World Anvil alternatives for DMs in 2026
Most lists of World Anvil alternatives are written for novelists, and most are written by one of the alternatives. This one is too, so my app goes last. DMs tend to leave for one of two reasons, and knowing which one is yours narrows the list fast.
By Peter Neale, a DM who builds SCRY. Updated 20 October 2026.
Two reasons DMs leave
The first is weight. World Anvil can do almost anything, and getting it to do the one thing you want means templates, BBCode and a lot of settings pages. You still want a worldbuilding wiki, just a lighter one.
The second takes longer to notice. You built the world, the campaign started, and the wiki stopped matching what happened at the table. The party burned down the temple you wrote three articles about. Your players never opened the world page you shared with them. What's missing is a record of the campaign as it's played, and a lighter worldbuilding tool won't give you that.
If the weight is your problem, the next four are for you. If it's the second one, skip to the end.
LegendKeeper
The closest thing to World Anvil with the weight taken off. Wiki pages, maps and timelines in the browser, with an editor that feels like a modern notes app. It's paid, though. Pro is $9 a month or $90 a year after a 14-day trial, and the free plan only lets you view and export what you've made.
Good for: DMs who like the idea of World Anvil and not the editor.
Kanka
The best free option if you want a campaign wiki that won't cap you halfway through. The free plan has unlimited campaigns and entries, and the entry types, from characters to quests, come ready-made and linked to each other. It looks busier than LegendKeeper and you'll spend some time in settings. Paid plans start at $4.99 a month and mostly add storage and customisation.
Good for: DMs who want structure without paying for it.
Obsidian
Free, offline and yours, because every page is a markdown file on your own computer. Nothing is set up for you, which is exactly why some DMs love it and others quit in the first month. If you go this way, build it slowly. I wrote up how to set up Obsidian for D&D in stages so it doesn't turn into a weekend project.
Good for: DMs who want to own their files and enjoy tinkering.
Notion
Pages and databases you arrange yourself. One table for NPCs and another for quests covers a lot of campaigns, and it's at its best when you already use Notion for work. It wasn't built for games, so maps and keeping secrets from players are up to you.
Good for: DMs who already live in Notion.
Campfire, briefly
It turns up on every list and it's a good tool, but it's built for novelists, with modules for manuscripts, languages and magic systems. Unless you're writing fiction set in your world, a campaign won't use most of it.
SCRY, for the second reason
This one's mine, and it's for the DM whose world is fine but whose campaign notes have fallen behind. SCRY records your game on Discord and writes the session recap and a campaign wiki from what was said, with every entry showing the line it came from. When the party burns down the temple, the wiki knows. Your players get their own version with only what's been revealed, built from what they actually did at the table.
The two work fine side by side, with the setting in World Anvil and the sessions in SCRY. There's a side-by-side comparison with World Anvil if you're weighing the two. SCRY needs your game to run over Discord voice.
Staying put is fine too
If you're publishing a setting, selling a module or your players love reading lore between games, World Anvil is still the most complete tool for that. A lighter wiki only helps if the weight was the problem.
Prices were checked on each product's own site in October 2026.