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Final Draft
Final Draft
2.7
0.0
Final Draft free download for Mac

Final Draft

Version 13.0.0

Industry-leading screenwriting software.

2.7
Based on 25 user ratesRead reviews & comments
$199.99
One-Time Purchase
Buy Now

Final Draft overview

Final Draft allows you to use your creative energy to focus on the content; let Final Draft take care of the style. Final Draft is the number-one selling application specifically designed for writing movie scripts, television episodics, and stage plays. It combines powerful word processing with professional script formatting in one self-contained, easy-to-use package. There is no need to learn about script formatting rules - Final Draft automatically paginates and formats your script to industry standards as you write.

What’s new in version 13.0.0

Updated on Jan 12 2024

  • Writing Stats
  • Typewriter
  • Midnight Mode
  • Emoji
  • Navigator 2.0
  • Enhanced Outline Editor
  • Custom Color PDFs
  • Structure Lines
  • Custom Beat Views

Information

License

Shareware

Size

121.9 MB

Developer’s website

https://www.finaldraft.com/

Downloads

44946

App requirements

  • Intel 64
  • Apple Silicon
  • macOS 10.15 or later
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0.0

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  • Comments

  • User Ratings

anonymous-mink
anonymous-mink
Feb 28 2019
11.0.1
3.0
Feb 28 2019
3.0
Version: 11.0.1
More appropriately, compare Final Draft to Screenwriter, which is the app I use. Its features rise to a professional level, unlike the more modest apps listed in the "Similar Software" window.
Snaporaz
Snaporaz
Feb 27 2019
10.0.8
0.0
Feb 27 2019
0.0
Version: 10.0.8
i am currently using FD v. 11.0.1. i am a long time final draft user and the versions got worse and worse. unneeded features clutter the app, it is buggier than ever, updates are rare. i am giving up and finally switching to highland 2, which even in the freeware version is more convenient to work with, than FD.
frank-007
frank-007
Mar 7 2018
10.0.6
5.0
Mar 7 2018
5.0
Version: 10.0.6
The newest version works fine for me. The app has finally been debugged and optimised. The tools they provide are useful. I wish there were more possibilities of export/import with other writing app such as Scrivener or even MS Word (it exports only in RTF) I purchased this app through stack social which gave me a discount otherwise I wouldn't have paid so much for it.
Lord-Lightning
Lord-Lightning
Oct 31 2016
10.0.0
2.0
Oct 31 2016
2.0
Version: 10.0.0
Tried it and seriously all could think of was getting back to Fade In - at less than one third the price. Hey, it is formatting software at the end of the day - it is not the keys to the golden state of screenwriting nirvana. It is just not worth the obscene price. It reminded me so much of combining Scrivener with Scapple. It certainly offer nothing more that I can see.
mrsidoric
mrsidoric
Oct 17 2016
10.0.0
0.5
Oct 17 2016
0.5
Version: 10.0.0
HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. This app needs a total rewrite and a MASSIVE price reduction. JUST. NOT. WORTH. IT.
Turquoise
Turquoise
Jan 8 2015
9.0.5
1.0
Jan 8 2015
1.0
Version: 9.0.5
Every inconvenience mentionned below plus the exhorbitant price.
Nicolasd
Nicolasd
Aug 16 2014
9.0.4
4.0
Aug 16 2014
4.0
Version: 9.0.4
It does feel like it's way behind in development. Apple releases a major OS version annually now, and FD can only manage that every 2+ years. Readers of reviews here should keep in mind that it's fairly easy to move to a different screenwriting program if you're sitting by yourself in your room. Once you have to work with others producing real projects on a real schedule, it's not so practical. Celx is an exercise in masochism. FadeIn is a nice, modern Mac app with lots of frequent updates and a very responsive developer... but it's still not as frictionless for me as FD. If you want to get into screenwriting, FadeIn would be my recommendation. And for 95% of the people reading this, any app will do. Just go and write. By the time you really need FD, you will probably be able to expense it because you're a professional paid screenwriter.
Forn
Forn
Aug 15 2014
9.0.4
0.5
Aug 15 2014
0.5
Version: 9.0.4
Industrie Leader - a running gag. As a professional I can say that a book can be written in any program as long as it show the standard more or less.
DarwinM7533
DarwinM7533
Aug 14 2014
9.0.4
