Compare storyboard software
Toon Boom Storyboard Pro is a desktop app for drawing boards and timing animatics. M Studio is a browser app that makes the pictures and a video clip for each shot from your screenplay.
M Studio is a Storyboard Pro alternative for filmmakers who do not draw their own panels. Pick Storyboard Pro if you or your artists draw the boards: it is a desktop drawing and animatic app for Windows and macOS with a 3D camera, sound tracks and EDL, AAF or XML export. Pick M Studio if you do not draw and want AI pictures and a video clip for each shot from your screenplay PDF, with voice, music and sound effects made in the browser.
Switching is probably not worth it if you draw your own panels, your pipeline already runs on Toon Boom (Final Draft scripts, Harmony export, edits conformed back from the editor), and you do not need generated video.
Prepared by the M Studio team. Last checked against Storyboard Pro’s own pages. How we checked
M Studio vs Storyboard Pro
Starting point
A written brief, or an imported screenplay PDF (no FDX or Fountain). M Studio plans the scenes, a shot list and the cast, then writes each shot's prompts.
Pictures
Generated by GPT Image (default), Nano Banana 2, Seedream 5.0 or Flux Klein, at $0.01–$0.30 a picture from the plan budget.
Video clips
A 5–15 second MiniMax H3 clip for each shot, from text or from the shot's picture, at $0.05 a second.
Script to cut
Script, storyboard, video clips, voice, music, and sound without moving files between tools
One session
First cut in one session: storyboard, video clips, and an animatic from your script
Edit-ready
Export MP4, WebM, or MOV (1080p on Starter, 4K from Professional), or hand the cut to your editor as FCPXML or EDL
Models from these AI providers
At a glance
Storyboard Pro gives artists bitmap and vector drawing tools, and its Ember AI add-on edits existing art. M Studio generates each shot's picture from a prompt it writes from your script.
Storyboard Pro times drawn panels with camera moves, effects and sound tracks. M Studio also turns each shot into a MiniMax H3 video clip.
Storyboard Pro installs on Windows or macOS. M Studio runs in a browser, and clients watch through a read-only link.
Static board vs motion
Drag the handle to compare a static storyboard with the video clip M Studio makes from it.
Drag the handle to compare the static board with the M Studio video clip.
Script, characters, pictures, video, voice and the timeline that ties them together — every part of making a film lives in one place. Pick a tool to see it in action.
Editor — Lay your shots out on a real timeline and cut them together.
Feature by feature
The answer in each cell, with the plan it needs. A check marks the stronger side for a writer-director making a film from a script; an equals sign means neither is stronger. Each Storyboard Pro cell links the page we read it on.
| What you need | M Studio | Storyboard Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Stronger here:From $27/month, billed monthly; no free plan | 14-day free trial; USD $90/month, or USD $776/yearRead on shop.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 |
| Starting point | About the same:A written brief, or an imported screenplay PDF (no FDX or Fountain). M Studio plans the scenes, a shot list and the cast, then writes each shot's prompts. | About the same:Import a script as TXT, RTF or Final Draft (.fdx). A Final Draft script can create the scenes and empty panels, with the captions filled in.Read on docs.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 (Storyboard Pro 27) |
| Pictures | Stronger here:Generated by GPT Image (default), Nano Banana 2, Seedream 5.0 or Flux Klein, at $0.01–$0.30 a picture from the plan budget. | Drawn by hand. Ember, an add-on that uses credits, can fill, erase, expand or upscale an existing image from a prompt. Its tool list has no text-to-image panel generator.Read on docs.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 (Storyboard Pro 27 with Ember) |
| Video clips | Stronger here:A 5–15 second MiniMax H3 clip for each shot, from text or from the shot's picture, at $0.05 a second. | No generated video. Drawn panels play as an animatic with camera moves, effects, transitions and unlimited sound tracks.Read on shop.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 |
