Hammer
Free, local-first novel-writing app for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and Linux, storing every scene as a plain text file with optional self-hosted sync.
🔗 Visit Hammer
Description
Writing a novel in a cloud-based tool means trusting a company to keep that app running for years, to never lock the manuscript behind a paywall change, and to never lose it in an outage. Hammer takes the opposite approach on purpose: every scene is saved as a plain, human-readable text file on the writer's own device, so the words exist independently of any company staying in business.
Hammer is a free, open-source, multiplatform story editor covering Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux, built around scenes, character and world encyclopedias, timelines, notes, and writing statistics, with support for private links and public sharing of finished work. It's offline-first by design — no internet connection is ever required — and for writers using multiple devices, it offers intelligent synchronization through either a self-hosted Docker sync server or the official hammer.ink service (supported via optional Patreon subscription).
💬 Our review
The short version: Hammer's local-first, plain-text-file philosophy is a real differentiator from cloud-native writing tools like Scrivener's newer cloud features or Notion-based writing setups — your manuscript stays as ordinary files you control, not a proprietary database you have to export from.
Against Scrivener, the long-standing standard for long-form fiction writing, Hammer is fully free and multiplatform (including mobile) where Scrivener charges per platform and has historically weaker mobile support. Against generic note apps repurposed for writing (Obsidian, Notion), Hammer's built-in scene structure, character/world encyclopedias, and timeline tools are purpose-built for fiction rather than adapted from a general-purpose tool. The trade-off is ecosystem maturity: at 691 GitHub stars it has a healthy community for an indie tool but nowhere near Scrivener's decades of refinement, plugins, and publishing-industry familiarity. For a writer who wants complete ownership of their manuscript files and free multiplatform sync, Hammer is a compelling pick; those who need Scrivener's mature compile-to-manuscript and industry-standard export features may still prefer paying for it.
💰 Pricing
📊 Global score
🤖 AI-enriched data
Application gratuite (MIT) ; synchronisation via serveur auto-hébergé gratuit ou hammer.ink via abonnement Patreon optionnel
Pros
Local-first, fichiers texte lisibles, aucune dépendance au cloud
Entièrement gratuit et open-source
Vraiment multiplateforme, y compris mobile
Outils dédiés à la fiction : scènes, encyclopédies, timelines
Cons
Écosystème moins mature que Scrivener
Synchronisation mobile nécessite auto-hébergement ou abonnement Patreon
Communauté plus petite que les outils commerciaux établis