Last Updated on May 17, 2022
This is a list of the Best Screenwriting Software in 2022.
How does it feel to know that tomorrow’s shoot is dependent on your script?
Screenwriting or scriptwriting requires deep, focused, and uninterrupted attention to the idea. You need to unleash your creative beast in order to write a story that generations will love.
And while you’re flexing your creative muscle, you only want to spend most of your time on writing instead of worrying about line spacing, formatting, or typeface.
A good screenwriting software will only add to your productive day, and as an aspiring scriptwriter, you can easily translate your ideas into professional scripts that are ready for set and post.
Screenwriting software takes a major load off the content creator’s shoulder by providing all the technical assistance and writing efficiency that a writer needs.
This is why there is a huge demand for screenwriting software these days and it is projected to reach $235.87 million by 2026.
The major advantage of screenwriting software over a simple word processing tool is that it helps to organize ideas, map out scenes, and automatically format screenplays, so you as a writer can write effortlessly in a flow.
In this post, we’ll cover the most popular screenwriting software in the industry on the basis of features, organization, formatting tools, ease of use, export-import functionality, pricing, and more.
Here’s a list of the 11 Best Screenwriting Software.
1. StudioBinder
StudioBinder is a wholesome cloud-based production management software that provides professional screenwriting as part and parcel of the many in-demand solutions it possesses. The other solutions include the script sides, shooting schedules, and script breakdowns.
It empowers the production companies and other creative studios to maintain proper organization, stay connected, and be informed all the while in the entire pre-production process all the way to the post-production ‘under one roof.’
Its flagship trait is its holistic approach to the matters of video and photo productions while at the same time maintaining its simplicity. There is really nothing complicated about the software in its entirety.
Indeed, anyone, from the photographers to the filmmakers to the freelance creatives and the big productions stands to gain from its numerous well-thought-out features.
You never have to undergo any training to comprehend this tool. That is due to its ability to enable you to channel your focus and energy to creating content without unnecessary distractions by warding off any worries concerning the planning and organization of the content.
Most importantly, it possesses a free plan that lets you work seamlessly on one project with a variety of free features.
2. Celtx
Stands for “Crew, Equipment, Location, Talent, and XML”, Celtx is also a cloud-based screenwriting platform that tends to focus on the production and the pre-production stages. It is hailed as the best for production since it organizes all the elements of the projects of a film in one centralized and collaborative tool.
At its core, Celtx is screenwriting software that possesses many industry-standard features. These include but are not limited to PDF imports, multi-user collaboration, revision tracking, templates, Microsoft Word documents, and the Final Draft.
Of all these, it is the application as the production tool that converts the files from the scripts to the shoot that stands out.
Its all-in-one solution for drafting, collaboration, and planning on films, television, plays, and even video games enables it to generate call sheets, schedules, budgets, script boards, and the creation of stories easily.
Further to the above, Celtx lets users break down the scripts to generate lists of actors, locales, and props; generate reports to track costs and cast positions, and block the shots to mark out the cameras, cast positions, and lighting.
Lastly, the screenwriting program confers a scriptwriting subscription plan that possesses both the month-to-month as well as the annual pricing besides the separate plans for the video games and the game productions.
3. WriterDuet
In case you are laboring on the screenplays alongside other writers, WriterDuet might be a great option to pursue. It is customized to facilitate numerous people tackling a specific project and also emphasizes accessibility and collaboration thanks to its wholesome set of features.
Given that it is based on the browsers, you won’t have to download any software to your computer. On the same note, you may access it from just about any mobile device, personal computer, or laptop. A mobile app also exists to streamline your experience in case you utilize your phone to access the scripts on a regular basis.
WriterDuet is subscription-based; meaning that you pay for it. This negates the approach of a single sum. A number of pricing options exist for your attempt across several levels. If you so wish, you may also try out the free version, which is still practical even though with limited features.
Its pricing tiers are unnecessarily varied since many people opt for the Pro Version. All of its documents are compatible with the other screenwriting software like the Final Draft. Furthermore, it gives you leeway to import any kind of software, work on them, and revert them to their original formats.
The screenwriting platform is on the whole truly versatile. It is nonetheless best utilized alongside many other platforms like the Movie Maker or Final Draft if the hope of attaining maximum benefits is to be realized.
4. Scrivener
Do you engage in other production techniques besides screenwriting? If you answered, YES, this platform might be the one to leverage. Scrivener handles every relevant production task such as fiction, articles, and screenplays.
Of all the platforms we have tested, Scrivener stands as the most suited for formatting work. It also contains the bonus feature of being able to visualize scenes that have to be used together or as one comprehensive packaging.
Most novelists note it to be easier to make use of while at the same time commanding a highly-visual platform. Its corkboard flagship trait grants you the power to make sense of your scenes and notes, much like generating a storyboard.
Just in case you intend to push your script through the filming process, this might not be the platform to utilize. Users have noted that the platform is quite complicated when it comes to collating pages into PDF format.
