Comparison

WritersDB vs Revision Screenwriter

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

Head to head
About

WritersDB

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WritersDB (The Writer’s Database) is a free web application designed to help writers manage the business of writing. You can keep track of the titles you’ve written, the markets to which you submit, and the status of each submission. With the web application can keep track of word counts for each title on an ongoing basis, and organize your titles into folders. You can search your markets based on a variety of factors, such as pay rate, typical response time, permitted word count, or custom tagging (for example, genres accepted). You can review your submission records to see which markets have already been tried for a particular manuscript, how long a market has taken to respond to you in the past, which manuscripts have sold, and more. The WritersDB mobile app is a companion to that web-based service. It provides convenient access to the functionality of the website, and the data you’ve stored there, on the go. Note that access via the mobile app, like the WritersDB API, is available to Pro-level users.

About

Revision Screenwriter

This app offers deep revision history and live draft comparison for screenwriters. It allows for multiple passes within revisions, live collaboration, and tagging of script elements for production breakdowns. It also generates scheduling files and supports various export formats.

Highlights
  • Deep revision history with line-by-line tracking
  • Multiple passes within revisions
  • Live collaboration with real-time editing
  • Tagging of script elements and scenes
  • Generate Movie Magic Scheduling files
  • Live draft comparison
  • Cross-platform compatibility (desktop, mobile, browser)
Features
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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

WritersDB4 screens
Revision Screenwriter3 screens

Verdict

The call

WritersDB and Revision Screenwriter are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
WritersDB versus Revision Screenwriter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWritersDBRevision Screenwriter
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequency—Daily
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.115.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCharles SchoenfeldMichael Sherman

In-app purchases

None

WritersDB

No in-app purchases

None

Revision Screenwriter

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is WritersDB free?
WritersDB is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Revision Screenwriter free?
Revision Screenwriter is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do WritersDB or Revision Screenwriter have ads?
Neither WritersDB nor Revision Screenwriter shows ads.

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