CardBeat vs Arc Studio Screenwriting
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CardBeat
This app provides a digital cork board for writers to plot novels, screenplays, or short stories. It allows users to break down stories into acts, sequences, and scenes, and rearrange them freely. Users can customize cards with colors, lines, or grids, and choose from various drawing tools or keyboard input.
- Digital cork board for story plotting
- Structure stories into acts, sequences, and scenes
- Rearrange plot elements freely
- Customizable cards with colors and backgrounds
- Multiple drawing tools and keyboard input
- Export boards as PDF
- iCloud syncing
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A digital corkboard for plotting your novel, screenplay or short story. CardBeat keeps all the fun things about index cards – and gets rid of all the rest. Break your story into acts, sequences and scenes. Put each beat on a card, pin it to the board and shuffle until the structure works – without wasting ink or paper. WRITE YOUR WAY - Handwrite with Apple Pencil or just your finger – pens, pencils, markers and brushes in any color. - Prefer typing? Every card takes keyboard input, too. - Choose blank, lined, dotted or grid cards in different colors to track characters, subplots or timelines. SEE THE WHOLE STORY - Place cards anywhere on the board – no rows, columns or table cells. Turn on snap-to-grid when you want things tidy. - Zoom out for the big picture, zoom in to work on a single scene. - Working in a writers' room? Connect a TV, monitor or projector and show a clean view of the board while you plot. SHARE AND SYNC - Your boards stay in sync across iPhone and iPad with iCloud – or turn sync off with a single switch. - Export a board as a PDF for feedback, or as a CardBeat file your co-writer can import and keep working on. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No accounts, no ads, no third-party analytics. CardBeat doesn't collect any data. FREE TO START Plot up to two boards for free. Unlock unlimited boards with a one-time purchase – no subscription.
Arc Studio Screenwriting
This app streamlines the entire screenwriting process, from initial idea generation to a polished script. It offers automatic professional formatting, advanced outlining tools, and real-time collaborative writing features. Worry-free editing with version history ensures your work is always safe.
- Automatic industry-standard formatting
- Advanced beat-board for story visualization
- Real-time collaborative writing
- Intuitive outlining and story structure tools
- Version history and worry-free editing
- Import/export Final Draft, PDF, Fountain
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Arc Studio Pro supports your screenwriting process from idea to finished script: * Format your script according to professional industry standards without even thinking about it * Write with flow, thanks to distraction-free, thoughtful design * From idea to story: Outline and visualize your story-structure with the most advanced beat-board available * Collaborate: Write with others in real-time, receive feedback and margin notes directly in your script PROFESSIONAL FORMATTING Arc Studio Pro automatically formats your screenplay to industry standards, even if you don’t know what they are. It’s super-easy to use for beginners and fully-customizable for pros. * Fully automatic, industry standard page layout and text formatting * Import and export Final Draft, PDF, and Fountain * Use intuitive shortcuts to format your text perfectly and effortlessly * The most advanced autocompletion on the market: Character names and sluglines automatically completed for you, for faster typing and consistent naming. * Elements are chosen for you based on what's most likely, and can be configured. KEEP IT FLOWING Stay focused thanks to state of the art design. Write with ease and only think about your story, not the page margins or when you saved the last time. * Intuitive interface * Autosave and automatic backups for worry-free writing * Super-pretty night mode CRAFT YOUR STORY Arc Studio Pro takes you beyond just formatting, and helps you build your story with the most powerful outlining features on the market. * Build your story from basic elements: plots, characters, and locations * Add beats and organize them in acts or sequences * Rearrange your story with intuitive drag & drop * Tag your beats with plots and characters, for intuitive color coding * Highlight certain storylines and characters to see their arcs at a glance TEAM WORK Arc Studio Pro is the screenwriting app that focuses most on collaboration. Screenwriting is often teamwork, so we want to make it as easy as possible for you to work together - that’s why we offer the most sophisticated collaborative writing tools on the market. * Write at the same time in the same document in real-time * Invite collaborators with one click via email * Comment directly on the script * Request reviews and send read-only excerpts WORRY-FREE EDITING Tying to find a certain scene or deleted dialogue? Miss a bit of text? Arc Studio Pro keeps track of all your edits and makes it easy for you and your collaborators to recover previous versions. Never search through piles of papers, different documents or endless emails again. * Search and manage your history with ease * Track your own changes * See who what others changed – who and when * Delete and recover whole scenes thanks to sophisticated history features PAY-AS-YOU-GO Arc Studio on iOS and iPadOS requires an annual Pro subscription. A 7-day free trial is included. PRIVACY AND TERMS Privacy policy: https://www.arcstudiopro.com/privacy Terms and Conditions: https://www.arcstudiopro.com/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: CardBeat at free with in-app purchases against Arc Studio Screenwriting's subscription. Arc Studio Screenwriting's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. CardBeat sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Arc Studio Screenwriting sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $99.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.5 for CardBeat against 3.4 for Arc Studio Screenwriting. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 33 and 85 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 46% of CardBeat's written reviews are positive against 39% of Arc Studio Screenwriting's.
CardBeat ships an update every 2 months, Arc Studio Screenwriting every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CardBeat | Arc Studio Screenwriting |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (33 ratings) — better | 3.4 (85 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 45.8% of reviews — better | 39.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 33 | 85 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 65 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stefan Stuckmann | Arc Studio Labs, Inc. |
Customer experience
CardBeat
Arc Studio Screenwriting
In-app purchases
CardBeat
- Unlimited Story Boards$19.99
Arc Studio Screenwriting
- Pro$99.991 Year
Questions
Is CardBeat free?
Is Arc Studio Screenwriting free?
Which has better reviews, CardBeat or Arc Studio Screenwriting?
Do CardBeat or Arc Studio Screenwriting have ads?
Which is updated more often, CardBeat or Arc Studio Screenwriting?
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