If you are looking for a Done Deal Pro alternative, you are usually trying to answer one of two questions: what is actually selling right now, and who is buying it. Those used to be answered by spec-sale trackers. The category has changed enough that the honest answer in 2026 is different from what it was a few years ago.
Done Deal Pro built its reputation as a database of spec script, pitch, and book deals: a record of what sold, to whom, and roughly for how much. That history is genuinely useful for understanding the market. The Tracking Board played an adjacent role, mixing deal news with project and executive tracking.
Here is the important update. The Tracking Board officially shut down on September 1, 2025. It and Coverfly were owned by Industry Arts, which was acquired by Cast & Crew; Coverfly closed in August 2025 and the Tracking Board a month later, with submission traffic redirected to FilmFreeway. So if you are searching for a Tracking Board alternative, you are searching for a replacement for something that no longer exists.
Done Deal Pro itself now looks effectively gone. As of mid-2026 its website, donedealpro.com, no longer loads, and writers have spent a while openly asking what happened to it. Either way, the job most writers want done has shifted from "look up old deals" to "see who is buying right now." This guide covers what to use instead.
In this guide:
- The quick answer
- What spec-sale trackers were good for
- What changed in the tracking world
- What a sale-history database does not do
- The best Done Deal Pro alternatives by job
- How to choose the right path
- Common questions
The quick answer
The best Done Deal Pro alternative depends on whether you want history or current signal.
| If you want... | Use... | Why |
|---|---|---|
| To see which companies are buying in your lane right now | ScriptMatch | Live buyer signal, not a record of old deals |
| A record of past spec sales and prices | The trades and their archives | Done Deal Pro's site is down; sale history now lives in trade coverage |
| Daily industry deal news | Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter | News coverage, not a writer-facing target list |
| Company contacts and credits | IMDbPro | People and verification once you know the target |
| A replacement for The Tracking Board | (it shut down in 2025) | Functions split between trade news and live signal tools |
The short version: a spec-sale database tells you what happened. To decide where to send your script now, you want what is happening.
What spec-sale trackers were good for
Spec-sale trackers earned their place for a real reason. Before they existed, the market was a rumor mill. A database of confirmed deals let a writer see patterns: which genres were selling, which companies kept showing up, roughly what specs went for, and how often the market actually bought original material versus IP.
That context still matters. Knowing that contained thrillers under a certain budget keep selling, or that a particular company has bought three similar projects, is useful market literacy. If you can access reliable sale history, use it for exactly that: understanding the shape of the market.
So this is not a "trackers were useless" argument. It is a "the job moved" argument.
What changed in the tracking world
The 2025 consolidation reshaped this whole category. The Tracking Board shut down on September 1, 2025. Coverfly shut down a month earlier. Both belonged to Industry Arts, which Cast & Crew acquired, and the parent company kept FilmFreeway while pruning the rest. We mapped where those functions went for writers in our Coverfly alternatives guide. Done Deal Pro, the longtime spec-sale database, also went dark in this stretch; its site no longer loads as of mid-2026.
The takeaway is not just "a site closed." It is that the static, subscription-database model for tracking the spec market got thinner at the exact moment writers needed current information most. What survived split into two camps: trade news (great for reading, not built to give you a target list) and live buyer-signal tools (built to turn current activity into who to pitch).
What a sale-history database does not do
A record of past deals does not tell you who is buying your kind of project this quarter.
That is the core limitation. Sale history is a rear-view mirror. It is excellent for understanding the market and useless for one specific thing: telling you, today, which companies are leaning into your genre and budget, which buyers just set up similar material, and which targets have gone quiet.
If you have a grounded sci-fi feature, a faith-friendly drama, a contained horror script, or a half-hour comedy pilot, the questions that decide where you send it are forward-looking:
- Which buyers have acquired or developed similar projects recently?
- Which companies are active in this budget lane right now?
- Which targets look stale and are not worth the effort?
- Who is the right contact once the company is chosen?
History informs those answers. It does not give them to you.
Try the free ScriptMatch buyer matcher if you want a current read on which companies are active around your kind of project, instead of a list of deals that already closed.
The best Done Deal Pro alternatives by job
1. ScriptMatch - for live buyer signal
ScriptMatch is the closest modern replacement for the job most writers hired Done Deal Pro to do, because it answers "who is buying now" instead of "what sold before."
It tracks industry trade coverage and buyer activity, then turns that into a ranked view of companies active in specific genres, formats, and budget lanes. The free matcher gives you a starting target list; the deeper product adds buyer profiles, recent activity, and outreach context. You can also browse current activity directly at who's buying.
Use ScriptMatch when:
- You want current buyer activity, not a deal archive.
- You are deciding where to send a finished script.
- You want the market read that a static database cannot give you.
It will not show you a price history of every spec sale since 2010. That is a different job.
2. The trades - for deal news and sale context
Deadline, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter are where deals get reported. For raw "what sold this week" news, they are the primary source, and they are free to skim. The catch is that news is not a target list. You still have to translate a deal headline into "so who should I pitch," which is the step ScriptMatch is built to do.
3. IMDbPro - for contacts and credits
Once you know which company to target, IMDbPro is the baseline for people, credits, representation, and contact paths. It is a verification layer, not a market-signal layer. See our IMDbPro alternatives guide for where it fits.
4. Evergreen market context - for the bigger picture
If you want to understand the market rather than a single deal, start with our guide to who buys screenplays in 2026 and how to sell a screenplay. Those cover the structure of the buyer universe, which is the literacy a sale database used to provide.
How to choose the right path
Ask what you are actually trying to do.
- Understand the market: read the trades and our evergreen market guides; use sale history if you can access it.
- Decide where to send a finished script: use live buyer signal (ScriptMatch), not a deal archive.
- Find the right person at a target company: IMDbPro or direct research.
- Replace The Tracking Board specifically: it is gone; its functions now live across trade news and signal tools.
Most writers think they want a deal database when what they actually need is a current target list. Start there. See the full toolbox ranked by job in our best tools to find script buyers guide, and the targeting walkthrough in how to find production companies buying scripts.
Common questions
Is Done Deal Pro still around?
Most likely not. As of mid-2026 its website no longer loads, and writers have been asking what happened to it for a while. Its old value, deal history, now lives mainly in the trades and their archives.
What happened to The Tracking Board?
It officially shut down on September 1, 2025, a month after Coverfly. Both were owned by Industry Arts, which Cast & Crew acquired before keeping FilmFreeway and closing the rest.
What is the best Done Deal Pro alternative?
For current buyer signal, ScriptMatch is the most direct alternative because it answers who is buying now. For raw deal news and sale history, the trades (Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter) and their archives.
Do I need a spec-sale tracker to sell a script?
No. Sale history is useful market literacy, but it does not tell you where to send your script today. Current buyer targeting plus a strong script does more than a deal archive.
What should I avoid?
Avoid treating an old deal list as a plan. Avoid hunting for a tool that is no longer online when current signal is what you actually need. And avoid skipping the targeting step, which is the part that decides where your script goes next.