Scrivener is on the other hand truly great for the development of characters, structure, and research. However, the platform is incompatible with the pieces of software that directors and producers utilize to convert scripts into movies.
As such, you will have to convert your screenplays to other formats first and foremost. Scrivener of course makes the entire process quite sluggish, especially for the last-minute rewrites.
See to it that you try out its tutorials or learn relevant courses like the ‘Learn Scrivener’ that teaches everything you ought to know to master this tool considerably.
5. Final Draft
Of all the tools we have, Final Draft is the best for drafting screenplays at the moment and it has been so for years. It is as a matter of fact employed by a large segment of the television and movie industries.
Final Draft is mainly given its possession of an impressive suite of features that helps to create and manage scripts. At its basic level, the platform comprises scene templates that aid in the formatting of different kinds of scenes or dialogues.
Additionally, it contains a drop-down menu that enables the auto-population of the names of the characters. Also, you may collaborate on live scripts with any other user of this platform at the time of producing your content.
The scriptwriting program also enables you to peek into the revision history of each document to note how the lines may have changed, who altered them, and if need be, to return to the initial versions of the screenplays.
We also admire the many extra features that add life to your visions. Its ‘Beadboard’ for instance, gives you the power to mark out precise moments in your story, introduce features, add notes, and photos to caption them.
On the same note, Final Draft possesses numerous production tools, enabling you to peek into the management of the script as soon as it commences performance and filming. In a nutshell, this is a one-stop-shop solution, a fact that explains why it is on the whole widely used.
Its drawback however is the fact that it is relatively expensive. To acquire it, be ready to part with $200 within the sales periods and a further $250 outside the sales periods.
Even if it so happens that you upgrade from a previous version or purchase it for an educational institute, your license fees shall still cost $100.
Here comes the question: is it worth the money? In case you are serious about screenwriting, the answer is a firm YES! If you are just starting out or undertaking it as a casual hobby, you may however want to try out a cheaper platform.
Be this as it may, learning this platform, even as an entrant, is quite advantageous if the hopes of starting out your scriptwriting are to be realized.
6. Squibler
Squibler is a multipurpose great screenwriting software. Its main purpose is to facilitate the development of stories and drafting of dialogue courtesy mainly of its feature-rich text editor.
Its screenplay templates, as a matter of fact, facilitate your job considerably. To leverage this power, you need to choose a suitable template and commence drafting.
You need not necessarily create an outline, come up with the characters from scratch and spend too much time partitioning the sections and the chapters. The template already contains all these, so just have to start writing!
7. Highland
Highland was developed as an application for the Mac OS in 2012 by one, John August. He was a writer of the Big Fish and Go. The purpose of the application in its founding was to aid screenwriters to focus on the precise process of writing.
We choose to incorporate it on this list as it is great for starters of the Mac OS given that it provides the basic features of the needs of a screenwriter in a truly user-friendly interface.
Its core features an intuitive screenplay writing tool that enables the users to simply open the software and commence drafting. Each time a user keys in the name of a character in capital letters, the next line comes automatically as a dialogue.
The platform also takes note of the headers like the EXT and INT as well as transitions such as CUT TO. Moreover, it suggests location and character names automatically.
Further to these, the platform maintains the experiences of the users by leveraging plain text formatting. It is able to read the .txt, .markdown, and the .fountain lines. These are text-based files that are compatible with many screenwriting software.
Its files also have the advantage of being opened and edited using any plain text editors like Notepad and Google Docs.
Whereas Highland is relatively simple, it also provides a couple of fun and additional helpful features. These include drag and drop to reorder scenes and notes, alternate section notes and scenes, tracking of gender breakdowns in the script, and customization of the automatic backups.
The program is available in the free Mac desktop download format. Its PDFs are watermarked when created in the free version.
A ‘Pro Version’ is also available at a modest cost of about $49.99 and incorporates 14 templates, priority email support, 10 built-in editor themes, unbridled access to the Highland Slack channel, and a revision model.
8. Fade In
Touted as ‘more than just a final draft,’ Fade In confers a set of powerful screenwriter tools without many of the fluffs that tend to slow down the learning and use of the major platforms like Final Draft.
It mainly plays the end credits of the movie. As such, its interface is primarily black and white. This is a lot simpler on our otherwise exhausted eyes. It gives you the power to import and export files to and from other files.
Because of this, the platform makes the process of collaboration with the users of the Movie Magic and Final Draft a little bit easier.
On the reverse side, Fade In grants you the opportunity to save your own files in plain text to open them easily using any other program later on.
Moreover, the program also confers robust organizational skills such as marking significant sequences, index cards, and color-coding. This it does by conferring the dialog tuner that ensures that you edit a specific character all at one go. A report downloads for scenes, locations, and the cast also exist.
Fade In is by far the most compatible and user-friendliest of all the ones we have. It contains all the bells and whistles that an expensive program such as Final Draft possesses.
Inasmuch as this program is mainly awesome for personal usage, it is not employed on an industrial scale. This means you have to migrate to more popular programs for future projects.
