ScreenPal vs Scribe Comparison 2026
ScreenPal records, edits and hosts a video walkthrough starting free, with its Deluxe tier at $4 a month. Scribe captures the same kind of process but turns it into a written guide with numbered screenshots instead of a video, free for the last 25 guides, then $25 a month for one seat. The choice is the output format: a video somebody watches, or a document somebody scans and searches.
Screen recording and hosting at four dollars
Step-by-step guides captured as you click
At a glance
- ScreenPal starts cheaper, at $4.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
ScreenPal | Scribe | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $4 | From $25 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
ScreenPal
Screen recording and hosting at four dollars
ScreenPal records the screen, edits what it recorded and hosts the result on a page you can send to somebody, which is three products most tools split up. The editor handles the things a tutorial actually needs, captions and callouts and cutting the dead air, without turning into a timeline that has to be learned. It was Screencast-O-Matic for years and the price has stayed in the same place. Anybody wanting cinema-grade output is in the wrong shop.
Our note
This was Screencast-O-Matic and it kept the pricing it built its reputation on, which is why it keeps beating tools that do less for more. Start on the free tier and only move up when the recording length or the editing limits actually stop you.
Only on this side
- Covers video hosting
Scribe
Step-by-step guides captured as you click
Scribe records a process while somebody does it once and turns it into a written guide with screenshots, numbered and ready to hand over. That is the documentation nobody writes, produced as a side effect of the work. Redaction and branding are paid features, and the free plan is capped at the last 25 guides you edited.
Why people weigh these two
- Scribe instead of ScreenPal
- Scribe captures a click-by-click guide automatically as you work rather than a video someone has to record and edit, useful for a written how-to instead of a video tutorial.
- ScreenPal instead of Scribe
- ScreenPal records and hosts at $4 with a free tier, the cheapest way to show the process instead of writing it.
Which one should you pick
Pick ScreenPal if a video is the right format for your audience and you want the cheapest entry point. The free tier is usable on its own, and Deluxe is $4 a month for full capture and editing. There is no written-guide output here at all.
Pick Scribe if the job needs a searchable, written handoff: onboarding a contractor, documenting a process for a new hire. Pro Personal is $25 a month for one seat, a real jump above ScreenPal, and Pro Team only drops to $13 a seat once you commit to five seats, a $65 monthly floor.
Common questions
- Is Scribe a video tool like ScreenPal?
- No. Scribe's output is a written guide with numbered screenshots, not a recording. ScreenPal's whole output is video: record, edit and host in one flow.
- Which is cheaper for one person?
- ScreenPal by a wide margin. Its free tier plus $4 a month Deluxe covers a solo user, against Scribe's $25 a month Pro Personal for a single seat.
- Does Scribe get cheaper for a team?
- Pro Team drops to $13 a seat, but only starting at a five-seat minimum, so the bill starts at $65 a month. ScreenPal's Business plan is $8 a user with no such minimum.
- Can ScreenPal produce a written step-by-step guide?
- No. Its editor works in captions, callouts and cutting dead air from a video recording. Writing a numbered guide with screenshots is the one job Scribe exists to do.
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.