0.0
Aug 14 2014
0.0
Version: 9.0.4
Not a single of the major bugs fixed with this update. But they did put swear words into the dictionary... Don't know what the FD people are thinking. They have UI and functionality issues, but they apparently can't be bothered with basic user accessibility. Go to johnaugust.com and listen to two ScriptNotes podcasts, one a review of FD9 and the other with the bosses of Final Draft. After listening to the discussion with the bosses of FD, you'll understand why they are still stuck in the 20th century. A dinosaur product with dinosaur strategic thinking behind it. http://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-129-the-one-with-the-guys-from-final-draft-transcript http://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-126-punching-the-salty-ocean-transcript John August is a highly respected Hollywood screenwriter, and ScriptNotes is a collaboration with another successful screenwriter, Craig Mazen.
saltvalley
saltvalley
Apr 7 2014
9.0.3
0.5
Apr 7 2014
0.5
Version: 9.0.3
WHAT? Is this a joke?
UniqueNickName
UniqueNickName
Jan 10 2014
9.0.2
0.5
Jan 10 2014
0.5
Version: 9.0.2
't was the year 2014. the so called industry standard was still crawling with unicode bugs from the late 80's making use of final draft in languages other than the dictionaries provided for - impossible. was it laziness of people making 200$ off a license for a piece of software that gets 1-2 new lines of code in 5 years? was it an ill joke? or was it a conspiracy to preserve the financial leadership of the Hollywood industry? who knows? perhaps in the year 2114 we will know the answer… but most likely we will not.
D-J
D-J
Jan 7 2014
9.0
0.0
Jan 7 2014
0.0
Version: 9.0
When I got the announcement email from Final Draft a few months ago and saw the upgrade price, I knew they were still thinking to sell at $250. So I wrote an email suggesting that this isn't 2004 anymore and there are many solidly viable alternatives, from Fade In and the like to Fountain markdown, and that they may want to rethink their pricing strategy. The arrogant reply was breathtaking. Essentially, we are still industry leader and Hollywood depends upon us and our format is the industry default. So our price reflects this. It's like FD's marketing minds live in a bubble. Like many in Hollywood. If you're not familiar with Fountain markdown: http://fountain.io/
dmu
dmu
Jan 7 2014
9.0
4.5
Jan 7 2014
4.5
Version: 9.0
I absolutely do enjoy writing my scripts with Final Draft. It gets out of my way and lets me move quicker. It's stable, slim, good stuff. Expensive, yes… but I don't regret the expense I've made and the past upgrades. HOWEVER, I honestly don't see any compelling reason to upgrade to version 9. It truly seems like a lazy attempt to grind some more cash out of existing customers. Like someone in a board room said "New customers are nearly non-existent without a desktop product launch in 5 years. We need a new version!"… But that takes time to make sir and we haven't even started, Boss! "Then make it an UPDATE but call it version NINE and treat it like an UPGRADE!"… Genius! $$$. The website doesn't even have a highlighted "What's New!" section. Just a rehash of old features that have been streamlined or touched-up. It all smacks of Quark, pre-Indesign days. Greed and sloth from a near-monopoly.
J-Khulasphoc
J-Khulasphoc
Oct 24 2011
8.0.3
3.5
Oct 24 2011
3.5
Version: 8.0.3
It's probably the most solid & simple screenwriting-only software. But it's also extremely overpriced for what it does. Final draft should learn a thing or two about other programs such as Scrivener (not just for screenwriters), specially in terms of organising the creative process any writer as to go through. Update policies & pricing should be revised as - again - it's expensive and does not offer enough new features to justify the price from one version to the next. Still, my favourite screen writing program - loyalty and lazy I guess...
Babyfett
Babyfett
Dec 22 2009
8.0.1
3.0
Dec 22 2009
3.0
Version: 8.0.1
