ChatMapper vs Inform 7
ChatMapper
chatmapper.comInform 7
ganelson.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | ChatMapper | Inform 7 |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $19/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 9 | 1 |
| Spec score · Game Narrative Design Software | 9.4 (#2) | 8.1 (#8) |
| Founded | LinkedIn lists ChatMapper's founding year as 2012. | 2006 |
| Integrations | The site lists OpenAI, Anthropic, ElevenLabs, HeyGen, and Synthesia as supported provider integrations using customers’ own keys. | The compiler can generate C code for use as part of a larger program, with Unity given as an example framework. |
| Support | The Enterprise plan lists onboarding, an SLA, and commercial support; the Team plan lists priority support. | The project directs users seeking advice to the Interactive Fiction Community Forum. |
Plans
ChatMapper
- Desktop PersonalFree
- FreeFree
- Creator$19 a month
- Creator$19 a month
- Desktop Commercial$35 a month
- Team$79 a month
- Team$79 a month
- Desktop Team$110 a month
- Enterprise & OEMPriced on request
In their own words
ChatMapper
ChatMapper is a browser-based workspace for designing, simulating, validating, and delivering branching conversations. Its visual graph handles dialogue, choices, actors, variables, conditions, scripts, media, and links across conversations. The simulator runs Lua logic and checks for broken links, dead ends, and undefined variables. An AI collaborator can suggest structured edits for review, with accepted changes saved as revisions. ChatMapper imports.cmp, XML, Arcweave, Twine, articy:draft, and CSV, and exports JSON, Unity XML, SCORM, xAPI, Yarn, HTML, and LearnBrite. Its canonical JSON can be used with Unreal, Godot, and custom engines; the maker also describes Unity and Yarn exports. Use cases include games, interactive stories, learning, immersive experiences, and AI character roleplay. The free plan allows one editor, three projects, and 300 nodes per project, with core exports and commercial use permitted. Paid plans start at $19 a month, billed annually. ChatMapper Cloud supports current Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari; the separate offline Desktop 1.9.1 app is Windows-only.
Inform 7
Inform 7 is a programming language for making interactive fiction with natural-language syntax. Its stated uses include literary writing, games-industry prototyping, and teaching at school or university. The compiler turns natural-language source text into Inter code or Inform 6 source code, and can also generate C code for use within a larger program; Unity is given as an example framework. Authors can add supplementary source-text extensions, with optional extensions included in the standard installation. A public library offers user-contributed extensions under a Creative Commons Attribution licence. Documentation consists of two connected books, Writing with Inform and The Inform Recipe Book, containing nearly 500 examples. Inform was open-sourced in April 2022; modern releases include source code and ready-compiled apps. Apps are linked for macOS, Windows, and Linux, and the project page also states that Android apps are available. The software is free, listed at free. Modern app versions support language versions 9.1, 9.2, and 9.3 for individual projects, but no earlier versions.