Celtx and Cinequill
Cinequill vs Celtx is a choice between a story room and a production studio
Cinequill and Celtx can both hold a screenplay in the browser, and that is where the useful resemblance ends. Celtx’s pricing page presents Writer, Writer Pro and Team, a Free column, yearly billing labeled Save 25%, and a production layer: breakdown, schedule, budget and call sheets as optional add-ons on the lower plans. The shop endpoint that page calls lists Writer at $14.99 a month or $134.88 a year, Writer Pro at $24.99 or $224.88, Team from $29.99 or $269.88, and Student at $79.99 a year. The grid says Free is 1 project, Writer is up to 3, and Writer Pro and Team are unlimited. Cinequill is a story-development studio: bible, characters, eight narrative methods including Save the Cat, a screenplay editor, FDX, Fountain and PDF, and a dramaturg that asks questions instead of writing the film. Use Celtx when the next document is a stripboard. Use Cinequill when the next document is a story that can survive a midpoint.
Updated 24 October 2026
Prices verified on 24 October 2026.
What job is each product actually doing?
Celtx is trying to be the place where a script becomes a small production. The pricing grid we read is not only an editor. It lists writing plans and then a set of production modules — breakdown, schedule, budget, call sheets — marked as optional add-ons on the lower plans. Yearly billing is advertised as a 25 percent saving. A free start is advertised. That is a coherent product for a writer-producer who is about to hire a crew. It is a noisy product for someone who still does not know what the film is about.
Cinequill is trying to be the place where the film becomes knowable. The free plan does not sell you a call sheet. It keeps unlimited projects, the story bible, characters, structure, eight narrative methods, the screenplay editor and FDX, Fountain and PDF. Pro includes 1,500,000 tokens a month. A one-off top-up is €5 for 500,000 tokens, and it does not expire. One co-author is included on Free, and the person you invite does not pay. The AI is a dramaturg: it questions the project and rewrites only a selection. It will not generate the screenplay, and it will not break the script into a shooting schedule.
The overlap is the page itself. Both can be where the sluglines live. If that is the only overlap you need, you do not need both subscriptions. Pick the job that is actually late.
What can the price table honestly say?
Cinequill’s numbers come from the product’s plan constants, the same source as the pricing page: free monthly tokens, Pro at €12 a month or €115 a year before VAT, about €9.58 a month on the annual plan, and a one-off top-up. Celtx’s shop endpoint, the one the pricing page calls, lists Writer at $14.99 a month or $134.88 a year, Writer Pro at $24.99 a month or $224.88 a year, Team from $29.99 a month or $269.88 a year, and Student at $79.99 a year. The comparison grid prints Free at 1 project, Writer at up to 3, and unlimited projects on Writer Pro and Team.
Team’s shop record also returns lower unit amounts as the quantity rises: $15 a month or $135 a year up to 5, then $13 a month or $117 a year above that. Education is annual only. Its first tier on that endpoint is $60, and the static Education card also says to contact sales. The FAQ says annual billing saves up to three months, which matches the Save 25% label on the yearly cards. If the price matters, open the page on the day you pay. Add-ons sit on top of a writing plan. Cinequill’s meter is tokens and collaborators.
Those are the numbers the public pricing machinery printed on the verification date. They are not a quote for a logged-in studio, and they do not include tax.
| Cinequill | Celtx | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free 100,000 tokens/month; Pro €12/month or €115/year (about €9.58/month), before VAT | Writer $14.99/mo or $134.88/yr; Writer Pro $24.99/mo or $224.88/yr; Team from $29.99/mo or $269.88/yr; Student $79.99/yr. Yearly cards say Save 25% |
| Free | Yes: unlimited projects, bible, editor, export and 100,000 AI tokens/month | Free plan: 1 project. Writer: up to 3. Writer Pro and Team: unlimited |
| AI | Dramaturg: asks questions and rewrites only text you select; it does not write the film for you | The pricing page does not list an AI writer. The script editor help describes Read Through text-to-speech |
| Where it runs | Web app; you need a connection to write and collaborate | Browser studio. Monthly or yearly; Education and Student are annual only |
| Pre-production | Not a set tool. No breakdown, schedule, budget or call sheet. | Breakdown, schedule, budget and call sheets are optional add-ons on the lower plans. |
| Story development | Bible, characters, eight methods and the editor in one project. | Beat sheet and storyboard are on the grid. Not described as a story bible. |
| Export | FDX, Fountain, PDF | The Film & TV script editor help (6 May 2026) says export to .txt or .fountain, and PDF via Print/Download. Import accepts .fdx. That article does not list an FDX export. |
Where is Celtx the better tool?
