Scribe vs. Tella: Pricing Comparison Guide 2026

What is Scribe?

Scribe is an AI-powered documentation platform that automatically generates step-by-step guides as users complete tasks in their browser or desktop applications. Founded as a workflow documentation solution, Scribe has evolved into an enterprise-grade knowledge management platform trusted by 94% of Fortune 500 companies and over 5 million users.

Pricing Philosophy

Scribe's pricing reflects its positioning as an enterprise documentation solution with tiered access to advanced features. The platform uses per-seat pricing with volume discounts, incentivizing team-wide adoption while maintaining premium pricing for individual users.

Core Pricing Features

• Freemium Entry: Basic plan includes unlimited guide creation for web apps with link sharing
• Desktop Capture Premium: Desktop and mobile app documentation locked behind paid tiers
• Branding Control: Custom branding only available on Pro plans and above
• Export Flexibility: PDF, HTML, and Markdown exports require Pro subscription
• Enterprise Scalability: Advanced security, SSO, SCIM, and multi-team governance at custom pricing

Target Audience & Pricing Implications

Scribe targets IT teams, operations departments, HR, and customer success organizations that need to document processes at scale. Its pricing favors larger teams with 5+ users, making it cost-prohibitive for solopreneurs or small teams who pay a premium for individual licenses.

What is Tella?

Tella is a screen recording and video editing platform designed for entrepreneurs, course creators, and founders who need to produce professional-quality video content without extensive editing skills. Unlike traditional screen recorders, Tella emphasizes clip-based recording with built-in AI editing, transitions, and polishing features that transform raw recordings into presentation-ready videos.

Pricing Philosophy

Tella's pricing reflects its creator-first approach with straightforward annual plans that unlock unlimited recording and professional features. The platform avoids complex tiering, instead offering two clear options: Pro for core functionality and Premium for audience-facing content with custom branding.

Core Pricing Features

• Unlimited Recording: Both paid tiers include unlimited videos and recording duration
• AI Editing Included: Automatic filler word removal, silence detection, and transcript-based editing at all paid levels
• Quality Tiers: 60 FPS export up to 5 minutes on Pro; unlimited 60 FPS on Premium
• 4K Export Standard: Professional-grade output included in Pro plan
• Team Workspaces: Collaboration features available at Pro level

Target Audience & Pricing Implications

Tella targets solopreneurs, course creators, sales professionals, and small teams who need to produce polished video content quickly. Its pricing favors individual creators and small teams, with educational and nonprofit discounts available. The annual billing requirement (no monthly option) may deter teams wanting flexibility.

Pricing Deep Dive: Documentation vs. Video Economics

Scribe's Enterprise-Focused Pricing Model

Scribe's pricing structure reveals a clear enterprise orientation with significant barriers for small teams and individuals:

Individual Premium Tax: Solo users pay $23/month—nearly double the per-seat cost of team plans ($12/month). This 92% markup discourages individual adoption and pushes users toward team licenses, even when working alone. For consultants or freelancers, this represents a $276 annual expense for basic documentation capabilities.

Team Minimum Lock-in: The Pro Team tier requires a minimum 5-seat purchase ($60/month baseline), forcing teams of 2-4 to either pay for unused seats or stick with expensive individual licenses. A 3-person team pays $69/month for individual licenses or $60/month for 5 seats (with 2 wasted), neither option optimal.

Feature Gating Strategy: Desktop and mobile app capture—essential for documenting non-web workflows—are locked behind the $23/month paywall. The free tier's web-only limitation severely restricts use cases, making it more of a trial than a functional free tier.

Enterprise Custom Pricing: Advanced features like auto-redaction, SSO, and API access require custom enterprise pricing, typically starting at $39/user/month based on market reports, with additional base fees. This positions Scribe as a premium solution for large organizations rather than accessible tooling for growing teams.

Tella's Creator-First Pricing Model

Tella's pricing reflects a fundamentally different philosophy centered on accessibility and simplicity:

Flat Per-User Economics: At $13/month (Pro) or $19/month (Premium), Tella offers the same pricing whether you're a solo creator or a 50-person team. This eliminates volume-based complexity and makes budgeting straightforward. A 5-person team pays just $65/month for Pro—comparable to Scribe's minimum but for video content.

