Final Draft vs Story Architect
Final Draft
finaldraft.com
Story Architect
starc.appSide by side
| Figure | Final Draft | Story Architect |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.69/mo | $4.17/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 12 | 13 |
| Spec score · Writing Apps | 9.2 (#6) | 9.3 (#5) |
| Spec score · Screenwriting Software | 9.0 (#3) | 8.8 (#7) |
| Spec score · Script Writing Software | 9.0 (#3) | 8.7 (#8) |
| Collaboration | Final Draft supports real-time collaboration on the script and Beat Board, while Final Draft Cloud provides asynchronous collaboration. | Creator includes real-time collaboration and review mode allows co-authors to comment, reply, resolve and edit notes. |
| Company history | Final Draft was co-founded in 1990 by Marc Madnick and Ben Cahan and was acquired by Cast & Crew in 2016. | SaaSHub reports that Dmitry Novikov began the precursor project in 2013, Story Architect was conceived in 2019 and released in 2021. |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Offline mode | Yes | Yes |
| Story planning | The software includes Beat Board, Outline Editor, and Structure Lines for brainstorming, outlining, and navigating drafts. | Pro includes mind maps, a corkboard and timeline, character relationship tools, location and world maps, and extended statistics. |
| Support | Final Draft provides a knowledge base, self-service activation, installers and manuals, and registered-customer support resources. | The pricing FAQ directs users to [email protected] for help. |
| What it does | Final Draft is screenwriting software that automatically formats scripts to Hollywood’s industry standards. | Story Architect is a writing environment for screenplays, novels, stage plays, audio plays, comic books and related story work. |
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
Story Architect
- FreeFree
- Pro$4.17 a month
- Pro Lifetime$150 a month
- Creator$8.34 a month
- AI credits 50$10 a month
- AI credits 200$30 a month
- AI credits 500$60 a month
- AI credits 1000$100 a month
- AI credits 50$10, paid once
- AI credits 200$30, paid once
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.
Story Architect
Story Architect is a writing app for screenplays, comics, plays, books and other story forms, organized around a shared project bible. Its Free plan allows unlimited projects and documents per project, with basic writing, character, location and world tools. Pro adds mind maps, an image gallery, presentations, a corkboard, a timeline and five AI credits per month when billed annually. The AI assistant can paraphrase, summarize, expand or shorten text, translate, insert text between paragraphs, or generate text from a prompt; these actions use credits. Creator adds real-time collaboration and 5 GB of cloud storage. Story Architect supports offline use on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS and Windows. It imports KIT Scenarist, Final Draft, Celtx, Trelby, TXT, ODT, DOCX and Fountain files, and exports DOCX, PDF, FDX and Fountain. Desktop-to-mobile project synchronization remains in development, with manual file transfer documented instead. Pro costs $4.17 a month billed annually; Creator costs $8.34 a month billed annually.