Compare Two Drafts of a Screenplay
Free scene by scene script diff in your browser
Paste two drafts of a screenplay below and get a scene by scene change report: which scenes were added, which were omitted, and exactly which lines changed inside the ones you rewrote. Built for screenwriters, script coordinators, and producers who need Final Draft's ScriptCompare without the license fee.
Generic diff tools treat a script like source code, so a reflowed action paragraph or a scene you moved from page 12 to page 40 reads as a wall of deletions and insertions. This tool parses both drafts into scenes on their sluglines first, matches scenes by heading and then by content similarity, and only then diffs line by line. A moved scene stays one scene, and the report reads the way a revised pages memo does: added, omitted, changed.
Everything runs in your browser. Drafts you paste or load are never uploaded, stored, or sent to any server.
Paste both drafts above, or load .fountain or .txt files, to see the change report.
Script revision colors
Once a script goes into production, each round of revisions is distributed on a different color of paper so every department can tell at a glance which draft a page belongs to. The order is standardized across US film and television, which is why a coordinator can say the show is in blue and everyone knows exactly one revision has landed since the shooting draft.
The standard revision color order runs White (the shooting draft), then Blue, Pink, Yellow, Green, Goldenrod, Buff, Salmon, Cherry. A production that revises past Cherry restarts the cycle with a 2nd prefix: 2nd Blue, 2nd Pink, and so on. Episodic television burns through the stack fast, and a heavily rewritten feature can too.
- 1. White (shooting draft)
- 2. Blue
- 3. Pink
- 4. Yellow
- 5. Green
- 6. Goldenrod
- 7. Buff
- 8. Salmon
- 9. Cherry
- 10. 2nd Blue
After Cherry the sequence restarts with a 2nd prefix (2nd Blue, 2nd Pink, 2nd Yellow) and continues in the same order for as long as the production keeps revising.
Revision asterisks in the right margin
Every line that changed since the last colored draft carries an asterisk in the right margin of the revised page. Crews scan for asterisks instead of rereading the whole page: a costumer checks whether a wardrobe note moved, a first AD checks whether the scene got longer. The change report above gives you the same signal digitally, with + and - line markers standing in for margin asterisks, which makes it easy to write the revised pages memo that goes out with a colored distribution.
Locked pages and A pages
When a script is locked, page and scene numbers stop moving so schedules, breakdowns, and call sheets keep pointing at the right material. New material is inserted as A pages (32A follows 32) and new scenes as A scenes (14A after 14), while a deleted scene keeps its number with the single word OMITTED under the slugline. That convention is why this tool reports omitted scenes instead of silently dropping them: it mirrors how production paperwork tracks a cut.
How it works
The tool splits each draft into scenes on sluglines (INT., EXT., EST., I/E., plus Fountain forced headings that start with a period). Scenes with identical headings are paired first, and leftover scenes are paired by vocabulary overlap using a Dice similarity score with a 0.4 floor, so a renamed scene with the same body still matches its counterpart. Each pair then gets a longest common subsequence diff at the line level, with whitespace collapsed so a reflowed line does not count as a rewrite. Anything left unpaired is reported as added or omitted, and the stats roll up scene counts, words added and removed, and the share of the script that changed.
A free alternative to Final Draft ScriptCompare
Final Draft's ScriptCompare does this job well, but it sits behind a paid license and expects .fdx files. If you write in Fountain, Highland, WriterDuet, or plain text, this screenplay compare tool is free and covers the part that matters: it tells you what actually changed between drafts at the scene level. Paste both versions, read the report, copy it into your notes email, done. No signup, no watermark, no trial clock.
A generic script diff tool, or a code diff like git, compares raw lines and screenplay text defeats it. Word processors reflow action paragraphs, so one added word can flag forty lines as changed. Move a scene during a restructure and a line diff shows a mass delete on page 12 and a mass insert on page 40. Scene aware comparison sidesteps both failure modes, which is why comparing script versions online with this tool produces a report you can read aloud on a notes call without translating it first.
Screenplay revision tracking matters most once other people depend on your pages. The producer wants to know whether the ending moved, the AD wants to know whether the diner scene grew, and nobody wants to reread 110 pages to find out. Run the compare before every distribution, paste the summary into the cover memo, and pair it with the revision color order below so your paperwork matches how sets have tracked changes since the studio era.
Use cases
- Notes calls with producers. Compare the old and new draft before the call, then walk through the changed scene list instead of defending pages nobody has reread since the last version.
- Rewrite sanity checks. After a restructure, confirm that only the scenes you meant to touch actually changed, and that a stray find and replace did not quietly rewrite dialogue somewhere else.
- Version archaeology. Untangle draft_final_v3 from draft_FINAL_final by comparing the files directly and seeing which one actually contains the later material.
Script Draft Compare: the complete guide
It parses both drafts into scenes on their sluglines, aligns scenes by heading and then by content similarity, and produces line level diffs plus change stats, so reordered or renamed scenes are tracked instead of misread as mass deletions.
