Sites like AO3: 10 places to read and post fanfic

What's happening with AO3

AO3 went down for maintenance on 29 October 2026. That evening the OTW, which runs AO3, said restoring the site would take around two weeks and could take up to four. Early on 30 October it said it had found evidence of a security incident. Its latest update, on 6 November, said its original estimate still held and the work was going well. Counting from 29 October, that points to roughly 12 to 26 November. AO3 may come back read-only, or with some features missing, at first.

What the OTW has said so far:

• No AO3 data has been deleted. Works, bookmarks and kudos are safe. It is also working to stop unposted drafts from being deleted during the outage.
• It can't yet rule out that the user database was copied. That database holds usernames, email addresses, IP addresses and hashed passwords. AO3 doesn't collect real names. If you used your AO3 password on any other site, change it there.
• There's no AO3 app and no mirror. The OTW warns that any website or person claiming they can get you into AO3 is lying. Several copy sites have reposted AO3 works without their authors' permission. Don't use them, and don't give them your login.

For live news, use the official channels: otwstatus.org, @AO3_Status on X, @status.archiveofourown.org on Bluesky and ao3org on Tumblr.

The 10 sites at a glance

The "Closest to AO3 for" labels are our judgement, not a ranking. Rules change, so read each site's rules before you post.

SquidgeWorld Archive: closest to AO3

Good at: feeling like home. SquidgeWorld is a fan-run, non-commercial archive run by Squidge.org, a US non-profit, on the same open-source code as AO3. Fandom, relationship, character and free-form tags, ratings, archive warnings and the sort-and-filter page all work as you'd expect. It takes fanfic of all kinds, including real-person fic, plus fanart, meta, vids and podfic. Downloads come in AZW3, EPUB, MOBI, PDF and HTML when the servers aren't too busy.

Not so good: it's small, and it's under strain. It took more than 12,000 new users in less than 24 hours after AO3 went down. Accounts are invite-only, and on 10 November there were hundreds of people on the waiting list. Many works are visible only when you're logged in. Downloads and guest comments get switched off when the servers are busy, and there's a weekly maintenance window on Sundays. AI-written works are not allowed. AI images are.

Price: free and ad-free, funded by donations.

FanFiction.net: the biggest back catalogue

Good at: having almost everything. FanFiction.net has run since 1998, and its filters cover rating, language, genre, length, status and up to four characters, with options to exclude some of them. Sign-ups are open.

Not so good: no adult-rated fic. The highest rating it accepts is M. Real-person fic isn't allowed either, and a few authors' works are off-limits at the authors' request. There are no free-form or relationship tags like AO3's. The apps haven't been updated since 2024.

Price: free, with ads.

Wattpad: best for reading on your phone

Good at: reach and apps. Wattpad is a huge reading-and-writing platform with a fanfiction section and hashtag filters, and it has polished iOS and Android apps.

Not so good: its rules were rewritten on 10 August 2026. Mature (17+) stories can include intimate scenes between adults if they serve the story, but works written mainly to arouse are banned, and fans called the clean-up the "2026 Wattpad Purge". There are no fandom, relationship or warning tags like AO3's, and no way to exclude tags. Offline reading of many stories needs Premium.

Price: free with ads. Premium starts at $4.99 a month on the web ($5.99 in the iPhone app).

Tumblr: where fandom is talking

Good at: being where people already are. Writers are posting new chapters as blog posts, fandom events have sprung up, and the AO3 team posts its own updates there. Tag filtering can hide up to 1,000 tags from your dashboard.

Not so good: it's a blog, not an archive. Fic is scattered across posts and reblogs, with no work pages, ratings or chapter structure. Written mature fic needs a Mature content label and is hidden from users under 18, and adult images aren't allowed. Backups export as a ZIP of HTML posts, with no EPUB.

Price: free with ads. Optional Tumblr Premium is $6.99 a month in the iPhone app.

Dreamwidth: best for journals, communities and fests

Good at: being ad-free and fannish. Dreamwidth is a journaling and community site built from the old LiveJournal code. Fests and prompt challenges are running there during the outage. Posts can be rated for adults, and users under 18 can't open those posts. It has said it won't sell or license user content for AI training.

Not so good: you won't find AO3-style site-wide search by fandom, rating or tag. There's no app, and exports come as XML or CSV, not EPUB.

