Story Architect Active
The ambitious open-source successor to KIT Scenarist.
At a glance
- Maker
- Story Apps (the KIT Scenarist author’s team)
- First release
- —
- Status
- Active — still developed and sold
- Platforms
- Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS
- Pricing
- Free core; paid personal/AI/education licenses
- Native format
- Story Architect (.starc)
What it is
Story Architect (STARC) is an open-source, everything-included writing suite — screenplays, comics, audio drama, novels — with structure boards, research modules and an AI assistant. Its .starc projects are SQLite databases with the text stored as XML inside: open and rescuable by design.
What people are saying
The good
Users call it fast and light for writing and PDF output, with a free core few full suites match and a team that ships updates constantly and answers people directly in public threads. Importing an old KIT Scenarist project is a one-click migration.
The bad
The built-in AI assistant puts some open-source faithful off, and the installer trips antivirus warnings often enough that the team has had to publicly reassure users it is safe. The mobile apps (new since 2024) are immature, polish trails rivals like Fade In, and defaults can feel odd (page size needs adjusting on every new file, some report).
Paraphrased consensus from user reviews, forums and retrospective coverage across the web.
Where it came from
Built by the team behind KIT Scenarist after six years on that app; development began around 2019, desktop releases were out by 2022, and it ships constantly (releases through 2026). It imports KIT projects directly — a three-minute migration.
Worth knowing
One codebase, five platforms including phones — one of the most ambitious FOSS writing projects anywhere.
Getting scripts in and out
Imports: KIT Scenarist (.kitsp), Final Draft (.fdx), Fountain (.fountain)
Exports: Final Draft (.fdx), PDF (.pdf), Word (.docx)