Compare / Scribe alternative
The private Scribe alternative for Windows offices
Sopycat makes the same step-by-step guides as Scribe, from any Windows program, but keeps every screenshot on your PC: no account, no upload and no AI writing your manuals. It is $15 a month for one person, with a PDF editor included.
Sopycat and Scribe in short
- Both turn a task you do once into numbered steps with a picture of every click.
- Sopycat keeps everything on your PC or your office's own drive. Scribe keeps it in its cloud.
- Sopycat records any Windows program on every plan, for $15 a month for one person. Scribe's free plan is browser only and Pro Personal is $25.
- No 5-seat minimum: an office of three pays for three people.
- A PDF editor, follow-along and, on the Office plan, training records are included.
Sopycat vs Scribe, side by side
What each one does, from each vendor's own pages, checked on October 19, 2026.
| Question | Sopycat | Plan | Scribe | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nothing uploaded | Yes: On your PC, or your office's own folder. | Every plan | No: In Scribe's cloud workspace. | Every plan |
| Records desktop programs | Yes: Any Windows program, and websites in any browser. | Every plan and the trial | Partly: On Pro. Basic is browser only. | Pro and Enterprise |
| No AI reads your work | Yes: No AI writes your manuals; nothing is sent to an AI service. | Every plan | Partly: Third-party AI providers process guides, not the images. Enterprise can opt out. | Every plan |
| What you record stays yours | Yes: Sopycat never receives it. | Every plan | No: Scribe's Terms of Use (section 4.2, August 7, 2026) give it a perpetual licence, including to train AI models, unless your organization's own agreement says otherwise. | Every plan |
| No account needed | Yes: Download it and start. | Every plan | No: An account for everyone who makes guides. | Every plan |
| One person | $15 a month billed yearly ($180); $19 month to month. | Individual | $25 a month billed yearly ($300); $35 month to month. | Pro Personal |
| A team | $18.75 a person a month billed yearly, from one person. | Office | $23 a seat a month billed yearly, at least 5 seats ($1,380 a year). | Pro Team |
| Free plan | No: A 14-day trial with every recording, editing and PDF feature, no card. No free plan. | Trial | Yes: Free, in the browser only, without PDF export. | Basic |
| Hides private details | Yes: Blur by hand; a Settings switch blurs emails and phone, card and social-security numbers in new recordings, on your PC. | Every plan | Partly: By hand on Pro. Automatic on Enterprise. | Pro and Enterprise |
| Saves copies | Yes: PDF, Word, web page, text and a tutorial video. | Every plan | Partly: PDF, HTML and Markdown. | Pro and Enterprise |
| PDF editor | Yes: Edit the words, sign, fill in, redact, merge, OCR. | Every plan | No: Not part of Scribe. | None |
| Runs on | Windows 10 and 11. | Every plan | Chrome and Edge; desktop and mobile apps on Pro. | Every plan |
Why offices choose Sopycat over Scribe
Client and patient screens stay in the office
Guides show whatever was on the screen: names, account numbers, medical records. With Sopycat those pictures never leave your computer, so there is no vendor copy to worry about.
Every program, not just the browser
Accounting, practice-management and line-of-business software runs on the desktop. Sopycat records it on every plan.
Pay for the people you have
No minimum team size. An office of three on the Office plan pays $675 a year; Scribe's Pro Team starts at 5 seats, $1,380 a year.
When Scribe is the better fit
- Your team works on Macs or Chromebooks.
- You want a free, browser-only plan and are happy for guides to live in the cloud.
- Guides are published by link or embedded in a public help center.
- You need single sign-on and central user management (Scribe Enterprise).
Moving from Scribe
Keep your Scribe guides where they are and record new ones in Sopycat as tasks come up; most offices redo their ten most-used procedures in an afternoon, because recording takes as long as doing the task. Guides you save from Scribe as PDFs can live beside your manuals in Sopycat's Documents.
Questions about switching from Scribe
- Is Sopycat a good Scribe alternative?
- For an office on Windows that wants its guides kept private, yes. Sopycat makes the same numbered steps with a picture of every click, from any Windows program, but keeps every screenshot on your PC and needs no account. It is $15 a month for one person, billed yearly, and includes a PDF editor. If your team works on Macs or wants a free browser-only plan, Scribe fits better.
- Does Sopycat upload my screenshots the way Scribe does?
- No. Sopycat records, writes and keeps every manual on your computer, or in a shared folder your office chooses, such as OneDrive or a network drive. The company that makes Sopycat never receives your recordings, pictures or manuals.
- Does Sopycat use AI to write the steps?
- No AI writes your manuals and nothing is sent to an AI service. Each step is named from what Windows reports about the button or field you clicked and what you typed, with reading of the screen done on your own PC.
- Is there a free plan like Scribe Basic?
- No. Sopycat has a 14-day trial with every recording, editing and PDF feature, no account and no card, and then it is paid. What you make in the trial stays yours.
- Can Sopycat record desktop programs?
- Yes, on every plan and in the trial: desktop software and websites in any browser. Scribe's free Basic plan captures in the browser only; desktop capture is on its Pro plans.
- Can I bring my Scribe guides into Sopycat?
- Save them from Scribe as PDFs (a Pro feature) and add them to Sopycat's Documents, where they open, search and can be edited as PDFs. For steps you can edit and follow along with, record the task again in Sopycat: it takes as long as doing the task once.
- Does Sopycat work on a Mac?
- No. Sopycat runs on Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit.
- Is Sopycat HIPAA compliant?
- Sopycat has no HIPAA certification and signs no business associate agreement. What it changes is where the screenshots are: they stay on your computer or your office's own shared folder, so no software vendor holds a copy. How those files are protected is part of your own HIPAA program.
Checked on October 19, 2026 against Scribe's pricing, security and terms of use. Plans and terms change, so check them before you decide. Scribe is a trademark of its owner; Sopycat is not affiliated with it.
Record one real task and compare
14 days free, with every recording, editing and PDF feature. No account, no card, and the recording stays on your PC.