| Voice, music and sound effects | Stronger here:Voiceover in 12 languages, music and sound effects are generated in the project and mixed on a timeline (volume, trim, fade). | Ember gives each script character a preset AI voice to read the dialogue and can set panel timing from it. It needs an Ember credit balance. Its tool list has no music or sound-effect generation.Read on docs.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 (Storyboard Pro 27 with Ember) |
| Camera and layout | Motion comes from each shot's video prompt, which M Studio writes from the script. | Stronger here:A 3D environment and camera, 3D asset import with USD support, and quick thumbnailing for first passes.Read on shop.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 |
| Access and review | Stronger here:A browser app. Team members comment on each shot; clients get a read-only link to watch. Starter has 2 seats. | An installed app for Windows 10 or 11 and macOS 12.7.3 to 15.3, with 8 GB of memory at minimum.Read on toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 |
| Export and editor handoff | About the same:MP4, WebM or MOV, plus FCPXML and EDL for Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro. 1080p on Starter; 4K on Professional ($99/month). | About the same:EDL, AAF or XML sequences for Premiere, Final Cut or Avid, with a video render of each scene and copies of the sound files. Changes made in the editor can come back by conformation.Read on docs.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 (Storyboard Pro 27) |
| Price and seats | Stronger here:Starter $27/month (monthly only) with 2 seats; Professional $99/month with 5 seats. | One licence: USD $90/month, $776/year or $2,212 for 3 years. Teams of 10 or more buy through sales.Read on shop.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 |
Same job, both tools
24 shots of 5 seconds, each with a storyboard picture and a video clip, plus a voiceover and music. Budget three takes of every clip and two of every picture. One person, one month, billed monthly.
$27/month
Starter, billed monthly
Starter includes a $90 monthly generation budget. A storyboard picture costs $0.25 (GPT Image) and video costs $0.05 a second (MiniMax H3), so the 48 pictures and 72 five-second clips use $30 of it. Voiceover, music and sound effects do not draw on the budget. Exports are 1080p; 4K export needs Professional at $99/month.
Read on mstudio.ai, Oct 25, 2026$90/month, plus a video tool
Storyboard Pro, monthly licence
The licence covers drawing the 48 pictures yourself and timing them with sound tracks into an animatic. It makes no video clips and no music: you would add a video tool and a music source, and Ember's AI voices need an Ember credit balance whose price is not published.
Read on shop.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 (Monthly)Decision fit
M Studio generates each shot's picture from the prompt it writes from your screenplay, and keeps a character's face from one reference image.
Each shot gets a 5–15 second MiniMax H3 clip, so the trailer plays as video, not as timed drawings.
Voiceover in 12 languages, music and sound effects are generated and mixed on the timeline.
M Studio runs in a browser. Team members comment on each shot, and clients watch through a read-only link.
Decision fit
Bitmap and vector drawing tools, quick thumbnailing, and (in version 27) Photoshop import that keeps clipping masks and blending modes.
A 3D environment and camera, 3D asset import with USD support, and a Panel Timer that records timing while you perform the dialogue.
A Final Draft (.fdx) script can create the scenes and panels with the scene headings, dialogue and action filled into the captions.
It exports EDL, AAF or XML sequences, can bring editor changes back by conformation, and exports scenes to Toon Boom Harmony.
Exports include PDF boards, a movie file, and one image per panel as JPG, TGA, PSD or PNG.
Sources:Read on shop.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026Read on docs.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 (Storyboard Pro 27)Read on docs.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 (Storyboard Pro 27)Read on docs.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 (Storyboard Pro 27)Read on docs.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 (Storyboard Pro 27)Read on docs.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 (Storyboard Pro 27)
Decision fit
Ember is Toon Boom's set of AI tools. It is off by default, and it needs an Ember licence, which comes with a subscription, and an Ember credit balance.
Mask part of an imported image, then fill it from a written prompt or erase it.
Extend an image to fit the camera, with an optional prompt, or increase its resolution.
