Highland is the minimalist screenwriter’s tool — Fountain-native, Mac/iPad/iPhone, beautifully restrained, made by working screenwriters. Arqo is the alternative if you also write on Windows or Android, want collab, want an opt-in assistant, or want production-side reports without leaving the app.
We’d rather lose the click than lose the trust.
Highland is one of the best-feeling screenwriting tools on a Mac, period. Sprint Mode, typewriter scrolling, the Bin sidebar, the Gender Analysis pass — every surface feels considered. Arqo is more feature-broad; Highland is more feature-restrained, and that’s a real virtue.
Highland comes from John August (Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, Frankenweenie). The taste in the tool is real, and a lot of writers trust the brand for exactly that reason. Arqo is earning that trust; Highland already has it.
Mac, iPad, iPhone — each runs as a native app with iCloud sync between them. Arqo’s iPhone/iPad app is real and native too, but Highland’s is hand-built per platform and feels it.
Highland is Mac/iPad/iPhone only. Arqo runs the same Fountain editor on Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, and the web. If you ever switch laptops or write on a non-Apple device, Highland isn’t there.
Highland is single-writer by design. Arqo lets you co-write live: multiple cursors, named presence, see-them-typing. If you ever co-write — a partner, a writers’ room, a producer pass — Highland routes you back to emailing the Fountain file around.
Highland exports FDX and PDF cleanly; it doesn’t ship character/location/DOOD reports or a coloured-page rotation engine. Arqo covers the production-side workflow, not just the writing-side one. If your script is going into prep, Arqo carries you further.
Highland deliberately skips content-generation features. Arqo ships three bounded Iv routes on Pro+, and you can plug in your own key so prompts run through it — +$2/mo add-on on Pro, included on Studio. Both stances are coherent; if an assistant is part of your writing process, Arqo is the better fit. /no-list is what we won’t ship.
Highland deliberately ships no content-generation features. We respect the stance and disagree on the trade. Iv on Arqo is opt-in, bring-your-own-key, and bounded — but it’s in the box. If you want a tool that refuses any assistant as a category, Highland is the right answer.
Even with Iv, the line we hold is Highland’s line: the tool will not finish your sentences. Suggest gives you a panel of options to consider; it does not write into your cursor.
Highland on Mac is excellent, but if you also need to write on a Pixel on the train, Highland blocks you. Arqo will not gate platforms behind premium tiers — phone editor is in Free.
Full signed list at /no-list.
Free tier opens two scripts. No card. Bring your file, see how it lands.
Probably not, if you write only on a Mac and want a minimalist single-writer surface. Highland is great at what it does. Switch when you also write on Windows/Android/web, want live collab, or want an assistant on rails. Both tools can coexist — both are Fountain-native.
Yes. Save your Highland file as Fountain and import. Highland’s Fountain extras (notes, colored sections) survive as Fountain note blocks. The /switch-from-highland guide walks the four-step migration.
Partial. Arqo has Focus mode (hides everything but the current scene). The full word-target Sprint surface — set a count, beat the timer — is on the 2026-Q3 roadmap.
Yes — equivalent UI ships in Arqo, and Highland’s Bin items survive the import as Fountain notes that re-bin into our sidebar.
A coherent disagreement. Highland’s position is that any assistant in the editor changes the writing relationship — true. Our position is that an opt-in, narrow, bring-your-own-key assistant is more honest than pretending the category doesn’t exist. /no-list is what we will not ship; the line is conservative.
Honest answer: Highland is more polished as a Mac-only product. Arqo’s Mac app is real and native, but the typography and platform-feel work Highland has put in over a decade is something we’re still earning.