I've been using Final Draft since version 1 or 2 and have always found the actual screenwriting aspect of the program great and easy to use. FD6 was much better than 7. 7 was very buggy until the end and its text was very unclear and there were artifacts virtually every time I scrolled down. FD8 is far less buggy and the text is now crystal clear. Though there are a few school down artifacts, but I'm used to that by now and I've found them to exist in other screenwriting programs. One of the best Mac improvements is that the menu bar is now back attached to the script document. It floated in 7 and I'd lose the top of my document underneath it. But that's all fixed now. I'm a meticulous outliner and used to outline everything in Word. I've never been into the index card thing. But moving scenes is a bit of a pain in Word so I started to use Scrivener to outline my scripts. Much better, but not perfect. The text in outline mode is a little small, but I loved the notes features and the importing of html snippets and pictures and whatnot, but I didn't enjoy writing screenplays on it and to have to switch between Scrivener and Final Draft while writing was a bit of a pain so I'd ultimately end up just exporting it back to Word. Well now Final Draft claims to have built an ideal outlining program into their program. They claim they took note of other programs like Scrivener and Save the Cat and others. Playing around with the demo I was excited, but when I upgraded for $80 I was very disappointed. I "imported" the outline I was already working on and by imported I mean I cut and pasted each individual story beat and then continued using FD8. Not an easy taste. In the outliner/scene view you cannot enter your summary, you have to switch to index card view. So I figured I would write just fill out the outline in index card view, but alas you cannot enter scene titles in index card view so I figured I would try using just the summary cards, but there you cannot enter the scene headings! This was crazy to me. You need to be able to do all three in each view. So I finally got my outline entered into Final Draft 8 and as I start writing my information in my outline changes as I go. This was also crazy to me. I need a locked outline so I can go back and refer to it, but when I contacted Final Draft they said there was no way to unlink the two. This is counter productive to me. But the program is designed so that whatever you write in your outlining phase is accurately reflected in the script. Personally I need to separate things to write a good script. If my outline changes it's no longer an outline, it's merely an extension of the script and not an outline. There's an option not to have your summaries show up on the script view, but you still see all your scene headings on the page view and this is very very distracting. I want a blank page when I write. Not 8 pages of scene headings to look at and intimidate me. Bottom line, if Final Draft can unlock the outline from the script I think this would be a great product again, but right now the big improvements they are touting aren't quite ready for primetime yet. So until it's changed it's back to Scrivener and Word for me. Though I might try Storyist which looks like it has lots of promise for what I'm currently looking for.
Lev
Lev
Sep 17 2009
8.0
0.0
Sep 17 2009
0.0
Version: 8.0
FD8 isn't so bad. It does its stuff and it's easier to set up new script elements than Screenwriter. ( I'm working on a musical at the moment, which needs a LYRIC element. In FD it's a snap. In Screenwriter you have to set up an "outline element" which isn't quite so well-behaved, though it does work.) BUT... beware. The activation system will dump you like a shot if e.g. you have a system crash and reinstall, or (as I did) you upgrade to Snow Leopard then have to roll back because SnoLe isn't really ready to print with your new HP printer (tsk). The assumption is that all users are (a) in the ConUS, (b) have an internet connection and (c) aren't doing anything particular much that day in the way of work so can wait for a support dude to reset the damn registration database.. They can do what they like, but it's annoying for the user who, as I am, is on a little Greek island trying to get some work done in peace. Thankfully I'm only using FD to read/revise someone else's work. Screenwriter is a bit more elegant in its approach. Not much; but they've at least automated the process so you don't have to make two trips into town to get the software you've paid for working again. I don't actually understand the reasoning, really. If you're a pro, you're going to buy the software because you need it. If you're not a pro, I can't see anyone popping $250 for a highly-specialised app, although they will certainly bootleg it to sit in their rooms pretending they're Bill Goldman. But I presume they have their reasons. Oh, one heads-up. Lord Lightning mentioned integration with Scrivener. Which is wonderful if you're using standard screenplay format. On the current job, I'm not, and Scrivener (which is marvellous) and FD don't really understand what each other are doing. That pesky LYRIC element causes mutual incomprehension. I expect the brilliant Keith Blount will fix it in Scrivener but for the moment it's no go.
