Beat vs OpenDraft

Beat is a screenwriting app for structuring stories and writing in a distraction-free interface. It saves scripts as plain-text Fountain files, which the maker describes as portable and compatible with other editors. Beat imports Final Draft, Highland, Fade In, and Celtx files, then exports to Final Draft and PDF. Outline view and scene cards let writers add sections and synopses and rearrange scenes by dragging. The app recognizes screenplay elements, offers autocomplete, tracks revisions, and highlights changes in exported PDFs. The macOS version supports JavaScript plugins, including official options from a Plugin Library. Beat stores documents on the device, works offline, and says it collects no data. Files can be synchronized between iOS and macOS through iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive, although the maker cautions against opening one file on both devices. Beat is free on macOS; the iOS companion costs €12.99 a month with lifetime ownership after purchase.

OpenDraft is a free, MIT-licensed screenwriting application for screenplay formatting, story planning, collaboration, revision tracking and production tagging. Planning tools include a Beat Board, Index Cards, Scene Navigator and color-coded Script Notes, alongside character management. Writers can edit together through an invite link, with changes synchronized during collaboration. Built-in Git-based version control supports named check-ins, side-by-side comparisons and restoring earlier versions. OpenDraft imports and exports Final Draft FDX, Fountain and Fade In files; it also imports OSF and plain text, and exports PDF and DOCX. Production tags can be reused for categories such as cast, extras, stunts, vehicles, props, costumes and VFX. Projects remain as local files, with no cloud servers, accounts or data collection. The desktop app works offline; collaboration and update checks require internet access. It supports macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS/iPadOS, Android and browser use. Browser self-hosting requires Python 3.12 or newer, Node.js 18 or newer, and Git. The plan costs nothing, with no account, subscription or feature gating.