Best of
The best screenwriting software in 2026, by what each is best for
There is no single best screenwriting app, because writers want different things from one: production compatibility, a low price, live co-writing, plain-text files, or a check that the story holds together. Here are ten current options, each placed by what it does best, with prices, platforms and formats as of October 2026. Bunsho is one of the ten, and this page says plainly what it does not do.
The short answer
Industry standard
Final Draft. The file format productions exchange, plus revisions, reports and production tagging.
Best value one-time purchase
Fade In. $79.95 once, one licence for Windows, Mac and Linux, full .fdx support.
Real-time collaboration
WriterDuet, with Arc Studio close behind for writers' rooms.
Fountain and plain text on Apple devices
Highland Pro for a polished subscription app; Beat for a free, open-source one.
Free with no project limits
Starc's free tier or Trelby, both open source and cross-platform.
Production planning in the browser
Celtx, with breakdowns, schedules and call sheets on its team plans.
Continuity checking
Bunsho. Checks your script scene by scene when you ask and cites both passages; pair it with a formatter for the PDF.
Side by side
Prices are in USD and reflect each vendor's own site as of October 2026; sales and regional pricing change often, so confirm before you buy. "Not listed" means the feature is not described on the vendor's site, not that we tested its absence.
| Platforms | Price | Free option | Formats | Collaboration | Continuity checking | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final Draft 13 | macOS, Windows | $249.99 one-time list, often on sale; upgrades from $99.99 | Free trial | Native .fdx; PDF export; Fountain only as a plain-text import | Yes, between Final Draft 13 users | Not listed |
| Fade In | Windows, macOS, Linux | $79.95 one-time, all platforms | Full demo; PDFs watermarked | .fdx open and save, Fountain import, PDF | Via the separate Fade In Access subscription | Not listed |
| Highland Pro | Mac, iPad, iPhone | $59.99 a year or $9.99 a month | 30-day trial | Fountain-based; .fdx import and export and PDF export per its knowledge base | Comments; no live co-writing listed | Not listed |
| WriterDuet | Web; desktop app on paid plans | Plus $9.99, Pro $11.99, Premium $13.99 a month | Free: 3 projects, browser only | .fdx, Fountain, PDF | Real-time, from Plus | Not listed |
| Celtx | Web; macOS script app | Writer, Writer Pro and Team plans; see celtx.com | Free: 1 seat, 1 project | Imports .fdx, Fountain, PDF; exports Fountain | Yes, more on higher tiers | Not listed |
| Arc Studio | Web; Mac, Windows, iOS apps on paid plans | Essentials $69 a year, Pro $99 a year | Free: 2 scripts, watermarked PDF | .fdx, Fountain, PDF | Real-time co-writing on Pro | Not listed |
| Starc | macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android | Pro $150 lifetime or about $4.17 a month yearly; Creator about $8.34 a month | Free forever, unlimited projects | .fdx, Fountain, PDF, DOCX | Real-time on Creator | Not listed |
| Beat | macOS; iOS app paid | Free on macOS | Free and open source | Fountain-native; .fdx and PDF export | Not listed | Not listed |
| Trelby | Windows, Linux; macOS work in recent releases | Free | Free and open source | .fdx, Fountain, PDF | Not listed | Not listed |
| Bunsho | macOS, Windows | Editor free; checks on Storyteller $15 or Saga $29 a month | Free: 1 project, no account | Fountain import and export only; no PDF, no .fdx | None | Yes, scene by scene, both passages cited, cost shown first |
Each app, by what it is best for
Final Draft: best for industry-standard production work
Final Draft 13 runs on macOS and Windows and is sold as a one-time licence, listed at $249.99 with frequent sales and cheaper upgrades. Its .fdx file is what many productions exchange, and its revision sets, locked pages, omitted scenes, tagging and reports are built for scripts that are going into production. Collaboration works between Final Draft 13 users. It does not open .fountain files directly; its own help center describes importing a Fountain script as plain text.
Fade In: best value one-time purchase
Fade In costs $79.95 once, and one licence covers Windows, macOS and Linux with free updates. It opens and saves .fdx, imports Fountain, Celtx and others, outputs PDF, and has colored revision pages, page and scene locking and reports. The free demo is fully featured except online collaboration, with watermarked PDF output. Real-time collaboration comes through Fade In Access, a separate subscription.
Highland Pro: best Fountain app on Mac, iPad and iPhone
Highland is built on Fountain, so a script stays readable plain text, and Highland Pro syncs across Mac, iPad and iPhone over iCloud. It is a subscription at $59.99 a year or $9.99 a month after a 30-day trial. Its knowledge base documents importing and exporting .fdx, exporting PDF, and its well-known trick of turning a screenplay PDF back into an editable script.
WriterDuet: best for real-time co-writing
WriterDuet was built around writing together live in the browser. The free plan allows three projects with read-only collaborators; Plus ($9.99 a month) adds full collaboration, unlimited projects, the desktop app and offline writing, and Pro and Premium add revisions, reports and production tools. It imports and exports .fdx, Fountain and PDF on every plan.
Arc Studio: best for writers' rooms that want a clean interface
Arc Studio runs in the browser with Mac, Windows and iOS apps on paid plans. The free plan allows two scripts with a watermarked PDF and Fountain and .fdx export; Essentials is $69 a year and Pro $99 a year, with real-time co-writing, comments and chat for invited collaborators on Pro.
