A Storyflow Alternative for Crews That Work Live

What Storyflow is, and what it is not

Storyflow is an AI visual workspace. You describe a board and its assistant drafts it — a storyboard laid out frame by frame, a shot list, a mood board of collected references — staged as a proposal you accept or discard, with two hundred-odd “Tactics” frameworks to drop in half-built. That is a real idea, done well. It is also the whole product: the AI is what you pay for, metered per plan, and during early access every plan is paid. Clusters starts from the other end. The board is something a crew builds and argues over, live. Nothing is generated for you, and nothing on the canvas sits behind an allowance.

• Storyflow: an assistant drafts the board; AI usage is metered per plan
• Clusters: the crew builds the board live; no in-app AI allowance
• Both run in the browser and both are small vendors — weigh that either way

Where Clusters is different

A production is not one board. In Clusters the mood board, the storyboard grid, the visual shot list, the schedule and the screenplay are nested boards in one project, connected by a relationship graph, with docs beside the imagery. Auto-tagging files every dropped reference. Any file type up to 100GB rides on Creator. And the assistant question is answered the open way: connect Claude or any MCP client with one URL and ask it to build or tidy a board — your assistant and your plan, not a meter inside ours.

• Mood board, storyboard, shot list, schedule and screenplay as nested boards
• Auto-tagging and a relationship graph across the whole project
• Connect Claude or any MCP client with one URL — no in-app allowance

A free plan you can use today, and a flat price after it

Storyflow’s pricing page says it plainly: it is paid-only during early access, and its Free plan launches before the end of 2026 — unless a paid member invites you, in which case you can join their boards free now. Its paid tiers run from $7.99 to $39 a month billed annually, each with its own AI allowance, and the coming free plan will cap file uploads at 20. Clusters’ Demo tier is free today with no credit card, covers 50 cards across unlimited boards, and never meters uploads. Creator is a flat $25 a month for unlimited cards, 100GB and any file type, and everyone you invite edits free.

• Free today: 50 cards, unlimited boards, uploads never metered
• Creator is $25/mo flat — not per seat, not per AI call
• Storyflow: paid early access; its Free plan is due before the end of 2026

Where Storyflow is still the right call

If what you want is a first pass you did not have to make — type the premise, get a storyboard, a shot list and a board of references staged for you — Storyflow does that and Clusters does not. Its frameworks are a genuine head start on a pitch, and an assistant that reads the whole canvas is the most interesting idea in this category. A solo writer or director sketching a pitch, happy to pay for the drafting, should look at it seriously. Clusters earns its place once the board has to be built by a crew, shared with a client, and carried into the shoot.

Two small vendors, one honest comparison

Both of these tools come from small teams, and you should weigh that either way. What stands behind Clusters is a working film studio: it is built by Soleil Pictures and used on our own productions, which is why the schedule, the screenplay mode and the shot list exist at all. It runs in the browser on any machine; on a phone or tablet it can be added to the home screen as a web app. There is no store app yet, and we say so.

How to move a Storyflow project to Clusters

1. Export what you made — Storyflow exports boards as PNG, SVG or PDF and documents as files. Keep the original images you gathered as well — those are the references, and they are yours.
2. Drop them on a new board — Drag the set onto a fresh cluster. Auto-tagging files each reference as it lands, so the sorting you did by hand happens on arrival.
3. Rebuild the structure as nested boards — A mood board, a storyboard grid, a shot list and a schedule become linked boards in one project rather than one long canvas.
4. Share one link — Send it to the crew or the client. It opens in the browser, no account is needed to view, and everyone you invite edits free.

Clusters vs Storyflow

How the two compare on the things production teams care about. Storyflow figures are from its own pricing page, September 2026:

Made with Clusters

Real boards published from the canvas — open one and explore it live.

• Screenplay Beat Sheet
• Short Film Shot List
• Neon Noir Look Book

Frequently asked questions

Is Storyflow free?

Not yet. Storyflow’s own pricing page says it is paid-only during early access and that its Free plan launches before the end of 2026; collaborators invited by a paid member can join free in the meantime. Soleil Clusters is free to start today, with no credit card.

Is Soleil Clusters a good Storyflow alternative?

For a crew, yes: a free real-time canvas where mood boards, storyboards, shot lists, schedules and the screenplay are nested boards in one project, at a flat price with no AI allowance. If you want boards drafted from a prompt, Storyflow is the tool that does that.

Storyflow vs Soleil Clusters — which is better for a film crew?

Storyflow drafts a first pass for one person; Clusters is where the crew builds the real one. Choose Storyflow for a solo pitch you want generated. Choose Clusters when the DP, the AD and the producer need to edit the same boards live and carry them into the shoot.

Does Clusters generate boards with AI like Storyflow does?

No. Clusters does not generate boards or images. It connects to Claude and any other MCP client with one URL, so your own assistant can create a board, bring in references from links and arrange them — working with images you already have. No Storyflow server is listed in the official Model Context Protocol registry at the time of writing.

How much does Storyflow cost?

As of September 2026: Plus is $9.99/mo, or $7.99/mo billed annually ($95.88 once a year); Pro $19/mo, or $14/mo annually ($168); Max $49/mo, or $39/mo annually ($468). Each tier carries a different AI usage allowance. Clusters’ Creator plan is a flat $25 a month.

Can I move my Storyflow boards to Clusters?

Storyflow exports boards as PNG, SVG or PDF. Bring the original images and files you gathered, drop them onto a new cluster, and rebuild the structure as nested boards. There is no importer and no migration to run first.

Does Clusters have a limit like Storyflow’s upload cap?

Clusters’ free Demo tier caps cards at 50 across unlimited boards and never meters uploads; Creator ($25/mo) removes the cap. Storyflow’s coming free plan caps file uploads at 20 and AI at a one-time allowance, with no object limit.

Can I use Clusters on an iPad or a phone?

Yes. Clusters runs in the mobile browser and can be added to the home screen as a web app, where it opens without browser chrome. There is no App Store or Play Store listing yet.