Work · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Fountain

Plain text markup language for screenwriting

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Fountain launched in 2018; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   Fountain Greetings▲142

   Effortless handwritten letters as a service

   2014 · fountaingreetings.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   Storyboard Fountain▲144

   Best way to visualize your screenplay

   2014 · wonderunit.com · its alternatives →

3. 3
   Liquid Text 2.0▲157

   A better way to understand text - across multiple documents

   2016 · liquidtext.net · its alternatives →

4. 4
   I built a zero-browser, pure-JS typesetting engine for bit-perfect PDFs▲78

   Hi HN, I'm a film director by trade, and I prefer writing my stories in plain text rather than using clunky screenplay software. Standard markup like Fountain doesn't work for me because I write in mixed languages, so I use Markdown with a custom syntax I invented to resemble standard screenplay structures. This workflow is great until I need to actually generate an industry-standard screenplay PDF. I got tired of manually copying and pasting my text back into the clunky software just to export it, so I decided to write a script to automate the process. That's when I hit a wall. I tried…

   Mar 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   Brackets 1.0▲190

   An open-source text editor for web designers by Adobe

   2014 · github.com · its alternatives →

6. 6
   Typewrite▲103

   Real-time collaborative writing

   2014 · typewrite.io · its alternatives →

7. 7
   Dialogue▲219

   Write a movie the same way you text.

   2018 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

8. 8
   Atavist▲116

   A web-based word processor as beautiful as Medium

   2015 · magazine.atavist.com · its alternatives →

9. 9
   Screenflick▲109

   Your AI powered gateway to cinematic one-liners

   2024 · screenflick.ashutoshrath.me · its alternatives →

10. 10
    ZenPen▲125

    The minimal writing tool of web

    2014 · zenpen.io · its alternatives →

11. 11
    PostScripting▲111

    Proofreading and editing done right

    2015 · postscripting.net · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Paragraph Notes▲155

    A private Markdown notes app for Mac

    Sep 2026 · paragraphnotes.md · its alternatives →

13. 13
    FocusWrite▲115

    A local-first writing app with focus modes.

    12d ago · focuswrite.app · its alternatives →

14. 14
    Textpad▲200

    Simple online notepad, no fancy stuff. Just write.

    2016 · textpad.surge.sh · its alternatives →

15. 15
    ShallowParse▲6

    A text editor for creative writing

    2014 · shallowparse.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Draft.js▲166

    A framework for building rich text editors in React

    2016 · facebook.github.io · its alternatives →

17. 17
    Typerino▲111

    Screenwriting and playwriting for movies, television, stage.

    Jun 2026 · typerino.app · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Screen Flow▲116

    Screen recording and editing for Mac

    2014 · telestream.net · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Irregardless.ly▲85

    A crowdsourced style guide for writers

    2016 · its alternatives →

20. 20
    1Writer▲83

    Beautiful & easy to use Markdown editor w/ powerful features

    2014 · 1writerapp.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    LiquidText Ink▲136

    A fast, ink based way to review and analyze documents

    2017 · liquidtext.net · its alternatives →

22. 22
    Glorium▲83

    A contextual filler text generator for Mac

    2015 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

23. 23
    Writing in Markdown▲71

    Write faster and more efficiently

    2015 · fivesimplesteps.com · its alternatives →

24. 24
    Penflip▲119

    A social writing platform

    2013 · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →