Final Draft 2026: Benefits, Features & Pricing

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Overview
Pricing and Plans
Features
User Reviews

Overview

Final Draft

4.5

(31)

Pricing

Starting at $249.99 one time

About Final Draft

Final Draft enables professional filmmakers and screenwriters to write, edit, and manage drafts for movies, teleplays, novels, screenplays and more. The application enables users to automatically backup and store documents in a centralized repository for future reference.

Final Draft allows teams to collaborate on projects/outlines and brainstorm and visualize ideas on a unified portal. Organizations can plot location ideas, points, and character arcs using custom images, text, flow lines and color codes to represent information in an engaging manner.

Final Draft’s features include speech to script, multimedia attachments, custom tags, night mode and more. It is available on a one-time payment and support is provided via email, documentation and other online measures.

Final Draft Screenshots

Final Draft Pricing and Plans

Starting price: $249.99 one time

Free Trial

Free Version

Final Draft 12

$249.99

flat rate, one time

No plan information available

Final Draft Features

Popular features found in Mind Mapping
Brainstorming
Collaboration Tools
Diagramming
Flowchart
More features of Final Draft
Autofill
Automatic Backup
Auto-Save
Chat/Messaging
Commenting/Notes
Content Management
Customizable Templates
Data Import/Export
Data Synchronization
Data Visualization
Drag & Drop
Graphical Data Presentation
Ideation
Mind Maps
Multi-Language
Multiple File Format Support
Multiple Projects
Offline Access
PDF Conversion
Planning Tools
Progress Tracking
Real-Time Updates
Reporting & Statistics
Revision History
Rich Text Editor
Scene and Page Number Locking
Scene Reordering
Script Formatting
Synchronous Editing
Tagging
Templates
Text to Speech
Third-Party Integration
Visual Workflow Management
Whiteboard
WYSIWYG Editor

Final Draft User Reviews

Overall Rating

4.5

Ratings Breakdown

68%

16%

Secondary Ratings

Ease of Use

4.4

Value for money

3.7

Customer support

4.3

Functionality

4.5

Have you used Final Draft and would like to share your experience with others?

Skyler B.

Verified reviewer

Writing and Editing

Self-Employed

Used weekly for less than 6 months

Review source

Reviewed February 2022

Best screenwriting software - The Industry Standard

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Final Draft is easy to use with no learning curve. You can get started screenwriting within minutes. The software is highly intuitive, so that you can focus on your story, rather than wasting time with formatting. Shortcuts allow you to remain the flow once inspiration strikes. The customer service experience is exceptional and the best I have ever dealt with for any software.

Cons:

It is more expensive than other screenwriting software, but you get what you pay for. It is the industry standard and the only thing you need besides a laptop to pursue a screenwriting career.

John M.

Verified reviewer

Photography

Self-Employed

Used monthly for less than 6 months

Review source

Reviewed December 2024

Final Draft review by John Muchangi

Final Draft has been useful in developing speech scenes for my videos especially where specific words needs to be said

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Automatically formatting my script according to industry standards is my most favorite feature of final draft. Scene numbering is my second favorite feature whereby final draft automatically numbers my scenes so that I can easily keep track of where I am in my script

Cons:

While it's a powerful tool for bringing a script into life, Final Draft can be complex to learn, especially for someone starting from scratch.

Trey L.

Verified reviewer

Entertainment

Self-Employed

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed November 2022

The biggest brand, but not the greatest value

I loved what I accomplished with it. Seeing the scripts and really getting a knack for the craft that brought them to life. I was unfortunately rubbed the wrong way by the way my script fell apart and being told the only way to save my work was to buy the incredibly expensive, new version of the software. This led me to a much more cost-effective alternative that I have been incredibly happy with since.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

There was an incredible thrill seeing a software that easily and smoothly formatted my words into industry standard screenplays -- ESPECIALLY after having done it for quite some time manually in a more commonly used word processor. The ease of use and the quality of the final document was a true thrill when I was beginning my career.