Unlimited Production Model: Unlike competitors that charge per video minute or impose recording limits, Tella includes unlimited videos and duration at all paid tiers. This removes usage anxiety and enables teams to create freely without monitoring consumption.

AI Editing Included: Features like filler word removal, silence deletion, and transcript-based editing—often priced as add-ons elsewhere—come standard. This eliminates the need for separate editing subscriptions that typically cost $20-50/month.

Annual Commitment Trade-off: Tella's annual-only billing ($156/year minimum) lowers monthly costs but requires upfront commitment. Teams uncertain about adoption face higher risk compared to Scribe's monthly flexibility. However, the 7-day free trial partially mitigates this concern.

Direct Cost Comparison Scenarios

Solo User (1 person):

• Scribe: $23/month ($276/year)
• Tella: $13/month ($156/year annual billing)
• Winner: Tella saves $120/year (43% less expensive)

Small Team (5 people):

• Scribe: $60/month ($720/year with annual discount)
• Tella: $65/month ($780/year annual billing)
• Winner: Scribe saves $60/year (8% less expensive)

Medium Team (15 people):

• Scribe: $180/month ($2,160/year with annual discount)
• Tella: $195/month ($2,340/year annual billing)
• Winner: Scribe saves $180/year (8% less expensive)

Hidden Costs and TCO Considerations

Beyond subscription fees, both platforms carry hidden costs:

Scribe's Hidden Costs:

• Multiple Format Needs: If teams need both documentation AND video content, Scribe requires a separate video tool subscription ($15-50/month)
• Time Investment: Manual editing and screenshot annotation, while faster than traditional methods, still requires 5-10 minutes per guide
• Training Overhead: Complex feature sets (workflows, Pages, sensitive data redaction) require onboarding time

Tella's Hidden Costs:

• Documentation Gap: Video-only output means teams still need a separate tool for text-based SOPs and quick reference guides
• Storage and Bandwidth: High-quality video content consumes significantly more storage and bandwidth than text guides
• Accessibility Concerns: Video content requires viewers to watch linearly; no quick scan capability like text documentation

Best Use Cases: When to Choose Each Platform

Choose Scribe When You Need:

• Process Documentation at Scale: IT teams documenting internal systems, HR creating onboarding workflows, or operations standardizing procedures across departments
• Quick Reference Guides: Customer support teams needing scannable, searchable help articles that users can reference without watching videos
• Multi-Language Support: Organizations requiring instant translation of documentation across global teams (Enterprise tier)
• Compliance-Heavy Industries: Healthcare, finance, or legal sectors needing automatic PII/PHI redaction and audit trails
• Desktop Application Documentation: Software companies documenting thick-client apps, CAD programs, or desktop-based workflows
• Knowledge Base Integration: Teams embedding guides into Confluence, Notion, SharePoint, or custom wikis
• Budget Scenario: Teams of 5+ users with $60+/month budget for text documentation

Choose Tella When You Need:

• Course Content Creation: Online educators, course creators, and coaches producing tutorial series or educational programs
• Product Demos and Walkthroughs: SaaS sales teams creating personalized product demonstrations or feature announcements
• Internal Training Videos: L&D teams producing training content with professional polish and engagement
• Client Communication: Consultants, agencies, or freelancers delivering video updates, progress reports, or explanations
• YouTube and Social Content: Creators producing tutorial content for external audiences requiring 4K export quality
• Personality-Driven Content: Scenarios where seeing the speaker adds context (leadership updates, culture videos, personalized outreach)
• Budget Scenario: Solo creators or small teams with $13-65/month budget for video content

Neither is Ideal When You Need:

• Hybrid Content: Teams needing both video guides AND text documentation face duplicate subscriptions ($36-42/month per user)
• AI-First Workflow: Organizations wanting next-generation AI automation beyond basic capture and editing
• Rapid Prototyping: Teams needing to create and iterate on training content extremely fast (11x faster than manual methods)
• Budget Constraints: Startups or departments with limited budgets unable to justify $20+/user/month for single-format content
• Mobile-First Content: Neither platform offers robust mobile content creation or consumption experiences

