Comparison

Screenplay vs Piccolo

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

Head to head
About

Screenplay

This app offers a streamlined approach to writing screenplays on Apple devices, featuring automatic industry formatting and powerful navigation tools. It supports seamless syncing across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with optional AI assistance for enhanced writing speed and quality.

Highlights
  • Automatic industry formatting
  • Seamless iCloud sync across devices
  • Scene and character indexing
  • Beat board and index card planning
  • Import and export various script formats
  • Optional AI writing assistance
Features
Read full description

SCREENPLAY – WRITE AND CREATE YOUR SCRIPT ANYWHERE Screenplay has been featured by Apple in the Apps We Love collection on the App Store. Screenplay is the fast, modern way to write screenplays on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Designed for both new writers and working creators, Screenplay gives you automatic industry formatting, powerful navigation tools, and optional AI assistance to help you write better and faster. Whether you’re drafting a short film, pilot, or feature, Screenplay keeps everything simple, clean, and focused on your story. FEATURES • AUTOMATIC FORMATTING that follows real screenplay standards as you type • WRITE ANYWHERE across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with seamless iCloud sync • SCENE INDEX for fast navigation and instant access to any scene • CHARACTER INDEX with appearance attributes and complete dialog view • MINI-MAP VIEW for a full structural overview (iPad and Mac) • BEAT BOARD MANAGER with visual scene images and beat lists • INDEX CARDS for notes, ideas, and planning • SMART IMPORT for FDX, Fountain, TXT, and PDF with automatic PDF conversion • EASY EXPORT to FDX, Fountain, TXT, and PDF AI ASSISTANT (SUBSCRIPTION) • SCRIPT STARTER generates a 1–10 page screenplay draft from a short idea • ELEMENT PROOFING offers optional rewrites for Action and Dialog lines • SCENE PROOFING reviews an entire scene with suggestions you control • AI BEAT BOARDS create a visual collage and beat summary for any scene Perfect for beginners who need guidance and professionals who want a faster scriptwriting workflow. WHY SCREENPLAY A beautifully simple, writer-first screenwriting app designed to reduce clutter and remove friction. Screenplay adapts to your process, not the other way around. SCREENPLAY IS BACK One of the first screenwriting apps on the App Store returns — fully reimagined for today’s writers. Start your screenplay now. SUBSCRIPTIONS SCREENPLAY offers auto-renewal subscription. Please read the following about the auto-renewable nature of subscriptions: • Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. • Subscription automatically renews at the end of your current subscription period unless auto-renewal is turned off at least 24 hours prior to end of the current period. • You can manage or turn off auto-renewal in your Apple ID Account Settings any time after purchase. • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. • Privacy policy - https://www.blackmanastudios.com/screenplay-privacy-policy/ • Terms of use - https://www.blackmanastudios.com/screenplay-terms-and-conditions/

About

Piccolo

This app centralizes family life by organizing schedules, school events, health information, and meals. It features a flyer scanner to automatically add school dates and allows sharing with co-parents and caregivers. Designed for privacy, it offers a calm, ad-free experience for managing household tasks.

Highlights
  • Family calendar and child schedules
  • School flyer scanning for event import
  • Family medicine and health tracker
  • Meal planner and grocery list
  • Chores, rewards, and allowance tracking
  • Co-parent and caregiver sharing
  • Memory journal for family moments
Features
Read full description

Piccolo is the calm, private parent planner and family home hub built to make everyday family life easier. Keep every child’s schedule, school event, medicine reminder, meal, chore, and important family detail together. Snap a photo of a school flyer and Piccolo reads the dates for you, turning Spirit Week, picture day, field trips, and other school activities into calendar events in seconds. Share your household calendar with a co-parent, keep caregivers informed, organize family health information, and know what everyone needs without clutter, ads, or selling your family’s data. ONE PLACE TO RUN FAMILY LIFE • FAMILY CALENDAR & CHILD SCHEDULES See everyone’s schedule in one color-coded family calendar. Organize events by child and set reminders for everything that matters. • SCHOOL ORGANIZER & FLYER SCANNER Point your camera at a school flyer and let Piccolo find the dates and details. Review the events, then add them to your calendar without entering everything by hand. • FAMILY MEDICINE TRACKER Organize medicine and dose schedules, set reminders, and keep allergies, doctors, health details, and growth notes together for each child. • MEAL PLANNER & GROCERY LIST Plan family meals, build grocery lists quickly, and use a clean in-store shopping mode when it is time to shop. • CHORES, REWARDS & ALLOWANCE Assign chores, track allowance, and create simple family routines that help everyone contribute. • CO-PARENT & CAREGIVER SHARING Keep both households in sync with shared schedules and important family details. Make the information a sitter, grandparent, coach, or caregiver needs easier to find. • FAMILY EMERGENCY CARD Keep allergies, medications, emergency contacts, and essential medical information ready to share in one tap. • MEMORY JOURNAL Capture milestones and the everyday moments you never want to forget. CALM, PRIVATE HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT Piccolo brings schedules, school, health, meals, chores, and family information into one thoughtfully designed app for iPhone and iPad. No ads. No noisy feeds. No selling your family’s data. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your family’s data belongs to you. We never sell it or share it with advertisers. Piccolo’s AI works in two ways. On supported iPhones and iPads with Apple Intelligence, features such as school flyer scanning can run entirely on your device. Some features, as well as devices without on-device AI, use our privacy-bound AI partner. Only the minimum information a feature needs is sent. It is never used to train an AI model and is deleted after a short retention window. AI is enabled only after one-time parental consent, and you can opt out at any time. Piccolo is built to comply with COPPA, CCPA/CPRA, and GDPR. TRY PICCOLO FREE Try every feature free for 7 days. After your trial, continue for $6.99 per month or $49.99 per year. Cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. Made by Ctrl Software Labs, a small family-owned studio in Texas building joyful tools for everyday life. Questions? Email contact@heypiccolo.com. Privacy Policy: https://heypiccolo.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://heypiccolo.com/terms Payment is charged to your Apple Account when your purchase is confirmed. Your subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. Manage or cancel your subscription in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions.

Screenshots

Screenplay4 screens
Piccolo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Piccolo at 5.0 against Screenplay's 4.0. Screenplay's advantage is ratings volume (25 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Screenplay sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Piccolo sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Piccolo holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Screenplay has 25 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Screenplay ships an update every 2 months, Piccolo every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Screenplay versus Piccolo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScreenplayPiccolo
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (25 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews56.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings25 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size469 MB22 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperBlack Mana Studios Group LLCCtrl Software Labs, LLC

Customer experience

Screenplay

All ratings25 ratings
Positive76.0%
Neutral12.0%
Negative12.0%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive56.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative24.0%

Piccolo

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Screenplay

Subscriptions6
  • Standard Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • AI Monthly Subscription$12.991 Month
  • AI Plus Monthly Subscription$24.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Standard Annual Subscription$29.991 Year
  • AI Annual Subscription$129.991 Year
  • AI Plus Annual Subscription$249.991 Year
3 purchases

Piccolo

Subscriptions3
  • Piccolo Monthly7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Piccolo Founding7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Piccolo Annual7 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Screenplay free?
Screenplay is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Piccolo free?
Piccolo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Screenplay or Piccolo?
Piccolo is rated higher. Screenplay averages 4.0 out of 5 from 25 ratings, while Piccolo averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Screenplay or Piccolo have ads?
Neither Screenplay nor Piccolo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Screenplay or Piccolo?
Screenplay ships an update every 2 months, and Piccolo every 3 months. Most recently, Screenplay was updated on October 15, 2026 and Piccolo on October 12, 2026.

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