Slate is a screenwriting app built around branches — try the bolder cold open, compare it side by side with the original, and keep whichever one sings. No more NIGHTSHIFT_v7_FINAL_final2.fdx
Every "what if" gets its own safe copy. Rewrite Act Two on a branch while the real script stays untouched — then compare and choose.
No two cursors fighting over one page. Your writing partner sends a proposed revision; you read it like notes, comment, and accept — or don't.
Colorful covers, warm paper tones, a floating toolbar that stays out of the way. Software you actually want to spend the night with.
Slate keeps the story and the pages in one place — beats, sections, and drafts all talk to each other.
A beat isn't a sticky note somewhere else — it's linked to the actual lines it covers. Tag it, summarize it, keep director's notes and comments beside it. When the scene moves, the beat moves with it.
⌘B on any line turns it into a beat.
Every script gets a cover, a logline, and a status — First Draft to Done. The overview page shows scenes, beats, branches, and open notes at a glance. Organize with folders and projects, back up to a local folder or Dropbox, export to PDF or Fountain.
Split the script into a cold open, acts, a stinger — whatever your show needs. Lock what's done, focus on what isn't, and branch just one section when the rest of the script should hold still.
The whole story on one board — beats as cards, acts as columns. Drag a beat to a new act and its scenes travel with it. It's the corkboard, except the index cards are wired to the pages.
Software teams have had this for decades; writers got "Save As". Here's the whole system, in four moves. Click through:
Your script lives on "main" — one clean, current version. Every save is a moment you can come back to.
Want to try the bolder cold open? Branch it. The original stays untouched while you experiment — the whole script, or just one section.
Your co-writer works on their own branch and sends you a proposed revision — you read it like notes, not like a surprise.
Compare the two side by side, keep what sings, and merge. One script. No version-seven-final-final.
Cut lines in red, new lines in green — two drafts side by side, so "which version is better?" is finally a question you can see.
Instead of both of you typing over one another, a co-writer works on their own branch and sends it over when it's ready. You read the whole change, leave comments in the margins, and merge it when you're sold. You always have the final cut.
Point a script at any shared folder — Dropbox, or just a folder on disk. Everyone's branches live beside the script; proposals flow through the folder. Your pages never sit on someone else's server.
Competitor details summarized from public feature pages; check theirs for the fine print.
Start free. Upgrade when the drafts start multiplying.
Browse every timestamped backup of a script and restore any moment — Slate already keeps them for you.
Group scripts into folders and season-style projects in the library.
Bring your .fdx files over with elements, title page and all.
Export a side-by-side comparison as a PDF you can hand to the room.
Colored pages — blue, pink, yellow — with locked scene numbers for scripts headed to set.
A shared beat board for the whole room, feeding proposals into one script.
Vote for what Slate should do next, or pitch something new.