Open Draft Screenwriting vs Revision Screenwriter
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Open Draft Screenwriting
This free, open-source application offers professional screenplay formatting, real-time collaboration, and visual planning tools. It supports multiple export formats and is available across all major operating systems, providing a privacy-first writing experience.
- Professional screenplay formatting
- Real-time collaboration
- Beat boards and index cards
- Version history tracking
- Character profiles and production tools
- Export to PDF, FDX, Fountain, and TXT
- Cross-platform availability
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OpenDraft is a free, open-source screenwriting application — a modern alternative to Final Draft. PROFESSIONAL SCREENPLAY FORMATTING Write in industry-standard format with automatic element formatting for scene headings, action, character names, dialogue, and parentheticals. What you see is what you export. REAL-TIME COLLABORATION Co-write with your writing partner in real time with live cursors, just like Google Docs. No account required — just share a link and start writing together. BEAT BOARDS & INDEX CARDS Plan your story visually. Drag and drop scene cards, color-code acts, and restructure your screenplay without losing a single word. VERSION HISTORY Every save is tracked with Git-based version control. Compare drafts side by side, see exactly what changed, and restore any previous version instantly. CHARACTER PROFILES & PRODUCTION TOOLS Build character bibles, track dialogue stats, tag scenes for production, and manage your entire project from one place. EXPORT ANYWHERE Export to PDF, Final Draft (.fdx), Fountain, and plain text. Your work is never locked into a proprietary format. WORKS EVERYWHERE Available on macOS, iOS, Windows, Linux, and Android. Run it as a desktop app or self-host in your browser. WHY OPENDRAFT? - 100% free and open source (MIT license) - No subscription, no cloud lock-in - Works fully offline — no internet required - Privacy-first: no tracking, no analytics - Import from Final Draft, Fountain, and PDF
Revision Screenwriter
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Revision Screenwriter Because Writing Is Revision With deep revision history, live draft comparison, anywhere friendly software, and — OH YEAH, IT'S FREE! Made by a professional screenwriter for anyone who wants to write. Featuring Deep Revision History -- Click a line and SEE ITS HISTORY back through previous drafts, revisions, and passes. Passes Within Each Revision -- Need to have MULTIPLE WRITERS make distinguishable passes within the same revision? Want to keep track of six DIFFERENT NOTES PASSES from the studio, director, and producers? You can. You can have fifty passes in a single revision for all it cares, all tracked individually. Live Collaboration -- Collaborate with other writers over the internet, giving them access to the script to type, edit, chat, and be creative. The desktop Host initiates a session and shares an invite code that allows Guests on all platforms to join. You can make the script read only, follow other collaborators, insert notes, and do your writing thang. You can even create your own personal internet collaboration relay if you don't want to use the one that's built in. Tag Elements & Scenes Throughout Your Script -- Tag Cast Members, Stunts, Vehicles, Effects, or whatever your script entails and carry them forward through your scripting process. Manage Scene Overviews that will be used for production breakdowns when the time comes. Generate Populated Movie Magic Scheduling Files -- Use your tagged script to generate a POPULATED MOVIE MAGIC SCHEDULING .MSD that is ready for stripboarding. Skip the tedious importing and preparation process! Live Draft Comparison -- Load up specific drafts, revisions, or passes side by side (OR SIDE BY SIDE BY SIDE BY SIDE) and see the differences between them with live comparison. Desktop, Mobile & Browser Clients -- Download identical clients. You can even run it on any device that supports Chrome (or Chromium) web browser. Practically ANY DEVICE, SAME APP. Short Codes -- For Automated Formatting of Pasted Text -- Some of us write in unformatted text documents. With short codes, just add a C. in front of a character name or a D. in front of a dialogue line and it AUTOMATICALLY FORMATS INTO ELEMENTS when pasted. File Recovery -- AUTOMATED FILE CHECKPOINTS and RECOVERY BUILT in. More robust on desktop clients but present on all platforms to various degrees, because everyone hates lost work. Export to PDF, .fountain, .fadein, .fdx -- Write and do what you need to do with it. That's the whole point. And Plenty of Other Conveniences… Why Revision Exists? -- Screenwriting software has been mediocre to bad for decades. Because competition in the marketplace has been low to non-existent, the monopolies have remained in place with obscenely overpriced products that are buggy at best and nearly unusable at worst. NEWSFLASH! It doesn't have to be this way. We can have software that does everything writers need. We can have software that is loaded with tools to make our lives easier. We can have software that is fully customizable to our exacting needs. We can have software that works well on any computer or tablet or device that can run a web browser (yeah, even your phone, with itty bitty buttons). And because the needs of writers haven't changed in quite a few years (or decades?), there is no reason it shouldn't be free to those who want to use it. =D How It Works .revision Files -- Revision files are different than other traditional screenwriting save files in that they contain all drafts, revisions, and passes of your project via a version control system (in the spirit of git in coding), allowing you to see the history of every element from start to finish. Want to see when a line of dialogue got trimmed down? Check its Element History. Want to Compare the Blue Revision to the Yellow Revision? Open them up side by side using the History Pane and see highlights of what changed between them.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Revision Screenwriter at daily against Open Draft Screenwriting's every 6 days. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Open Draft Screenwriting ships an update every 6 days, Revision Screenwriter daily. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Open Draft Screenwriting | Revision Screenwriter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 42 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Base Information Management Pvt. Ltd. | Michael Sherman |
In-app purchases
Open Draft Screenwriting
No in-app purchases
Revision Screenwriter
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Open Draft Screenwriting free?
Is Revision Screenwriter free?
Do Open Draft Screenwriting or Revision Screenwriter have ads?
Which is updated more often, Open Draft Screenwriting or Revision Screenwriter?
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