anonymous-fowl-4093
anonymous-fowl-4093
May 6 2009
8.0
3.0
May 6 2009
3.0
Version: 8.0
This is an ok screenwriting program, but this version has about 3 new features versus FD7, which was released five years ago. I have 7 and I was all ready to upgrade but after trying it decided not to. Obviously they're not putting much money into developing the program and expect screenwriters and productions to just deal with using archaic production tools. I'm sure Final Draft 9 will have another 3-4 features that every other screenwriting program's had for years when it's released in 2014 or 2015 but I'd rather not wait. Screenwriter 6 has a few bugs but is very sophisticated and miles ahead of this in pretty much every way. I'm buying that instead and will be encouraging my co-workers to do the same. It's not listed on this site for some reason but check it out, there's a free demo for it.
Lord-Lightning
Lord-Lightning
Apr 30 2009
8.0
2.0
Apr 30 2009
2.0
Version: 8.0
If this was not supported by the AWG (and what the heck does that mean?), I would not use it at all. CeltX is free. Montage is becoming more and more refined and is slated to merge with Contour; the old draughthorse, Screenwriter Pro, still beats it for sheer reliability and heavy lifting. Oh! You say it integrates with Scrivener and Screenwriter Pro has an apoplectic fit when it tries to? Dang! That means I have to take it seriously all over again. Oh well.
StrictlyBagel
StrictlyBagel
Apr 30 2009
8.0
2.0
Apr 30 2009
2.0
Version: 8.0
Purchased Final Draft 4, 5, 6, and 7... all buggy as hell with no support at all after purchase. Bugs remain unfixed and the developer does just not care for customers on the Mac platform. I will not pay another $80 to this company. Proposed colored index cards in version 4 years ago, now they implemented the idea. Have migrated to Montage and Scrivener... better companies, better support, better product!
Theivar
Theivar
Dec 22 2007
7.1.3
0.0
Dec 22 2007
0.0
Version: 7.1.3
I think this is a great program. No other script-writing programs I've tested lets you write dualogs so fluently. But the Mac version is instable and not as developed as the pc-version. For example you can't put the zoom to more than 150%, wich is quite annoying if you have a hi-resolution monitor, and not a perfect sight.
Drtyrell969
Drtyrell969
Mar 30 2022
12.0.0
5.0
Mar 30 2022
5.0
Version: 12.0.0
PauloFut
PauloFut
Jul 19 2020
5.0
Jul 19 2020
5.0
Version: null
anonymous-mink
anonymous-mink
Feb 28 2019
3.0
Feb 28 2019
3.0
Version: null
frank-007
frank-007
Mar 7 2018
5.0
Mar 7 2018
5.0
Version: null
Lord-Lightning
Lord-Lightning
Oct 31 2016
2.0
Oct 31 2016
2.0
Version: null
mrsidoric
mrsidoric
Oct 17 2016
0.5
Oct 17 2016
0.5
Version: null
RougeCheese12
RougeCheese12
Jun 3 2015
0.5
Jun 3 2015
0.5
Version: null
nikolalek
nikolalek
May 22 2015
0.5
May 22 2015
0.5
Version: null
Turquoise
Turquoise
Jan 8 2015
1.0
Jan 8 2015
1.0
Version: null
Nicolasd
Nicolasd
Aug 16 2014
4.0
Aug 16 2014
4.0
Version: null
Forn
Forn
Aug 15 2014
0.5
Aug 15 2014
0.5
Version: null
saltvalley
saltvalley
Apr 7 2014
0.5
Apr 7 2014
0.5
Version: null
UniqueNickName
UniqueNickName
Jan 10 2014
0.5
Jan 10 2014
0.5
Version: null
JamesBond9408
JamesBond9408
Mar 13 2013
4.0
Mar 13 2013
4.0
Version: null
aunda
aunda
Aug 8 2012
4.0
Aug 8 2012
4.0
Version: null
J-Khulasphoc
J-Khulasphoc
Oct 24 2011
3.5
Oct 24 2011
3.5
Version: null
Babyfett
Babyfett
Dec 22 2009
3.0
Dec 22 2009
3.0
Version: null
anonymous-fowl-4093
anonymous-fowl-4093
May 6 2009
3.0
May 6 2009
3.0
Version: null
StrictlyBagel
StrictlyBagel
Apr 30 2009
2.0
Apr 30 2009
2.0
Version: null
Ferruccio-Busoni
Ferruccio-Busoni
Nov 10 2006
4.0
Nov 10 2006
4.0
Version: null
Stevehops
Stevehops
Nov 9 2006
3.5
Nov 9 2006
3.5
Version: null
dmu
dmu
May 10 2006
4.5
May 10 2006
4.5
Version: null
John-F-
John-F-
Feb 19 2006
2.5
Feb 19 2006
2.5
Version: null
Guest
Guest
Oct 24 2005
2.0
Oct 24 2005
2.0
Version: null
Guest
Guest
Sep 30 2005
2.8
Sep 30 2005
2.8
Version: null
$199.99
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