How to Choose the Right Screenwriting Software?

Selecting the right screenwriting software will get easier if you know your project requirements and your personal interests. Here are a few basic questions that you should ask yourself before choosing a screenwriting program:

Is this your first screenplay?

Are you collaborating or working alone?

Do you need a something that does not require a web connection?

How much is money a factor?

Do you need to have the Industry standard?

Are you self producing?

WriterDuet

WriterDuet is robust application with some of the most advanced collab options. This is my recommendation over all other programs, for one price, you can buy a lifetime membership and never have to worry about subscriptions or new versions. 

Takeaways & Features

• Best collaboration interface
• Works like industry standard apps
• Customizable
• Templates for games, plays, and other script based workflows.
• Lifetime options
• Tag, outline, and notes
• Mobile, desktop, and web based versions
• Free options!

Pricing

WriterDuet offers the following three plans:

• Plus – $7.99 / month (billed monthly) and $5.00 / month (billed annually)
• Pro – $11.99 / month (billed monthly) and $7.42 / month (billed annually)
• Premium – $15.99 / month (billed monthly) and $9.992 / month (billed annually)

Switch to yearly plans and you can save 38%.

Final Draft

Final Draft is the most used software option and considered the standard. It lacks web based options, but does not require an internet connection when using it. 

Takeaways & Features

• 300+ templates
• Story mapping and Beat boards 
• Distraction-free writing
• Dictate tool
• Collab options
• Intuitive interface

Pricing

Final Draft offers the following plans:

• Free Trial – download and install the trial version and use and enjoy a 30-day free trial.

• Full Version – purchase the full version for $99.99.

Final Draft has a special upgrade pricing for its current customers who can purchase it for only $79.99.

You can try Final Draft here.

Movie Magic Screenwriter

Movie Magic Screenwriter is part of the movie magic suite that integrations it’s budgeting and production software. These apps are seamless integrated, making them perfect for the auteur who is planning on producing what they write. 

This comes at a cost, both financially and temporally. You really need to take the time to learn it to justify the cost.

Takeaways & Features

• Templates to teach you techniques
• Panels for navigation
• Multi format
• Hear your dialogue
• Auto backup installed
• Online collaboration enabled
• Production breakdown
• Color coded revisions
• Integration with the movie magic family of software

Pricing

Movie Magic Screenwriter 6 is available for macOS and Windows for:

• Regular Version – for $249.95, you can access Movie Magic Screenwriter version 6 with all of its features on any of your devices (Mac, Windows)
• Academic Version – if you are a full-time student or teacher at an accredited high school, college, or university, with proof of identification you can buy the Movie Magic Screenwriter for $99.95.
• Upgrade – if you have earlier versions of Movie Magic Screenwriter installed, you can upgrade to the latest version for $89.95.

KIT SCENARIST

Storyist is not only a screenwriting solution but it’s also the place where you can carry out the entire story development process from researching and planning to writing and editing.  Even though it’s available only for iPad, Mac, and iPhone users, it’s still worth mentioning.

Takeaways & Features

• Color-coded index cards and photos for brainstorming
• Story development forms for plot, character, setting, and section
• Word count and deadlines tracking
• Text snippets shortcut
• Educational resources, guides, and tutorials
• Theme builder including dark mode
• Print-ready pdf tool
• Project organizer to keep all your screenwriting documents
• Create or use pre-existing templates
• Import and export enabled for multiple formats
• Comment inspector for real-time feedback
• Autosave and duplicate versions

Pricing

Storyist is available for one-time purchase on iOS devices for $19 and on macOS for $59. Storyist also supports a free-trial.

StudioBinder

StudioBinder is a newer kid compared to Movie Magic, but it has a lot of the integrations one would expect from a suite of applications. Baed online and available through subscription only, this pricey option is sleek if your wallets are deep.

Takeaways & Features

• Fully integrated
• SLEEK
• Multi format import and export
• Real-time online collaboration with instant updates, feedback, and revisions
• Pre-production tasks and scheduling made easy

Pricing

StudioBinder offers the following plans for entire companies:

• Free Plan (forever) – access to 1 project per company account with features such as, manage contacts, add tasks, and call sheets.
• Indie (monthly plan) – with $29.00 a month, you can access 50GB of file storage for 10 projects, and advanced features like call sheets, shooting schedules, shot lists, and storyboards.
• Professional (monthly plan) – 75GB of file storage for 25 projects, including all the abovementioned features, script breakdowns, and production calendar for $49.00.
• Studio (monthly plan) – unlimited projects and a 100GB file storage, for $99.00 including advanced features like invite collaborators, and custom branding.

Celtx

Celtx is on of the first kids on the block to offer web based solutions for screenwriting so It has one of the biggest communities in the neo screenwriting app market. It’s fairly standard stuff with a descent price.

Takeaways & Features

• Easy to use
• Collaboration
• Storyboard, index cards, outlines
• Offline options
• Revision tracking
• Budgeting and preproduction help

Pricing

Celtx offers the following pricing plans:

• Scriptwriting Plan – $7.50 / month for the first year (billed annually) and $10 / month for the first three months (billed monthly).
• Celtx Pro – enjoy Celtx Pro’s 30-day free trial. Contact the sales team for purchasing this version.
• Education – request a quote from the sales team to get the pricing.

Squibler

Squibler is a top-rated screenwriting software, I’ve never used it, but some people seem to love it.

