Writing is free. You pay only when the AI helps.
Calliope is a writing app first. The editor, your manuscript, your structure, your map of characters and places — all of it works with no AI and no payment. When you want AI assistance, you buy a small pack of credits and spend it as you go. No subscription is ever required to write.
The app is fully useful with no AI at all
Open the editor and start writing — no signup, no card, no wall. Everything that makes Calliope a calm place to write a long book is free: the editor and paper themes, your document structure, word and page-count estimates, goals, your Map of characters and places, notes, and finding duplicate facts. AI is the optional ceiling on top of that free floor — research, chat, consistency checks, synopsis drafts, entity detection. That is the only part that is metered. And one promise holds across all of it: Calliope augments; it never writes your prose.
Two ways to power the AI
Most writers only ever need credits. The subscription is for people who want to drive Calliope from their own AI client.
Credits
Pay as you go. No subscription.
- ·Credits power every AI action — chat with web search, consistency checks, synopsis drafts, character and place detection.
- ·Runs on Calliope's built-in, canon-grounded AI. Nothing to configure.
- ·One-time top-ups, no auto-renew. Buy more only when you want to.
- ·Metered at real usage — no per-token surprises to decode.
New here? Anonymous visitors get a tiny free grant — enough for a couple of AI calls to try it. Those credits follow you when you sign in.
MCP subscription
Connect your own AI client and let it work on your manuscript.
- ·Write access over MCP. Connect Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other AI clients to your manuscript and let them write annotations, structure, and your Map. Without a subscription, MCP is read-only.
- ·A €10/month AI allowance that works across the web app and MCP — spent before your prepaid credits, reset every 30 days.
- ·It never writes your prose. There is no prose-write tool over MCP, by design — the author's hand stays on the body.
Connecting a client and reading your manuscript is always free — no subscription needed.
One balance, spent the same way everywhere: if you subscribe, your monthly allowance is used first, then prepaid credits — across both the web app and MCP, so there is nothing to juggle.
Prices are shown excluding tax. Payments are handled by Stripe as merchant of record (Stripe Managed Payments), which calculates and adds any applicable VAT at checkout based on your location. You receive an invoice for every purchase.
Pricing questions
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Do I need a subscription to use Calliope? +
- No. Writing is free and needs no account, and AI assistance runs on one-time credit packs. The subscription is an optional add-on for connecting your own AI client over MCP — most writers never need it.
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What does the subscription actually add? +
- Two things. First, it unlocks write access over MCP, so a connected AI client (Claude Desktop, Cursor…) can edit your structure, annotations, and Map — never your prose. Without it, MCP is read-only. Second, it includes a €10/month Calliope AI allowance that works in the web app and over MCP, spent before your prepaid credits and reset every 30 days.
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Is connecting my own AI free? +
- Connecting a client and reading your manuscript is free — no subscription required. Writing back to your manuscript over MCP needs the subscription. Any AI run over MCP draws on your normal Calliope balance (allowance first, then credits), the same as the web app.
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What happens when I run out of credits? +
- The AI features pause with a calm “out of credits” notice — nothing breaks and nothing is lost. The whole editor, your Map, structure, counts, and notes keep working. Top up a pack whenever you want; there is no auto-renew on credits.
Try it before you pay
Open the editor and start writing — you only spend when you ask the AI to help.
Start for free