Comparison

Slugline vs Story Plotter

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Slugline

This app offers a minimalist, distraction-free writing environment for screenplays. It automatically formats your plain text into a proper screenplay, supports outlining, and includes helpful structure templates. Your work can be synced via cloud services or stored locally.

Highlights
  • Automatic screenplay formatting
  • Integrated outlining
  • Cloud sync (iCloud, Dropbox)
  • Structure templates (Save the Cat!)
  • Plain text (Fountain format) support
  • Notes and scene synopses
Read full description

The highest-rated screenwiting app on the Mac App Store comes to iOS! Slugline is a minimal, distraction-free environment for the most important part of screenwriting—the writing part. Slugline works with plain text. It automatically turns your writing into a properly formatted screenplay, without you ever needing to press the Tab key. FEATURES ⋮ Automatic formatting ⋮ Sync files with iCloud and Dropbox, or work locally ⋮ Printed on paper or PDF, your screenplay is indistinguishable from one made with apps costing much more ⋮ Helpful structure templates, including the famous beat sheet from Save the Cat!® ⋮ Slugline’s famous Integrated outlining ⋮ Notes, Scene Synopses, and Omitted text help keep you organized ⋮ Includes Courier Prime, a beautiful typeface designed for screenplays • THE POWER OF PLAIN Slugline uses the free and open Fountain screenplay format, which is nothing more than plain text.​ You can work on your screenplay anywhere, using any writing app. When you open it in Slugline again, everything will be there, properly formatted.​ • INTEGRATED OUTLINING​ Start with an outline, then seamlessly transition to writing scenes. Or jot down a placeholder for your third-act twist while you’re still crafting your opening pages. Slugline allows you to be as structured as you like, even if that means not at all.​ • WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU Slugline keeps getting better, and that's thanks to you! Slug us a line at http://slugline.co/contact with any questions or feedback you have, and follow us on Twitter at @SluglineApp.

About

Story Plotter

This app helps you craft compelling stories for novels, comics, movies, and more. It offers tools for organizing ideas, developing characters and their relationships, and structuring plot points. AI-powered brainstorming and time-series visualization assist in overcoming writer's block.

Highlights
  • Idea Note
  • Plot Note
  • Plot creation function
  • AI Brainstorming
  • Character Correlation & Family Tree
  • Time series with World Setting
  • Theme Setting
Features
Read full description

This is strong plot creation app that support - Novel - Manga - Movie - Drama - Secondary creation - TRPG Scenario - Script If you are worried about the following, we will suggest to use this App. - I don't know what the plot looks like - I can't organize the flow of the story and get confused - I want to create attractive characters, want to organize relationships - Lots of incidents, but unmanageable. This app is fully packed with the essences of more than 15 script reference books, including "Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting" and “save the cat”, called the scripture Bible. This app will lead you to an interesting screenplay !!! ** Features ** This app have - Idea Note - Plot Note and - Plot creation function So, You can easily create plot using stored idea!! In addition, functions also available to support you. - Brainstorming with AI - Correlation & Family Tree with Character setting - Time series with World Setting - Theme Setting By deepening these, you can escape from stack writing plot ** Postscript ** Unless you have permission, this App does not send any creative data to the internet, so you can use it safe. ** SubScribe ** For $4/month, we offer automatic data synchronization across multiple devices. All features other than automatic data synchronization will continue to be available free of charge. ** Terms and Conditions ** Please see this link for the Terms and Conditions By installing the application, you agree to the Terms and Conditions. Terms and Conditions : https://storyplotter.net/term/pc/en.html Privacy Policy : https://storyplotter.net/privacypolicy/pc/en.html

Screenshots

Slugline4 screens
Story Plotter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Story Plotter at Free against Slugline's $19.99. Story Plotter also leads on rating (4.4 vs 2.6) and review sentiment (80% vs 40%). Slugline's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4). On ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Story Plotter is free to download; Slugline costs $19.99 up front. Story Plotter sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Slugline asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Story Plotter holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Story Plotter has 193 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of Slugline's written reviews are positive against 80% of Story Plotter's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Slugline ships an update every 2 months, Story Plotter every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Slugline versus Story Plotter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSluglineStory Plotter
Price$19.99Free — better
Rating2.6 (14 ratings)4.4 (193 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews80.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings14193 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB193 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAct Focused Media LLCHajime Hata

Customer experience

Slugline

All ratings14 ratings
Positive35.7%
Neutral7.1%
Negative57.1%
Written reviews80 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral13.8%
Negative46.3%

Story Plotter

All ratings193 ratings
Positive83.9%
Neutral7.3%
Negative8.8%
Written reviews126 reviews
Positive80.2%
Neutral10.3%
Negative9.5%

Bugs and requests

Slugline

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Story Plotter

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Deleting previous work without warning
  • Crashing when trying to edit thumbnails or move characters
  • Syncing and data transfer issues between devices
  • Bluetooth keyboard compatibility problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to pull photos from external sources
  • Implement a collaborative feature for co-writing
  • Add more customization options for character profiles
  • Improve the character relationship diagram functionality
  • Expand timeline options beyond just years/months/days

In-app purchases

None

Slugline

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Story Plotter

Subscriptions2
  • Data Sync(half price)7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Device Synchronize7 Days trial$3.491 Month
One-time2
  • Number of Image Generations$0.49
  • Releasing AI Limitations$2.99

Questions

Is Slugline free?
Slugline costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Story Plotter free?
Story Plotter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Slugline or Story Plotter?
Story Plotter is rated higher. Slugline averages 2.6 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while Story Plotter averages 4.4 from 193 ratings.
Do Slugline or Story Plotter have ads?
Neither Slugline nor Story Plotter shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Slugline or Story Plotter?
Slugline ships an update every 2 months, and Story Plotter every 2 weeks. Most recently, Slugline was updated on October 16, 2026 and Story Plotter on October 15, 2026.

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