Cons:

The list is long. Numerous features never worked for reasons that as far as I can tell were due to the compatibility of different software versions. While that might sound reasonable, the updates were frequent and always cost substantial amounts of money (for just an update!). This led to several collaborators having a different version of Final Draft that couldn't communicate with each other. While I understand the need for updates, I do not understand the frequency and the fact that it would knock out certain features such as the writer collaborating feature (which can now be easily replicated with online websites). I also reached a point where my software was working fine, but told that I needed to update it in order to work with my new computer. I went along with this, yet the update completely crashed my software, leading me to find alternative options.

Reasons for switching to Final Draft

Microsoft word, at the time, didn't have an easy way to format screenplays. I was constantly writing, then spending more time adjusting margins to what I hoped looked right. It was a time suck, not really the fault of Micrsoft word, but it did make Final Draft that much more alluring when I first received it.

Allan T.

Verified reviewer

Entertainment

2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed November 2022

Needs a Grammarly attachment

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Cons:

Needs to have Grammarly type abilities to correct and suggest language that improves final product for final Draft.

Gregory Z.

Verified reviewer

Entertainment

51-200 employees

Used weekly for less than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed November 2023

Industry standard

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

This product is the standard. If you want to work in the business take the time and learn this product inside and out.

Cons:

I would like the tagging and scheduling export feature to improve a lot.

Juan F.

Verified reviewer

Outsourcing/ Offshoring

1001-5000 employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed January 2024

The Pro way to Go

I use Final Draft to work with some productions, especially when having a big budget and team. I love that I can work my preproduction with ease, using reports, production summaries, script breakdowns, etc.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

My favorite feature is the ability to make production reports.

Cons:

I find it expensive over other software when working on low-budget productions.

Verified

Reviewer

Entertainment

Self-Employed

Used daily for less than 12 months

Review source

Reviewed March 2021

Buggy on Windows machines

Despite the weird issues, I'll keep using it. Not only will I use it, I plan to buy an imac mini when I have the money so I can use it without all the bug issues. Overall it's good software, just wish they'd work out the issues on Windows.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

It's the industry standard so there are a lot of people to ask for help when I get stuck. There are also a lot of videos online.

Cons:

It can be very buggy on windows. Apparently these issues don't happen on the Mac version. For instance, if my friend edits a FD file while using two monitors and sends it to me, the file won't show up because it's on a second monitor that doesn't exist. Talk about a weird bug!

Verified

Reviewer

Health, Wellness and Fitness

Self-Employed

Used daily for free trial

Review source

Reviewed May 2021

Not for me

It frustrated me to no end. I did not find it very user friendly in the slightest and definitely could not justify the cost based on my experiences with it.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Functionality

Pros:

Honestly, I can't really think of anything that I truly liked about the software. Maybe the board beats section?

Cons:

It was confusing to me to figure out how to use it. I've heard of people using it for books as well as screen scripts so I was hoping it would work for what I needed instead I wanted to beat my head through a wall trying to figure out the simplest tasks.

Verified

Reviewer

Broadcast Media

10000+ employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed September 2022

The best, easiest screenwriting software

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

I love Final Draft. Even a novice can begin writing a screenplay almost immediately thanks to Final Draft's intuitive features and ease of use. A must for anyone that wants to try his or her hand at screenwriting.

Cons:

It's a little pricey, but worth it if you're going to be a regular user.

Osarumwense I.

Verified reviewer

Entertainment

51-200 employees

Used other for free trial

Review source

Reviewed May 2021

Final Draft, a recommended for beginners?

It's a great app for professionals, not beginners. As a beginner, it's more advisable to try cheaper screenwriting softwares. But as a professional, once you start using final draft, you would want to switch to other products.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

The intuitive interface, and it's easy to navigate. Moreover, it's the Industry standard for screenwriting. You write while it handles the formatting. You don't have to stress yourself over formatting a script, anymore.

Cons:

It is too expensive for beginner's screenwriters. Aside that, nothing else to like least about final draft.

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