I checked every tier below on the company's own pricing page, support center, or download page on September 14, 2026. Free tiers change often, so click through before you build a whole project around one.
The short version
| Tool | What it's for | Free tier | Main limits on free | Student deal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| StudioBinder | Writing, breakdown, scheduling, call sheets | Free plan | 1 project; tag up to 10 breakdown elements; schedule up to 10 scenes or import 50% of a screenplay; sample call sheets sent only to yourself | 25% off the first 4 months, by request with school email |
| Celtx | Writing, with production tools on paid plans | Free plan | 1 seat, 1 project; production planning tools not included | Student plan: Writer Pro plus Production Planning Tools at over 75% off regular price, school email required |
| Filmustage | Breakdown, schedule, budget, call sheets | Free ($0) | 1 active project; AI breakdown on 20% of scenes; non-AI tools included | Up to 20% off Director's Cut via .edu request |
| WriterDuet | Screenwriting | Free ($0) | Three projects | 50% off any subscription for students and educators |
| Fade In | Screenwriting | Demo | No real-time collaboration; watermark on printed and PDF output | Not listed on the download page |
| Trelby | Screenwriting | Free, open source (GPL) | Desktop app; no collaboration features listed | n/a |
| DaVinci Resolve | Editing, color, audio post | Free download | Studio version sold separately ($295 listed) | n/a |
| Storiara | Breakdown, stripboard, call sheets, budget | Beginner (30-day free trial) | Unlimited stories during the trial; a paid plan is needed after it | Class members on an instructor's plan get paid-tier access |
| Final Draft 13 | Screenwriting | No free tier (Suite free trial) | n/a | Educational edition, discounted one-time price |
| SetHero | Call sheets | See pricing page | n/a | Student discount by request form |
StudioBinder
StudioBinder's support center describes its free plan as its free trial: a place to start one project and try the features at reduced limits. The limits that matter for a student shoot are the breakdown cap (up to 10 tagged elements), the schedule cap (up to 10 scenes, or 50% of an imported screenplay with one version), and call sheets, which you can generate as samples and send only to yourself. It also caps contacts at 10, locations at 5, and shots, storyboards, mood boards, and tasks at 10 each.
In practice, that's enough to learn the interface on a five-minute short and not enough to run a 15-page thesis. A separate support article explains that on the free plan only half of an imported script syncs to the project.
For students, StudioBinder's educational discounts article lists a code for 25% off the first four months of any plan: sign in with your school email and message support. Schools can buy an educational license with an annual subscription and a 20-seat minimum.
Celtx
Celtx's comparison table lists a Free column with one seat and one project, and writing tools with some features limited or read-only. Breakdown, cast and crew, schedule, budget, call sheets, and production reports aren't included on Free; they're add-ons on the Writer and Writer Pro plans and included on Team. The Student plan includes Writer Pro plus the Production Planning Tools at what Celtx calls over 75% off regular price, requires a student email, and is billed yearly. Celtx also offers a 7-day free trial, after which you can upgrade or stay on the free plan.
If you only need a free place to write, Celtx Free works. If you want its production tools, the Student plan is the realistic route.
Filmustage
Filmustage's pricing page is the most generous free production tier in this list for non-AI work. The Free plan is $0 with no credit card and includes one active project, a demo project with a full breakdown, and all non-AI tools: manual script breakdown, budgets, call sheets and reports, storyboards and shot lists, schedule with DOODs and conflicts, locations, team collaboration, and exports to PDF, Excel, and Movie Magic formats. AI breakdown on the free plan covers 20% of scenes. Filmustage also notes that manual projects stay open, while a full AI breakdown project needs an active Director's Cut plan to open.
Its Academic Subscription page offers students up to 20% off Director's Cut, applied for by emailing from a .edu address with your school and course details, and a free year of its Partner Plan for professors.
WriterDuet, Fade In, and Trelby for writing
WriterDuet's Free plan is $0 with three projects, the industry-standard template, writing from computer and mobile, and Google Drive or Dropbox backups. Paid plans add unlimited projects and collaboration, and its pricing page says students and educators get 50% off any subscription. Colored revisions and production tools sit on the Pro plan.
Fade In's free download is a demo that includes all key functionality except online real-time collaboration, and puts a watermark on anything you print or export to PDF. That's fine for drafting and a problem when you need clean pages for actors.
Trelby is free software under the GPL. It runs on multiple platforms, imports Final Draft (.fdx), Celtx, Fountain, and Fade In files, exports PDF, .fdx, and Fountain, and generates scene, location, character, and dialogue reports. Those reports are a decent start on a manual breakdown.
DaVinci Resolve for post
Blackmagic Design offers DaVinci Resolve as a free download, covering editing, color correction, visual effects, motion graphics, and audio post in one application. DaVinci Resolve Studio is the paid version, listed at $295 on the product page. Before you plan a finishing workflow around it, check Blackmagic's feature comparison for anything that's Studio-only.
Storiara
Storiara's Beginner plan gives new accounts a 30-day free trial with unlimited stories, after which a paid plan is needed to keep working. The plan's listed features include creating a story from a script (PDF, Word, or Final Draft), extracting scenes and settings, and scheduling and budgeting, with limited access to other features. Scheduling happens on a drag-and-drop stripboard you arrange yourself. For classes, an instructor on Storiara's Instructor plan creates a class with a join code, and students who join get paid-tier access plus a My Assignments page for submitting projects. More on that in Storiara for student films.
Paid tools with student pricing
Final Draft doesn't have a free tier, though its Suite subscription has a 5-day free trial. The pricing page lists Final Draft 13 Educational for students and teachers (student verification required) at $129.99, shown on sale for $99.99 when I checked, as a one-time purchase that doesn't include Final Draft Cloud. If your school gives you a license, the Final Draft breakdown guide shows how to use its tagging.
SetHero, a call sheet tool, has a student page with a form to request a student discount. The amount isn't listed on the page.
A zero-dollar stack for a 10-page short
Here's how I'd cover a 10-page, three-day student short without paying for software:
| Job | Tool | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Writing and revisions | WriterDuet Free or Trelby | Clean PDFs, standard format |
| Breakdown | Filmustage Free (manual), or a Storiara trial | One project is enough |
| Schedule | Same tool as breakdown | Keeps scenes and strips in one place |
| Budget | A spreadsheet from our short film budget template | No cap |
| Call sheets | The call sheet template in Google Sheets or Excel | Send to anyone |
| Releases | Printed talent release form and location agreement | Paper still works |
| Edit and color | DaVinci Resolve (free) | Full finishing |
The rule for mixing tools: pick one place where the scene list lives. If the breakdown is in one app and the schedule in a spreadsheet, every script revision has to be applied twice.
Free-tier traps to check before prep
- Project caps. If your school assigns two shorts in one semester, a one-project tier means deleting or archiving the first.
- Script import caps. A tier that imports half your script will look complete until you search for the third act.
- Sending limits. Some free call sheet features only send to your own email.
- Watermarks. Fine on a table read draft, and a problem on the pages you hand to actors.
- Export. Check that you can get your breakdown and schedule out as PDF or spreadsheet before the trial or tier changes.
- Ownership. Read the terms on who can access uploaded scripts, especially if your school has rules about thesis material.
For a wider comparison that includes paid plans, see best free film production software and best production software for film schools.