There are three ways to get a screenplay read by someone who is not your friend: pay a coverage service, enter a contest that returns notes, or list the script where producers browse. They are not interchangeable. Coverage is for a draft you are still fixing, contests for a draft you believe is finished, listings for a draft you have stopped rewriting. Here is what each costs in September 2026, using only sites we could load.
Start with the names that are gone
If you are working from a list you saved a year ago, check it. On 8 September 2026 we tried to load wescreenplay.com, screencraft.org and coverfly.com. None of the three resolves to a server any more. Coverfly is the painful one, since that is where a lot of writers kept their score history and contest ranking. If an article sends you there, it was written before they went dark. The Nicholl changed shape too, which is covered below.
Route 1: coverage services
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 emailCoverage is a paid read that comes back as a written report: logline, synopsis, notes on structure, character, dialogue and market, and usually a pass, consider or recommend verdict. You are buying one reader's opinion in writing. Nobody else sees it.
The cheapest first pass is an AI read, because it costs nothing and you can run it tonight. ScriptLix coverage scores a screenplay from 1 to 100, with five dimension scores for structure, character, dialogue, pacing and originality, a logline written from the script, comparable titles and a verdict on the same pass, consider or recommend scale. It takes under a minute and needs no account. Leave an email and you get the full one page coverage plus score history, so a rescore plots against the last one. A scene by scene deep report is $29.
Be clear about what that is. It is a machine reading pattern, not a person with taste and credits. It will not tell you a producer read something like this last month, and it will not go to bat for your script. Use it to catch the structural problem before you spend $159 on a human. More on the score in ScriptLix coverage, explained, and a wider look at the machine readers in the best AI script coverage tools in 2026.
For a human, here is what the live services state on their own pages.
| Service | Price | What you get | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| ScriptLix (AI) | Free, $29 deep report | Score, five dimensions, verdict, two notes | Under a minute |
| Coverage Ink, CI Standard | From $129 | 10 to 14 pages of notes | Not stated |
| Coverage Ink, CI Pro | From $349 | 16 to 20 page report with editing | Not stated |
| Screenplay Readers | $159 up to 120 pages | 3 to 5 pages of notes, logline, synopsis, 22 category scoresheet, verdict | About 72 business hours |
| Stage 32, industry reader | $99 | 3 to 5 pages from a reader with 5 or more years experience | 72 hours or less |
| Stage 32, premium exec read | $149 or $249 | 2 or 3 to 5 pages from an executive, manager, agent or producer you pick | Not stated |
Coverage Ink also lists a $89 two page CI Lite read and charges $49 for a five day semi rush. Screenplay Readers charges $249 for a second reader and $97 to $197 for a 24 hour turn. Stage 32 sells a $49 first ten pages review, the cheapest way to test an opening before paying for the whole script.
The Black List is the other name every writer asks about. Its site refused every request we made, so we cannot quote its hosting or evaluation prices. Check blcklst.com directly.
Route 2: contests that give you notes
A contest is a lottery with a reading attached. The notes are thinner than paid coverage, but a placement is the one thing here a manager reacts to.
The Nicholl is the change nobody expects. The Academy's page now says the program "will now exclusively partner with global university programs, screenwriting labs and filmmaker programs to identify potential Nicholl fellows", and that "The Black List and the Writers Guild Foundation will serve as portals for public submissions." You no longer enter directly. The Writers Guild Foundation confirms it is a public submissions partner, with a window that ran 22 June to 20 July 2026, capped at 2,000 submissions. Watch those two portals next year, not oscars.org.
| Contest | Entry fee | Feedback | Top prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Film Festival, feature | $60 early, $70 regular, $90 late | Free opt in summary of one reader's comments | $5,000 plus airfare up to $500 |
| PAGE Awards | $49 to $89 by deadline | $100 for 6 to 7 pages, requested at entry only | Part of over $50,000 in cash and prizes |
| Big Break, feature or TV | $45 early up to $85 extended | Paid add on, at least 550 words from a reader | $10,000 each for two grand prize winners |
Shorts are cheaper in both: Austin takes shorts and teleplays at $50 to $75 for $1,000 plus travel, Big Break at $35 to $65 for a $5,000 top prize.
Two traps. PAGE will not let you add feedback later, so tick the box when you enter. Austin's opt in summary is free but it is a summary, not coverage. PAGE and Big Break were both closed for 2026 when we checked, so those fees are next year's budget.
Route 3: listings
A listing gives you no notes. It puts the script in front of people looking for one, which only works on a draft that is genuinely ready. A producer who requests it and bounces off page ten does not request the next one.
InkTip Pro is $32.50 a month for one visible script and six or more pitching opportunities a week, extra live scripts $12.50 a month each. Its homepage claims more than 400 films produced and over 4,000 scripts optioned across 25 years. If the monthly cost is the sticking point, we went through cheaper options in InkTip alternatives.
Script Revolution is free to submit to and free to browse. On the day we checked it listed 25,426 members and 18,474 scripts, and says more than three in four listings get read at least once. Writers approve each download through a read request, so you see who takes the script. A paid Rockstar supporter tier exists, but the FAQ does not state its price. Whether free listing converts is the question we took apart in is Script Revolution worth it.
Stage 32 sits in both routes. Alongside the coverage above it runs live pitch sessions with producers, managers and executives, and says double recommended scripts go into a lookbook sent to executives.
Which route fits which draft
First draft, or one you know is broken: free AI coverage. Costs nothing, comes back in under a minute, names the problem you are avoiding.
Second or third draft, notes conflicting: pay a human. $99 to $159 buys a reader with taste who can answer the question an AI cannot, which is whether anyone would want to make it. If money is tight, buy the $49 first ten pages read.
Draft you think is finished: enter contests. Budget $50 to $90 an entry, pick three or four.
Draft you have stopped rewriting: list it. Listings reward a finished script and punish an unfinished one.
The order matters more than the spend. Free read, paid read, contest, listing. Skipping to the last step with a second draft is how writers spend a year waiting on silence.
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.oscars.org/nicholl
- https://www.wgfoundation.org/nicholl
- https://austinfilmfestival.com/about-aff-script-competitions/
- https://pageawards.com/how-to-enter/
- https://www.finaldraft.com/big-break-screenwriting-contest/
- https://coverageink.com/service-fees/
- http://screenplayreaders.com/script-coverage-service/
- https://www.stage32.com/scriptservices/coverage
- https://www.stage32.com/scriptservices/
- https://www.inktip.com/inktippro_membership.php
- https://www.inktip.com/
- https://www.scriptrevolution.com/
- https://www.scriptrevolution.com/faq
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