Total Cost of Ownership Analysis

Scribe: Annual Cost Breakdown

Solo User/Consultant:

• Subscription: $276/year (Pro Personal with annual discount)
• Additional video tool (if needed): $180-600/year
• Training time investment: 8-12 hours annually (~$400-600 value)
• Total TCO: $856-1,476/year

5-Person Team:

• Subscription: $720/year (Pro Team with annual discount)
• Additional video tool (if needed): $900-3,000/year
• Onboarding and training: 40 hours team-wide (~$2,000 value)
• Integration setup and maintenance: $500-1,000/year
• Total TCO: $4,120-7,720/year

50-Person Enterprise:

• Subscription: $19,500/year (estimated $39/user/month Enterprise tier)
• Implementation and onboarding: $5,000-10,000
• Ongoing admin overhead: 5-10 hours/month ($3,000-6,000/year)
• Additional tooling for video content: $9,000-30,000/year
• Total TCO: $36,500-65,500/year

Tella: Annual Cost Breakdown

Solo Creator:

• Subscription: $156/year (Pro annual)
• Additional documentation tool (if needed): $0-300/year
• Learning curve: 2-4 hours (~$100-200 value)
• Total TCO: $256-656/year

5-Person Team:

• Subscription: $780/year (Pro annual)
• Additional documentation tool (if needed): $0-1,500/year
• Onboarding: 10 hours team-wide (~$500 value)
• Video storage if self-hosting exports: $100-300/year
• Total TCO: $1,380-3,080/year

50-Person Enterprise:

• Subscription: $11,400/year (Pro annual) or $16,200/year (Premium)
• SSO/SCIM add-ons: $2,000-5,000/year
• Documentation tooling gap: $5,000-15,000/year
• Video hosting/CDN costs: $1,000-3,000/year
• Total TCO: $19,400-39,200/year

Cost Comparison Summary

Important Caveat: These TCO comparisons assume single-format content needs. Organizations requiring BOTH documentation and video face the prospect of subscribing to both platforms, driving combined costs to $1,032-8,760/year (solo to 5-person team)—making a unified solution significantly more attractive.

Honest Pros and Cons Analysis

Scribe: Strengths and Limitations

Pros:

• Automatic Capture Intelligence: AI automatically generates documentation as you work, reducing manual effort by 90% compared to traditional screenshot-and-annotate methods
• Enterprise-Grade Security: SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA compliance, automatic PII/PHI redaction, and SSO make it viable for regulated industries
• Multi-Platform Coverage: Captures web, desktop, and mobile app workflows in a single platform (Pro tier and above)
• Export Flexibility: PDF, HTML, Markdown, and Word exports enable integration into any knowledge base or training system
• Searchable and Scannable: Text-based documentation allows users to quickly find specific steps without watching entire videos
• Strong Integration Ecosystem: Native connections to Confluence, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Notion, and other workplace tools
• Generous Free Tier: Unlike Tella, offers functional free plan for basic web app documentation

Cons:

• Static Content Limitation: Text and screenshots lack the engagement and nuance of video, particularly for complex visual processes
• High Individual Cost: At $23/month for solo users, Scribe is expensive compared to alternatives offering similar documentation capabilities
• Team Minimum Waste: 5-seat minimum for team pricing forces small teams to pay for unused licenses
• Manual Editing Required: AI capture is strong but guides still require 5-10 minutes of editing, annotation, and cleanup
• Limited Visual Context: Screenshots can't convey tone, emphasis, or dynamic interactions as effectively as video
• Enterprise Pricing Opacity: Custom pricing for advanced features creates budget uncertainty and lengthy procurement cycles
• No Native Video: Teams needing video content must subscribe to separate tools, increasing costs and complexity
• Learning Curve: Advanced features (Pages, workflows, sensitive data policies) require training and ongoing admin overhead

Tella: Strengths and Limitations

Pros:

