Frequently Asked Questions
Short, direct answers about price, privacy, platforms, formats, and what the editorial assistant does and doesn't do. If your question is about a particular kind of writing, the pages for novelists, screenwriters, and copywriters go deeper.
Stela is a free desktop writing studio for Windows and macOS. It gives novelists, screenwriters, essayists, and copywriters a calm page, keeps every draft on their own computer, and exports finished work as PDF, Markdown, HTML, or plain text.
Nothing. Stela is free while it is in beta, with no subscription, no account, and no paywalled features.
Windows (64-bit) and macOS, with one macOS build that covers both Intel and Apple Silicon. There is no Linux, web, or mobile version yet.
Yes. Projects live on your computer and Stela never needs a connection to open, write, or export. Only the editorial assistant uses the internet, and only when you ask it something.
In a project folder on your own computer, as ordinary files you can back up, copy, or move. Nothing is uploaded to a server.
The app has no telemetry, no account, and no usage analytics, and nothing you write ever leaves your computer. This website uses Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages are read; it knows nothing about what you do in Stela.
Yes. Stela saves as you type and keeps earlier versions of every document, so you can read back or restore a passage you cut.
PDF, Markdown, HTML, and plain text for any document. Screenplays also export as Fountain and as a paginated PDF set in Courier Prime.
Yes. Import Markdown or plain-text files, open Fountain screenplays straight from disk, or paste from any editor.
Yes. Screenplay mode formats scene headings, action, character cues, parentheticals, dialogue, and transitions as you type, with Fountain import and export and a paginated PDF. It does not open Final Draft (.fdx) files.
It works on text you select, when you ask. It can tighten a sentence, suggest dialogue, or rewrite a paragraph in a different register, and you decide whether to accept the suggestion. It runs on an AI provider you choose with your own key (Gemini, OpenAI, or Anthropic), sends only the selected passage, and never edits text you did not select.
Yes. Installers are published on the project's GitHub Releases page. On Windows you may see an 'unknown publisher' warning the first time you open the installer, which is expected while the beta is unsigned.
Stela checks for new versions and installs them from a signed release feed. You can also download the latest installer from the download page at any time.
Still Curious?
Stela is free for Mac and Windows, installs in a minute, and asks for nothing from you.