Arc Studio vs WriterDuet
Arc Studio and WriterDuet both offer real-time co-writing and a free plan, so the real difference lies in their limits, their yearly prices and in how much each vendor's pages tell you about the company. Arc Studio's free plan holds two scripts with watermarked PDFs, while WriterDuet's allows three projects with no watermarks. Arc Studio's paid plans are $69 and $99 per year, against WriterDuet's $89.88 to $125.88, though WriterDuet's figures come from a help article. Arc Studio names a Delaware company, whereas the WriterDuet pages we read name no company or country.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderVendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
Choose Arc Studio ifyou want the cheaper yearly plans, a seven-day Pro trial and a named legal entity to put in a supplier file. You also accept that table reads and images are bought as credits.
Choose WriterDuet ifyou want a free plan without a watermark, collaboration from the cheapest paid tier and a 14-day trial of the full version. You also accept that its company details are not on the pages we could read.
Arc Studio and WriterDuet side by side
| Arc Studio | WriterDuet | |
|---|---|---|
| Our screenwriting software rank | #6 of 11 | #8 of 11 |
| Established in | United States | Not stated by the vendor |
| List price, 8 November 2026 | Two-script free plan, then $69 a year for Essentials or $99 a year for Pro, with credit add-ons sold separately | Three-project free plan; Plus, Pro and Premium at $9.99, $11.99 and $13.99 monthly or $89.88, $107.88 and $125.88 yearly |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | Writing partners wanting live co-writing, starting from a free plan | Writing teams that want live shared documents without installing anything |
| Not for | Writers who object to credit-based extras sold on top | Buyers who need a named legal entity before approving a tool |
Both are reviewed in full in our screenwriting software ranking: Arc Studio and WriterDuet.
Where they differ
Arc Studio 2 · WriterDuet 3 · open 1- 01
Two scripts or three projects for nothing
Arc Studio's free plan is limited to 2 scripts and exports PDFs with a watermark. It has no desktop or iPhone and iPad app, and allows no collaborator invites. WriterDuet's free plan allows up to three projects at a time with no watermarks or page limits, one document per project, and read-only collaborators. Neither free plan states a time limit. WriterDuet's gives a writer more room, and its free output is cleaner.
Edge: WriterDuet
- 02
Yearly cost of the paid tiers
Arc Studio's Essentials costs $69 per year and Pro $99 per year, with no currency code stated. WriterDuet's help article lists Plus at $9.99 per month or $89.88 per year, Pro at $11.99 or $107.88, and Premium at $13.99 or $125.88. Both Arc Studio tiers come out cheaper by the year than the matching step at WriterDuet. WriterDuet's amounts were read from a help article, not the live pricing page, which was JavaScript-rendered.
Edge: Arc Studio
- 03
Who can be invited to write
Arc Studio lists real-time co-writing, comments with custom tags and @-mentions, a script chat and a digital whiteboard for story beats, but collaborator invites start at Pro, and season outlines are limited to 2 collaborators. WriterDuet's Plus tier includes unlimited projects, collaboration, chat and notifications, at $89.88 per year. A pair of writers can therefore start co-writing on WriterDuet for less than Arc Studio's Pro price of $99 a year.
Edge: WriterDuet
- 04
Revision tools and script history
Arc Studio's Pro adds custom formats, outlining tools, history, revision management, feedback links and a Stash for discarded material. WriterDuet's Pro adds custom formatting and templates, reports and statistics, revision tracking, script shortening, Typewriter Mode, Lock Pages and Omit Scene, and Premium adds version history with restore, AutoTranslate and ReadAloud. WriterDuet needs its top tier for restore, while Arc Studio lists history on Pro. Neither side wins on the facts we have.
Depends on the buyer
- 05
Credits, trials and cancelling
Arc Studio gives every account a free 7-day Pro trial, and sells Table Read, Character Images and Research Assistant as credits, with no prices listed. WriterDuet gives new users two weeks of the full-featured version, and its FAQ is silent on whether a card is needed. Its help centre says subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. WriterDuet's trial is longer, and nothing we read there mentions credits for extras.
Edge: WriterDuet
- 06
Company details and where files live
Arc Studio's terms name Arc Studio Labs, Inc., organized under Delaware law, with a Wilmington mailing address, though the privacy page also names Arc Studio Group, Inc. without reconciling the two. It syncs across desktop, iPad and web, and works offline. WriterDuet shows only a 2026 copyright line, with its terms unreadable, and a web app plus a desktop app from Plus. Arc Studio is the one you can document for a supplier review.
Edge: Arc Studio
When neither fits
If you want a tool you install and keep entirely offline, or one without any subscription, neither of these is the obvious fit. Fade In and Beat are two other screenwriting tools in our data to compare.
Arc Studio or WriterDuet: questions
3 answersDoes WriterDuet's free plan put a watermark on my pages?
No. The help article says the free plan allows up to three projects at a time with no watermarks or page limits. Arc Studio's free plan does watermark its PDF exports.
Are the WriterDuet prices you quote reliable?
They come from the vendor's own help article on choosing a subscription. The live pricing page returned only its title because it needs JavaScript, so we could not compare the two. Check the live page before you buy.
Which of the two sells extras on top of the plan?
Arc Studio does. Its Table Read, Character Images and Research Assistant add-ons require purchasing credits, and no prices are listed. The WriterDuet pages we read show no credit-based extras.
Sources
Checked 8 November 2026- Arc Studio pricing: Free, Essentials and Pro yearly prices, the free plan limits, the 7-day Pro trial and the credit add-ons.
- Arc Studio home page: co-writing, comments, whiteboard, offline sync and Final Draft import.
- Arc Studio terms: Arc Studio Labs, Inc. organized under Delaware law with a Wilmington address.
- WriterDuet subscription help article: Plus, Pro and Premium monthly and yearly prices, the free plan limits and tier features.
- WriterDuet FAQ: the 14-day trial and the copyright line with no company named.