• Professional Polish by Default: Automatic transitions, zoom effects, and background options create presentation-quality videos without editing skills
• Affordable Entry Point: At $13/month for unlimited videos, Tella offers exceptional value for creators and small teams
• AI Editing Automation: Filler word removal, silence deletion, and transcript-based editing save hours compared to traditional video editing
• Clip-Based Recording: Record in small segments and rearrange later eliminates the pressure of perfect single-take recordings
• 4K Export Standard: Professional-grade output included even at Pro tier, suitable for public-facing content
• Flat Pricing Model: Same per-user cost regardless of team size eliminates volume negotiation complexity
• Fast Learning Curve: Intuitive interface enables creators to produce quality videos within hours, not days
• Team Collaboration Built-in: Workspaces enable team feedback and version control at base pricing tier

Cons:

• Video-Only Format: No text-based documentation option forces teams to maintain separate knowledge base for quick reference guides
• Annual Lock-in Required: No monthly billing option increases commitment risk for teams testing the platform
• Limited Free Option: 7-day trial is shorter than industry standard 14 days, reducing evaluation time
• Accessibility Challenges: Video content is less accessible than text for screen readers, low-bandwidth scenarios, or quick scanning
• Storage and Bandwidth: Video files consume significantly more resources than text guides, impacting hosting costs and load times
• Enterprise Features Limited: While SSO/SCIM are available as add-ons, Tella lacks the governance and multi-team management capabilities of enterprise platforms
• Search Limitations: Video content is harder to search and index than text documentation, reducing discoverability
• Time Investment: Viewers must watch videos linearly; can't quickly jump to specific steps like text guides
• 60 FPS Export Limits: Pro tier caps 60 FPS export at 5 minutes, forcing Premium upgrade ($19/month) for longer high-framerate content

Strategic Positioning Assessment

Both platforms excel in their respective domains but share a critical limitation: single-format content creation. In 2026, modern knowledge-sharing workflows demand both video guides for training and text documentation for quick reference. Organizations choosing either Scribe or Tella inevitably find themselves subscribing to complementary tools, driving combined costs to $36-42/month per user while introducing workflow fragmentation and content management complexity.

The Verdict: Choose Based on Primary Content Type

Scribe and Tella serve fundamentally different content creation needs with minimal overlap. Your choice should align with your primary knowledge-sharing format—but recognize that most organizations need both.

Choose Scribe if:

• Your primary need is text-based documentation for processes, SOPs, and knowledge bases
• You have a team of 5+ users who can leverage the $12/seat pricing
• You work in regulated industries requiring compliance certifications and data redaction
• You need searchable, scannable quick-reference guides
• Your budget can accommodate $720+/year for documentation tools

Choose Tella if:

• Your primary need is video content for courses, demos, or training
• You're a solo creator or small team prioritizing video production value
• You need professional polish without hiring editors or learning complex software
• Your content targets external audiences (customers, students, social media)
• Your budget is constrained to $156-780/year for video tools

The Hybrid Reality

Here's the challenge: 67% of L&D and knowledge management teams report needing both video and text documentation. A 5-person team subscribing to both Scribe (Pro Team, $60/month) and Tella (5 x Pro, $65/month) pays $125/month or $1,500/year—before accounting for the workflow overhead of managing two separate platforms, content silos, and duplicated admin effort.

This is where the market gap becomes apparent. Neither Scribe nor Tella offers a unified solution, forcing organizations into expensive, fragmented toolchains. The real question isn't 'Scribe or Tella?'—it's 'why choose between documentation and video when modern AI can deliver both?'

Forward-thinking teams in 2026 are increasingly exploring next-generation platforms like Guidde that eliminate the text-vs-video trade-off entirely, delivering AI-powered video guides with automatic documentation, interactive branching, and multi-language support at a fraction of the combined cost. Rather than asking which single-format tool fits your budget, the more strategic question is whether a unified, AI-first solution better serves your knowledge-sharing objectives.

Why Consider Alternatives: The Case for Next-Generation Solutions

While Scribe and Tella each excel in their respective domains, both platforms share critical limitations that reflect their legacy, single-format architectures. As we move deeper into 2026, organizations are discovering that the text-vs-video dichotomy represents an outdated approach to knowledge sharing—one that modern AI technology has fundamentally transcended.

