Screencastify vs Zight Comparison 2026
Screencastify records from a Chrome extension for a classroom, with questions embedded in the video and replies collected from a group, free for ten videos total before Starter at $7 a user a month billed annually, or $19 paid monthly. Zight, formerly CloudApp, copies a share link to the clipboard before the upload even finishes and keeps a searchable library of everything captured, from $9.95 a user a month with a free plan limited on recording length. Screencastify is built to be answered. Zight is built to be shared and found again fast.
Screen recording built for classrooms
Screenshots and screen recordings with links
At a glance
- Screencastify starts cheaper, at $7.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Screencastify | Zight | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $7 | From $9.95 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | None | Not stated |
| API | Not stated |
Screencastify
Screen recording built for classrooms
Screencastify records the screen from a Chrome extension and adds what a teacher needs and a marketer does not: questions inside the video, collected replies, and a way to ask thirty people to record something back. It works for a plain product demo too. The free plan stops at ten videos of thirty minutes each.
Our note
The ten-video free allowance is a lifetime cap rather than a monthly one, so the free plan is a trial with no clock on it. Anybody recording weekly should price Starter from the start.
Zight
Screenshots and screen recordings with links
Zight, which spent years as CloudApp, captures a screenshot or a short recording and hands back a link before the file has finished uploading. Annotation, GIF capture and a searchable library are the reasons people keep it in the menu bar. The free plan caps recording length and storage, and the cap arrives sooner than expected.
Only on this side
- Covers media storage & review
Why people weigh these two
- Zight instead of Screencastify
- Zight shares a screenshot or a recording as a link instead of a file, a free tier and paid from $9.95 close to Screencastify's $7, without the classroom features like collected video replies.
- Screencastify instead of Zight
- Screencastify is screen recording built for classrooms specifically, with a free tier and plans from $7, cheaper than Zight for actual recording length rather than quick links.
Which one should you pick
Choose Screencastify if the recording is meant to get a response: embedded questions, collected replies and assignments for a group of thirty are not in Zight at all. Paid monthly, Screencastify runs $19, dearer than Zight's $9.95, so commit to the annual $7 rate if the price gap matters and the classroom features are still the reason to be here.
Choose Zight if speed of sharing and a searchable history matter more than teaching features: the link lands in the clipboard before the file finishes uploading, and Pro at $9.95 a user a month adds custom branding and longer recordings. It suits client feedback and bug reports repeated often, not long tutorials, since a creator recording real lessons wants Screencastify's editing and question tools instead.
Common questions
- Which is cheaper, Screencastify or Zight?
- Paid monthly, Zight: $9.95 a user a month against Screencastify's $19. Billed annually, Screencastify drops to $7 a month, cheaper than Zight's monthly rate, though Zight's own annual rate is not stated precisely beyond being called a substantial saving.
- Does Zight support embedded questions and collected replies like Screencastify?
- No, nothing in its feature list covers that. Zight is built around fast sharing, a link before the upload finishes, annotation and a searchable library, not classroom engagement tools.
- How generous is each free plan?
- Screencastify's free plan allows ten videos total, a lifetime cap rather than monthly, up to thirty minutes each. Zight's free plan covers occasional capture with limits on recording length and history that arrive sooner than expected.
- Which one is better for long tutorials?
- Screencastify, clearly: it is built for recordings up to three hours on Pro, with captions, transcripts and a teleprompter. Zight says plainly that a creator recording long tutorials wants a real screen recorder instead, positioning itself for quick captures rather than long-form video.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.