Takeaways & Features

• Easy-to-use scriptwriting software
• Drag and drop interface
• Distraction-free mode
• More than 30 templates to choose from
• Powerful built-in collaboration feature
• Comes with several handy tools for writers such as plot generator
• Works on web, pc, Ipad, IPhone, and Android
• Integrates seamlessly with Google Drive and Dropbox
• 30-days free trial

Pricing

Squibler offers the following plans:

• Free Trial – enjoy the 14-day trial period providing basic features (creating drafts, customizing templates, sharing options, etc) for free.
• Squibler Pro (monthly plan) – use its advanced features by upgrading to Squibler Pro for $9.99 per month (billed monthly).

Claim your free trial today.

Fade In

Fade In screenwriting software that’s specifically made for motion picture screenplays and is perfect for writers who are associated with the film industry, television, and gaming. It comes with a lot of handy features that make it suitable for scriptwriters of all genres. It is a cross-device software that works on Mac, Windows, mobile, and Linux.

Takeaways & Features

• Simple user interface
• Supports multiple languages
• Real-time collaboration
• Autocomplete tool
• Distraction-free typing
• Support multiple file formats including images and PDF
• Works on Mac, Windows, Linux, and mobile
• Support for cloud services
• Comes with a free demo

Pricing

Fade In offers the following plans:

• Free Demo Version – download Fade In’s fully functional demo version (3.0.636) for free and check out all the features it has to offer.
• Full Version – if you like the software, get registered as a permanent user by purchasing the full version. You can purchase the full version for $75.

Registered users can download Fade In using the personalized download link sent via email or by checking for updates from the application.

Trelby

Looking for a free screenwriting software? Trelby is one of the best free open source programs for screenwriters. Being an open-source scriptwriting software, Trelby is updated and improved quite often by developers. Based on input from screenwriters, the software gets regular updates. It is multiplatform that works on Windows and Linux.

Takeaways & Features

• Easy-to-use interface that’s like any text editor
• The interface is configurable and can be customized as per need
• Multiple view options
• A comprehensive database of character names
• Supports multiple file formats including PDF
• Import and export files in a wide range of formats
• Free for life

Pricing

FREE!

Scrivener

Scrivener is the go-to app for not just screenwriters, but writers of all kinds including, novelists, journalists, academics, non-fiction writers, and more. Scrivener offers screenwriting templates for screenwriters and also allows them the freedom to write and organize the way they want.

However, it does require a bit of learning to understand how to access all its functions.

It is available to purchase and use on Windows, iOS, and macOS.

Takeaways & Features

• Drag and drop interface
• Create or use premade templates
• Flexible organization and formatting
• Corkboard mode to access notes and synopses for every screenplay scene
• Customizable full-screen composition mode for distraction-free writing
• Accepts multiple import and export formats (Word, PDF, Final Draft, EPUB, etc.)
• Easy to navigate sectioning that can be treated as one document
• Industry-standard editing with modifiable toolbars
• Structure drafts in folders and subfolders
• Set word limits and character targets for each section
• Version history to track edits and revisions
• Auto-save and auto-backups

Pricing

Scrivener has a 30 days free trial version, and is available for one-time purchase separately:

• iOS – $19.99 to access Scrivener on your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, requires a Dropbox account for sync features.
• macOS – $49 (standard licence) and $41.65 (educational licence)
• Windows – $49 (standard licence) and $41.65 (educational licence)

Highland 2

Highland 2 was created by screenwriter John August keeping the struggles of a screenwriter in mind, which resulted in the effective, easy to use interface it’s known for.

It takes hardly 5 minutes to master Highland 2. It offers 4 main screenwriting tools, the navigator, the bin, live margins, and revision mode.

The navigator keeps a record of your screenplay scenes, notes, sections, and synopses which can easily be re-ordered with drag and drop. The bin keeps your go-to alternate ideas, improvisations, and backup plots in bits of text. Live margins allow you to visualize your formatted screenplay, and revision mode tracks your changes in different colors.

It is available to download for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.

Takeaways & Features

• Clean and simple user interface.
• Screenplay tutorial on how to use Highland.
• Editor mode and preview mode that separate writing and auto-formatting.
• 10 templates including Screenplay, Multi-Cam, and Manuscript.
• Assets tool for images and files imported into your document.
• Scratchpad tool for keeping notes outside the document.
• Sprints feature to set time limits and increase productivity.
• 5 dark and 5 light visual themes for writing.
• Allows dialogues from different languages.
• Easy to create sections and subsections.
• Full-screen mode for distraction-free writing.

Pricing

• Highland 2 (free) – lifetime access to limited features.
• Highland 2 Pro – $49.99 upgrade that gives access to all features.

Storyist

Storyist is not only a screenwriting solution but it’s also the place where you can carry out the entire story development process from researching and planning to writing and editing.  Even though it’s available only for iPad, Mac, and iPhone users, it’s still worth mentioning.

Takeaways & Features

• Color-coded index cards and photos for brainstorming
• Story development forms for plot, character, setting, and section
• Word count and deadlines tracking
• Text snippets shortcut
• Educational resources, guides, and tutorials
• Theme builder including dark mode
• Print-ready pdf tool
• Project organizer to keep all your screenwriting documents
• Create or use pre-existing templates
• Import and export enabled for multiple formats
• Comment inspector for real-time feedback
• Autosave and duplicate versions

Storyist Pricing

• $19 for iOS
• $59 of MacOS