Compare Worldbuilding Software
The one that best fits your storytelling needs—now & for years to come. Compare World Anvil with Kanka, LegendKeeper, and Campfire. See why World Anvil is home to creators who want to build rich settings, stay organized, and beautifully showcase their worlds.
Should you use World Anvil?
You never know where imagination might lead. So why choose a worldbuilding tool that only does half of what World Anvil can? Get a software that fully supports gamemasters, novelists, game developers, and more.
For the campaign that keeps growing
Bring your session prep, your player discoveries, your shared lore and your future adventures into one creative home. Get inspired by expertly crafted templates. See why pro GMs & published ttRPG writers use World Anvil.
Compare with KankaFor a dynamic world with deep lore
Connect your world’s map to timelines, family trees, characters and more. Dive into our library of customizable stat blocks & character sheets for 100+ TTRPGs. Oh — and World Anvil’s forever free plan won’t end in 7 days.
Compare with LegendKeeperFor stories too big for just one book
Track world details for a series (or multiple series). Plot, draft & share your stories with Manuscripts. Turn your world bible into bonus content for your readers and let fans explore beyond the page.
Compare with CampfireWorldbuilding Tools Comparison
Comparing worldbuilding tools isn’t as simple as it seems. Different tools may use the same name for very different features. For example, Campfire & LegendKeeper have white board and flowchart tools which you can use to draw charts that show connections.
But on World Anvil, family trees and other charts like diplomacy webs and taxonomy trees use contextual data from character, organization, and other templates to build complex visualizations for you. Define the relationships, and it creates the chart automatically.
This comparison only includes stable, reputable software with dedicated support. Worldbuilding is a labor of love that involves years of work. Don’t trust it to an app someone vibe-coded on cheap hosting, then started advertising as a side hustle.
And generic knowledgebase apps like Notion, Obsidian and OneNote require hours of set-up and customization that real worldbuilding software offers out-of-the-box.
| Features | World Anvil | Campfire | LegendKeeper | Kanka |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everything you need to run your RPG campaign & write novels | Fiction support but no tabletop RPG Features. Limited worldbuilding features. | Basic worldbuilding & GM support. Not for authors. Limited privacy & display options. | A basic worldbuilding tool with a few RPG features. | |
| Worldbuilding Essentials | ||||
| Wiki-style linked articles | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Interactive maps (pins/layers) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fantasy calendars | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Page-level privacy control | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free-form flowcharts / whiteboards | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Forever free option | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Customizable templates | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Real-time collaboration | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Dynamic timelines | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| One-time purchase option | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Family trees (automatic) | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Content trees / taxonomy charts (automatic) | Yes | No | No | No |
| Diplomacy webs (automatic) | Yes | No | No | No |
| Game Master Tools | ||||
| Virtual DM screen | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Session chat & notes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Character sheets & journals | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Customizable roll tables | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Support for 100+ TTRPGs | Yes | No | No | No |
| Customizable stat block library | Yes | No | No | No |
| Novel Writing Software | ||||
| Manuscript editor | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Publishing platform | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Integrated world bible | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Co-author support | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Beta reader & ARC support | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Monetization options | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Professional Tools | ||||
| White Labeling | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Visual Themes & Custom CSS | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Patreon/subscriber exclusive content | Yes | No | No | No |
| Design & publish custom statblocks & SRDs | Yes | No | No | No |
| Advanced privacy settings | Yes | No | No | No |
| Subscriber groups, comments (optional) & discussion boards | Yes | No | No | No |
| Professional seminars & support | Yes | No | No | No |
It’s your creative home. Choose wisely.
See the complex relationships between your characters, places & events with charts you can explore, linked to articles & maps.
Don’t limit yourself! Let your worldbuilding evolve into a novel, tabletop RPG campaign, or something else entirely as your ideas develop.
Professionally-designed themes make your world something you’re proud to show off. Let your audience explore freely, with tools that control what you reveal.
The World Anvil advantage
A worldbuilding software should earn its place in your creative life. World Anvil does that by supporting your work with professional-grade tools. That’s why NYT Bestselling authors, pro gamemasters, and game studios trust it to help craft rich, fascinating worlds.
Choose World Anvil for a full creative toolkit, ready to grow with you. Explore the comparisons to see how its worldbuilding, writing, and campaign tools support the projects you want to bring to life.
Built with love, by geeks like you
Explore the changelog to see our newest features and most recent improvements to the everyday experience of creating. We forge the path others follow.
Use community suggestions to share the changes you want to see and support ideas from other creators. Your experience helps shape what comes next.
Create a free account and start with a small project. Explore memberships when you need more capacity, privacy, or advanced tools. Choose the tools that serve your next step.
Kickstart your creativity
Explore our worldbuilding software, prepare your next adventure with the RPG campaign manager, or compare worldbuilding tools.
Start with the part of your world you can’t wait to create. Give it shape, see what it sparks, and flow effortlessly into the next idea.
Every great world starts somewhere
Dive deeper and learn about how World Anvil can help you!
