AO3 Alternatives.
Other Fanfic Sites Masterpost.
First off: AO3 ISNโT some monopoly, be-all-end-all of fanfic sites and none of us should act like it is or that it should be.
Its code is Open Source, so, no, these arenโt โcopiesโ nor โrip-offs.โ
This isnโt about โao3 being icky,โ platforming material that glorifies, normalizes, sexualizes, and romantacizes abuse and rape especially of children, no matter their *realness,* is a problem. Some of us have values.
*
Why not ao3?
For a site that โprotects its users,โ it doesnโt do much of anything about harassment, bots/spam, nor AI scraping and plagiarism/theft.
It *warned* a volunteer over standing with a being-genocided population in their social media profile bio. Proof. Proof.
It allows csem material just because the US laws arenโt up to date with written material (nor AI, for that matter). It allows Real Person Fiction of nonfictional children. Proof. Proof.
Account. Account. Account. Account. (Tumblrโs search function is broken. You get it; you have net access.)
Mod supported people who want to sexually harm children.
*This user put it all together too.
Itโs how old with how much money, and itโs still in beta with a filtering system that doesnโt work! (Theyโre not even using the moneyโmore than one million USDโto donate to any queer or anti-censorship causes (yknow, like the laws happening in US rn, and the user base is obviously very queer).)
*
Shout out to everyone whoโs helping me discover these other sites.
Alternatives:
Squidge World Archive
Sunset (18+)
Superlove (16+)
Inky (beta)
*
How to Choose
Allows AI scraping and content?
SQW? โ[Both] expressly prohibited.โ
Sunset? Content not allowed.
Superlove? Content not allowed.
Inky? Protection against bot spam. (โStricter focus on creator safety.โ)
Allows written scem content?
SQW? Yes.
Sunset? No.
Superlove? No.
Inky? No.
Accessible (Dark Mode)?
SQW? Not without an account.
Sunset? Not without an account (assumably).
Superlove? Not without an account.
Inky? No dark mode.
Discrimination/harassment?
SQW? โDonโt be a dickโ rule.
Sunset? No.
Superlove? Immediate ban.
Inky? Not mentioned.
Money talk?
SQW? No.
Sunset? No.
Superlove? No.
Inky? Not mentioned.
More inclusive tagging than AO3?
SQW? Yes.
Sunset? Yes.
Superlove? Yes.
Inky? *If make it so.
OTW affiliated?
SQW? No.
Sunset? No.
Superlove? No.
Inky? No.
*Edit: Wattpad and FFN arenโt included, they know why. Quora and Quotev, I donโt think are very fanfic-y.
*Royal Road is based in Isreal. Itโs a more official site, and has an app. Doesnโt allow harassment and doxing, nor botting and scraping. Couldnโt find anything about AI content. Dark Mode. Has paid accounts. Can link. Has ads and wants engagement/traffic. Allegedly subcontractor of Amazon. Something about not wanting sexual nor romantic (or a hint of) content. Cover art. Basic tagging (not like fandom sites).
*ScribbleHub. Content may not be harmful, abusive, offensive, etc, be or contribute to a harm or crime, or be spam. Nothing about AI. No non-English, porn, poetry, translations, encouraging rape, or mostly AI content. Expects content warnings. Theme: dark. Can link SO LONG as itโs not to a fanfic. Cover art. Only filter genre; itโs genre and then tags.
*Ourchive. Beta. Dark mode. More tags than ao3 but less filtering. Different setup. โThis is a beta site! Behave,โ literally all the TOS or Code of Conduct.
*Inkitt. Has an app. Based in Germany. Subscription author program. Growing fanfic population. Publishes people (partners with Galatea apparently (hate that app)). Content cannot promote or perform harm, bigotry, harrasment or crimes. Can link. Nothing about AI nor dark mode. Cover art. Feels a bit like Wattpad.
*Commaful. Different setup. A now read-only site.
*
Iโm gonna try to reach out to those three about the AI scraping, because thatโs also a really big concern for me.
*AI Scraping update: (These are very small teams with slight resourcesโespecially when compared to AO3.)
Inkyโs creator is working on protecting usersโ property against AI scraping.
Scraping is banned on Superlove and it utilizes the Anubis proxy to prevent it.
*Making accounts!
SWQ? I recall it being very short and quick.
Sunset? Projected to wait until 2039 for an invite (4/8/26). (Add a note about yourself.)
Superlove? Projected to wait 13 months (4/8/26). (Add a note about yourself.) *Iโm in, 4/9.
Inky? No account needed! The login is for a google account. For fics, click the POST in the upper left menu. This opens to a bunch of text boxes for title, author, rating, summary, fandoms, relationships, characters, additional tags, chapter (if applicable), and the fic itself (copy and paste). I imagine interaction with your fic will be put through your Gmail account and youโll somehow have the ability to edit and add chapters that way.
The account wait time is an obstacle in getting larger user bases (as is dark mode). I recall AO3 was quick when Iโd made an account. I hope these teams are able to figure something out soon! (They are single person or small team. If it bothers you and you know how to handle this stuff, you can offer to help.)
If a list as inclusive as I can manage to make of relationships and tags would help, let me know!
(Iโve done this all on mobile so there could be differences on desktop.) Post subject to be edited.
Any other sites, or another question I should add to this for comparison? Comment or dm me (you need to state your purpose if you dm me)!