Price: free and ad-free. Paid accounts add features; we couldn't confirm current prices.

Spacebattles: best for long, ongoing stories

Good at: serials and quests with an active comment section. Spacebattles is a large forum whose Creative Writing library lets you include or exclude setting, genre and warning tags and filter by word count and status. It has put up a welcome banner for AO3 readers.

Not so good: no adult scenes. Its rules stop at a fade to black. It's a forum, so no AO3-style relationship or character tags, and no app.

AI rule: Spacebattles has no rule against AI-assisted writing. It strongly advises authors to tag AI-assisted work, but doesn't require it.

Price: free, with ads.

Sufficient Velocity: best for long stories and quests

Good at: much the same as Spacebattles, with the same kind of story library and tag filters. Mature content such as intimate scenes is allowed if it's handled maturely and tagged with the Mature prefix. It had more than 11,000 guests online on 10 November.

Not so good: writing whose main purpose is arousal isn't allowed. There's no written AI policy, only voluntary AI tags, and no app.

Price: free, with ads.

Questionable Questing: forum fic with adult sections

Good at: adult fic in a forum setting. Questionable Questing has creative-writing and quest sections, and adult writing lives in separate sections that logged-out visitors don't see. Its admins say it has no rule against AI tools, though disclosing AI use is seen as polite.

Not so good: free-form tags only, no story library like Spacebattles' or Sufficient Velocity's, and no app. The sign-up form rejects some common names and Microsoft email addresses as spam.

Price: free.

Royal Road: web serials with an app

Good at: serials, with apps on iOS and Android. It takes fanfic if you tag it as fanfiction and credit the original. Advanced search lets you include or exclude genres, tags and content warnings.

Not so good: it's built around original web novels such as LitRPG and progression fantasy, so fandom browsing is thin. Adult content has to stay minimal and carry a warning. AI-written stories must be tagged "AI-Generated". Offline reading is a paid feature.

Price: free with ads. Premium is $3.49 a month.

Inkitt: tagged fandom shelves and apps

Good at: fandom shelves for the big franchises, tagged by fandom, characters, relationships, tropes and warnings, according to Inkitt. Ratings go up to an adults-only tier. Reading and posting are free.

Not so good: it's a commercial platform that picks stories for its paid Galatea app, and it is marketing itself hard to AO3 readers as the best alternative. Its terms say every work must be your own original work, and it doesn't explain how that applies to fanfic. It allows AI-generated works and sells its own AI tools, which matters if you'd rather avoid AI fic.

Price: free.

How to choose

• You want AO3's tags and filters. SquidgeWorld. Join the invite queue now.
• You want the biggest library, open today. FanFiction.net, then Wattpad.
• You read adult-rated fic. SquidgeWorld, Dreamwidth, Questionable Questing's adult sections and Inkitt allow it. FanFiction.net and Spacebattles don't. Wattpad and Royal Road set limits.
• You'd rather avoid AI-written fic. SquidgeWorld bans it. Royal Road requires a tag, so you can filter it out. Spacebattles and Sufficient Velocity have AI warning tags in their libraries.
• You read on your phone. Wattpad, FanFiction.net, Tumblr, Royal Road and Inkitt have apps. AO3 doesn't have one.
• You're a writer with a work in progress. Many writers are posting new chapters on Tumblr, Dreamwidth or the forums, and will cross-post to AO3 when it's back.

Keep your own copies

When AO3 is back, download the fics you'd hate to lose. Every work page offers AZW3, EPUB, MOBI, PDF and HTML. If you write, keep your drafts somewhere other than AO3's draft box. And if a site offers you AO3 works during the outage, remember that the authors didn't agree to it.

Want to write your own instead?

This is a different thing from an archive, and it's ours. DreamPress is an AI story app. You describe the story you want, such as an alternate universe, a fix-it, a missing scene or a reader-insert, and the AI writes it with you chapter by chapter. Characters keep their personalities and history across chapters, and you can add pictures and listen to each chapter read aloud.

It won't give you anyone else's fic, and it isn't a place to post your hand-written work for fandom. Stories written with AI aren't welcome on some archives (SquidgeWorld bans them) and must be tagged on others (Royal Road), so check before you share one. DreamPress is free to start with 15 credits a day once you verify your email. Read how the AI fanfic generator works.