Open-source desktop scriptwriting software Celtx is officially Fin.

The developers behind the app stopped developing it in 2011, and has recently discontinued all support for it, across all platforms.

Users visiting the app’s old support pages are greeted by the following terse statement:

“We have concluded development, support and distribution of the Celtx desktop software, add-ons, and Celtx Plus.“

A true cross-platform tool, Celtx desktop was hugely popular during its time, often appearing on ‘best open source software’ lists and talked off in the same sentences as Apple’s Final Draft.

Heck, there was even a book published called “Celtx: Open Source Screenwriting Beginners Guide“.

Novelists, scriptwriters and screenplay writers alike used it thanks to a broad — and one time impressive — set of features that helped to make organising, tracking, writing, planning and other pre-production work easier, and more collaborative.

With media production now in reach of millions you might have thought that the app’s paid-for collaborative features would sustain development.

Alas, they seem to have been its downfall as more features were moved out of the desktop app and into the web-based version. Combined with an ageing codebase and demands for new features to suit modern pre-production needs, something looks like it had to give.

A Real Page Turner

As open source software the Celtx code is out there for anyone to use. You can’t leverage of the cloud-syncing bells and whistles, but the core basic functionality remains in tact.

‘The good news is that Celtx itself isn’t dead. The bad news is that it’ll cost you to keep using it…

Who knows, the original code could, like a long-forgotten soap opera sibling, reappear, out of the blue, ready to continue the story.

The “good news” is that Celtx itself isn’t dead. The “bad news” is that it’ll cost you to keep using it.

A cloud-based version called Celtx Studio is available for a fee, and should run on Linux through any modern web browser.

You’ll find more details, pricing and related marketing schtick about Celtx Studio on the Celtx website.

Alternatively there are other open-source alternatives to Celtx out there, including Plume Creator, Fountain and (possibly) Trelby.

Anyone dual-booting with macOS who used Celtx solely for scriptwriting may be interested in Celtx Script, a (closed-source and paid) desktop scriptwriting app for macOS.

Those who favoured Celtx desktop’s storyboarding can move on to Shots, which is available (for free) in the Mac App Store.

Thanks Matej M.