For this workflow, the central problem is clear: generic diff tools break on screenplays, so writers either pay for Final Draft's ScriptCompare or reread whole drafts to find what changed. Left unresolved, this creates downstream friction and slower decisions. The practical target is a scene by scene change report (added, omitted, changed scenes with line diffs and stats) you can paste into a notes email or cover memo.
Limitation to keep in mind: It compares text, not formatting: it cannot read .fdx files directly, does not paginate, and will not produce studio style colored pages or margin asterisks, so it complements locked page workflows rather than replacing them.
Advanced workflow: Script coordinators run the compare before each distribution, paste the summary block into the revised pages memo, and keep the downloaded .txt reports as a change log that survives file renames and email threads.
Step-by-Step Workflow
- Paste or load the earlier draft on the left and the newer draft on the right (Fountain or plain screenplay text).
- Read the stat strip first: scenes added, omitted, changed, unchanged, plus words added and removed and the percent of the script that changed.
- Expand each changed scene to review its line diff, with + for added lines and - for removed lines.
- Copy the report or download it as .txt and attach it to your notes email or distribution memo.
Use Cases By Profile
- Writer: verify a targeted rewrite touched only the intended scenes before sending the draft back to a producer.
- Script coordinator: build the revised pages summary for a colored distribution without rereading the full episode.
- Producer: see at a glance whether notes were addressed by checking which scenes actually changed since the last version.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Comparing drafts with a generic text diff, which reports reflowed paragraphs and moved scenes as massive rewrites.
- Skipping the compare step and trusting memory of what changed, which is how contradicted continuity reaches the stage.
- Renaming sluglines during a rewrite without checking the report, which can split one location's history across two scene identities in your notes.
Professional Best Practices
- Keep sluglines stable between drafts when you can: exact heading matches align instantly and make every report cleaner.
- Run the compare per act on long features by pasting one act at a time, which keeps the changed scene list short enough to discuss on a call.
- Save the .txt report next to each draft file so the folder itself documents what changed between versions.
Treat this tool output as a decision support layer, not a replacement for authorship. Great scripts are remembered for specific choices, emotional precision, and clarity of dramatic movement. Tools help by removing noise so your energy can go where it matters: character, conflict, escalation, and payoff. If you review outcomes after each pass and keep an explicit log of accepted changes, your workflow becomes faster and more predictable from draft to draft. That consistency is exactly what professional collaborators value: fewer surprises, clearer rationale, and a script that evolves with intent.
Extended FAQ
Can I compare script versions online without installing anything?
Yes. The tool is a web page that runs entirely in your browser. Paste two drafts or load .fountain or .txt files, and the scene by scene comparison renders immediately with no install, no signup, and no upload.
How does the scene matching handle renamed sluglines?
Scenes with identical headings pair first. Remaining scenes are paired by vocabulary overlap using a Dice similarity coefficient with a 0.4 threshold, so INT. DINER - DAY renamed to INT. ROADSIDE DINER - DAY still matches when the body is similar, and the report shows it as changed with the old heading noted.
What is the standard script revision color order?
White (the shooting draft), then Blue, Pink, Yellow, Green, Goldenrod, Buff, Salmon, Cherry. After Cherry the cycle restarts as 2nd Blue, 2nd Pink, and so on. The interactive stepper on the page tells you the next color from any starting point.
What do the asterisks in a script's right margin mean?
A revision asterisk marks a line that changed since the previous colored draft. Departments scan the asterisks on each revised page instead of rereading it, the paper equivalent of the + and - markers in this tool's line diffs.
Why do locked pages use numbers like 32A?
Once a script is locked, page and scene numbers freeze so schedules and call sheets stay accurate. New material is inserted as A pages (32A after 32) and deleted scenes keep their number marked OMITTED, so downstream paperwork never has to renumber.
How much of my script should change between drafts?
There is no correct number, but the percent changed stat gives context: a polish pass often lands under 10 percent, a notes driven rewrite commonly runs 20 to 40 percent, and anything above that reads as a page one rewrite to the people tracking your revisions.
Frequently asked questions
Paste the earlier draft on the left and the newer draft on the right, or load .fountain or .txt files. The report appears instantly with added, omitted, and changed scenes plus line level diffs. The tool is free, needs no signup, and runs entirely in your browser.
Not directly, because .fdx is an XML container. In Final Draft, use File then Save As to export plain text, or select all and paste the script text into the tool. Once the text is in, the comparison works the same as it does for Fountain files.
A changed scene is a matched pair whose lines differ after whitespace is collapsed. Scenes match by identical heading first, and leftovers match by content similarity with a Dice score of at least 0.4, so a renamed slugline over the same action still pairs up and shows as changed rather than as one omitted scene and one added scene.
No. Both drafts are parsed and compared with JavaScript running in your browser tab. Files you load are read locally with the FileReader API and never leave your machine, which matters when you are comparing unproduced material under NDA.
Green. The full production order is White, Blue, Pink, Yellow, Green, Goldenrod, Buff, Salmon, Cherry, and then the cycle restarts as 2nd Blue. The stepper in the revision colors section above gives you the next color for any starting point.
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