Break an unformatted TXT or RTF script into scenes and panels, or export the breakdown to CSV.
Give each script character a preset AI voice, and set scene length from the dialogue.
Sources:Read on docs.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 (Storyboard Pro 27 with Ember)Read on docs.toonboom.com, Oct 15, 2026 (Storyboard Pro 27 with Ember)
Decision fit
Read on each vendor's own site on 15 October 2026.
A browser storyboard tool with AI frames, an animatic made from still frames, and client comments and approvals. Free plan; Solo is $39/month ($26/month billed yearly).
Write or import a script, get a storyboard with consistent characters, and turn the shots into video with monthly credits. Essential is $19/month with a 7-day free trial.
Sources:Read on boords.com, Oct 15, 2026Read on boords.com, Oct 15, 2026Read on katalist.ai, Oct 15, 2026Read on katalist.ai, Oct 15, 2026
Switching
Switching is probably not worth it if you draw your own panels, your pipeline already runs on Toon Boom (Final Draft scripts, Harmony export, edits conformed back from the editor), and you do not need generated video.
How we checked
Prepared by the M Studio team. We make M Studio, so read this as a vendor's comparison and check the linked sources. Each fact about another product links the page we read it on, with the date we read it. "Read on" means we read it on that vendor's own pricing page, docs or release notes; we did not run its product for this page. M Studio facts come from our live plans and model list. We last checked the Storyboard Pro facts on .
Why M Studio
Script, storyboard, video clips, voice, sound, and export, with no handoffs between single-purpose tools.
Script, storyboard, video, voice, and sound in a single workflow — no tool switching.
Export the finished film in 4K on Professional and up (1080p on Starter).
Write, direct, and narrate films end to end — scripts, dialogue, and voiceover in your language.
You own what you make — use it commercially, on YouTube or for clients.
How it works
M Studio builds a film shot by shot, and you direct every shot — this is the whole path, start to finish.
Start from a one-line brief, or import a screenplay PDF and build straight from the pages you already wrote.
Scenes, action and dialogue laid out shot by shot — editable line by line before anything renders.
Add each character once with a reference image so the same face carries across every shot in the film.
Your script breaks into shots on a canvas. Reorder, reframe and re-prompt any shot until the board reads right.
Turn approved storyboard pictures into video clips one shot at a time, then layer voiceover, music and sound effects.
Take the finished cut out as an MP4, MOV or WebM, up to 4K on Professional and up, ready for the edit or the pitch.
There is no length cap in the editor. Because films are made shot by shot, how long a film can run comes down to how many video clips your plan includes — not a limit in the tool.
FAQ
Common questions about workflow, AI generation, audio integration, and export capability.
Yes, to start. M Studio Starter is $27/month; Storyboard Pro is USD $90/month or $776/year. For a 24-shot pitch trailer with three takes of every clip, Starter covers the pictures, the clips, the voiceover and the music. Storyboard Pro's $90 covers drawing and timing the boards, but it makes no video clips, so you would pay for a video tool as well.
Yes, through Ember, an add-on that uses credits. Ember can fill, erase, expand or upscale an existing image, break a TXT or RTF script into scenes and panels, and give characters preset AI voices. Its tool list has no text-to-image panel generator and no video generation.
No. There is no Storyboard Pro importer. Export the panels as PNG or JPG and upload them as shot pictures, add your sound tracks as audio files, and import the screenplay as a PDF.
Yes. M Studio is a browser app, so there is nothing to install. Storyboard Pro also runs on macOS (12.7.3 to 15.3), as an installed app.
Yes. Storyboard Pro exports EDL, AAF or XML sequences for Premiere, Final Cut or Avid. M Studio exports FCPXML and EDL for Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro.
Related pages
Try it on your own script
Go from script and shots to storyboard pictures, video clips, and sound without moving between tools.
$1 today for 24 hoursThen from $27/mo unless you cancelReminder email ~6h before it ends