novelWriter vs Rune
novelWriter and Rune are both code editors software. NovelWriter is open source under GPL-3.0, with 3.2k GitHub stars. Rune is open source under GPL-3.0, with 1.5k GitHub stars.
Which to pick
- Pick novelWriter when
- You are writing a long work of fiction and want a free, offline alternative to Scrivener that keeps everything in plain text files.
- Pick Rune when
- You want one native app for editing and terminals that works with coding agents and lets you reach your workstation from a laptop.
Side by side
A plain text editor for writing novels as many small documents, with Markdown-like formatting, notes, cross-references and manuscript export.
A GPU-accelerated native IDE and terminal multiplexer written in Go, with language intelligence, plugins, a built-in agent and encrypted peer-to-peer access between your machines.
It is maintained mostly by one developer and has no mobile or cloud sync of its own.
Under three months old, GPL-3.0, and the install is a curl-to-shell script that keeps itself updated.
Usable
Experimental
Desktop app (both)
Python and Qt6
Go and Starlark
Open source, GPL-3.0 (strong copyleft) (both)
Use inside your business is unrestricted, but anything you distribute that includes it must be released under the same license. (both)
3.2k GitHub stars
1.5k GitHub stars
Established: started 8 years ago, latest release v26.2.2.
New: started 1 month ago, latest release v1.3.4.
Other comparisons
More code editors
Both sides were judged on 2026-11-06 from each project's README and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.