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Price guide · 2026

How Much Does Script Coverage Cost? (2026 Price Guide)

By Chris Lanning · October 2, 2026 · 8 min read

If you just needed the number, there it is. If you want to know what you're actually buying at each price — and what to avoid — read on. I've been on both sides of this transaction: I've written coverage as a professional reader, and I now run a coverage service. Here's how the pricing really works.

Script coverage prices at a glance

Service tier	Typical price (feature)	What you usually get
Budget / high-volume	$40–$100	Standard coverage: logline, synopsis, grid, brief comments. Fast turnaround, junior readers.
Mid-range independents	$100–$250	Coverage plus a few pages of story notes. Readers with real industry experience.
Premium consultants	$250–$500+	In-depth analysis, detailed notes, often a follow-up call. Senior readers or working writers.
Rush delivery	+25–50% on top	48–72 hour turnaround instead of the usual 1–2 weeks.

TV pilots usually run a little cheaper than features (shorter page counts); anything over 120 pages often carries a per-page surcharge.

What actually drives the price

1. Who's reading it. This is the biggest factor. A junior reader grinding through volume for a big service costs the company very little, so you pay very little. A working screenwriter or former development executive reading your script personally costs more — and the notes show it. When you pay $79, you're paying for speed and volume. When you pay $300, you're paying for someone's twenty years of reading scripts for a living.

2. Depth of the notes. There's a real difference between coverage and notes, and the industry blurs the terms constantly. Traditional coverage is a standardized document: logline, synopsis, character breakdown, a grid of ratings (concept, story, characters, dialogue, etc.), and a pass/consider/recommend verdict with a page or two of comments. Story notes are the actionable part — what's working, what isn't, and what to do about it. The more of the second you get, the higher the price.

3. Turnaround time. Standard delivery is 7–14 days. Need it in 72 hours? Expect a rush fee of 25–50%. Readers are human; speed costs.

4. Script length. Most services price for up to 110–120 pages. Beyond that, surcharges of $10–$25 per 10 pages are common. A 140-page epic costs more to read than a tight 95-page thriller, because it takes longer. Fair is fair.

5. What's included beyond the document. Follow-up calls, email Q&A, a second look after your rewrite — these add value and add cost. A $400 package that includes a 30-minute call and a re-read of your next draft can be a better deal than $150 for a PDF and silence.

6. The reader's track record. Former studio readers, produced writers, and consultants with verifiable credits charge more. Anonymous "professional readers" with no names attached charge less. You can guess why.

What you get at each price point (honestly)

Under $100: You're buying triage. The coverage will tell you whether your script is a pass, consider, or recommend, and give you a competent synopsis. It will not transform your draft. Fine for a gut-check before you spend real money — not fine as your only feedback on a script you care about.

$100–$250: The sweet spot for most writers. You should expect real story notes from someone who has actually worked in the industry — specific problems identified, specific fixes suggested. This is where most serious independent consultants live, and it's where the value-for-money peaks.

$250–$500+: You're paying for seniority and access. The reader has likely sold something, staffed somewhere, or run a department. The notes tend to be sharper on market positioning — not just "this scene doesn't work" but "this won't sell in the current market, and here's why." Worth it for a script you're about to take out widely.

Red flags: when cheap coverage is a scam (and when expensive coverage is a rip-off)

• "Guaranteed Recommend." No honest reader guarantees a verdict before reading. A recommend has to be earned by the script. Anyone selling you the grade in advance is selling you a feeling, not a service.
• No sample of their work. Legitimate consultants will show you a redacted sample or describe their process in detail. If all you get is a price and a PayPal link, walk away.
• No name attached. "Our team of professional Hollywood readers" means nobody accountable. Real consultants put their name on their notes.
• Suspiciously fast + suspiciously cheap. Quality coverage of a 110-page script takes 4–6 hours minimum. At $40, the math doesn't work unless the reader is spending 45 minutes on it — or it's AI-generated. Ask how long they spend per script.
• On the expensive end: a big price tag with no verifiable credits to back it up. $500 from a former studio VP is one thing. $500 from someone whose bio is vibes is another.

What about free coverage — or AI coverage?

Free peer reads (writing groups, script-swapping communities) are valuable and you should use them. But understand what they are: fellow writers giving you their taste. That's useful for craft and terrible for market calibration. Your writer friends will tell you if a scene drags; they can't tell you whether a development exec would pass on the concept in the room. Different job.

Contest feedback is the middle ground — cheap ($25–$60 often bundled with entry) and sometimes genuinely useful, but wildly inconsistent. You're paying for whoever happened to be judging that week.

AI coverage is the new thing in 2026, and I'll be blunt: it's decent at structure and terrible at taste. An AI reader will correctly identify that your midpoint is soft. It will not tell you that your protagonist is the kind of character audiences have stopped rooting for, or that three similar thrillers just died at the box office. Use it as a $10–$20 first pass if you want. Don't confuse it with a professional read — and if a "coverage service" is secretly running your script through an AI and charging you $150, that's the scam to watch for now. Ask directly: does a human read my script?

So what should you pay?

Match the spend to the script's stage:

• First draft, just want to know if the concept works: budget tier is fine. You're buying a verdict, not a rewrite plan.
• Second or third draft, preparing for queries or contests: mid-range. This is where detailed notes earn their keep.
• Polished draft going out to reps, producers, or competitions: premium. At this stage a missed story problem costs you far more than the coverage did. And make sure the script itself is protected — here's how copyright registration works.
• You're not sure your formatting is professional: get the formatting fixed first (or bundled). No reader takes a badly formatted script seriously, and notes on a script with broken formatting are notes on the wrong problem.

What I charge (full disclosure)

I run Screenwriting RX, so here's my own pricing, since a price guide that hides the author's prices would be absurd:

• Basic Formatting — $197. Your script made industry-standard, clean and professional.
• Deluxe Coverage & Formatting — $297. Full coverage plus story notes, with formatting handled.
• Super Deluxe Coverage & Formatting — $397. The deep version: coverage, extensive notes, and formatting — the complete package before you send a script out.
• Ultra Deluxe Coverage & Formatting — $597. Everything in Super Deluxe, plus a 60-minute video consultation, a second full read of your rewrite with follow-up notes, priority 7-day turnaround, and 30 days of email follow-up. For writers taking a script out to reps or contests who want a partner, not just a document.

Every tier is read by me personally — a working screenwriter and consultant, not a junior reader pool. See the full services and pricing for details.

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