Final Draft vs Overleaf
Final Draft
finaldraft.com
Overleaf
overleaf.comSide by side
| Figure | Final Draft | Overleaf |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.69/mo | $8.20/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 12 | 9 |
| Spec score · Writing Apps | 9.2 (#6) | 9.5 (#2) |
| Company history | Final Draft was co-founded in 1990 by Marc Madnick and Ben Cahan and was acquired by Cast & Crew in 2016. | Overleaf was created in 2011 by John Hammersley and John Lees-Miller and joined Digital Science in 2014. |
| Founded | 1990 | 2011 |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Headquarters | Burbank, California | London, United Kingdom |
| Real-Time Collaboration | Story planning can be done with partners in real time. | Projects support simultaneous editing, comments and in-document chat. |
| Support | Final Draft provides a knowledge base, self-service activation, installers and manuals, and registered-customer support resources. | The Organizations plan includes personalized support, personalized onboarding, and a dedicated account manager. |
| What it does | Final Draft is screenwriting software that automatically formats scripts to Hollywood’s industry standards. | Overleaf is a browser-based collaborative LaTeX editor that compiles documents to formatted output while people write together. |
Plans
Final Draft
- Final Draft Suite Annual$99.99 a year
- Final Draft Suite Monthly$16.99 a month
- Final Draft 13$249.99 a month
- Final Draft Suite annual$8.33 a year
- Final Draft Suite$16.99 a month
- Upgrade to Final Draft 13$79.99, paid once
- Educational Edition$99.99, paid once
- Final Draft 13 Student$99.99, paid once
- Final Draft 13 Personal$199.99, paid once
- Final Draft 13 Educators & Non-profitsPriced on request
Overleaf
- FreeFree
- Student$8.25 a month
- Standard$16.75 a month
- Pro$33.25 a month
- FreeFree
- Student$8.20 a month
- Standard$16.60 a month
- Pro$33.25 a month
- OrganizationsPriced on request
In their own words
Final Draft
Final Draft is screenwriting software that automatically formats scripts and supports planning, drafting and production workflows. Beat Board, Outline Editor and Structure Lines help writers brainstorm, outline and navigate drafts. SmartType completes common character names and locations, and writers can store multiple dialogue versions. The software includes templates, customizable workflows, autosave, sprint timers and writing statistics. Production tools cover revision, location tracking, casting, scheduling, budgeting, production tagging and reporting. Real-time collaboration works on scripts and the Beat Board; Final Draft Cloud adds asynchronous collaboration, Vault storage, project folders, ScriptNotes, sharing and optional desktop-to-cloud syncing. Final Draft is available for macOS, Windows, web and iOS, but the numbered desktop versions do not run on iPad or iPhone; Final Draft Go is separate. Desktop requirements are macOS 12 Monterey or later, or Windows 10 or later with an Intel or AMD processor; Chromebook is not supported. Suite plans include Final Draft 13 and Cloud: $99.99 a year or $16.99 a month, each with a 5-day trial.
Overleaf
Overleaf is an online platform for writing, compiling, and revising LaTeX documents with collaborators. Writers can choose a Visual Editor or a Code Editor, while shared documents support simultaneous editing and comments, plus in-document chat. Free templates and example projects cover journal articles, theses, and CVs. Listed connections and add-ons include Git and GitHub synchronization, Dropbox, ReadCube, Zotero, Mendeley, knitr for R code, and Grammarly. Google Drive content can be imported into projects, but Overleaf does not sync directly with Drive. The free plan costs nothing and allows unlimited projects with one collaborator per project. Student and Standard permit 10 collaborators per project, and Pro permits unlimited collaborators; no prices are listed for those tiers. An Organizations plan is described for 20+ users. A seven-day trial gives access to the selected plan, with the card charged afterward unless canceled. Overleaf was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Listed platforms are extension, self-hosted, and web.