Screenwriting : Celtx vs Final Draft by Floyd Marshall Jr.

If you're a student it's cheaper.

I've been told by everyone I talk to final draft is the only program really being recognized right now, but I do know some people that use the other.

Celtx - The poor man's Final Draft

I've been using Final Draft for years and haven't been disappointed. Buy the newest platform on sale, then any upgrade later on can be downloaded for like $69. Once a Final Draft owner, they'll always honor you with the upgrade price no matter which version you have, long as you keep your owner number.

Final Draft is the industry standard. Movie Magic is making some headway in the industry because it can be used further into the film making process than Final Draft. Celtx is what amateur studios and writers can use until they can afford Final Draft. My $0.02 worth.

I use Movie Magic...

Movie Magic for me...

I use final draft, simply because it makes the writing process easier. It has tons of built in tools to help one write faster. Software does not write the screenplay for you, but if your script doesn't LOOK professional, the vast majority of professionals won't read it.

I've been told several times that Final Draft is the industry standard. If you're planning on screenwriting as a career, it seems worth the investment.

Gets the formatting out if the way so you can focus on the story itself:). Very user friendly.

No I wasn't paid by Final Draft to say that--lol

To me there's no point in using anything but Final Draft, it's the industry standard for a reason. I've used Celtx and don't like it. A great free program that I've used and is compatible with FD is Trelby. A good in-browser option is Raw Scripts. Also compatible with FD.

Fade In. It's $50. It works great and can open Final Draft files. http://www.fadeinpro.com/ The only thing Final Draft has over it, is that Final Draft is seen as the industry standard. That said, one of the templates you can use is set up to look like the default settings of Final Draft, so who's going to know (or care) what you wrote your script with? I realize Celtx would be cheaper still but I like the "What you see is what you get" layout of fade in and the fact that you don't need to be online for any of the features to work. Your license covers installation on multiple devices and different operating systems (including linux). So for your $50 you could download it onto your windows based desktop, your mac laptop, play with your file on your android phone (I've never used the mobile stuff so I can't vouch for it) and still install your software on that old laptop you're running linux on. Sure, if you have a job on a sitcom or something when you're writing with a team I can see why you all need the same software and Final Draft is probably what everyone else is using. If you're banging out specs on your own I don't think you really need to paying more than $50 any time soon.

If you are starting out then CeltX and Writers Duet are free, they take care of most aspects of formatting, so you can concentrate on writing... certainly everything you could really use/need is included. FD seems to be losing some traction and how long it remains 'industry standard' remains to be seen. For an amusing and occasionally uncomfortable discussion of the pros and cons of the latest FD check out episode 129 of Scriptnotes podcast - http://johnaugust.com/2014/the-one-with-the-guys-from-final-draft - the sort of responses that you hear from the FD guys don't fill you full of confidence. Personally I tend to use CeltX as I can flip between desktop and iPad easily... will go to FD and re-format only if I'm specifically asked to.

I use Movie Magic and I love it, but like the above posters have mentioned, there are cheaper/free alternatives. I'm currently co-writing with a director who uses Final Draft; he ended up giving me a free copy so we can work on the same doc. Score! :)

I'm using Celtx now myself. But I'm getting ready to invest in Final Draft tonight. Great insight guys. I'll be sure to pass a lot of this information along.

I haved Celtx before and I have both FD and Movie Magic Screenwriter..I prefer Movie Magic over the others though....I use Scrivener for development.

I also use Movie Magic. What's important isn't the program, it's what's on the page.

Final Draft. user friendly enough for me, not too complicated, and was a gift from my son. So Fine and Free! best kind there is.

Alle in a perfect world I would agree with you however I was using Microsoft office word before I got final draft eight. And frankly I can't believe how much easier it is to use final draft than it was to try and write the script manually on word. I can write much faster on final draft that I ever could on Microsoft Word.