Telos vs. Arc Studio: price, platforms and AI side by side
by Telos
Arc Studio is the better choice if you want an affordable screenwriting editor that follows you across devices: it has a free plan, paid plans at $69 and $99 a year, works in any browser and, on paid plans, has apps for Mac, Windows, iPhone and iPad. Telos costs $49 a month and bets on something else: AI that writes and reads your script from the whole project — world, characters, structure, setups and voice. Both speak Final Draft and Fountain, so a script can move from one to the other.
| Arc Studio | Telos | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (2 scripts, watermarked PDF); Essentials $69/year; Pro $99/year; every account comes with a 7-day Pro trial | $49/month + tax where applicable, with 750 credits a month for AI actions |
| Platforms | Any browser; Mac and Windows desktop apps and iPhone and iPad apps on Essentials and Pro; no dedicated Android app | Web app |
| AI | The pricing page doesn't use the term; it lists add-ons bought with credits, outside the subscription price (Essentials and Pro): Table Read, Character Images and Research Assistant | Claude, by Anthropic: writes from the world, characters, structure and voice you built, and reads the whole script, quoting the passage behind every finding |
| Collaboration | Comments on every plan; inviting collaborators and feedback links on Pro | A reading link where the studio leaves notes without creating an account (vertical drama) |
| Import and export | Imports Final Draft; exports Fountain, Final Draft and PDF (watermarked PDF on Free) | Imports Final Draft (.fdx), Fountain, PDF and plain text; exports PDF, Final Draft (.fdx) and Fountain |
| Formats | Custom formats and season outlines on Pro; others not stated | Feature film, TV series, vertical drama and short film |
| Interface languages | Not stated | English and Portuguese; the work can be written in English or Portuguese |
What's the difference between Telos and Arc Studio?
Arc Studio is a screenwriting editor with cloud sync, billed by the year. The free plan holds two scripts; Essentials unlocks unlimited scripts and the apps; Pro adds inviting collaborators, outlining tools, season outlines, history, revision management and feedback links. On the generation side, the page lists three add-ons bought with credits, outside the subscription: Table Read, which assigns voices to characters and narration so you can listen in the app or download the audio; Character Images, which generates images of your characters from descriptions, for inspiration and reference; and Research Assistant, which answers research questions without you leaving the script.
In Telos, AI isn't an add-on; it's the center of the system. The project lives there — the world, the characters and their arcs, the structure, the setups that haven't paid off yet and your authorial voice — and all of it enters every generation. The AI writes scenes, treatments, step outlines and episodes from that material, and you decide what stays. The month's 750 credits come with the subscription, and every action shows its cost before you click.
In one line: Arc Studio is an editor with optional generation add-ons; Telos is a project system where the AI works with everything you've built.
When is Arc Studio the better choice?
- Price matters. Pro costs $99 a year; twelve months of Telos on the monthly plan add up to $588, plus tax. And Arc Studio has a free plan for two scripts; Telos doesn't: the system opens once the subscription is active.
- You write on several devices. Paid plans include apps for Mac, Windows, iPhone and iPad. Telos is a web app.
- You want to hear your script. Table Read reads it aloud with a voice per character. The Telos site doesn't advertise audio read-throughs.
- You want character images for reference. Character Images generates them from descriptions.
- You don't want AI at the center of your process. In Arc Studio, the generation add-ons are optional and billed separately; the subscription covers the editor and, on Pro, outlining, history and revision management.
- You want to try it for free. Every account starts with seven days of Pro.
When is Telos the better choice?
- You want AI working inside the craft, not next to it. Scenes, treatments, step outlines and episodes, written from your world, your characters and your compiled voice — without pasting context into every request.
- You want notes backed by evidence. Every structural finding quotes the passage from your script behind it; where something can't be measured, it says "not measured."
- You write series and need more than an outline. In Telos, the season is the unit: the Continuity Ledger holds the season's canon, which the AI reads before writing any scene; the series bible is built from the episodes you wrote; and the season exports as a ZIP, one file per episode.
- You write vertical drama. Every episode has a running-time target, measured on the page, and the AI writes to fit it. Read our guide to writing a vertical drama.
- You also work in Portuguese. The interface comes in English and Portuguese, and the work can be written in either.
- You want to know what happens to your writing. The providers Telos calls, Anthropic and OpenAI, are bound not to train models on what goes through their API, and Telos doesn't use your writing to train anything. Price and credits on pricing.
Can you use both?
Yes. Arc Studio imports Final Draft and exports Fountain, Final Draft and PDF — the Fountain and Final Draft exports are listed on every plan, Free included. Telos imports Final Draft (.fdx), Fountain, PDF and plain text, with character aliases merged on their own, and exports to PDF, Final Draft (.fdx) and Fountain.
In practice:
- From Arc Studio into Telos. Export your script as .fdx or Fountain and import it into Telos for the structural read, a branch with a different ending, or the next draft written with the AI.
- From Telos into Arc Studio. Export the .fdx from Telos and import it into Arc Studio to write on your phone, listen with Table Read, or share it with collaborators on Pro.
The .fdx file is the bridge, and neither tool locks your script in.
Sources
- Arc Studio, pricing and plans: https://www.arcstudiopro.com/pricing
- Telos, home page (Telos at a glance): https://www.telos.guru/en
- Telos, pricing: https://www.telos.guru/en/pricing
Prices and features checked on the official pages on Oct 16, 2026.
Written with AI assistance, from the sources cited.