Celtx is better when the draft is no longer the bottleneck. A breakdown, a schedule and a budget are documents a development studio does not produce. If your next meeting is about the stripboard, staying inside a story bible is a way of postponing the shoot. Celtx’s own grid is honest about this split: the writing columns and the production add-ons are not the same purchase. Pay for the add-ons when you need them, and do not let a screenwriting roundup talk you out of a tool that is doing a production job.
Celtx is also the more familiar name for writers who were taught on it and who already keep shot lists beside the scene. Moving that pile into Cinequill does not make the shot list better. It makes it homeless. The Film & TV script editor help says Export to Script writes a .txt or .fountain file, and Print/Download saves a PDF. Import accepts .fdx. That article does not list an FDX export, so do not assume a Final Draft file comes back out.
If your complaint about Celtx is only that the interface feels heavy, a lighter editor will feel better for a week and then you will miss the schedule. Weight is not a reason. A missing document is a reason.
Where is Cinequill the better tool?
Cinequill is better when the schedule would be a costume for a story that is not ready. The eight methods, including Save the Cat, are there to make the structure visible before anyone prices a location. The bible holds the want, the obstacle and the thematic question next to the pages, which a beat-sheet column on a production grid does not do by itself. The dramaturg is the third difference: it is not an add-on that draws the character. It asks whether the character’s want can survive the turn.
The free plan is also a different shape. Cinequill does not cap the number of projects. The cap is the monthly token allowance, which you can ignore entirely if you never open the dramaturg. Celtx’s Free column is 1 project; Writer is up to 3; Writer Pro and Team are unlimited. If you are comparing free tiers, use the free-software page, where WriterDuet’s three projects and Arc Studio’s $0 plan sit in the same table.
Collaboration is the other honest gap. Cinequill Free includes one co-author. It is not WriterDuet’s simultaneous cursor, and this page does not pretend it is. Celtx’s script editor help shows collaborator avatars when more than one person has the document open. It does not describe simultaneous typing. If two people need to type in the same scene tonight, read the WriterDuet comparison before you assume either of these products is that desk.
How should you try them without paying for a hunch?
Take one sequence that is still false. In Celtx, see whether the production modules change any decision you will make this month. If you do not open the breakdown, you are paying for a studio you are not in. In Cinequill, refuse to write the scene until the bible has a want and an obstacle and one method has placed the turn. If that step feels like homework you will skip, the dramaturg will not rescue the subscription.
Then move a file. Cinequill’s free plan exports FDX, Fountain and PDF, so a Final Draft reader can open the result. Celtx’s help center lists .txt, .fountain and PDF on the way out, and .fdx on the way in. A tool that will not let the draft go is more expensive than its price.
Keep Celtx if a shoot is on the calendar. Add Cinequill only if the story work is a weekly job, not a mood. The hub page is the wider map, including Final Draft and Fade In, with the same verification date. This page is only the decision between a production studio and a development room.
Try the workflow
Evaluate Cinequill on your next screenplay
If you are comparing tools, the clearest test is the full workflow: bible, characters, structure, scenes, screenplay and export.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cinequill a Celtx alternative?
Only if you do not need breakdowns, schedules, budgets or call sheets. Cinequill covers story development and screenplay export. Celtx covers the path from pages toward a shoot. Writer is $14.99 a month or $134.88 a year on the shop endpoint the pricing page calls.
How much does Celtx cost?
The shop endpoint the pricing page calls lists Writer at $14.99 a month or $134.88 a year, Writer Pro at $24.99 or $224.88, Team from $29.99 or $269.88, and Student at $79.99 a year. Yearly cards are labeled Save 25%. The FAQ also says annual billing saves up to three months. Education is annual only and the same endpoint’s first tier is $60, while the static Education card also says to contact sales.
Does either tool write the script with AI?
Cinequill’s dramaturg does not. It asks questions and rewrites a selection. Celtx’s pricing page does not list an AI writer. The script editor help describes Read Through, which is text-to-speech.
Can I move a script from Celtx to Cinequill?
Cinequill imports FDX, Fountain, DOCX and PDF, and exports FDX, Fountain and PDF. Celtx’s Film & TV editor help says export to .txt or .fountain, PDF via Print/Download, and import of .fdx. Fountain is the overlap that help article states on the way out.
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