Trelby
Partial: Formats scripts and swaps Final Draft files; its manual describes no colored revisions or page locking.
License: Open source
- Windows
- Linux
Status: Slow
No free alternative to Final Draft yet
Free editors format scripts and exchange FDX files, but none documents the colored revision pages and locked page numbers that productions use.
About this gap
- Final Draft, Final Draft Suite, annual
$99.99 USDa year
≈$142.56 CAD a year (converted from USD)
- Build effort
Months for a small team
An editor’s estimate for a free tool that ranks Strong.
- Demand
Nobody has asked for one yet.
What a free alternative needs
The capabilities that keep people paying for Final Draft.
Colored revision pages
Mark each draft's changes in a standard color order so crews can tell revisions apart.
Page and scene locking with A-pages
Freeze numbering so added pages become 21A and 21B instead of renumbering the script.
Production reports and breakdown tags
Reliable FDX round trip
Exchange scripts with producers and other tools without losing elements or notes.
Why it is hard
Revision colors and locked-page rules follow industry practice that is easy to get subtly wrong, and Final Draft's FDX files are the format everyone sends.
Closest free options
Each covers part of the job. None replaces Final Draft yet.
Listed alternatives for some uses
These are mapped to Final Draft at the Situational tier: they fit some uses only.
Trelby
Best for drafting scripts in an open-source editor
License: Open source- Windows
- Linux
Status: SlowFree GPL editor with Fountain import and export, scene numbers and script comparison. Windows and Linux builds only.
Building one?
List your tool on Gratistack when it works. Once an editor maps it to Final Draft, it shows on this page and in search, and the people waiting here can hear about it.
- Listing is free. An editor reviews the free queue every week.
- Want a decision sooner? The optional $49 fast-track gets one within 48 hours. It buys speed, not approval, and a rejection is refunded.
- Once it is listed as an alternative, you can sponsor the alternatives page for $149 per 30 days. Sponsors are labeled and never change the ranking.
About this page
Last checked : an editor confirmed that no free alternative ranks Strong.
Price: Final Draft Suite, annual, checked Oct 7, 2026. Price source. USD to CAD at 1.4257 as of Oct 7, 2026.
Know a free alternative? Tell us.
Final Draft is a product of Final Draft, named here for comparison only.