The short answer: the Black List, Script Revolution, Stage 32 and Virtual Pitch Fest are where writers go when InkTip does not work for them, and the contests with industry reads sit next to all of them. They are not the same product. InkTip and Script Revolution are listings, where a filmmaker browses and finds you. Stage 32 and Virtual Pitch Fest are pitches, where you go to a named person. Contests are a filter that hands you a credit. A listing only pays off if the script is ready, so the cheapest first move is a read, not a fee.
What InkTip actually charges
Worth knowing what you are leaving. InkTip's services page lists a script listing at $19.99 per month and InkTip Pro at $32.50 per month, with extra listings at $12.50 per month. Storing scripts in your library is free; you pay to make one visible.
The rules matter more than the price. Their FAQ says InkTip does not screen scripts before listing, but a script needs a signed release form, a copyright or WGA registration number, a logline, a synopsis and a resume. Only filmmakers and reps who have registered and been vetted can read scripts. InkTip states that more than 400 movies have been made from scripts and writers found through the site.
The complaint is rarely that InkTip is a scam. It is that you paid, the script sat there, and nobody requested it.
The alternatives, side by side
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Or run it now without an email| Site | Model | Cost as stated | Who reads or browses | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| InkTip | Paid listing | Listing $19.99/mo, Pro $32.50/mo | Vetted filmmakers and reps | A finished feature with a clear commercial hook |
| The Black List | Hosting plus paid evaluations | Check their pricing page | Industry members, and it is a Nicholl submission portal | Writers who want a scored read attached to the listing |
| Script Revolution | Free listing, optional membership | Free; Rockstar $4.99/mo or $50/yr | Filmmakers searching the site | Shorts, low budget features, first listings |
| Stage 32 | Booked pitch sessions | Priced per session on each listing | 500+ managers, agents, producers, executives | Writers who want a named person to respond |
| Virtual Pitch Fest | Written pitches, guaranteed reply | 6 pitches $59, 13 for $99, 29 for $199 | 500+ film and TV pros | Query letters when you have nowhere to send them |
| Austin Film Festival | Contest | Feature $60 early, $70 regular, $90 late | Industry judges and trained readers | A credit and a room full of writers |
| Academy Nicholl | Contest | Check the current entry page | Academy readers, via partner portals | The one credit everybody knows |
Script Revolution: free, and honest about it
Script Revolution calls itself a free to use script hosting platform for writers to promote scripts and filmmakers to search them. Listing costs nothing. The site reports 25,426 members, 18,474 scripts and 387 Rockstars.
The paid layer is Rockstar, at $4.99 monthly or $50 annually, which the site says carries over $200 in discount offers. Their own numbers on that page: Rockstar members average 2.5 times as many read requests, 4 times as many bookmarks and 5 times as many followers as free tier members. Read that as placement, not magic. Paying moves you up the list, it does not make the script better. Longer look at that trade in is Script Revolution worth it.
The Black List
The Black List hosts scripts and sells evaluations, and it carries weight beyond its own site: the Academy's Nicholl page says the Black List and the Writers Guild Foundation serve as portals for public submissions. Their pricing pages blocked our fetch, so check blcklst.com for the current hosting fee and evaluation price. We will not quote a figure we could not open.
Stage 32 and Virtual Pitch Fest: pitching, not listing
Different mechanic. A listing waits, a pitch goes.
Stage 32 runs pitch sessions with what the site describes as 500+ managers, agents, producers and executives, bookable as a virtual meeting spot or a written spot, with availability shown per session. Prices sit on the individual listings rather than one page, so check the session you want. They also sell script services, including coverage advertised as 3 to 5 pages of notes in 72 hours or less.
Virtual Pitch Fest is the leanest version. You pick from 500+ pros, send a written pitch, and the site guarantees a response within 5 business days. Packages are 6 pitches for $59, 13 for $99 and 29 for $199. If a pro cancels, their terms say they will attempt a substitution or refund that pitch fee. It is a query letter with a receipt, which is the whole value: no wondering whether the email arrived.
Contests with real reads
The Academy Nicholl Fellowships award up to five fellowships of $35,000 a year, chosen from roughly 10 to 15 finalists. Entry now runs through partner portals rather than one Academy form, so start at the Nicholl page for the current route and fee.
Austin Film Festival lists feature entry at $60 early bird, $70 regular and $90 late, with short screenplay and teleplay at $50, $60 and $75. Drama and comedy feature winners get $5,000, up to $500 airfare, up to $500 hotel and the Bronze Typewriter. Finalists get a complimentary Producers Badge the site values at $775. Their readers must read each script in full and give constructive notes, which is more than most contests promise.
The part nobody sells you
Every option above costs money or a month of waiting, and every one assumes the script survives page ten. A listing does not fix a slow opening. A pitch does not fix a logline with two stories in it. You can spend $200 finding out what a reader would have told you in a minute.
So invert the order. Read first, fix the one note that matters, then pay for exposure.
That is where ScriptLix fits, and it is worth being blunt. It is not a listing site, nobody is browsing it for your script. It is free AI script coverage: paste the screenplay, get a 1 to 100 score, five dimension scores for structure, character, dialogue, pacing and originality, a pass, consider or recommend verdict, and two notes called Protect This and Fix This First. Under a minute, no account. An email unlocks the full one page coverage and score history, so a rescore after the rewrite plots against the last number. A $29 deep report covers the script scene by scene.
It is an AI reader, not a human one. It will not tell you a producer liked it. It will tell you, before you spend $19.99 a month on visibility, whether the first act is doing its job. The scoring is broken down in how the ScriptLix score works, and the wider list of places to get a draft read is in where to get your screenplay read.
A cheap order of operations
- Score the draft free and read the Fix This First note.
- Rewrite that one thing. Rescore.
- List free on Script Revolution while you decide where to spend.
- Buy one paid thing, not four. A pitch package or a listing month or a contest entry.
- Judge it on read requests, not on hope. If nothing moves in two months, the problem is upstream of the listing.
The writers who get pulled off these sites are rarely the ones listed on the most of them. They are the ones whose first ten pages held.
Sources
Free coverage
How would your own script score?
Upload a draft and get a score, five craft dimensions, comps and a verdict back in under a minute. No account needed.
Or run it now without an email- https://www.inktip.com/
- https://www.inktip.com/sa_services_products.php
- https://www.inktip.com/faq.php
- https://www.scriptrevolution.com/
- https://www.scriptrevolution.com/become-a-rockstar
- https://www.stage32.com/
- https://www.stage32.com/scriptservices/
- https://www.stage32.com/scriptservices/pitch-sessions
- https://www.virtualpitchfest.com/
- https://www.virtualpitchfest.com/pricing
- https://www.oscars.org/nicholl
- https://www.oscars.org/nicholl/about
- https://austinfilmfestival.com/about-aff-script-competitions/
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