9. Movie Magic Screenwriter
Movie Magic Screenwriter is a somewhat less expensive alternative to the Final Draft. Nonetheless, it still provides most of the features you are looking for. Its ‘Note’ tool enables you to draft those distracting ideas that tend to pop into your head.
The ‘outline view’ on the other hand enables you to track the scenes and the characters. For instance, you may use the filter to set characters apart in order to remind you what they were doing a couple of scenes before that.
If you have been drafting for so long, some details may get clouded. This platform is also able to color code actions, scenes, and characters. You may also filter these attributes by looks and colors from specific families or groups.
Yet again, this screenwriting software comprises many templates that have a vast array of formats for screenplays, novels, and television scripts. These jointly see to it that your specific script for a sitcom is formatted rightly.
It also comprises a set of collaborative features that help you act on the scripts with other writers. A text-to-speech option also exists whose role it is to give you a feel of how your lines may sound when they are read out loud.
On the flip side, it lacks a fully-spaced beat board. Also, it is quite tricky to learn all of its ins and outs. Whereas it is utilized by many screenwriters, it lacks the self-same widespread adoption as that of the Final Draft. Bear this in mind hence if you plan to work in conjunction with other writers.
10. KIT Scenarist
Many users of this platform claim that it is one of the best screenwriting platforms that are available on the market as things stand. This stems from its offering of full scriptwriting experiences.
Perhaps its most notable aspect is the free and open-source piece of software that confers a higher degree of customization. Further to this, the platform is utilized by well over 3,000 authors the whole world over.
It also has the added advantage of keeping pace with the latest technology by conferring updates just about every month. So far, it has implemented well over 70 updates.
You will find the platform pretty suited for the high-level scriptwriting tasks in television and feature series works. Additionally, it is also employed by authors and novelists not to mention being perfect for those writers who juggle between multiple languages and statistical analysis.
In all, KIT Scenarist is a free software tool that is readily available on the internet for your usage. However, if you want to make use of the cloud services, you may need to subscribe to a paid plan after the mandatory 30-day free trial.
11. Trelby
Originally structured and distributed as ‘Byte’ in 2003, by the Osku Salerma software engineer, this program was renamed Trelby and released as an open-source screenplay writing software in the year 2011.
We selected it to join these ranks of software owing mainly to its utmost simplicity, free pricing, automated formatting, customizable interface, and user-friendly interface.
At first sight, Trelby resembles the barebones screenplay writer. It treats its users to a simple and ready-to-type interface with a range of buttons on the left-hand side of the screen that may be customized to the unique preferences of the writers.
As soon as a user commences typing, it reveals its beauty and simplicity. At the same time, a screenplay editor formats all the typed text automatically. This it does in the correct script format while at the same time spell checks and auto-completes all the tasks.
Moreover, it allows its users to select from the numerous views including but not limited to the full-screen and the drafts.
Even though this platform confers less with regards to the whistles and bells, it gives its writers some additional awesome features. These mainly include the international character name generator such as the reports (dialog, character, location, and the scenes), tracking of versions, and the options to import from the Final Draft, Fade In, Adobe Story, Fountain, and Celtx.
Lastly, Trelby can also export its files in the Fountain, Final Draft, RTF, HTML, and PDF versions. What’s more? It is also completely free and provides downloads for both Linux and Windows systems.
What is Screenwriting Software?
A Screenwriting Software is a tool, much like the Microsoft Word processor that is nonetheless designed to write scripts and screenplays. They, unlike the normal word processors, can handle the special needs of the screenwriters.
For instance, screenwriters employ many characters that demand the use of shortcuts to type them on the screens. On the same note, the screenwriters have to jot down notes, collaborate with the other writers and access the outlines quickly.
Even though Microsoft Word contains macros that facilitate the use of these features, the entire process is quite painful and elaborate.
A dedicated screenwriting software provides all the features and benefits that are necessary to generate great scripts faster and conveniently.
Fundamentally, the screenwriting program possesses templates that are certainly advantageous. Templates facilitate the writing process. To make use of them, you have to choose one that is based on the type of script, edit it appropriately, and there you go.
Being in the possession of the best screenwriting software helps you stay organized, saves your time, drafts the literature faster, and lets you channel your attention on what is exactly crucial rather than dealing with the finer details of the tool.
Conclusion – Best Screenwriting Software
These were some of the top screenwriting software that you can use in 2022 to write your dream script.
When looking for good screenwriting software you need to keep in mind whether the platform provides templates, formatting and editing tools, text-to-speech, automatic text tools, real-time collaboration for editing continuity, clean UI, ease-of-use, export-import functionality, and flexible pricing plans.
See, it ain’t impossible to write scripts without screenwriting software. Legends like Quentin Tarantino have been writing without any tools for decades.
But since everything changes and evolves with time, so has the writing industry.
These professional scriptwriting tools make things easier for you by managing all the tedious tasks like formatting, and editing, so you can just focus on your writing.
Lastly, choosing the right screenwriting software will solely depend on your personal choices, project requirements, and budget.
I hope you found the list of the best screenwriting software useful.
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