Celtx: best for taking a script into production planning
Celtx is a browser-based studio that reaches past the script: breakdowns, cast and crew, schedules, budgets and call sheets come with its Team, Education and Student plans and as add-ons for Writer plans. The free plan is one seat and one project. It imports .fdx, Fountain and PDF.
Starc: best free cross-platform app
Starc (Story Architect) is an open-core app for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android with a free-forever tier and unlimited projects. Pro is $150 lifetime or about $4.17 a month billed yearly, and Creator adds sync, real-time collaboration and breakdowns. It reads and writes .fdx and Fountain and exports PDF. KIT Scenarist, an earlier open-source favourite, has been archived since 2023.
Beat: best free Fountain app on macOS
Beat is a free, open-source, Fountain-native screenwriting app for macOS, with a paid iOS app. It is actively maintained, imports Final Draft, Highland, Fade In and Celtx files, and exports .fdx and PDF.
Trelby: best for a minimal free app on Windows and Linux
Trelby is a free, open-source screenwriting program, lightly maintained, with its most recent release in late 2025. It imports .fdx, Fountain, Celtx and Fade In files and exports PDF, .fdx and Fountain.
Bunsho: best for checking a script's continuity
Bunsho is a free, local-first editor for macOS and Windows with a screenplay mode (the six standard elements, an element picker, ghost hints, slugline and character autocomplete) and Fountain import and export. When you ask, it checks your script scene by scene for contradictions in sluglines and scene order, who is in a scene, props and wardrobe, and what a character can know when, citing both passages. Checks are priced per scene with the cost shown first, on Storyteller and Saga. It does not export PDF or .fdx and has no collaboration, so pair it with a formatter for delivery.
How to choose
Start with who else touches the script. If a production or a co-writer needs .fdx, or you write live with a partner, that decides most of it: Final Draft, Fade In, WriterDuet or Arc Studio. If you write alone and send PDFs, almost any app here will do, and price and feel should decide.
Then decide how you want to pay. Fade In and Final Draft are one-time purchases; Highland Pro, WriterDuet, Arc Studio and Celtx are subscriptions; Starc, Beat and Trelby are free. Try the free tier or trial for a few real scenes before committing a whole draft.
Finally, ask who keeps the story straight. A formatter makes the pages look right; none of the formatters above lists a feature that reads the script back for contradictions. If that is the work you dread, add Bunsho for the drafting and checking, export Fountain, and let your formatter handle the delivery file.
The screenwriting software guide covers what to look for in more depth; Bunsho vs Final Draft and Bunsho vs Highland show how a continuity checker pairs with a formatter; and free screenwriting software sorts out what each free tier actually allows.
How we compiled this
We read each vendor's current pricing, feature and download pages in October 2026, plus official help-center articles where the marketing pages were silent, and noted where a fact came from documentation for an earlier version. We did not test each app end to end. Bunsho's own entries describe the app as shipped today. If something here is out of date, write to support@bunsho.io and we will correct it.
Common questions
What is the best screenwriting software in 2026?
It depends on the job. Final Draft remains the industry standard for production. Fade In is the strongest one-time-purchase alternative and runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. WriterDuet and Arc Studio lead for real-time co-writing. Highland and Beat are the best plain-text Fountain writing apps on Apple devices. Starc and Trelby are the free open-source picks, and Bunsho is the one that checks your script for continuity errors.
What screenwriting software do professionals use?
Final Draft is the long-standing standard in film and television production, and .fdx is the file most productions exchange. Many working writers draft in other apps, including Fade In, Highland and WriterDuet, all of which read and write .fdx. What readers and buyers receive is almost always a PDF.
What is the best free screenwriting software?
For a full, unlimited desktop app at no cost, Starc's free tier and Trelby are open source, and Beat is free on macOS. WriterDuet, Arc Studio and Celtx have free browser tiers with project limits. Fade In's free demo is fully featured but watermarks PDFs. Bunsho's editor is free with one project and exports Fountain, not PDF.
Which screenwriting software is a one-time purchase?
As of October 2026, Final Draft 13 lists at $249.99 one-time (with frequent sales), and Fade In is $79.95 one-time with one licence covering Windows, Mac and Linux. Starc offers a $150 lifetime Pro licence. Highland Pro, WriterDuet, Arc Studio and Celtx are subscriptions.
Which screenwriting software checks continuity?
Bunsho is built for it: when you ask, it checks your script scene by scene for contradictions in sluglines and scene order, who is in a scene, props and wardrobe, and what a character can know, and every finding cites both passages. Continuity checking is not a listed feature of the other apps here as of October 2026; there it stays with you, your notes and a careful read.
Can I use Bunsho as my only screenwriting software?
For drafting and checking, yes. For delivery, not on its own: Bunsho exports Fountain but not PDF or .fdx, and it has no real-time collaboration or production tools. Most writers who use it pair it with a formatter such as Highland, Fade In, WriterDuet or Beat for the final PDF.
Keep your formatter. Add a continuity check.
Bunsho is free to download for macOS and Windows with no account. Fountain in and out; screenplay checks are priced per scene, cost shown first.