Shared Limitations Across Both Platforms

1. Format Lock-in Drives Duplicate Costs

The most expensive limitation isn't in the pricing—it's in the forced choice. Scribe delivers text documentation; Tella delivers video. Neither bridges the gap. For the 67% of teams that need both formats, this means maintaining two subscriptions ($36-42/user/month combined), two content libraries, two admin panels, two security audits, and two training programs. This fragmentation doesn't just inflate costs—it fragments institutional knowledge and creates maintenance nightmares.

2. Manual Effort Persists Despite Automation

Both platforms automate parts of the creation process but still require significant manual work:

• Scribe captures steps automatically but demands 5-10 minutes of editing, screenshot annotation, and text cleanup per guide
• Tella eliminates traditional video editing but still requires recording, re-recording sections, applying transitions, and manual polish

Neither achieves true end-to-end automation. The result? Teams spend 30-45 minutes creating a single piece of training content—fast by 2020 standards, but dramatically slower than AI-first platforms in 2026.

3. Limited Intelligence and Adaptation

Both platforms lack sophisticated AI beyond basic capture (Scribe) or editing (Tella):

• No intelligent branching based on user behavior or role
• No automatic translation beyond Scribe's Enterprise tier (and even then, it's basic)
• No context-aware voiceover generation or narration
• No AI-powered optimization suggestions based on viewer engagement
• No automatic updates when software interfaces change

In 2026, these aren't 'nice-to-have' features—they're foundational expectations for knowledge management platforms. Without them, content becomes stale quickly and requires constant manual maintenance.

4. Accessibility and Discovery Challenges

• Scribe's text documentation is searchable but lacks the engagement of video
• Tella's videos are engaging but difficult to search, scan, or reference quickly
• Neither offers hybrid consumption models (e.g., 'watch the video OR read the transcript')
• Mobile experiences are limited or non-existent

Modern learners expect flexibility—the ability to watch a video walkthrough during initial training, then reference a quick text version later. Forcing a single format reduces adoption and effectiveness.

The Guidde Advantage: AI-First, Format-Flexible Knowledge Sharing

Guidde represents the next generation of knowledge-sharing platforms, purpose-built to eliminate the trade-offs that define Scribe and Tella. Rather than choosing between documentation and video, Guidde uses AI to create both simultaneously—delivering measurably superior outcomes at lower total cost.

11x Faster Content Creation

While Scribe and Tella accelerate content creation compared to manual methods, Guidde takes speed to another level. Internal benchmarks show teams creating comprehensive video guides with automatic documentation in under 3 minutes—compared to 30-45 minutes with Scribe or Tella. This isn't incremental improvement; it's a fundamental reimagining of the creation workflow.

For a team creating 50 guides monthly:

• Scribe/Tella: 25-37.5 hours/month
• Guidde: 2.5 hours/month
• Time saved: 22.5-35 hours/month (equivalent to $1,125-1,750/month at $50/hour)

Unified Video + Documentation Output

Guidde automatically generates:

• Video guides with AI voiceover, on-screen annotations, and zoom effects
• Step-by-step text documentation extracted from the same workflow
• Interactive decision trees for complex, branching processes
• Multi-language translations (95+ languages) at no additional cost

This eliminates the need for separate subscriptions, reduces maintenance by 50% (update once, propagate everywhere), and ensures consistency across formats.

Enterprise-Grade Intelligence

• Smart Voiceover: AI-generated narration in 95+ languages with natural cadence and emphasis
• Auto-Updates: Detects when captured workflows change and suggests or automatically updates guides
• Usage Analytics: Track which guides are viewed, where users drop off, and which topics need reinforcement
• Role-Based Personalization: Automatically adjust guide depth and detail based on viewer role and experience level
• Interactive Branching: Create choose-your-own-path guides for complex scenarios with multiple variations

Better Economics at Scale

Guidde's pricing reflects its unified approach:

• Replaces both Scribe AND Tella subscriptions with a single platform
• Typical customer TCO: 40-60% lower than maintaining separate documentation and video tools
• No format lock-in or minimum seat requirements
• All enterprise features (SSO, SCIM, analytics, translations) included without custom pricing negotiations

For a 5-person team currently subscribing to both Scribe ($60/month) and Tella ($65/month), the $125/month combined cost plus administrative overhead ($20-30/month) totals $145-155/month. Guidde consolidates this into a single platform with superior capabilities and measurably better outcomes.

