Which free tier fits the job you have?
Free general boards: Trello, ClickUp, Milanote
These are where most small crews start, and for good reason: the free tiers are permanent, not trials. Trello's free tier runs on boards and cards; Standard is 5 USD per user a month billed annually when you outgrow it. ClickUp's Free Forever plan carries its core task tooling; Unlimited is 7 per user a month billed yearly (currency shown as "$" on the page). Milanote's free tier covers a limited number of notes and boards; paid is 9.99 a month billed annually. The honest catch for a production: every call sheet, shot list, contact sheet and expense process is something you build and maintain by hand, and the free tiers meter exactly the things a growing shoot multiplies (cards, boards, uploads, seats).
Free and script-first: Celtx
Celtx's free tier starts at the script and reaches into pre-production: shot lists, breakdowns, schedules. Its pricing page names its paid plans but does not display dollar amounts (fetched 20 July 2026), so we will not quote numbers. If your work begins with writing, this is the strongest free starting point on the list. It is not a shoot-day operations tool.
Free on the day: Shot Lister
Shot Lister's free version does one job: industry-standard shot lists and shot-by-shot schedules, with paid Pro at 15.99 a month or 99.99 a year when you need more. Platform constraint from its own page: iOS and macOS only, no Android or web app mentioned. If the day lives and dies on the shot list and the crew carries iPhones, free Shot Lister is a real answer.
Free forms: Jotform
Jotform's free tier plus e-signature covers a simple talent release workflow: build the form, send the link, collect the signature. Bronze is 39 USD a month when you outgrow free. It is a forms tool, not a production tool: the release lives apart from the shoot, the day and the books.
Free and production-shaped: StudioBinder
StudioBinder's free plan allows one active project with limited features (per its own support pages, fetched 8 July 2026; the paid pricing page renders a sign-in wall, so we will not quote paid numbers). For a scripted job that fits inside one project at a time, it is the most production-shaped free tier here. Nothing on the pages we checked speaks to Australian localisation, receipts or GST.
What does no free tier on this list actually do?
Scoped to the pages we fetched: none of these free tiers captures a paper receipt into a structured expense, none mentions GST or Australian tax shaping, none digitises a signed paper release, and none claims to work offline on set. Free gets you boards, scripts, shots or forms. The admin that eats a producer's evenings, the receipts in the glovebox and the releases in the folder, stays manual on every free plan we checked.
Where does Runner Runner stand if you outgrow free?
Runner Runner has no free plan. It has a 14-day trial that is the full product, no card required: photograph receipts into GST-split expenses with a live total, photograph signed releases into finished digital forms, capture locations by photo or voice, generate the run sheet and put it in the whole crew's hands through one link that keeps working with no signal. Two things are always free regardless of plan: the crew opening that link never needs a licence, and your archives stay readable after a plan ends. Pricing is published in Australian dollars, $29 to $99 a month, or a Custom Build for larger teams, flat per company, never per user.
The honest advice this page owes you: if your next shoot is a one-person job with no receipts to chase, start on a free board and see how far it carries you. The day the paperwork outgrows it is the day this product exists for.
The fit table
| Your job | Best free option | Its published limit |
|---|---|---|
| General planning boards | Trello / ClickUp / Milanote | Caps on boards, features or uploads; paid from 5 to 9.99 a month |
| Script-first pre-production | Celtx | Free tier; paid plan prices not displayed on its page |
| Shot lists on the day | Shot Lister (iOS/macOS) | Free version; Pro 15.99/mo or 99.99/yr |
| Release forms only | Jotform | Free tier; Bronze 39 USD/mo beyond it |
| One scripted project at a time | StudioBinder free plan | One active project, limited features |
| Receipts, releases, run sheets, one link | No free tier exists (ours included) | Runner Runner: 14-day full trial, no card |
Frequently asked
Is there a completely free production management app?
Yes, within limits. Trello, ClickUp and Milanote have permanent free tiers as general project boards; Celtx has a free script-first tier; Shot Lister has a free version for shot lists; Jotform's free tier covers simple forms; StudioBinder's free plan allows one active project. Each is free within limits published on the vendor's own page (fetched 20 July 2026; StudioBinder's free plan confirmed via its support pages on 8 July 2026), and none of them handles receipts or GST.
Does Runner Runner have a free plan?
No. Runner Runner has a 14-day full-featured trial with no card, built so you can run one real shoot end to end before paying. Crew access through the shareable link is free on every plan, always: the people you brief never need a licence.
What is the catch with free production software?
The fences. Free tiers cap projects, seats or features, and the caps are designed to arrive mid-job. The honest way to choose: read the vendor's own limits page, not the marketing, and check the cap against your next real shoot before you commit the crew to it.