NovelBy is a digital fiction platform for Indonesian independent authors and readers, positioned around “freedom to write, earnings worldwide.” Authors can publish serialized novels while retaining 100% of their copyright and without signing exclusive contracts. Readers use Ink Points to unlock paid chapters or send tips. It is closer to a creator-economy platform than a traditional enterprise SaaS product.
The platform’s core modules include online novel publishing, paid chapters, tipping, author wallets, withdrawals, rankings, genre browsing, and customizable reader settings. Before purchasing, readers can see the word count of each chapter, reducing the uncertainty of paying only to find that the content is too short. On the reading side, users can adjust font, font size, background, and light/dark mode. For authors, NovelBy emphasizes transaction transparency: wallet records show income and fee details. It also provides basic copyright-protection features such as copy-paste prevention, screenshot prevention, originality declarations, and infringement reporting.
NovelBy does not offer subscription plans; instead, it uses a transaction commission model. Ink Points are fixed at 1 IP = Rp 1. After a paid chapter is unlocked or a tip is sent, the author receives 80% net royalties, while the platform takes 20%. The text also explains the approximate use of the platform’s 20% share, including payment gateways, cloud infrastructure, security, and development/maintenance. The minimum author withdrawal is Rp50,000, with a Rp5,500 fee per withdrawal. Manual review takes 1 to 3 business days.
Payments are handled through Lynk.id, supporting QRIS, virtual accounts, and Indonesian local e-wallets such as GoPay, OVO, Dana, and LinkAja. The infrastructure mentions Supabase, Vercel, and CDN, indicating that it is a cloud-hosted service. The privacy policy states that SSL encryption is used to protect passwords, email addresses, and reading history, and that user data is not sold for advertising. However, the terms of service also state that the platform is provided “as is” and does not guarantee uninterrupted operation or complete freedom from security vulnerabilities.
The main advantage is its author-friendly rights model: no exclusivity, clear revenue sharing, a low withdrawal threshold, and the freedom to move works elsewhere. The drawbacks are that the platform still appears to be at an early stage; scraped text suggests a limited number of works, the rating/review system is still developing, and it lacks SaaS-style capabilities such as team permissions, APIs, SLAs, and enterprise support. It is best suited to Indonesian web fiction authors, creators who already have an audience but do not want to build their own payment system, and readers who want to support independent writers.
Access from mainland China cannot be determined from the available text, and the payment methods are mainly designed for Indonesian users, so topping up or withdrawing funds may be inconvenient for domestic Chinese users. Comparable alternatives include Wattpad, Webnovel, KaryaKarsa, Storial, Medium, Patreon, as well as platforms in the Chinese web fiction ecosystem such as Qidian.
⚠ This review is compiled from public sources and does not constitute a purchase recommendation. Verify all facts on the vendor's official site. Verify on novelby.com official site.
novelby.com is an Indonesia SaaS Tools provider. TG4G tracks its product information, an overall rating of 6.0/10, and a China-accessibility score of Workable. Click "Visit Official Site" to reach novelby.com directly.