Comparison

Highland Pro 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

Highland Pro

This writing application offers a streamlined and distraction-free environment for crafting screenplays, scripts, and novels. It provides innovative tools for organization, research, and formatting, ensuring a focus on creativity. Available across Mac, iPad, and iPhone, it supports professional writing workflows.

Highlights
  • Distraction-free writing environment
  • Integrated lookup for quick research
  • Organize notes and ideas with The Shelf
  • Professional title page and custom page creation
  • Overview of entire document structure
  • Grammar and character highlighting
  • Import/export Fountain, Final Draft, and PDFs
Features
Read full description

Highland Pro is a better screenwriting app — one you’ll want to use for everything you write. Highland’s clean design and innovative writing tools help you focus on your story, not formatting. With full support for Mac, iPad, and iPhone, you can write scripts, screenplays, and novels anytime, anywhere. “Highland is just a cleaner, purer way to be creative.” — Phil Lord, Writer/Director of The Lego Movie, 21 & 22 Jump Street . . . . . F E A T U R E S . . . . . Created by screenwriter and novelist John August, Highland Pro is built by writers, for writers. Its distraction-free tools help you get things written: •/Lookup. (NEW!) Get quick answers — definitions, rhymes, world facts — without leaving your draft. •The Shelf. (NEW!) Store snippets, notes, and ideas. Afraid to cut dialogue? Save it while you write. •Title Page Builder. (NEW!) Build professional title pages that meet script formatting standards. •Custom Pages. (NEW!) Add prefaces, cast lists, or production breakdowns to any screenplay or script. •Overview. (NEW!) See your entire screenplay, script, or novel in one view. Highlight characters, scenes, and more. •Grammar Highlight. (NEW!) Strengthen writing by exploring nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in your document. •The Navigator. (Improved!) Track your story’s structure — what you’ve written and what’s next. •Headers and Footers. (Improved!) Add custom headers and footers to your script or draft. •Templates. (Improved!) Choose from 14 writing templates, including Screenplay, Multi-Cam, and Manuscript. •Themes. (Improved!) Customize your writing environment with 12 themes or build your own. •Revision Mode. Track changes with color and margin stars. •Writing Sprints. Boost output with timed, focused writing sessions. •Full Screen Mode. Create in a clean, distraction-free environment. •In-line Notes & Synopses. Keep beats and screenplay notes inside your draft. . . . . . S C R E E N W R I T E R S . . . . . Highland Pro is made for screenwriters working on film, TV, or any professional writing project. •Compatibility. Import/export Fountain, Final Draft (.fdx), and PDFs, perfect for studio workflows. •Autocomplete. Type faster with smart suggestions for character names and scene headers. •Character Highlighting. Organize characters visually in the writing interface and exports. •Gender Analysis. Analyze gender representation across your script or novel. •Scene Numbering. Automatic scene numbering, including custom ranges, essential for professional scripts. •PDF Melting. Highland’s exclusive tool “melts” Final Draft and Fountain PDFs for full editing. . . . . . A D V A N T A G E S . . . . . Highland Pro is built for today’s professional writers, whether writing a first screenplay or polishing a production draft. •Excellent Performance. From scrolling to previews, Highland is fast, using native Apple technologies. •Great Typography. Beautiful, readable fonts optimized for screenwriting and long-form writing. •Standards-Leading. From the creators of Fountain, Highland speaks Fountain and Markdown fluently. . . . . . S U B S C R I P T I O N . . . . . After a free 30-day trial, your subscription unlocks ALL FEATURES and supports Highland’s development. If your subscription lapses, Highland Pro still opens, prints, and exports documents in compatible formats. You’re never locked in. . . . . . S U P P O R T . . . . . The in-app “Welcome to Highland” tutorial walks you through the features. We also have an extensive FAQ available in-app and online: http://quoteunquoteapps.com Questions? Use the Help menu or email: support@quoteunquoteapps.com . . . . .P R I V A C Y . . . . . We’re fully committed to respecting your privacy and your content. For details, visit:https://support.quoteunquoteapps.com/privacy-policy . . . . . E U L A . . . . . https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

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

Highland Pro4 screens
Southwind Screenplay4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Southwind Screenplay at none against Highland Pro's 2. Southwind Screenplay also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 weeks) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). 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. Highland Pro sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Southwind Screenplay asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Highland Pro ships an update every 3 weeks, Southwind Screenplay every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Highland Pro versus Southwind Screenplay: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHighland ProSouthwind Screenplay
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (27 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews45.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings27 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size58 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperQuote-Unquote LLCAhmet Emirhan Korkmaz

Bugs and requests

Highland Pro

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Sync deleting draft documents
  • Preview mode not remembering last position
  • Crashes and data loss on iPad

Requested features

3 requests
  • Customizable color themes
  • Export options beyond PDF
  • Retain free version for students

Southwind Screenplay

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Highland Pro

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly1 Month trial$9.991 Month
  • Yearly1 Month trial$59.991 Year
None

Southwind Screenplay

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Highland Pro free?
Highland Pro 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 Highland Pro or Southwind Screenplay have ads?
Neither Highland Pro nor Southwind Screenplay shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Highland Pro or Southwind Screenplay?
Highland Pro ships an update every 3 weeks, and Southwind Screenplay every 3 days. Most recently, Highland Pro was updated on November 5, 2026 and Southwind Screenplay on October 31, 2026.

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