Script Breakdowns vs SmartBreakdown
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Script Breakdowns
This app helps filmmakers and screenwriters organize their scripts by creating scenes, tagging specific elements like characters and props, and adding notes. It supports real-time collaboration and integrates with other production tools, allowing for easy export of data.
- Scene creation and management
- Element tagging (cast, props, wardrobe, etc.)
- Customizable categories
- File and photo attachments
- Real-time collaboration
- Script import (PDF, Fountain)
- PDF and CSV export
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Breakdowns — create scenes, tag elements, and break down every detail of your script. Scene Management — build your scene list manually or import from a PDF or Fountain script. Categories — tag cast, background actors, wardrobe, props, set dressing, vehicles, weapons, animals, and greenery. Custom Categories — create your own categories with custom names, icons, and colors. Attachments — upload photos and files to any item with captions and thumbnails. Comments — add notes to scenes and collaborate with your team. Collaboration — invite and work together in real time. Search — search across scenes, characters, props, locations, and more. Integration — connects with Shot Lists to keep your production in sync. Exporting — export in both PDF and CSV.
SmartBreakdown
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SmartBreakdown turns a screenplay into a breakdown your department can work from — prepared on Mac, carried onto set on iPad, checked on iPhone between set-ups. Nothing leaves your device. No account, no cloud, no uploads — even the semantic search runs locally. For unreleased material under NDA, that is not an extra. It is the condition. READ THE SCREENPLAY Import a PDF and SmartBreakdown finds the scenes: headings, scene numbers, length in eighths, DAY/NIGHT and INT/EXT. Dialogue stays dialogue and action stays action, so the screenplay reads the way it was written. Scans work too, and any heading the app is unsure of is shown for you to check, not quietly guessed. BREAK IT DOWN YOUR WAY Name your own departments, give them your production's colours and a symbol, and assign them to any scene. Write notes per department — with formatting — attach reference images and videos, and highlight passages in the screenplay itself. Props, Sound, Video Playback, VFX, Costume: each department sees what concerns it, and nothing else. MARK UP WITH APPLE PENCIL On iPad, pick up the marker pen and draw across the screenplay with Apple Pencil — a highlighter on paper, except that what it leaves behind can be filtered and exported. Your finger keeps scrolling while the pencil marks. Double-tap the pencil to switch department, and write notes by hand with Scribble. COST IT Put an estimate on any note — two phones, a rain bar, three doubles. Totals add up per scene, per department and across any scenes you choose, go into the PDF and Excel exports, and the app always shows what still has no amount. SCRIPT, STORY DAY AND CONTINUITY Every scene carries a running time, a story day and the clock time it plays at. Running times start as estimates from the scene's length and give way to the times you measure. See every scene of story day 2 at a tap, and know what the phone in shot or the watch in costume has to show. A NEW DRAFT KEEPS YOUR WORK Read in a revision without starting over. Departments, notes and markings hang on scene numbers, not on page positions. Coloured stripes in the margin show what each draft changed — blue pages, pink pages, as on paper — and you mark them as reviewed as you go. THE SHOOTING SCHEDULE Import a Movie Magic one-line schedule and the shooting days are linked to their scenes. Open a day to see its scenes in shooting order, with page count, running time, story days and your department's workload. FIND SCENES BY MEANING Search for "phone screen", "someone gets a message" or "computer in the background" and find the scenes, even where the screenplay puts it in other words. EXPORT WHAT IS NEEDED, NOTHING MORE PDF and Excel reports filtered by department, scenes, episode or shooting day: the full breakdown, one department, a handful of scenes or a day sheet. Send a production — or one department's work alone — to a colleague as a single file, by AirDrop or any other way, and merge their changes back when it returns. YOUR WORK STAYS YOURS A production is a single file: save it, move it between devices, carry on where you left off. Open, read, print and export it — always, with or without a subscription. TRY IT FREE No screenplay to hand? Open the demo production: a fictional episode with a finished breakdown — departments, notes with estimates, marked passages, a shooting schedule and two draft revisions. 14 days with every feature unlocked. No account required. SMARTBREAKDOWN PRO Auto-renewing subscription: EUR 12.99 per month or EUR 99.99 per year; prices vary by region. A one-off purchase is also available. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://smart-app.dev/SmartBreakdown/support/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
Script Breakdowns and SmartBreakdown are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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. Script Breakdowns sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and SmartBreakdown sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Script Breakdowns ships an update weekly, SmartBreakdown every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Script Breakdowns | SmartBreakdown |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 10 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 18 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Davin Nguyen | Stefan Hollekamp |
In-app purchases
Script Breakdowns
- Plus Monthly14 Days trial$7.991 Month
- Pro Monthly14 Days trial$24.991 Month
- Plus Month Pass$7.99
- Pro Month Pass$24.99
SmartBreakdown
- Pro — monthly$11.991 Month
- Pro — yearly$89.991 Year
- SmartBreakdown Pro — one-off$229.00
Questions
Is Script Breakdowns free?
Is SmartBreakdown free?
Do Script Breakdowns or SmartBreakdown have ads?
Which is updated more often, Script Breakdowns or SmartBreakdown?
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