chats where you can interact with whatever character you wish. 

• Story mode is for long-form writing, like having an AI-powered co-author to generate and complete your ideas to express your creativity. 

Where AI Dungeon improvises and NovelAI leans into solo writing, DreamGen gives you full creative control, scene by scene, line by line.

Key Features

• Unrestricted Creativity: Our models don’t hold back. We encourage you to let your imagination run wild and explore the depths of the worlds you create.
• Multi-Character Role-Play: Run group scenes with multiple characters in a single scenario. You’ll be able to control how each character behaves, speaks, and interacts.
• Steerable Instructions: Inject direct plot guidance at any time, e.g., “Make the villain reveal their plan now.” You set the world, define character actions, guide plot twists or tone, and the AI follows your lead. This works in both role-play and story mode.
• Scenario Library: For when you’re not sure where to start, you’ll have access to a library filled with pre-made story scenarios, ranging from AI companion experiences to sci-fi adventures and fantasy quests.
• Scenario Wizard: Generate fleshed-out scenarios from a short prompt. It auto-builds the setting, plot, and characters based on your input.
• Scenario Import: You can bring in characters from Janitor, Chub, or any tool that supports character exports.
• Story/Role-Play Assistant: On-demand help to brainstorm plot twists, add new characters, or rewrite a scene.
• Style & Tone Controls: Use the scenario’s "Style" field to define pacing and writing voice. This is ideal for adjusting message length or narrative formality.
• Image Generation: All accounts include access to AI image generation, which you can use for both scene concepts and character design.

Pricing

DreamGen offers a generous free tier with full access to core features, perfect for casual role-play and story writing. 

Need more power? We have three paid plans that scale with your needs:

• Starter for lightweight use.
• Advanced for deeper stories and better memory.
• Pro for unlimited access to the top model and the largest context window.

Check our pricing page for more details. 

Quick Comparison: DreamGen vs NovelAI vs AI Dungeon

If you're choosing between top AI storytelling platforms, here’s a feature-by-feature breakdown of how DreamGen, NovelAI, and AI Dungeon differ in real, practical ways.

This breakdown highlights where each tool excels and where DreamGen stands out for users seeking in-depth control, character-rich scenes, and genuine creative flexibility.

Skip the Limitations, Go with DreamGen

Novel AI and AI Dungeon take two very different paths: one focused on structure and polish, the other on improvisation and chaos. If neither gives you the control or creativity you’re looking for, there’s a third option worth considering.

DreamGen blends story-writing structure with true roleplay flexibility. You can control every scene, manage multiple characters, and shape the plot exactly how you want, without the usual limits or surprises.

Try DreamGen today and write or interact the way you meant to.