Kindling is MIT licensed. The source code is public. Your data stays on your machine. This isn't a freemium pitch — it's a philosophy.
Writers invest months and years in their manuscripts. The tools they depend on shouldn't disappear behind a failed subscription model, a sunset announcement, or a pivot to AI. Kindling is MIT licensed — meaning anyone can inspect, modify, and redistribute the code. If the project ever stopped being maintained, the community could carry it forward. Your work is never locked in.
Kindling doesn't require an account. It doesn't phone home. It doesn't collect analytics. It doesn't upload your manuscripts. Your projects live as files on your hard drive — just like a Word document. Back them up however you want. Move them between computers with a USB drive. They're yours.
We plan to offer optional cloud sync as a paid feature in the future. It will always be optional — the core app will always work completely offline and for free.
Kindling is built by a solo developer who is also a fiction writer. Contributions are welcome — whether that's code, bug reports, feature requests, or just telling other writers about the project.