Story Architect vs Substack
Story Architect
starc.app
Substack
substack.comSide by side
| Figure | Story Architect | Substack |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $4.17/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 13 | 4 |
| Spec score · Writing Apps | 9.3 (#5) | 9.4 (#4) |
| Content ownership | The user agreement says users own what they create with STARC and permit the maker to use content only as needed to provide the service. | Terms say creators retain ownership of posts, subscriber lists and other uploaded material while granting Substack a broad royalty-free license to operate the service. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Import and export | The project supports exchanges involving Final Draft, Fountain, DOCX, ODT, PDF, Celtx, Trelby and KIT Scenarist formats, with availability depending on document type. | Substack can import posts or subscribers from WordPress, Ghost, Medium, Beehiiv, Mailchimp, Tumblr, Webflow, Sanity, Seeking Alpha, Bulletin, TinyLetter, Blogspot and RSS, and lets creators export publication data. |
| Purpose | Story Architect is an all-in-one writing app for screenplays, comics, plays, books and other story forms organized in a shared project bible. | Substack is a publishing platform for writers, creators, and subscribers. |
| Rating on Apple App Store | 4.2 out of 5 from 14 ratings | 4.9 out of 5 from 540K ratings |
| Rating on Google Play | 3.3 out of 5 from 281 reviews | 4.8 out of 5 from 319K reviews |
| Support | The pricing FAQ directs users to [email protected] for help. | Substack directs users to its Help Center for FAQs and walkthroughs and handles subscriber support questions on behalf of writers. |
| What it does | Story Architect is a writing environment for screenplays, novels, stage plays, audio plays, comic books and related story work. | Substack is a publishing and subscription platform for writers, podcasters, video creators and media companies, combining content creation, email distribution, payments, community and analytics. |
Plans
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
Substack
- Free publishingFree
- Free to startFree
- Custom domain$50, paid once
- Paid subscriptionsPrice not published
In their own words
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.
Substack
Substack is a publishing platform for writers, creators, and subscribers, bringing posts, newsletters, podcasts, video, live streams, and pages into one publishing flow. Its editor supports scheduling, autosaved drafts, version history, templates, SEO metadata, and headline A/B testing. Creators can offer free or paid posts, subscriptions, trials, gifts, and group plans. Discovery tools include recommendations, Notes, leaderboards, referrals, and search; audience segmentation and email automation are also available. Podcast episodes can be distributed automatically to Apple Podcasts and Spotify, while video can go automatically to YouTube and LinkedIn. Publishing is free. When creators enable paid subscriptions, Substack keeps 10% of subscription revenue, and Stripe charges payment processing fees. Creators own their intellectual property and mailing list and can export their data. Substack serves writers, journalists, podcasters, video creators, experts, educators, and media companies. It is available on the web, Android, and iOS. Substack directs users to its Help Center and handles subscriber support questions on behalf of writers.