Final Draft vs Highland Pro

Final Draft

• Screenwriters who need scripts in industry-standard format
• Productions that rely on tracked revisions and production reports
• Writers who would rather buy a desktop license once than subscribe

Highland Pro

• Screenwriters on Apple devices who like writing in plain text
• Writers who draft both scripts and novels in one app
• Anyone who needs to turn a script PDF back into an editable document

Final Draft

• The one-time Final Draft 13 license does not include Final Draft Cloud, which comes only with the Suite subscription.
• Final Draft 13 needs macOS 12 or later or Windows 11 or later, and is not available on Chromebook.
• The iPhone and iPad app, Final Draft Go, is a separate subscription at $3.99 a month or $19.99 a year.
• A license can be signed in on two computers at once; a third sign-in requires signing out of another.

Highland Pro

• It is listed only for Mac, iPad and iPhone; there is no Windows, Android or web version.
• After the 30-day trial a subscription is required for all features; without one the app still opens, prints and exports documents.
• The App Store listing requires iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 on mobile devices and macOS 13 or later on a Mac.
• Syncing between devices relies on iCloud.

Final Draft

Automatic script formatting

Paginates and formats a script to entertainment-industry standards for film, TV, theater and other media, so layout does not have to be set by hand.

Story planning tools

The Beat Board, Outline Editor and Structure Lines are used to brainstorm and outline a story inside the script file, alone or with writing partners in real time.

Revisions and production reports

Tracked revisions, built-in commenting and automatic version saving support rewrites, and production reports can be run from the script.

Final Draft Cloud

Part of the Suite: an online editor called Final Draft Writer, a Vault for storing and sharing files, ScriptNotes comments and asynchronous collaboration.

Reader Mode

People invited to a script in Final Draft Cloud can view and comment on it free of charge, with no credit card, but cannot edit it.

Writing goals and focus modes

Final Draft 13 includes Writing Goals and Productivity Stats along with Midnight and Typewriter modes.

Highland Pro

Fountain and Markdown writing

Write in plain text and let the app format it. There are 14 templates, including Screenplay, Multi-Cam and Manuscript, and autocomplete for character names and scene headers.

Navigator and Overview

The Navigator maps sections, scenes, synopses and notes, and the Overview shows a whole script or novel in one view with characters and scenes highlighted.

Revision Mode

Tracks changes in different colors with stars in the margin, alongside automatic scene numbering with custom ranges.

Sprints and goals

Timed writing sprints track focused sessions, and goals set milestones for a page, word or character count.

/Lookup

Typing a slash and a question returns quick answers such as definitions, rhymes and world facts without leaving the draft.

Import, export and PDF melting

Imports and exports Fountain, Final Draft .fdx and PDF files. PDF Melting converts Final Draft and Fountain PDFs back into editable text.

Final Draft

• Final Draft Go$3.99

  per month, or $19.99 per year, in the App Store

  A separate subscription app for writing, editing and reading Final Draft scripts on iPhone and iPad.

• Final Draft Suite$99.99

  per year, or $16.99 per month

  Final Draft 13 for desktop plus Final Draft Cloud, the online workspace with cloud storage, sharing and collaboration.

• Final Draft 13 Educational$129.99

  one-time purchase

  All the features of Final Draft 13 for students and teachers. Verification is required to buy.

• Final Draft 13 Upgrade$129.99

  one-time purchase

  For owners of any previous desktop version, who must give a registered customer number or email.

• Final Draft 13$249.99

  one-time purchase

  The desktop app for Mac and Windows, with activation on two computers. Does not include Final Draft Cloud.

• Volume licensingCustom

  Multi-user licenses for studios, production companies, schools and nonprofits, arranged with the sales team.

Highland Pro

• Yearly$4.99

  per month, billed $59.99 annually

  All Highland Pro features on Mac, iPad and iPhone, billed once a year. Advertised as a 50% saving on the monthly plan.

• Monthly$9.99

  per month, billed monthly

  The same features on a month-to-month subscription.

Final Draft

• Other savings

  Sale price of $199.99 on Final Draft 13

  The US store listed Final Draft 13 at $199.99 against its regular $249.99 when the page was captured on 2026-09-29.

• Annual discount

  Annual Suite plan costs about half of monthly

  Final Draft Suite is $99.99 a year, against $203.88 for twelve payments on the $16.99 monthly plan.

• Education

  Educational edition for students and teachers

  Final Draft 13 Educational has a regular price of $129.99, against $249.99 for the standard license, and was on sale at $99.99 on 2026-08-30. Verification is required.

• Other savings

  Military and first responder price of $129.99

  Members of the military, veterans and first responders can buy Final Draft 13 for $129.99 instead of the regular $249.99.

• Other savings

  Upgrade pricing for existing owners

  Owners of any earlier desktop version can move to Final Draft 13 for a regular price of $129.99; the upgrade was on sale at $99.99 on 2026-09-22.

Highland Pro

• Annual discount

  Save 50% with the yearly plan

  The yearly plan is billed $59.99, which works out to $4.99 a month against $9.99 on the monthly plan, or $119.88 over twelve months.