Overview

Celtx brings scriptwriting, story development, and production planning together for film and television, commercials, documentaries, and interactive media. Its editors cover screenplays, stageplays, multi-column audio/video scripts, and game scripts; the studio adds tools for taking projects toward production. That combination is more compelling for teams coordinating a project than for writers who only need a place to draft.

The company is based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, and was founded in 2000. Celtx says its tools are used by more than 7 million storytellers across 140-plus countries and by more than 25,000 educational institutions.

Key features

Writing and story development

Writers can choose a script editor suited to the medium, then use Beat Sheet, Storyboard, and Script Goals & Insights to develop the story. The range helps teams working across formats stay within one product, although the Free plan’s single-project limit makes it restrictive for anyone juggling active projects.

Production planning

Studio tools cover breakdowns, catalogs, shot lists, scheduling, cast and crew, sides, budgets, call sheets, and reports. Keeping these tasks alongside the script can suit projects with real planning needs; it is unnecessary overhead for a writer who only wants screenplay formatting.

Collaboration and revision history

Users can invite collaborators to read, edit, or approve scripts, with comments, presence awareness, sharing permissions, and read-only links. Celtx also keeps a history of revisions, feedback, and approvals. These features make the workspace better suited to shared development than a solo drafting workflow, while the Free plan limits history to read-only.

Premiere integration and offline use

The Adobe Premiere Pro Panel imports Celtx screenplays, maps scenes to media bins, and supports script synchronization, which is relevant to teams already using Premiere Pro. Celtx Screenplay is available for Windows and Android, and the product supports offline mode, but the app does not include Studio project-view tools such as Storyboard and Breakdown. Treat it as a more limited companion, not a full offline version of the Studio.

Pricing

Celtx is freemium, with a 7-day trial and paid plans starting at $11.24/user/mo (annual). Most plans are offered monthly or annually, while Education and Student are annual only. Annual billing can save up to three months of billing. Accepted payment methods include major cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

Plan	Price and terms	What it includes
Free	0.00 USD per free	One project, cloud-based script editors, real-time collaboration, read-only history, and shareable links. A useful way to try the workflow, but too tight for maintaining multiple active projects.
Writer	11.24 USD per month, billed yearly	Up to three projects and unlimited comments. It suits writers who need more room than Free but do not need the broader story-development or production toolkit.
Writer Pro	18.74 USD per month, billed yearly	Unlimited projects, unlimited comments, and story-development tools, with robust writing and episodic features. This is the more fitting individual plan for writers developing several projects or episodic work.
Team	44.95 USD per month, billed yearly	For five members, with unlimited writing and planning tools, projects, comments, story development, and production planning. Team capacity includes the account holder and 2–14 additional collaborators; live chat team support is included. The plan fits shared work that needs planning tools, though the listed price is for five members.
Education	Custom pricing, billed yearly	10–700 seats, educator admin controls, unlimited projects, story development, and production planning. It is designed for institutions that need class or program administration.
Student	Custom pricing, billed yearly	Requires a student email and includes unlimited projects, Writer Pro and production-planning features, and three years of discounted pricing. Eligible students receive over 75% off the regular price.

Platforms

The cloud product runs in a web browser, with platforms listed for web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, and an extension. Celtx Screenplay is available on Windows and Android; mobile browsers include iPhone Safari support. Its offline mode is useful when internet access is limited, but the Screenplay app lacks Studio’s Storyboard and Breakdown views. The listed platform options therefore do not mean every Studio feature is available in every form.

Who it's for

Celtx fits writers and small production teams whose work benefits from connected story development, collaboration, and production planning. Teams moving from script to schedules, budgets, call sheets, and reports have a clearer reason to choose it than solo writers seeking only a script editor. Educators can consider the Education plan for its admin controls, while eligible students have a discounted route to Writer Pro and planning features.

Pros and cons

Pro: Multiple script formats and story-development tools support different media and stages of writing within one workspace.
Pro: Collaboration permissions, comments, presence awareness, and revision history support shared script review and approval.
Pro: Production planning tools and the Premiere Pro Panel can connect scripts with downstream planning and media organization.
Con: Free allows only one project and read-only history, limiting its usefulness for ongoing or revision-heavy work.
Con: Writer supports only three projects and lacks the story-development and production-planning scope of higher plans.
Con: The Screenplay app omits Studio project views such as Storyboard and Breakdown, so offline use comes with a narrower toolset.

Alternatives

For a focused screenwriting choice, compare the Screenwriting Software category. Writers who want a broader writing-tool comparison can browse Writing Apps; teams centered on production workflows can look at Video Production Management Software or Creative Project Management Software.

Arc Studio Pro is worth considering if a screenwriter wants a free plan capped at two scripts with watermarked PDF export, alongside industry-standard formatting and comments.
Story Architect is an option for writers who value an open-core product whose core source code is available under MIT, with some features closed-source and commercial.
Studiovity is another freemium option spanning Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows, with content-creation and film/TV pre-production plans.
DramaQueen suits writers seeking a free plan with no project-number or length restriction, plus writing, formatting, outlining, and import/export tools.
OpenDraft is a free, no-account option across web, desktop, mobile, Linux, and self-hosted use, with no subscription or feature gating.
ScreenWeaver offers a free screenwriter plan with unlimited projects and pages, plus PDF and Final Draft export.
Scriptum is a free, open-source screenwriting application for Linux, macOS, web, and Windows.
WriterDuet has a free plan limited to three projects and supports web, desktop, and mobile platforms.

Verdict

Choose Celtx if your writing workflow extends into collaborative story development and production planning, and you want those capabilities connected to the script. The main reason to look elsewhere is simpler needs: a solo writer may not benefit from the planning suite, while the free project cap, paid-plan project limits, and reduced Screenplay app views can constrain leaner workflows.

	Celtx	iA Writer
Free plan	Yes	No
Free trial	Yes	No
Paid from	$11.24/mo	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Android, extension, iOS, macOS, Web, Windows	macOS, Windows, iOS
Free plan	Yes	No
Paid from	$11.24/user/mo	—
Publishing tools	Yes	Yes
Real-time collaboration	Yes	—
Version history	Yes	Yes
Offline mode	Yes	Yes
Mobile apps	Yes	Yes
Export formats	standard	extensive

Celtx vs iA Writer

Celtx

iA Writer