Campfire vs yazar.io

Where will you write the manuscript?

This is where the two tools differ most. In Campfire's Manuscript module you reorder chapters as cards, set word count goals and go back to older drafts through version history; while you write, notes on the characters and locations you've tagged sit in a sidebar. A draft you started elsewhere can come in as a DOCX or EPUB file, and Campfire splits it into chapters; the finished book exports as PDF or EPUB. On the free plan, the Manuscript is capped at 25,000 words.

yazar.io has no place for the manuscript itself: you go on writing in Word, Google Docs or Scrivener and keep the record of your world in yazar.io. If you already have a writing app you like, that split keeps things simple; if you want everything in one window, Campfire's approach will feel more natural.

How are world details stored and linked?

Campfire gives each kind of element its own module: Characters, Locations, Species, Cultures, Magic, Items, Religions and more. You lay out each page with panels you can move and resize, and the Languages module is where you build a constructed language's script and dictionary. There are a few ways to connect things: when you type an element's name in the Manuscript, Campfire can highlight it on its own, and you can also tag elements with @. Link two elements in a Links panel and the link shows up in both of their Links panels; some actions, such as connecting two characters in Relationships or pinning a location on a map, add these links for you, and the rest you add by hand.

In yazar.io, every book comes with ready-made sections for Characters, Locations, Organizations, Lore, Races, Creatures, Items, Spells, Beliefs and a Glossary, and you can add your own custom fields to each record's profile. Links grow out of the records' own text: if a character's name appears in a location's description, the link is created when you save, or you can type @ and pick the record from a list. The character's Linked pages list then shows every record that mentions them, so once your world runs to hundreds of records you don't have to track by hand who turns up where. Profile relations work both ways too: set a character's Birthplace and they appear under 'Born here' on that location's page. You can keep the words of an invented language in the Glossary with their language and meaning, but yazar.io has no tool for building a script.

Family trees, events and calendars

In Campfire, you draw family trees and relationship webs in the Relationships module, and the Timeline module lets you drag events into rows, give each character a row of their own and start from templates such as the Hero's Journey or Save the Cat. Campfire's clearest edge on this front is the Calendar module: you define your own months and days, the moons in your sky and their phases, seasons, eras and holidays, and your timeline events show up on their dates.

In yazar.io, you set parent, spouse and sibling links from a character's profile or in the Family Tree, and the other side updates on its own; you can also draw links you label yourself, such as Enemy or Lover, in the Family Tree. In the Event Flow you put events in whatever order you like and link each one to the characters involved and the place where it happens; both are free on every plan.

On Yazar Pro, the Calendar shows events in day, week, month and year views, and the Timeline lays them out on a single axis or in character lanes, with lifelines and each character's age at every event. You can also add your own seasons, recurring occasions such as a festival, and the weather. The calendar itself is still the standard one (BC/AD), with the usual months; our character age tracker page explains how to work with a world that has a calendar of its own. If your world runs on a calendar of its own, Campfire is ahead here.

Maps and boards

Campfire's Maps module lets you drop pins on a map image and link each one to a location, a character or even another map. Zones, layers and a ruler for measuring distances come with it, and the free plan includes two maps. yazar.io has no map tool, so you add an image of your map to the location's gallery or to a board. A board is a free-form canvas, available on every plan, where you place record cards, notes and images side by side and connect them with arrows. If your characters travel far and the distances matter to the plot, Campfire will serve you better.

Collaboration, offline use and language

In Campfire you can invite as many people as you like to view, comment on or edit a project, and they only need a free account; someone without an account can still get a view-only link. The Mac and Windows desktop app can switch to offline mode and syncs once you're back online, while the browser and phone apps need a connection. The interface is available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Polish.

In yazar.io, a book belongs to one account and there's no shared editing; to show your world to someone, you send them an Unlisted wiki link, and they can read it but not change it. Editing needs an internet connection, and the iPhone, iPad and Android app keeps showing content you've already opened if your connection drops for a short while. The interface comes in 15 languages, including English, Spanish, French, German and Turkish. If you write with a partner or often work without internet, Campfire is the more sensible pick on this front.

Sharing with readers: a store or a wiki?

Campfire runs its own ebook store and a free reading app: you can sell your book there, earning up to 80% royalties on digital sales (40% on sales below $2.99), and attach extras that readers unlock as they read, such as character profiles and maps. Every book that goes into the store is first reviewed against Campfire's content guidelines. If you're not ready to go public, you can also share a book through a free private link. If you want to sell your book, that's something yazar.io doesn't offer.

yazar.io doesn't sell books; it lets you publish your book's world as a Shareable Wiki. Your characters, locations and other sections become read-only pages at yazar.io/@your-username/book-address; you set the wiki to Private, Unlisted or Public and choose which sections and records appear. Your notes never go in, there's no review to wait for, and the wiki is free on every plan. The Author Card gathers your books with their store links, your social accounts and your wikis on one profile.

Unless you share it, other users can't see your work in either tool. In yazar.io, the content of your records is stored encrypted in the database with AES-256-GCM, and the keys that unlock it are kept separately, protected by Google Cloud KMS. Campfire also says its data is encrypted and stored on secure servers.

Free plans and pricing

Campfire's free plan isn't a time-limited trial and needs no credit card. Every module comes with a small allowance, such as a 25,000-word Manuscript, 10 characters, 5 locations and 2 maps, and those caps apply to your whole account rather than to each project. As of November 2026, Campfire's pricing page lists the Standard plan, which unlocks every module, at $12 a month, $99 a year or a one-time $336; you can also buy single modules, starting at $0.50 a month. Storage is unlimited on every account.

yazar.io's free Yazar plan has no time limit either: 2 books, 50 MB of image storage and, in every book, 15 records in each of the nine sections from Characters to Beliefs. The Glossary, Event Flow and Notes don't count toward that limit, and the Family Tree, Boards, Wiki, Author Card and export are included too. Yazar Pro makes books and records unlimited under a fair use policy, raises image storage to 2 GB, and unlocks the Calendar, the Timeline and Custom Sections. It's a monthly or yearly subscription with no lifetime option; you'll find the current price on the pricing page. In both tools, records over the free limits aren't deleted when a paid plan ends; they become read-only.

Which one should you choose?

Campfire is the better choice if you want to draft and plan in one app, build maps and a calendar of your own, write with a co-author, work offline or sell your book straight to readers. yazar.io fits better if you'd rather keep drafting in Word or Google Docs, want your characters and places in records that link themselves, and plan to open your world to readers as a free wiki. If you're thinking of leaving Campfire for another tool, our Campfire alternative page is worth a look too.