Free tools
Free tools for screenwriters
Three jobs that sit between a script and a shoot, each one a starting point rather than a signup form. Pick the one you need and plotwell opens on it.
Free tools for screenwriters
Screenplay writer
Start from a premise and get a properly formatted screenplay you can keep working on.
OpenStoryboard generator
Turn the scenes in your script into shot frames you can hand to a crew.
OpenFilm budget planner
Break a script into scenes and elements, then cost the shoot from what is actually in it.
OpenFAQ
Common questions
Do I need an account to use these?
No. Each tool opens on the job you came for and you can work in it straight away. You only create an account at the point where you want to keep what you made, and the free plan that keeps it costs nothing and asks for no card.
How are these different from the full product?
They are not a separate lite version. Each one is plotwell opened on a single job, so the screenplay you write in the script tool is the screenplay the storyboard tool boards and the budget tool costs. Nothing has to be exported and re-imported to move between them.
Can I start from a script I already have?
Yes, and it is usually the faster way in. Final Draft (.fdx) and Fountain files import directly; PDF and Word documents are read in your browser without being uploaded anywhere. The scene headings, characters and locations are recognised on the way in, which is what the storyboard and budget tools then work from.
Which one should I start with?
Whichever matches where you are. Start with the screenplay writer if you have an idea and no pages, the storyboard generator if the scenes exist and you need to show a crew what they look like, and the budget planner if the script is locked and the question is what the shoot costs. They are the same three stages in order, so wherever you enter, the next one is already waiting with your work in it.