Overview

Celtx serves film and television, commercials, documentaries, and interactive media. Its editors cover screenplays, stageplays, multi-column audio/video scripts, and game scripts, with story-development and production-planning tools alongside them. Founded in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2000, the company is based in St. John’s.

Key features

Writing and story development

Writers can choose an editor for the project’s format and develop material with Beat Sheet, Storyboard, and Script Goals & Insights. That range is useful when a project needs more than a screenplay draft. Writers who only need to write may find the wider production workspace unnecessary.

Production planning

The Studio includes breakdowns, catalogs, shot lists, scheduling, cast and crew, sides, budgets, call sheets, and reports. Keeping these tools alongside the script can help teams carry a project toward production without splitting planning across separate apps. The Screenplay app does not include Studio project-view tools such as Storyboard and Breakdown, so it is not a complete offline substitute for the browser workspace.

Collaboration and history

Collaborators can read, edit, or approve scripts, with comments and presence awareness; read-only share links provide a way to share work without editing access. Celtx keeps a history of revisions, feedback, and approvals, which gives a team a record of how a script changed. Adobe Premiere Pro Panel access imports screenplays, maps scenes to media bins, and supports script synchronization, a practical bridge for teams using Premiere Pro.

Pricing

Celtx has a free plan, paid plans, and a 7-day trial. Most plans are available monthly or annually; Education and Student are annual only. Annual billing can save up to three months of billing. Prices below are billed yearly.

Free: Free. Includes cloud-based script editors, real-time collaboration, read-only history, and shareable links, but only 1 project. It is a useful way to try the workflow, not a roomy home for multiple active projects.
Writer: 11.24 USD per month. Supports up to 3 projects and unlimited comments. It suits writers who need more than the free allowance but do not need story-development or production-planning tools.
Writer Pro: 18.74 USD per month. Adds unlimited projects and story-development tools to unlimited comments. This is the better fit for writers managing several projects or developing stories beyond the script.
Team: 44.95 USD per month for 5 members. It includes unlimited projects, writing and planning tools, story development, production planning, unlimited comments, and live chat team support. It is aimed at a small group coordinating work, rather than a solo writer paying for tools they will not use.
Education: Custom pricing, annual billing, 10–700 seats. Includes educator admin controls, unlimited projects, story development, and production planning; contact sales for pricing.
Student: Custom pricing, annual billing. A student email is required; the plan includes unlimited projects, Writer Pro and production-planning tools, and three years of discounted pricing. Eligible students receive these features at over 75% off the regular price.

Accepted payment methods include major cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. The free plan’s one-project cap and Writer’s three-project cap are the key constraints for anyone juggling scripts; the higher tiers remove those caps but cost more or require custom pricing.

Platforms

The cloud product runs in a web browser, and mobile browsers include iPhone Safari support. The Screenplay app is available for Windows computers and Android devices, while the listed platform coverage also includes iOS, macOS, and an extension. Offline mode is available, but the Screenplay app lacks Studio project-view tools such as Storyboard and Breakdown. Choose the browser workspace when those planning views are essential.

Who it's for

Celtx is a strong fit for writers, educators, and small production teams working across scripts and production planning. Its format-specific editors and planning tools can serve film, TV, theater, documentary, and interactive-media work. A writer who wants only a focused script editor, or a team that needs a full Studio view offline, should weigh those needs against the project caps and app limitation.

Pros and cons

Pro: Script formats range from screenplays and stageplays to multi-column A/V and game scripts, accommodating varied media work.
Pro: Story development, production planning, collaboration, and revision history sit alongside writing, which can keep a team’s process connected.
Pro: The free plan includes collaboration and share links, making it possible to start without paying.
Con: The free plan allows only one project, and Writer allows three, restricting users with several active scripts.
Con: Screenplay’s offline app omits Studio views such as Storyboard and Breakdown, so it cannot reproduce the full browser workflow.
Con: Education and Student require annual billing and custom pricing rather than a published amount.

Alternatives

Story Architect is worth considering if open-core software and support for Linux are priorities; its core source is available under MIT, while some features are closed source and commercial.

Studiovity is another freemium option across web and desktop and mobile platforms, with a PRO tier for content creation and film-TV pre-production.

WriterDuet offers a free three-project plan and supports web, desktop, and mobile platforms; consider it if those platform options and a free starting allowance fit better.

Final Draft is a paid alternative with a free trial and a 99.99 USD per year annual Suite plan that includes Final Draft 13 and Final Draft Cloud.

OpenDraft is a free option with no account, subscription, or feature gating, for readers who prefer that model.

ScreenWeaver offers a free Screenwriter plan with unlimited projects and pages, PDF export, and Final Draft export.

Revision Screenwriter is a free alternative whose site lists no plan limits.

Arc Studio Pro has a free plan that includes two scripts and PDF export with a watermark.

For broader comparisons, see Screenwriting Software, Writing Apps, Creative Project Management Software, and Video Production Management Software.

Verdict

Choose Celtx if your writing process needs to extend into story development, collaboration, and production planning in one workspace. Its breadth is the main reason to choose it; the project caps on lower plans and the Screenplay app’s missing Studio views are the reasons to look elsewhere if you need more room or a complete offline planning workflow.

	Celtx	SmartEdit Writer
Free plan	Yes
Free trial	Yes
Paid from	$11.24/mo
Platforms	Android, extension, iOS, macOS, Web, Windows	Windows
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Paid from	$11.24/user/mo
Publishing tools	Yes	Yes
Real-time collaboration	Yes	No
Version history	Yes	Yes
Offline mode	Yes	Yes
Mobile apps	Yes
Export formats	standard	basic

Celtx vs SmartEdit Writer

Celtx

SmartEdit Writer