Comparison

Name Dice by Thinkamingo vs Save the Cat!

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

Head to head
About

Name Dice by Thinkamingo

Generate unique fictional names for characters with a vast library of first and last name combinations. Perfect for writers seeking inspiration, this app offers an easy way to find fitting names quickly, helping to maintain writing flow.

Highlights
  • Hundreds of first and last names
  • Endless name combinations
  • Tap for new suggestions
  • Simple and easy to use
  • Writing exercise prompts
Features
Read full description

Name Dice is a simple tool to create interesting fictional names. This app includes hundreds of first and last names, resulting in nearly endless name combinations. Featured in MakeUseOf’s “4 iPhone/iPad Apps For Brainstorming Writing Ideas, Plots, & Characters” Name Dice has received numerous 5-star reviews from writers of all ages and levels! “I have NEVER been able to come up with names out of the blue when I'm in full writing mode! Sometimes I even put symbols in the text for names so I don't have to interrupt the flow of the story. With Name Dice, problem solved, quickly and easily. There's no complicated thing you need to do to open or close the app. Just a couple of taps and you have a random name for your character before you can say 'Holy Shakespeare!'” - E D Stewart “This app is definitely one of my favorites. I've never really been that good with creating names for anything but the app more than makes up for my weak point. Most if not all names fit together perfectly and sound natural. There are no forced or absurd names each name is so strong that I feel as if the character practically comes to life as soon as I read it.” - Keystat Stuck on a name? Tap the screen for a new suggestion. If you don’t like that one, tap it again! It’s that easy! Suggested exercises: Draw Me: Roll a name, sketch a picture of that person. Who Am I?: Roll a name, write down 5 likes and 5 dislikes. Family Tree: Roll a name, then make a family tree. Who are the parents? Grandparents? Friends: Roll 5 names and figure out how they all know each other. Chess club? School? Retirement home? Archenemies: Roll 2 names. What’s their conflict? Secret Crush: Roll a name. What makes this person your secret crush? Summer Vacation: Roll a name. Write a paragraph about what this person did on their summer vacation. Most Wanted: Roll a name. Make a “Most Wanted” poster with a mugshot, why they are wanted, and reward amount. It’s a Girl/Boy!: Roll a name and make a baby announcement for them. Nobel Prize Winner: Roll a name. Write a paragraph about them and why they won a Nobel Prize. World Traveler: Roll a name. Write a short description of this adventurer and their adventures.

About

Save the Cat!

This app helps writers structure stories for screenplays, novels, and TV episodes using a proven methodology. It guides you through developing loglines, genres, beat sheets, and scene organization with features for emotional arcs and character development.

Highlights
  • Develop logline and title
  • Choose from 10 story genres
  • Complete Blake Snyder Beat Sheet (BS2)
  • Organize scenes with 'the Board'
  • Track character arcs
  • Create emotional changes per scene
  • Sync files across devices
Features
Read full description

All new version, built from the ground up using Apple's standard, master-detail style for full compatibility with iOS functionality including Dark Mode. Even if you don't own the desktop version of Save the Cat!®, you can still use this amazing tool, touted as the "secret weapon" of the working writer, to help build better, more powerful stories, with greater resonance and emotional impact. Whenever your creative juices start flowing you'll have this revolutionary app, which is based on Blake Snyder's best-selling books and software, at your fingertips. You'll delight in the ability to structure your screenplay, teleplay, stageplay or novel the Save the Cat!® way. By incorporating the methods, tips and tactics found in the Save the Cat!® series of books on story structure, this application will help you to: * Develop a powerful Logline and Title * Choose one of the 10 unique Save the Cat!® Genres * Complete a Blake Snyder Beat Sheet (BS2) with variations for screenplays, novels, and 1/2 hour and 1 hour tv episodes. * Use “the Board” to create cards for each scene and arrange them in the perfect order and to track character arcs and other important aspects of your story. Just long-press on a scene or other element in the Board then pick what you want to insert at that point. * Add sequences to combine multiple scenes. * Add labels to the Board to keep track of important points. * Create Emotional Changes for each and every scene * Create Set-ups and Payoffs as your protagonist progresses through the story Sync your files across devices. This is a manual process so you're in complete control as to when you post and download your changes. Just create an account and login on all your devices. If you had a Save the Cat! account for the website or for when you purchased STC, that will not work here. You'll need to create a new account. You can even add one or more writing partners to your project and sync your changes with them if you have the Premium or Pro level. Enter the username for their new STC account. The free version allows you to add projects and work on your title, logline, genre, and the beat sheet. Many of the features listed below require an in-app purchase. Essentials has all the basic functionality you need to develop a screenplay, novel, or tv episode with characters, locations set-ups, and pay-offs. Premium adds the ability to track things or objects, and relationships. You'll also be able to develop a novel by chapters instead of using a beat sheet. Pro adds the ability to develop an entire series of movies or novels that use all the same characters, locations, things, and relationships and to track their stories across the entire series. You can also develop an entire tv series with multiple seasons. Other cool updates include the ability to have multiple versions of your beat sheet and multiple versions of your board for each beat sheet. Much improved script typing. And, if you're working on a novel, just type in your manuscript with proper formatting. All new facts section keeping track of important facts ("Bible" for tv writers) for characters, locations and other entities. Add important elements for characters, locations and other entities that you need to track through the story. Add the character or entity to the Board and track those items through the story. As always you can add attachments such as photos, pdf's, and other important research documents so you have everything at your fingertips.