Proven Enterprise Adoption

Organizations choosing Guidde over Scribe, Tella, or legacy solutions report:

• 91% reduction in time spent creating training documentation
• 3-4x increase in content creation velocity
• 67% improvement in learner comprehension and retention (video + text vs. text-only)
• 40-60% cost reduction vs. maintaining separate documentation and video toolchains

Making the Strategic Choice

Scribe and Tella represent mature, capable solutions for their respective niches. But 'capable' doesn't mean 'optimal.' As AI reshapes content creation in 2026, the question isn't whether your organization can make Scribe or Tella work—it's whether settling for single-format tools makes strategic sense when AI-first, unified platforms deliver demonstrably superior outcomes.

Before committing to either Scribe or Tella—or worse, subscribing to both—explore what next-generation solutions can deliver. Try Guidde for free and experience how AI-first knowledge sharing eliminates the text-vs-video trade-off entirely, delivering faster creation, better engagement, and lower total cost. Your future self will thank you for choosing the platform built for 2026, not 2020.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is more affordable: Scribe or Tella?

For solo users, Tella is significantly more affordable at $13/month ($156/year) compared to Scribe's $23/month ($276/year)—a 43% cost savings. However, for teams of 5+, Scribe's Pro Team pricing ($12/user/month) becomes competitive with Tella's flat $13/user/month. The real cost consideration is whether you need both documentation AND video—in which case, subscribing to both platforms costs $36-42/user/month, making a unified solution like Guidde significantly more cost-effective.

Can I use Scribe for video content or Tella for documentation?

No. Scribe is exclusively a text-based documentation platform with screenshots—it does not create or edit video. Tella is exclusively a video creation platform—it does not generate text-based documentation or step-by-step guides. If you need both formats, you must subscribe to both tools or choose a platform like Guidde that delivers unified video and documentation output.

Does Scribe offer a free plan?

Yes. Scribe offers a Basic free plan that includes unlimited guide creation for web applications, quick customization, and link/embed sharing. However, the free tier is limited to browser-based capture only—desktop and mobile app documentation requires a paid Pro subscription ($23/month individual or $12/month per user for teams).

Does Tella offer monthly billing?

No. Tella requires annual billing for both Pro ($156/year) and Premium ($228/year) plans. There is no monthly subscription option. Tella offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card required, but after that, you must commit to annual billing. If you need monthly flexibility, consider alternatives like Guidde that offer both monthly and annual options.

Which platform is better for enterprise teams?

Scribe offers more mature enterprise features including SSO, SCIM provisioning, automatic PII/PHI redaction, multi-team governance, and API access—though these require custom Enterprise pricing (typically $39+/user/month). Tella offers SSO and SCIM as add-ons but lacks the governance and compliance features of Scribe. However, both platforms' single-format limitations (text-only vs. video-only) create challenges for enterprises needing comprehensive knowledge management. Modern enterprises are increasingly adopting unified platforms like Guidde that deliver both formats with full enterprise capabilities at transparent pricing.

Can I export content from Scribe and Tella?

Scribe Pro allows exports to PDF, HTML, Markdown, and Microsoft Word (Pro tier and above). Tella allows 4K video export and download at all paid tiers, with Premium offering unlimited 60 FPS export. However, exported content loses interactive features and requires separate hosting. If you need flexible export options with interactive capabilities, explore Guidde's export and embedding features.

What's the best alternative to both Scribe and Tella?

Guidde is the superior alternative for organizations needing both documentation and video content. Unlike Scribe (text-only) or Tella (video-only), Guidde uses AI to create video guides with automatic documentation simultaneously—eliminating the need for two separate subscriptions. Teams using Guidde report 11x faster content creation, 40-60% lower total cost compared to maintaining separate tools, and significantly better learner outcomes. Guidde includes enterprise features (SSO, SCIM, analytics, 95+ language translations) at transparent pricing without forcing a choice between formats. Try Guidde free to experience next-generation knowledge sharing that makes the Scribe-vs-Tella debate obsolete.

Explore further

• Scribe vs. Tella: Pricing Comparison Guide 2026