Offline SOP and step-by-step guide maker, no cloud
stepkeep is a Chrome extension that records a browser task and turns each click into a numbered step with an annotated screenshot. Unlike Scribe, Tango or Guidde, it uploads nothing: guides stay in your browser profile, there is no account, and the extension makes no network request. Export to PDF, HTML or Markdown, for 59 EUR once.
- On your machine
- 59 EUR once
- PDF, HTML, Markdown
Free keeps five guides and exports a watermarked PDF. No card, no trial clock.
What cloud recorders do better
Scribe, Tango and Guidde are good software. Everything they do well follows from one choice: your guide lives on their servers. If these matter more to you than where the screenshots are, buy one of them.
- A link instead of a file. On Scribe's and Tango's free plans the guide is a share link or an embed, and a colleague opens it in a browser without downloading anything.
- Knowing who read it. Tango Pro shows viewer insights and Guidde Business has analytics. stepkeep cannot tell you who opened a PDF.
- A shared library. A cloud workspace holds everyone's guides in one place, with version history (14 days on Tango Pro, 365 days with audit logs on Enterprise). A stepkeep guide lives in one person's browser.
- Automatic redaction. Scribe and Tango Enterprise find personal data in screenshots on their own. In stepkeep you draw the blur yourself; it is then applied to every step of the guide.
- Desktop apps. Scribe Pro, Tango Pro and Guidde Business record desktop software too. stepkeep records browser tabs only.
- AI and video. The same plans write steps with AI or produce narrated video. stepkeep writes each step from the label of what you clicked.
Where the screenshots go, tool by tool
| Feature | stepkeep | Scribe, Tango, Guidde |
|---|---|---|
| Where your screenshots are stored | In your browser profile, on your machine | On the vendor's servers. Tango: its own AWS servers, self-hosting not offered1. Guidde: Google Cloud2. Scribe: the United States and other countries3 |
| Account | None | Required. Every plan starts with a sign-up45 |
| Price model | 59 EUR once, VAT included. Team 149 EUR once | Per seat, per month. Scribe Pro 25 USD, Tango Pro 15 to 22 USD, Guidde Pro 19 USD, all billed annually456 |
| Works with no internet connection | Yes. Recording, editing, export and the licence check need no connection | No. The guide is written to the vendor's servers |
| What the free plan gives you | Five guides and a PDF with a small watermark | A share link or embed. PDF, HTML and Markdown need Pro (Scribe, Tango)45 |
| Exports on the paid plan | PDF, Markdown with an images folder, single-file HTML, Markdown to the clipboard | PDF, HTML, Markdown; Word on Scribe. Guidde: MP4, GIF, PPT, PDF456 |
| Redaction | Blur by hand, applied to every step of the guide. No automatic detection. The screenshot never leaves your machine, blurred or not | Blur by hand; automatic detection of personal data on Enterprise. At Tango the unblurred original sits on its servers until the blur is saved47 |
| Hosted share links with view analytics | No, by design | Yes |
| Documents desktop apps | No, browser only | Yes, on paid plans456 |
Competitor prices and features checked on on each vendor's own pages. They change; if one is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
- Tango help centre, image hosting: images on Tango's AWS servers, no self-hosting.
- Guidde security page: hosted in Google Cloud.
- Scribe privacy policy: data held in the United States and other countries.
- Scribe pricing page: plans, prices and exports.
- Tango pricing page: plans, prices and exports.
- Guidde pricing page: plans, prices and exports.
- Tango help centre, blurred images: how the unblurred original is stored.
How to check that nothing leaves
"Nothing is uploaded" is easy to write. Here is how to check it without trusting us.
- stepkeep
- No network request, on either plan.
- Scribe, Tango, Guidde
- The guide is written to the vendor's servers.
Five permissions, and no site until you press record
The extension asks for activeTab, tabs, storage, scripting and downloads, and for nothing else at install. It holds no access to any website until you press record; then Chrome asks you for that one site. The full list, with one sentence per permission, is on the homepage and on the store listing.
No licence server
A paid key is a signed message. The extension checks it against a public key inside its own files, so there is no account, no activation call and nothing to phone home to. Buying happens on our website through Stripe, outside the extension.
Count the requests yourself
Open DevTools on the Network tab and use stepkeep for a week. There are no requests, on either plan. Then turn off the wifi: recording, editing, export and the paid features keep working. The code is plain JavaScript with no bundler and no remote code, so what Chrome installed is what a reviewer reads.
What that means for your data protection officer
We never receive a screenshot, so for the guides there is no transfer to us and no processor to name. The screenshots are still personal data inside your company: a guide you export and send is covered by your own rules, the same as any file.
Chrome itself fetches updates to the extension from the Chrome Web Store, as it does for every extension. That download brings code to you; it carries none of your guides.
Your first offline SOP in three steps
stepkeep cannot import guides from Scribe or Tango. Re-record the ones you still use; each takes about as long as doing the task once.
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Install stepkeep from the Chrome Web Store.
No account, no card, no form. The free plan keeps five guides.
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Press record on the tab and do the task once.
Chrome asks for that one site. Every click, typed field and choice becomes a numbered step with the element ringed.
-
Tidy, blur, export.
Rewrite a sentence, merge or reorder steps, blur what must not be shared, then export a PDF, or HTML and Markdown on Personal.
Which one to pick
Choose a cloud recorder if…
- You want a link you can send that tracks who read it.
- Your team needs one shared library with version history and approvals.
- You document desktop software, or want AI to write and translate the steps.
Choose stepkeep if…
- Your data protection officer, client contract or works council has said no to cloud screenshots.
- You want an SOP tool with no account and no monthly bill.
- Your IT department decides what gets installed, and a Chrome extension is the door that is open.
Asked before buying
Does stepkeep work offline?
Yes. Recording, editing, exporting and checking a paid licence key all work with the wifi off, because the extension never makes a network request. The page you record still has to load, so an internet site needs a connection while an intranet page does not. The guide itself never needs one.
Where do Scribe and Tango store my screenshots?
On their own servers. Tango's help centre says workflow images are hosted on its AWS servers and that self-hosting is not offered. Scribe's privacy policy says data may be held in the United States and other countries. Neither offers an offline mode on its pricing page.
Is stepkeep GDPR compliant, and do we need a processing agreement?
We never receive your screenshots or guides, so there is no transfer to us and no processor agreement for them. What you record is still personal data inside your company, and the files you export follow your own rules. We are not your lawyer; your data protection officer has the final word.
Does our works council need to approve it?
Probably, and we would not tell you otherwise. In Germany any tool that can record what employees do is subject to co-determination, whatever the intent. What stepkeep changes is the scope: recordings stay in the browser of the person who made them, nothing is collected centrally, and nobody else, including us, can see them.
How do I share a guide without a cloud tool?
The way you share any file. Attach the PDF to an email, put the single HTML file on the shared drive, or paste the Markdown into Confluence, Notion or a ticket. If you need hosted links that show who read them, a cloud recorder is the right tool.
Are there other tools that keep screenshots local?
Yes, and they are worth a look. Folge is a desktop app for Windows and macOS, paid once, and records desktop software too. Mimik is a free, open-source browser extension. Choose stepkeep if you want a Chrome extension with no account, a licence checked without any server, and one corporate design rolled out through Chrome policy.
Record one SOP today, on your machine
Free keeps five guides at a time, which is enough to know. 59 EUR once removes the limit and the watermark.
14 days to change your mind, no reason needed.