Comparison

Screenplay vs Southwind Screenplay

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

Southwind Screenplay

Features
Read full description

Southwind is a screenplay editor that gets out of your way. Write the way the greats did — clean pages, Courier type, nothing between you and the story — while the app quietly handles the formatting. JUST WRITE Type INT. and it becomes a scene heading. Type a NAME IN CAPS and press Enter — it's a character cue, and the next line is dialogue. A "(" becomes a parenthetical. "CUT TO:" becomes a transition. You never stop to reach for a menu. GUIDED SCENE HEADINGS Start a slugline and Southwind offers the pieces: INT. / EXT. / I/E., then the locations you've already used in this script, then the time of day — DAY, NIGHT, DAWN, DUSK and more. It reads like it's holding your hand, not slowing you down. NINE ELEMENTS, ONE KEY Act, Scene Heading, Action, Character, Dialogue, Parenthetical, Transition, Shot, Text — switch with Tab or jump straight there. Proper margins, proper case, proper page breaks, automatically. A LIVING CAST & WORLD Every character and location is pulled from your script as you write — with line and scene counts, and day/night tallies. Give anyone a photo and a few notes: who they are, what they want, the contradictions underneath. Your story bible builds itself. YOURS, AND OFFLINE No account. No sign-up. No tracking. Your screenplay lives on your device and nowhere else. Southwind works with no connection at all. OPENS AND SAVES REAL FORMATS Import and export plain-text Fountain — the open screenwriting standard — so your work moves freely between tools. Or save the full .southwind file with your cast and world notes intact. Print or export a clean, industry-standard PDF with a title page. BUILT TO GROW Southwind is the first tool in RATE, a pipeline that carries a story from the page toward the screen. It starts here: the draft. Write like it's 1972. Let the machine keep the margins.

Screenshots

Screenplay4 screens
Southwind Screenplay4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Southwind Screenplay at none against Screenplay's 6. Southwind Screenplay also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and device support 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. Southwind Screenplay asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Screenplay ships an update every 2 months, Southwind Screenplay every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Screenplay versus Southwind Screenplay: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScreenplaySouthwind Screenplay
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (25 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews56.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings25 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size469 MB2 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperBlack Mana Studios Group LLCAhmet Emirhan Korkmaz

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
None

Southwind Screenplay

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Screenplay free?
Screenplay is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Southwind Screenplay free?
Southwind Screenplay is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Screenplay or Southwind Screenplay have ads?
Neither Screenplay nor Southwind Screenplay shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Screenplay or Southwind Screenplay?
Screenplay ships an update every 2 months, and Southwind Screenplay every 3 days. Most recently, Screenplay was updated on October 11, 2026 and Southwind Screenplay on October 14, 2026.

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