Celtx Active
Screenwriting plus pre-production, in the browser.
At a glance
- Maker
- Celtx Inc. (Backlight)
- First release
- 2001
- Status
- Active — still developed and sold
- Platforms
- Web, iOS, Android
- Pricing
- Free tier; Writer ~$15/mo, Writer Pro ~$25/mo, teams more
- Native format
- Celtx (.celtx)
What it is
Celtx pairs a solid screenwriter with scheduling, breakdown and budgeting — the bridge from script to shoot. The modern product is cloud-only; the beloved free desktop app is gone, which is why .celtx rescue requests are constant.
What people are saying
The good
For a generation of writers Celtx was the free way in, and the all-in-one pitch (script, scheduling, breakdown and budgeting in one place) is genuinely valued by production-side users.
The bad
The subscription wall is the dominant grievance: returning users find their own old scripts locked until they pay, and cloud-only storage has produced real data-loss stories. The writing experience is judged clunky next to WriterDuet or Fade In, free-tier scripts print watermarked headers, and “used to be great” is the recurring review phrase.
Paraphrased consensus from user reviews, forums and retrospective coverage across the web.
Where it came from
Founded 2000 in St. John’s, Newfoundland as Greyfirst; the free open-source desktop app (2001) was how a generation learned to format scripts. The desktop line was discontinued in 2013 for cloud subscriptions, and in 2022 the cloud stopped creating legacy file types.
Worth knowing
"Celtx" is an acronym: Crew, Equipment, Location, Talent and X for XML.
Getting scripts in and out
Imports: Final Draft (.fdx)
Exports: Final Draft (.fdx), PDF (.pdf)