The NovelAI free trial, decoded

NovelAI Free: What You Actually Get

One trial. Fifty text generations, thirty images, a hundred voice clips. No renewal once they're gone, and no card needed to start. Here's the real number breakdown, pulled from NovelAI's own documentation instead of marketing copy.

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Paper tier, by the numbers

The free trial in four numbers

50
free text generations, credited once after email verification
30
free image generations, up to 1024×1024 pixels
100
free text-to-speech generations to test the voice models
1x
granted once. No refill, no monthly reset.

How the free trial actually works

Four steps, sourced straight from NovelAI's own documentation.

  1. 1

    Verify your email

    Create a NovelAI account and confirm your email address. That single step unlocks the whole Paper tier allowance, no payment method required.

  2. 2

    Spend the allowance

    Fifty text generations, thirty images, a hundred voice clips. Use them on one story or split them across a few drafts. The counter does not care.

  3. 3

    Watch it run out

    Trial actions are granted once. There is no daily or monthly refresh, so a long drafting session can burn through the allowance fast.

  4. 4

    Decide, or keep your work

    Everything written during the trial carries over automatically if you subscribe later. You can also export your stories before making a decision.

Who the free trial is actually enough for

Fifty generations sound generous until you're mid-scene and the counter hits zero. The trial is built for a single honest test drive, not a finished draft. It's enough to judge the prose style, try the image generator once, and decide if the ten-dollar Tablet tier is worth it. It is not enough to draft a chapter a day or lean on it for a running project. Most people who search for a free plan are really asking one narrower question: does the writing sound good enough to pay for. The trial answers exactly that, and nothing more.

  • Testing whether the model's writing style fits your genre
  • Generating a handful of character portraits before spending real Anlas
  • Comparing NovelAI's prose against another tool you already use
  • Deciding if the jump to a paid Tablet plan makes sense for you
Read the trial FAQ
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Free trial vs. the paid tiers

Straight from NovelAI's subscription docs, not marketing copy.

FeaturePaper (free trial)Tablet, $10/moOpus, $25/mo
Text generation50 total, onceUnlimitedUnlimited
Text-to-speech100 total, onceUnlimitedUnlimited
Image generation30 images, one-time1,000 Anlas refilled monthly10,000 Anlas + free single-image gens
Context windowStandardStandardUp to 28,672 tokens
RenewsNeverEvery 30 daysEvery 30 days

Common questions about the NovelAI free trial

Is NovelAI actually free?
Not as an ongoing plan. NovelAI offers a one-time Paper trial: 50 text generations, 30 images, and 100 text-to-speech clips after you verify your email. Past that allowance, subscriptions start at $10 a month.
Do I need a credit card to start the free trial?
No payment method is required to create an account and use the Paper trial. You only enter billing details if you choose to subscribe to Tablet, Scroll, or Opus afterward.
Does the free trial reset every month?
No. NovelAI's own documentation is explicit about this: free trial actions are granted once, with no refreshes. Once your 50 text and 30 image generations are used, they are gone until you subscribe.
What happens to what I wrote during the trial?
Your stories, settings, and lorebook entries created during the Paper trial carry over automatically if you later subscribe. You can also export everything manually before deciding either way.
Can I generate images for free after the trial ends?
Only through a paid tier. Tablet and Scroll subscribers get 1,000 Anlas a month for image generation, and Opus subscribers get 10,000 Anlas plus free single-image generations under specific size and step limits.
What's the cheapest way to keep using NovelAI after the trial?
The Tablet tier at $10 a month gives unlimited text and text-to-speech generation plus 1,000 monthly Anlas for images. It is the entry point once the free allowance runs out.
Is 50 free text generations enough to judge the tool?
Enough to get a feel for the model's prose style and pacing, not enough to draft a full chapter or run a long project. Treat it as a taste test, not a trial run of the finished workflow.
Is there a faster way to check details like this without reading the whole docs site?
Paste the page into aisummary. It reads the fine print, subscription terms, patch notes, community threads, and hands you back the parts that matter in under a minute, so you are not skimming a wall of text for one answer.

Skip the fine print next time

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