Sopycat and the cloud SOP tools
Most step-by-step guide makers are browser extensions that upload every screenshot and keep your guides in their cloud. Sopycat does the same job without either.
| Question | Sopycat | A typical cloud guide tool |
|---|---|---|
| Where your screenshots go | They stay on your PC | Uploaded to the vendor's servers as you capture |
| What you can record | Anything on the Windows screen: desktop programs, websites, remote desktops | Often the browser only, with desktop capture on higher plans |
| Account | None. Download and start. | An account for everyone who makes or reads a guide |
| Where the guides live | Ordinary files in a folder you choose, shared through your own drive | The vendor's workspace, shared by link |
| Working offline | Everything works without the internet | Needs a connection |
| Step names | Named from what Windows reports and checked against a dictionary | Varies; often read from the page |
| Follow-along and training records | Included, with a spreadsheet export | Often an enterprise feature |
| PDF editor | Included: edit words, sign, fill, redact, merge, OCR | Not included |
| If you stop paying | Every manual still opens and reads | Access to the workspace usually ends |
Cloud tools differ from one another and change their plans often. This compares Sopycat with the common pattern, not with any one product, so check each vendor's current terms.
When a cloud tool is the better fit
If your team works entirely in the browser, needs guides embedded inside a web app, or uses Macs and Chromebooks, a cloud tool may suit you better today. Sopycat is for Windows offices that want their procedures, and the screens they show, to stay in the office.
Moving from a cloud tool
Keep your old guides where they are and record new ones as tasks come up. Most offices can re-record their ten most-used procedures in an afternoon, because recording takes as long as doing the task.
See the difference on your own screen
14 days free. No account, no card, no upload.