Celtx is free!
When it comes to writing screenplays or scripts on a Mac, Final Draft has had it mostly its own way for several years. But Celtx offers many of the same features, and certainly enough to write and correctly format a script, whether it’s for film, television, or the stage.
In order to use it, however, you’ll have to first download it, and doing that is not immediately straightforward. There’s a version on the App Store, but it costs £13.99, so avoid that and head to celtx.com. There, look for the Desktop option. You’ll have to create an account and agree to a trial of Studio, the online version of the app, but you don’t need to enter payment information. Once you’ve confirmed your account, the download button becomes active.
The app itself won’t win any prizes for its looks, but as far as features go, it’s well-served. The Studio account allows you to sync your work with the iPad version, which is available to download for £2.99 from the iOS App Store.
As well as templates for industry-standard formats, Celtx allows for collaborative writing, keeps older versions so you can restore them if you need to, and allows you to tag scripts and identify elements such as locations, props, and cast. Perhaps most importantly, it remembers and anticipates elements such as locations and character names, so you don’t have to type them in full each time, much like Final Draft’s SmartType feature.
Celtx doesn’t have Final Draft’s vast range of script templates, and it doesn’t have the same ubiquity – you can usually be sure that if you’re sending a script in Final Draft’s format to someone else professionally, they’ll usually have the app to open it. For most writers, these aren’t deal breakers, though. Besides, Celtx wins in other areas; for writers who want to keep writing as they travel, Celtx has an iPhone app. Final Draft’s iPhone app only allows you to read scripts, rather than write them.
Celtx seems to be slowly moving away from its roots as a free open-source app and is building an eco system with multiple products and services, most of which are paid for. But, for the moment at least, the desktop version remains free and you should download it now and give it a go – while you still can!