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Buying guide / updated 12 September 2026

Spreadsheet, desktop, or something the whole crew can open?

Three ways to schedule a film, and the kind of production each one is actually built for. Written by us, so read it with that in mind: we have told you where the other two win.

Try Film Logic free for 30 days → Or start with a free template

Pick the workflow, then pick the tool

Most comparisons start with features. Start with your production instead: who builds the schedule, who has to approve a change, what has to come out as a PDF, and what the crew needs in their hand at 6am. The answers usually pick the category for you.

One caveat before the table. These are categories, not products. Some desktop tools sync to the cloud, some spreadsheets are cleverly automated, and every vendor draws the line differently. Check the specific setup you are considering.

What to ask before you commit a production to a workflow
What you need Spreadsheet or printed template Desktop scheduling software Film Logic
Start from a script You type the scenes in, or paste them from somewhere else. Ask which screenplay formats it reads, and whether elements come with them. Imports .fdx, PDF and .fls. Review the scenes, then tag elements in place.
Build the shooting order Rows and dates you maintain yourself. Nothing stops you making a mistake. Ask about strips, banners, sorting and whether day totals update live. Drag strips into days, add banners, watch day totals and page counts as you go.
Let other people in A shared document, plus an agreement about who is allowed to touch it. Ask what sharing costs, and who owns the file if that person leaves. Invite collaborators with roles. Unlimited, and not charged per person.
Produce the paperwork You keep the layouts, and you reconcile them by hand after every change. Ask to see the actual reports, not a feature list. One-liner, shooting schedule, DOOD and call sheets from the same production.
Work with no signal Depends on your file and your device. Printed always works. Usually the strongest answer here. Check licensing and syncing back. Needs a browser and a connection. Print or export before you lose signal.
Know what it costs Close to nothing, until you count the hours spent reconciling documents. Ask about renewals, extra seats and upgrade pricing, not just the sticker. US$19.99 a month, 3 active productions, unlimited projects and collaborators.
Get your data out later Easy, as long as your formulas survive the export. Ask what a competitor can actually open, and test it before you need it. Export the production documents. We import screenplays, not other tools' schedule files.

When a template is the right answer

Short shoot, stable schedule, one person maintaining it, and nobody who needs to review changes. A clean spreadsheet beats software you have to learn during prep. Our free templates need no account.

When desktop software is the right answer

You already know one, your production office expects its file formats, or you genuinely work where there is no connection. Fluency in a tool is worth real money in prep.

When a shared workspace is the right answer

The same change has to reach several documents, or people keep asking which version is current. That is the problem Film Logic is built for.

Run this on anything

One script, one change, one hour

Feature lists are easy to write and hard to verify. Do this instead, in any tool you are considering, and time yourself.

  1. Bring in a short script with two locations and three characters.
  2. Break down one scene with a prop, a costume note and an exterior.
  3. Build two shooting days and produce a cast DOOD.
  4. Move one scene to the other day. Now look at availability, day totals and every report.
  5. Produce the revised call sheet, share it with one other person, and export everything you would need to hand to a production office.

Write down what broke, what you had to fix by hand, and how long step five took. That is a more honest comparison than any checkmark grid, including ours.

Before you move a production that is already running

Keep your current schedule and reports. Rebuild in the new tool as a copy, not as the live version, and run the two side by side for a few days.

Then check the things that quietly go wrong in a migration: scene numbering, page eighths, cast identities and IDs, dates, and whether the reports come out in the layout your production office expects. Do not assume a native project file from one tool opens in another; test it with a real file before you rely on it.

See how Film Logic handles this, or read the step-by-step scheduling guide.

Comparing us against something specific?

We have written these three up properly, with prices taken from each vendor's own pages and dated, and with the cases where you should stay where you are left in.

Film Logic

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