If you want to get anywhere in the movie industry, you need to use the right software to format your screenplay. This goes for both amateur storytellers and professional screenwriters.
However, screenwriting software isn't cheap. And you don't want to waste money buying the wrong app.
To help you out, we have found the best screenwriting apps for Windows and Mac. Any of which will be a great choice to start your next screenwriting project with.
1. Final Draft: The Industry Standard Software
Final Draft is the industry standard screenwriting software. It's used by 95% of film and television productions, including the BBC, Netflix, Hulu, and Disney. If you're a professional screenwriter, most people expect you to use Final Draft.
But this expectation pushes the price up; Final Draft is one of the most expensive screenplay apps on this list. But it delivers on that price with a range of impressive features.
Choose from over 300 templates, including screenplays, teleplays, comics, stage plays, and more. Use virtual brainstorms to beat out your story. Then get the words on the page with Final Draft's innovative SmartType, Speech to Script, and Alternate Dialogue features.
Learn how to analyze and understand film before writing your script to guarantee it's as professional as possible.
Download: Final Draft for Windows | macOS ($249.99, free trial available)
2. Movie Magic Screenwriter: An Alternative to Final Draft
Use this award-winning software to write your screenplay, stage play, teleplay, musical, comic book, or novel. It's easy to use and offers brainstorming and outlining tools, alongside over 100 templates to get you started writing as soon as possible.
Text-to-speech lets you hear your screenplay read aloud. Auto Backup means you never need to worry about losing your work. And iPartner lets you collaborate with your writing partner online, no matter how far away you are from one another.
Movie Magic Screenwriter offers everything you need to go from story idea to spec to shooting script. If you don't like Final Draft for any reason, this is a highly-respected alternative.
Download: Movie Magic Screenwriter for Windows | macOS ($249.95, free trial available)
3. WriterDuet: Cloud-Based, Collaborative Screenwriting
WriterDuet is built for collaboration. Enjoy real-time co-writing, intuitive commenting, and in-app text and video chats as you work with a writing partner remotely.
As a cloud-based screenwriting software, you can access your WriterDuet projects anywhere with an internet connection, on desktop or mobile. Use it for everything from outlining to rewriting, with useful tools like scene cards, tagging, and effortless formatting.
WriterDuet uses a subscription-based pricing model, with more features available at higher tiers. But you can also get started by writing your first three scripts for free, or by signing up with WriterSolo, the non-cloud-based cousin of WriterDuet.
Visit the WriterDuet website for a premium subscription, starting at $7.99/month.
4. Fade In: Cross-Platform and Affordable
Despite its lengthy official name, Fade In Professional Screenwriting Software is a streamlined app that still manages to offer every feature a professional writer could need.
Use it to write anything from a movie to a radio play, or even a video game. Getting through pages is easy with Fade In's autocomplete typing. And when it comes to rewriting, Dialogue Tuner lets you view all of a single character's dialogue in one place, letting you tweak it to perfection.
Fade In gives you these professional tools at a much lower price than Final Draft or Movie Magic Screenwriter, and it even includes free updates. It's also available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and iPadOS.
Download: Fade In Professional Screenwriting Software for Windows | macOS ($79.95, free trial available)
5. Celtx: The Complete Pre-Production Suite
With Celtx, you can take your script all the way through from pre-production to shooting. Use this pre-production suite to beat out the story on index cards, write the screenplay, create breakdown reports, compile shot lists, and print out a shooting script.
If you're shooting the film yourself, find out how to make video footage more cinematic.
Celtx mirrors industry-standard formats throughout the entire process. You can even collaborate with your team by working simultaneously across multiple documents or editing a script together in real time.
Since Celtx is another cloud-based app, it's available anywhere across any device. You don't even need to worry about losing your documents since Celtx automatically makes secure backups for you.
Get started with Celtx for free, or sign up for a premium subscription to unlock more features and unlimited projects.
Visit the Celtx website for a premium "Scriptwriting" subscription, starting at $15/month.
6. Highland: Write Screenplays for Free on a Mac
Highland was developed by John August, writer of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Big Fish, and Aladdin. He's also a co-host of the Scriptnotes screenwriting podcast. And you can use Highland to work on anything from a screenplay to a novel, or even a school paper.
Unlike other screenwriting apps---which use the Tab and Return keys to change between character names, dialogue, and action lines---Highland recognizes what you're trying to type and formats your writing automatically.
Use the Navigator sidebar to view your screenplay at a glance, jumping to whichever section you need to work on next. Then enable Revision mode to track changes in a range of different colors.
Highland is only available for macOS, but you can download it and start writing professional screenplays for free, with a premium upgrade available for more features.
Download: Highland for macOS (Free, premium version available)
7. Trelby: Write Screenplays for Free on Windows
Trelby is a fast, simple, and clean piece of screenwriting software capable of formatting professional scripts. Best of all, it's completely free and works on both Windows and Linux machines. Unfortunately, Trelby isn't available for Mac.
Choose between draft view or What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) mode as you use auto-complete, spell checking, and smart formatting to finish your screenplay.
If you're struggling to come up with character names, you can access Trelby's database of over 200,000 names from across the world to find inspiration.
And after you finish your first draft, use the scene, location, character, and dialogue reports to inform the next rewrite. You can even compare script versions to get a quick view of everything you changed.
Download: Trelby for Windows (Free)
And If You Know How to Format a Screenplay...
Each of the screenwriting apps above makes it easy to write a script in the proper format. But if you don't mind putting in a little bit of work yourself, you could write your screenplay in Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, or Google Docs instead. You just need to know how to format a screenplay first.
Of course, these apps don't offer all the same features that you get with industry-standard screenwriting software, but they're a great way to get started without needing to spend any money.