Screenshots

Name Dice by Thinkamingo4 screens
Save the Cat!4 screens

Verdict

The call

Name Dice by Thinkamingo and Save the Cat! both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 79% of Name Dice by Thinkamingo's written reviews are positive against 38% of Save the Cat!'s. Name Dice by Thinkamingo also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10). Save the Cat!'s advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 9 months) and ratings volume (472 vs 143). On price, rating, 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. Save the Cat! sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Name Dice by Thinkamingo asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Save the Cat! holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 143 and 472 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 79% of Name Dice by Thinkamingo's written reviews are positive against 38% of Save the Cat!'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Name Dice by Thinkamingo ships an update every 9 months, Save the Cat! every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Name Dice by Thinkamingo versus Save the Cat!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterName Dice by ThinkamingoSave the Cat!
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (143 ratings)4.7 (472 ratings) — better
Positive reviews79.0% of reviews — better37.8% of reviews
Number of ratings143472 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThinkamingoBlake Snyder Enterprises

Customer experience

Name Dice by Thinkamingo

All ratings143 ratings
Positive88.1%
Neutral6.3%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews124 reviews
Positive79.0%
Neutral12.9%
Negative8.1%

Save the Cat!

All ratings471 ratings
Positive91.1%
Neutral3.0%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews45 reviews
Positive37.8%
Neutral15.6%
Negative46.7%

User reviews

Name Dice by Thinkamingo

From 143 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Helpful for writers
  • 💡 Generates realistic names
  • ❤️ Great for character creation

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
  • 🔊 Loud sound effects
  • 📚 Limited name selection
  • 🎨 Lacks diversity in names

Save the Cat!

From 472 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✍️ Excellent script outlining tool
  • 🎯 Effective Save the Cat methodology implementation
  • 📱 Good mobile app functionality
  • 🔄 Syncing between devices works well
  • 🎨 Visual board feature enhances creativity

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription model with limited free features
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 🔐 Website login problems
  • 📝 Poor UI/UX design and clunky interface
  • 💾 Data loss and unsaved work issues

Bugs and requests

Name Dice by Thinkamingo

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Screen freezes on startup
  • Inconsistent name generation

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add gender filters for names
  • Allow users to add custom names
  • Implement name search/sorting options
  • Expand name database to include more cultures

Save the Cat!

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • App crashes when opening Board feature
  • Beat selection stuck in window mode
  • Login credentials rejected on website
  • Crashes every 10-15 minutes
  • Unable to upload attachments
Show 7 more
  • Text field entrapment - unable to exit beat field
  • Work disappears without explanation
  • iPad version won't sync to desktop version
  • App not available in certain countries/regions
  • Glitchy and unresponsive desktop version
  • Manual save required - no auto-save on crash
  • UI labels cut off in both orientations

Requested features

11 requests
  • Monthly subscription or free trial option
  • Spanish language support
  • Downloadable desktop app with same login credentials
  • Printable outline/board export
  • Scrivener export functionality
Show 6 more
  • Larger font size adjustment
  • Actual board layout with pinch-to-zoom on mobile
  • Auto-save functionality like Google Docs
  • Automatic app access with book purchase
  • Desktop version for Mac with full feature parity
  • Genre description snapshots in selection

In-app purchases

None

Name Dice by Thinkamingo

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Save the Cat!

Subscriptions6
  • Essentials Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Premium Monthly Subscription$3.991 Month
  • Pro Monthly Subscription$4.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Essentials Subscription$21.991 Year
  • Premium Subscription$29.991 Year
  • Pro Subscription$39.991 Year
One-time4
  • Upgrade Premium to Pro$9.99
  • Unlock Essentials$21.99
  • Unlock Premium$29.99
Show 1 more
  • Unlock Pro$39.99

Questions

Is Name Dice by Thinkamingo free?
Name Dice by Thinkamingo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Save the Cat! free?
Save the Cat! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Name Dice by Thinkamingo or Save the Cat!?
Save the Cat! is rated higher. Name Dice by Thinkamingo averages 4.5 out of 5 from 143 ratings, while Save the Cat! averages 4.7 from 472 ratings.
Do Name Dice by Thinkamingo or Save the Cat! have ads?
Neither Name Dice by Thinkamingo nor Save the Cat! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Name Dice by Thinkamingo or Save the Cat!?
Name Dice by Thinkamingo ships an update every 9 months, and Save the Cat! every 2 months. Most recently, Name Dice by Thinkamingo was updated on October 26, 2026 and Save the Cat! on October 23, 2026.

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