WriteIDE or Clifford: your computer or your browser
Both track a LitRPG character’s stats chapter by chapter. They differ in where your book lives and who reads the numbers out of it.
Choose Clifford for a tracker in your browser that can read the chapters you have already written. Choose WriteIDE for a free desktop app that keeps your book on your computer, with no account, and records each change at the scene where it happens.
Choose Clifford if
You want the tracker filled in for you, in a browser.
- You want to paste a chapter, or import a book, and have its stats, skills and items read out for you.
- You want a chapter scan without AI: the $4 plan reads chapters with its own parser, and you rule on each find.
- You want a browser app you can open on any computer, with a free plan to start.
- A snapshot per chapter suits the way your system changes.
Choose WriteIDE if
You want the book on your own computer, and every feature free.
- You want your manuscript in local files on your own computer, with no account.
- You write from outside the United States. Clifford’s terms say it “is offered only to users located in the United States.”
- You want each change recorded at its scene, so two fights in one chapter stay two changes.
- You publish with EPUB, Copy for Royal Road or a Reader Codex.
WriteIDE and Clifford, side by side
| WriteIDE 0.7.8 | Clifford | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on | A desktop app for Mac with Apple silicon, Windows and Linux. | Your web browser, at writeclifford.com. |
| Cost | Free, with every feature. | A free plan. $4 a month adds series and a chapter scan by its own parser; $10 a month adds the Claude features and book import. |
| Where your book is kept | On your computer, in local files and a local database. | Online, with Clifford. It names Railway, Neon and Cloudflare R2 for hosting, its database and backups. |
| Account | None. | Yes. Its terms say “Clifford is offered only to users located in the United States” and “You must be at least 18 years old to use Clifford.” |
| How changes get in | You record each change at the scene where it happens: a slash command as you write, or Record a change. | You enter stats yourself, or have a chapter read: by its own parser on the $4 plan, or by Claude on Pro. |
| Stats at any point | Stats, items, skills and quests read as of any scene, and a stat block in a chapter reads from its own scene. | A snapshot of each character’s stats for each chapter. Skills and items carry the chapter they were gained or lost. |
| Import | Word, Markdown or text, reviewed before anything is made. It does not turn a book’s stat boxes into tracked changes. A CSV or Excel sheet can start a tracker. | Paste a chapter, or import a whole book on Pro, which sends the book to Claude to catalogue it. |
| Export | Word, PDF, EPUB, Markdown, HTML and BBCode, Copy for Royal Road, and a Reader Codex for your readers. | PDF, Word, Markdown and JSON, on the free plan. |
A snapshot per chapter, or a change per scene
Clifford keeps a snapshot of each character’s stats for each chapter. Its own page gives the reason: stats change on their own schedule, and a snapshot captures that without making you record every change as an event.
WriteIDE records each change at the scene where it happens and works out any scene’s sheet from the changes before it. Two fights in one chapter stay two changes, and when you move a scene, every later sheet follows. A snapshot is quicker to keep. A change per scene pays back when a long book gets revised.
A sheet as of any scene
Where each value was last set, as of this scene
- Realm
- Foundation Establishment Ch 4, Foundation
- Qi
- 760 Ch 4, Foundation
- Purity
- 82% Ch 4, Foundation
- Dao
- 22% Ch 4, Foundation
Sources
I make WriteIDE, so this page states only what Clifford says on its own pages, and links each one. No affiliate links.