Best Royal Road alternatives for readers and writers
Royal Road is a popular website for reading and writing novels online. It's a good place to find fantasy and Literary Role-Playing Game (LitRPG) books. However, there are drawbacks, with some people not liking the ranking system. There are many great alternatives to Royal Road worth considering.
1. Fictra - Best for human-written content
Fictra is a new website which focuses on human-written fiction. It doesn't allow AI stories to be published there. Fictra has a fast-growing collection of stories from a range of genres such as crime, dystopian tech and psychological thrillers.
Fictra is also the best place to discover unique collaborative crime worlds told through realistic found documents. Readers are challenged to uncover the truth piece by piece.
Another benefit of Fictra is the team behind it organises competitions for authors and winners have the opportunity to get cash prizes.
It's free to write on Fictra - create an account today.
2. Wattpad - Best for young adult fiction (YA) and romance
Another competitor to Royal Road is Wattpad, which is a website much less focused on fantasy and LitRPG. Wattpad has more of a diverse readership than Royal Road and feedback is generally less harsh. Wattpad is better if you want to read or write YA or romance novels.
3. Archive of Our Own (AO3) - Best for fan fiction
A good fan fiction alternative to Royal Road is Archive of Our Own (AO3). Unlike Royal Road, which is a private company, Archive of Our Own was established by the Organization for Transformative Works as a not-for-profit in 2009.
People who like fan fiction enjoy AO3 due to there being no ads, opaque algorithms or pushes towards monetisation. Advanced search features let readers find precisely what they are looking for.
4. Inkitt - Best for data-based discovery
Inkitt is a data-driven website for writers. Stories that perform well get published on Galatea, Inkitt's paid app. Compared to Royal Road, it has a much bigger emphasis on romance novels. Inkitt is also owned by a much bigger company which has raised millions in venture capital funding.
5. Tapas - Best for webcomics
If you are looking for a comics alternative to Royal Road, Tapas is a good bet. As well as comics, it also serves readers who like romance, fantasy, horror and action. Tapas lets writers earn money on the platform in return for taking a cut of advertising and readers' contributions.
Summary
There are lots of alternatives to using Royal Road. Fictra is free to use, doesn't feature any AI slop and is excellent for online crime fiction. Tapas is a good choice for fans of webcomics and Wattpad for fans of YA and romance.
Cover image: platform names shown in similar typefaces for illustration; these are not the companies' official logos.