Yamdu covers more of the production office than any other tool on this page. Every plan includes script import and breakdown with AI suggestions, AI synopses and one-liners, shot lists and storyboards, Final Draft import and export, shooting and production schedules, day out of days reports, a call sheet builder, Movie Magic and Fuzzlecheck import, budgeting with Showbiz Budgeting import and export, departments for casting, locations, costume, production design, and makeup and hair, crew management with time cards and recruitment, and CSV and Excel exports. It has iOS and Android apps and keeps data in the EU on Microsoft Azure.
That breadth is also why people look for something else. Many of those modules make the most sense with a production office behind them, meaning someone to set up access rights, departments, and company-wide databases. On a 12-day indie feature with a producer, an AD, and a coordinator, much of it goes unused.
The price model can pinch as well. Flex is $45 a month for 1 user and 1 project with 25 GB of storage. Each extra user is $22 a month and each extra project another $45. A three-person team running one feature pays $45 + $22 + $22 = $89 a month. Add a second project in prep and it's $134. Studio removes the project limit at $199 a month billed annually ($2,388 a year) or $265 monthly, for 10 users. Yamdu's page also says no refunds are granted, only a credit if you upgrade.
If that sounds like more system than your shoot needs, or you need broadcast rundowns, here are seven alternatives. For a feature table, see Storiara vs Yamdu.
1. Storiara
Storiara covers the prep path from script to shoot day for smaller productions, without the company layer. Upload a PDF, Word, or Final Draft script and it splits scenes, measures each in eighths, and uses AI to fill Locations, Cast & Crew (characters and extras), Assets (props, wardrobe, vehicles, makeup and hair), and Music & Effects. You can add anything it missed by highlighting the script.
From there you plan on a manual drag-and-drop stripboard, and a cast Day Out of Days follows the board automatically. Call sheets are generated per shoot day with weather and per-day overrides, then emailed immediately or on a schedule, or shared by link. Cast and crew can fill in a no-login availability form, including a Google Calendar free/busy import. Budget builds a top sheet with fringes and exports to Excel, and Funding estimates incentive value from a built-in list of programs.
Compared with Yamdu, a lot is missing. No time cards, recruitment, travel management, or sustainability tools. No Movie Magic, Fuzzlecheck, or Showbiz import. No CSV export and no native mobile app; the phone view is a mostly read-only browser layout. The DOOD is cast-only, and call sheets have no SMS or confirmations. The stripboard doesn't auto-arrange scenes.
Pricing: new accounts start on the free Beginner plan with a 30-day trial of unlimited stories, after which a paid plan is needed to keep working. Producer is $39.99 a month including one member, plus $19.99 per extra collaborator, with unlimited stories. Studio is custom. The same three-person team costs $79.97 a month and doesn't pay more for a second project.
2. StudioBinder
StudioBinder is the other broad suite, and its price depends on the tier you pick, with project caps on the lower tiers. It includes screenwriting and AV scripts, element tagging, stripboards with auto sorting and alternate schedules, script sides, mood boards, shot lists, storyboards, contacts, calendars, task boards, a media library, and call sheets sent by email and text with delivery status and confirmations.
It suits companies that run lots of short jobs. Time cards and Movie Magic import don't appear in its plan features, and text-delivered call sheets start on Indie. Plans: free (1 project), Starter $29 a month (10 projects), Indie $49 a month (25 projects), Professional $99 a month (unlimited projects), Agency $199 a month, and Studio $299 a month for larger teams, all lower billed yearly. See Yamdu vs StudioBinder.
3. Dramatify
Dramatify is closest to Yamdu in scope and different in focus. Every plan has unlimited productions, episodes, and crew and cast, with script breakdown, a stripboard report, production calendar, a Gantt-style planner, shooting scheduling, episode management for series, background actor management, and team messaging. Cast and crew log in read-only for free from phones and tablets. Non-fiction plans add smart rundowns with a live mode and teleprompter exports, which Yamdu doesn't list.
It is seat-based with minimums. Billed annually, Fiction Starter is $10 a seat a month (3-seat minimum, $30 a month) and Fiction Standard, which adds budgeting, scheduling, auto script sides, and semi-automatic call sheets, is $13 a seat (5-seat minimum, $65 a month). Monthly billing is $14 and $18 a seat. Professional covers fiction and broadcast at $27 a seat billed annually. See Storiara vs Dramatify.
4. Filmustage
Filmustage goes further than Yamdu on AI: full-script breakdown in any language, AI budget drafts, VFX breakdowns, storyboard images, and an assistant that can rebuild or reorder a schedule. It has a stripboard, DOOD, call sheets, script sides, annotations, and team access, and exports PDF, Excel, and Movie Magic formats.
It has none of Yamdu's crew administration. AI features spend coins (1,700 per cycle on Director's Cut), and AI-built projects pause if you cancel. Director's Cut is $79 a month or $55 a month billed annually; the free plan runs AI on 20% of scenes. See Storiara vs Filmustage.
5. Gorilla Scheduling
If you mainly used Yamdu for breakdowns and the schedule, Gorilla does that job for much less. It imports Final Draft and PDF scripts, builds breakdown sheets and stripboards, and prints one-liners, shooting schedules, Day Out of Days, Exhibit G, and call sheets (on desktop, call sheets need the Koala add-on). Gorilla Scheduling Online runs in the browser; Gorilla Desktop runs on Mac and Windows.
It manages cast, crew, and locations for the schedule but lists no time cards or recruitment, and budgets are the separate Gorilla Budgeting product. Online pricing is Solo $19 a month (3 projects), Production $49 a month (10 projects, 3 users), and Studio $99 a month (20 projects, 15 users). Desktop Scheduling is $199 a year. See Storiara vs Gorilla Scheduling.
6. Movie Magic Scheduling
Movie Magic Scheduling is the obvious move if your next jobs are union shows, and Yamdu's Movie Magic import means some boards may already have come from it. MMS 10 handles sub-boards for multiple units, episodic cross-boarding, conflict detection with fittings and rehearsals, and elements passed to Movie Magic Budgeting.
It's desktop software for macOS and Windows with cloud backup of saves. EP's product page describes scheduling, calendar, and reports, with no crew administration. EP lists $39.99 a month or $279.88 a year, with an introductory $29.99 a month or $199.88 a year when we checked. See Storiara vs Movie Magic.
7. Celtx
Celtx is a lighter option for writer-directors. Its writing tools (screenplay, AV, stageplay, revision mode, beat sheet) sit next to breakdowns, a catalog, shot lists, schedules, script sides, call sheets, and budgets.
It has no crew administration or time cards, and production tools require the Team plan (from $44.99 a month billed yearly for up to 3 members), Education, Student, or add-ons on Writer and Writer Pro. See Storiara vs Celtx.
Deciding how much system you need
List what your production actually does in software today. If the answer includes time cards, recruitment, and a company-wide crew database, stay on Yamdu or look at Dramatify; nothing else here replaces those.
If it's script breakdown, a board, and call sheets for one or two projects a year, a smaller tool is cheaper. Compare a year for a three-person team on one project: Yamdu Flex is $1,068, Storiara Producer $959.64, and Gorilla Online Production $588 at monthly rates.
Check exports before you move. Yamdu exports CSV and Excel, so pull your crew list and schedule out first. Storiara imports CSV and XLSX into Cast & Crew, Locations, and Equipment. Keep a copy of your production calendar and crew contact list outside any tool, and see /templates for the rest.