Coverfly, ScreenCraft, and WeScreenplay Are Gone. Here’s Where Screenwriters Are Going Now.

Brian Hanford · August 27, 2026 · 6 min read

An honest map for the three questions those platforms used to answer: coverage, competitions, and the industry’s appetite.

If you’re reading this because you typed “Coverfly” or “ScreenCraft” into Google, here’s the short version: Coverfly, ScreenCraft, and WeScreenplay closed in 2025. Three platforms that a huge number of working and aspiring screenwriters relied on for coverage, competition hosting, and industry visibility… are no longer operating. If you had an account, a queued submission, or a bookmark to one of these sites like we did, a year on we can safely say, it’s not coming back.

That’s disorienting if you built any part of your process around them. So instead of a eulogy, we want to offer a map: what each of these platforms actually did, and where that same need gets met now.

If you want the full story of what these platforms meant, what their loss actually cost, and the vacuum they left, check out Screenwriters Are at a Crossroads: Where’s the Map?, a Reader’s Note essay on the same closures. That article is the story, this is the map itself.

What each platform actually offered

They weren’t identical, even though they got lumped together constantly. Roughly:

If you used any of these, you were probably using them for one (or more) of three underlying things:

Reason 1: Getting your script read and evaluated.

Reason 2: Getting exposure through competitions.

Reason 3: Getting a sense of where your script actually sits in the market (who might buy/option it?).

Those three needs didn’t close down along with the platforms, they just lost their home. Here’s where they live now.

1. For coverage and script notes

This is the one we at dev|cut. exist to answer, so we’ll say it plainly: this is what we do, and we’ll let the specifics make the case rather than the adjectives.

Coverage from Coverfly, ScreenCraft, and WeScreenplay generally followed the industry-standard format: logline, synopsis, a craft evaluation, and a recommendation tier. dev|cut. follows that same backbone, but gets specific in three places most coverage doesn’t touch:

• Buyer-fit, not just craft. Every dev|cut. coverage report includes an assessment of where a script actually sits against current buyer appetite. This isn’t a guess, but a researched and factual read of current slates and recent deal patterns.
• Calibrated to the piece in front of us, not a generic standard. A feature, a vertical drama pilot, and a half-hour spec don’t get run through the same rubric — dev|cut. evaluates each script against what its specific format, genre, and moment in the market actually call for, not an industry-wide average.
• Built by a bespoke script-intelligence engine, closed by a human reader. Every script runs through a purpose-built AI analytical engine for structural and craft-level depth, then a named human reader reviews, refines, and signs off on the final read. Our coverage is never just an automated report. Not one human’s read alone either. We have built the best of both, on every single coverage.

If you want the mechanics of how to actually read a coverage report once you have one, that’s covered in How to Read Script Coverage.

Current pricing (founding rates locked through September 30, 2026):

No subscription required for a single read. See full pricing.

2. For competitions and exposure

This is territory dev|cut. doesn’t try to replace, and it wouldn’t be honest to pretend otherwise. If what you actually miss about Coverfly or ScreenCraft was the competition hosting and the shot at industry visibility, the most direct replacement for that specific function is The Black List’s script hosting and evaluation platform, alongside the individual festival and competition portals that used to route submissions through Coverfly and now run their own intake directly.

Competitions we love are Slamdance, the Academy Nicholl Fellowships, and the Austin Film Festival Script Competition, but make no mistake, there are loads of great options out there and many tailored specifically by genre, format, writer voice and more.

3. For market and genre intelligence

Coverfly’s percentile rankings were, underneath the gamification, an attempt to answer a real question: where does my script actually sit relative to what’s selling? dev|cut. answers a version of that question directly through buyer-fit analysis built into every coverage report, and through MatchCut — a standalone comp-title and market-positioning tool that shows a script’s closest produced comparisons and a logline strength read, independent of a full coverage order. The Black List also acts as a filter in its own way and can sincerely help get eyes on a script.

However, the honest answer is no one (including us) really has the market cornered on the industry’s appetite because it’s constantly changing. That’s why constant research into studio mandates, scripts being optioned & produced, and talks with development teams is crucial… and why we make it a part of our work.

Some Real Talk

None of this is a “we’re better, they’re gone, come here instead” pitch. Coverfly, ScreenCraft, and WeScreenplay served a real function for a lot of writers, and their closures have left a genuine gap. It’s not one just for dev|cut. to fill, but for the whole industry — to empower the ecosystem of writers who built habits and expectations around them. This is meant as an honest map, not a victory lap.

FAQs

What happened to Coverfly? Coverfly closed in 2025. It’s no longer accepting submissions or hosting competitions.

Is there a direct Coverfly replacement? No. There’s not a single one-to-one replacement. Coverfly bundled several distinct functions (coverage, competition hosting, ranking) that are now split across different services. See the breakdown above for where each function lives now.

What is the best ScreenCraft alternative for coverage? “Best” is down to what you want out of coverage. Some services prioritise speed, others individual analysis, others price. We don’t pretend to be the only option, but we do believe dev|cut. is the strongest: a full craft evaluation, a buyer-fit read, and coverage calibrated to your script’s actual format and genre, backed by both a bespoke script-intelligence engine combined with a human reader, on every report.

Where do I submit to screenplay competitions now that Coverfly and ScreenCraft have closed? The Black List’s hosting platform is the most direct remaining hub, along with submitting to individual festivals and competitions directly through their own sites.

Is dev|cut. an AI script coverage tool? dev|cut. combines a bespoke script-intelligence engine that’s built to analyze structure, craft, and market fit at a depth no single reader could get through alone, with a real development professional who reviews and calibrates every finding. Every coverage report is read, noted, and signed off by a human. Every time. It’s not an automated pass/fail generator or a script report card. It’s a professional read, supported by AI, not replaced by it.

Want a read this specific on your own script? Founding rates are locked through September 30. See pricing.

[Soon] The story continues… — Brian Hanford, Writer & Founder, dev|cut.™ · devcut.io