Novel November vs Reedsy Novel Sprint vs Your Own Way: Which November Challenge Fits You?
Since NaNoWriMo closed in 2025, three organized alternatives share the month of November: Novel November (ProWritingAid, free, English, AI tolerated), the Reedsy Novel Sprint (free, inside Reedsy Studio only, AI banned, with a contest attached) and the Sagoræ challenge (50,000 words tracked in the workshop's statistics, coaches that read without ever writing). The right choice comes down to three questions: do you want live workshops, will you write in a required tool, and where do you stand on AI during a first draft? Here is the comparison, with no ranking, then a fourth option for people the competition format shuts down.
The three challenges in one table
Every fact below comes from the official pages, checked on September 23, 2026.
| Novel November | Reedsy Novel Sprint | Sagoræ challenge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organizer | ProWritingAid (Orpheus Technology, UK) | Reedsy (UK) | Sagoræ (France) |
| 2026 dates | Preptober from October 1; writing November 1 to 30; editing in December | November 1, 00:00 to November 30, 11:59 PM EST | November |
| Goal | 50,000 words | 50,000 words written inside Reedsy Studio | 50,000 words (or your own target) on the novel of your choice |
| Cost | Free (free ProWritingAid account required) | Free (free Reedsy Studio account required) | Free trial with no card, then a subscription |
| Required tool | None: word count synced from Word, Scrivener, Google Docs, or logged by hand | Reedsy Studio, no pasting from another app | The Sagoræ workshop |
| Language | English-only interface and workshops | Challenge in any language; contest in English only | French and English |
| AI | Not banned (the tool itself offers AI features) | Banned for generating text, disqualification | Coaches that read and question, no prose generation |
| Community | Daily sprints, forums, more than 150 live workshops announced | Dedicated online community, live events in October and November | Your own network (groups, social media) |
| Reward | Badges, editing resources in December | 3 months of premium add-ons at 50,000 words; contest: $5,000, $2,500 and $1,000 plus a literary agent meeting | Your progress in your statistics |
Novel November: who is it for?
The writer who wants the feel of the old NaNoWriMo: a central counter, a crowd (100,000 participants claimed), workshops with authors, sprints every day. ProWritingAid took over the historical calendar, Preptober included, and documented it cleanly: registration is free and the challenge does not depend on the paid plan.
Two limits to know about. The first is language: ProWritingAid is only available in English, workshops included. You can count a novel written in another language there; you will not find feedback or a grammar checker for it. The second is the stance on AI: the tool includes rephrasing and partial generation features, and the challenge does not ban them. That is not a verdict, it is information: if you want a challenge where the rule "no generated words" is written in black and white, this is not the one.
Reedsy Novel Sprint: who is it for?
The writer who needs an outside stake. The Sprint is the only one of the three with cash prizes and an agent introduction, and its rule is the strictest: the 50,000 words must be typed inside Reedsy Studio, no pasting, no AI, or you are disqualified. Reedsy checks what NaNoWriMo had stopped checking after 2019: that the words were actually written.
The price is the required tool. Reedsy Studio is free in its core version (editor, one goal, ePub and PDF export), with two paid add-ons, Craft at $4.99 a month and Outlining at $7.99 a month as of September 23, 2026; anyone who reaches 50,000 words gets them for three months. It only works online and has no mobile app. If you already write somewhere else, November also becomes a migration month. The challenge accepts any language, but the final contest only reads English.
The Sagoræ challenge: who is it for?
The writer who wants the challenge to measure a novel, not just a number, and who wants an opinion during the month without anyone writing in their place. The principle is simple: you set a 50,000 word target on your novel and a daily goal, and you follow your words per day, your streak, your progress chart and the percentage reached in the statistics. Dédale checks that your structure keeps up with your counter, the Archivist keeps your facts consistent, Théo answers when a scene is not working. None of the coaches writes a sentence of the manuscript. The rules are on the Sagoræ November challenge page.
Its limits: no contest, no centralized crowd, and a paid workshop after the trial. The challenge is compatible with the other two: you can register for Novel November for the workshops, or keep your own Discord group, and write in Sagoræ. The only impossible combination is with the Reedsy Sprint, which requires the words to be typed in Studio.
The AI question: why Reedsy bans it and ProWritingAid tolerates it
Both positions are consistent with what the two companies sell. Reedsy is a marketplace of professionals (editors, proofreaders) and an app with no AI that promises never to train a model on manuscripts: banning AI in its contest protects the value of what it judges. ProWritingAid sells an AI-based checker and manuscript analyses: banning AI would mean banning its own product.
Between the two sits the distinction that actually matters: an AI that writes in your place, and an AI that reads what you wrote and hands you back a question. The first empties the challenge of its meaning. The second is a beta reader available at 6:40 in the morning. That is the line Sagoræ draws, and it is the line NaNoWriMo failed to draw in 2024, when its statement on AI hastened its fall (timeline in why NaNoWriMo shut down). If the question nags at you for your own novel, it is treated in full in is using AI to write a novel cheating.
The fourth option: your own way
Some writers do not write better under competition. The public counter, the implicit ranking, the streak on display: for them it is pressure without energy. If that sounds like you, the November challenge works fine without any registration:
- a target you choose (30,000 words is a real short novel begun, 20,000 is a long short story finished);
- a 30-day plan with zero days built in;
- one counter you look at, your own, in the tool where you already write;
- one person you send your number to on Sunday evening.
The full method (October prep, wave pacing, classic breakdowns, December 1) is in the complete guide to the November challenge and depends on no organizer.
Which challenge for you? A five-question grid
| If you say yes to… | Then |
|---|---|
| I need live workshops and a crowd | Novel November |
| I need a prize and a jury to keep going | Reedsy Novel Sprint |
| I want feedback during the month, in English or French | Sagoræ challenge, alone or with Novel November for the atmosphere |
| I want the rule "no generated words" in black and white | Reedsy Novel Sprint, or Sagoræ for the coached version |
| Competition shuts me down | Your own way, with the method and no registration |
Frequently asked questions
What is the best NaNoWriMo alternative in 2026? There is no single one. Novel November (ProWritingAid) revives the free historical format in English; the Reedsy Novel Sprint adds a contest and bans AI; the Sagoræ challenge tracks the novel inside the workshop with coaches that do not write. The method also works with no organizer at all.
Can I join several challenges at once? Yes, except with the Reedsy Sprint, which requires the 50,000 words to be typed inside Reedsy Studio. Novel November and the Sagoræ challenge combine without trouble.
Is Novel November free? Yes, according to the official page checked on September 23, 2026: registration needs a free ProWritingAid account and the challenge does not require the paid plan.
Can I write in a language other than English in the Reedsy Novel Sprint? Yes for the challenge and the three months of premium add-ons; no for the contest, which only accepts entries written in English or translated into English.
If you want to measure your November challenge in a workshop where nobody writes in your place, Sagoræ offers a free trial, no card required.
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