A Scribe alternative that keeps your guides on your machine

stepkeep is a Scribe alternative for Chrome that records a browser task and turns it into a step-by-step guide with annotated screenshots, without uploading anything. Guides stay in your own browser, there is no account, and it costs $59 once instead of Scribe Pro Personal at 25 USD a month billed yearly (checked 23 September 2026). It exports PDF, HTML and Markdown.

Install free See a finished guide PDF · 567 KB

Free keeps five guides at a time, with a watermarked PDF. No card, no trial clock.

  • On your machine
  • $59 once
  • PDF, HTML, Markdown
The top of page 1 of the exported PDF: the title Refund process underlined in yellow, the line Northwind GmbH - 2026-09-16, and step 1 with its screenshot.

What Scribe does better

Scribe is good software and we will not pretend otherwise. It is well reviewed, it is easy to start, and for a lot of teams it is the right answer. If one of these is why you use it, keep it.

  • Desktop apps Scribe Pro records Windows and Mac applications. stepkeep records browser tabs and nothing else.
  • A link instead of a file Scribe shares every guide as a hosted link or an embed, even on the free plan. stepkeep has no link to send: you send the file.
  • AI writing Scribe AI writes step descriptions and can draft a whole document from one prompt. stepkeep writes each step from the label on the button you pressed, and has no AI.
  • Word export Scribe exports to Word on Pro. stepkeep exports PDF, HTML and Markdown, not Word.
  • Administration Comments on Pro Team; single sign-on, roles and central user management on Enterprise. stepkeep has no accounts, so it has none of this.
  • Certificates Scribe lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and HIPAA on its security page. stepkeep has no certificate to show. It keeps no copy of your data that one could cover.

Scribe and stepkeep, row by row

Scribe used to live at scribehow.com; that address now forwards to scribe.com. Every Scribe cell below links to the page it was taken from.

stepkeep Scribe
Where your guides and screenshots live Your own browser profile, on your machine Scribe's cloud, in your account's gallery1
Where the data may be processed Nowhere else. stepkeep makes no network request The United States and other countries, per Scribe's privacy policy2
Account None Required, even for the free browser extension1
Price for one person $59 once (Personal) 25 USD a month billed yearly, 35 USD billed monthly (Pro Personal)3
Price for a team $149 once for everyone at one company (Team) 13 USD per seat a month billed yearly, five seats minimum (Pro Team)3
Free plan Five guides at a time, PDF export with a small watermark Web app capture, sharing by link or embed, no file export34
File exports PDF on Free; HTML, Markdown and clipboard on Personal; no Word PDF, HTML, Markdown and Word, on Pro4
Desktop apps No, browser tabs only Mac and Windows, on Pro5
Hosted share links No. You send the file Yes, on every plan3
AI writing No. Each sentence comes from the label on the button you pressed Writes step text and whole documents6
Single sign-on and admin roles No accounts to manage. A brand can be deployed through Chrome policy On Enterprise3
Security certificates None. There is no server holding your guides SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA listed7

Scribe column checked on , on Scribe's own pages. Prices are in US dollars, as Scribe publishes them. They change; if you find one out of date, tell us and we will correct it.

  1. Scribe, Desktop capture tool
  2. Scribe, Privacy policy
  3. Scribe, Pricing
  4. Scribe support, exporting a Scribe to PDF, HTML, Markdown and Word
  5. Scribe, Desktop capture tool and Pricing
  6. Scribe AI
  7. Scribe, Security

The one row that matters: where the screenshots go

stepkeep
Your browser's own database, on your machine
Scribe
Your account's gallery, in Scribe's cloud

A step-by-step guide is a stack of screenshots of the software you work in. That means customer names, order numbers, the inside of an admin panel.

With Scribe you sign in before you record, and each guide is kept in your account's gallery in Scribe's cloud. Scribe's privacy policy says your data may be processed in the United States and in other countries. For many teams that is fine. For some, a data protection officer, a client contract or a works council has already said it is not.

With stepkeep the screenshots go into your browser's own database, on your machine, and stay there. There is no stepkeep server to send them to, and no account to send them from. The licence key is checked inside the extension, so the paid plan makes no request either.

Open DevTools, go to the Network tab and record a guide. Count the requests. There are none. We never receive a screenshot, so there is no data transfer to assess and no processor to name.

Moving over in three steps

  1. Keep what you have

    Export the Scribe guides you want to keep as PDF or Markdown while your Pro seat is active. Scribe's file exports are a Pro feature, so do it before the seat ends.

  2. Record your most used guides again

    stepkeep cannot import a Scribe guide. Recording one takes about as long as doing the task once, and the sentences are written for you.

  3. Hand it out as a file

    Put your logo and colours on it, then export a PDF for the shared drive, a single HTML file for the intranet, or Markdown for Confluence, Notion or a wiki.

Scribe or stepkeep

Choose Scribe if…

  • You want to send a link and see who opened it.
  • You need to document desktop software, not browser tabs.
  • You want AI to write or rewrite your guides.
  • Your company needs single sign-on, roles and an audited vendor.

Choose stepkeep if…

  • Screenshots of your work may not leave your machine, and someone has already told you so.
  • You write a handful of guides a month and a monthly seat makes no sense.
  • IT controls what gets installed, and a browser extension is the one door still open.
  • You want files you own: PDF, HTML or Markdown, readable without an account.

Questions about switching from Scribe

Is there a Scribe alternative that works without the cloud?

Yes. stepkeep is a Chrome extension that records a browser task and keeps the finished guide, screenshots included, in your own browser profile. There is no account and no stepkeep server, and recording, editing, exporting and the licence check all work with the wifi off. Folge also works offline, as a desktop app.

Is there a Scribe alternative with a one-time payment?

stepkeep costs $59 once, for one person, and $149 once for everyone at one company. Every update is included and nothing renews. Scribe Pro Personal is 25 USD a month billed yearly (checked 23 September 2026). You can refund stepkeep within 14 days without giving a reason.

What does Scribe's free plan include, compared with stepkeep's?

Scribe Basic records web apps and shares each guide by link or embed; file exports and desktop capture need Pro (scribe.com/pricing, checked 23 September 2026). stepkeep Free keeps five guides at a time and exports them as PDF with a small watermark. Neither asks for a card.

Is Scribe GDPR compliant?

Scribe names the GDPR on its security page, and its privacy policy says transfers to the United States rely on Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (checked 23 September 2026). Whether that is enough for your screenshots is for your data protection officer to decide. With stepkeep there is no transfer to assess, because the screenshots never leave your machine.

Do I need a data processing agreement for stepkeep?

stepkeep receives no data from your guides: screenshots, steps and text stay in your browser, and the extension sends nothing to us. The purchase is handled by Stripe on its own checkout page, outside the extension. Whether you need an agreement is a question for your data protection officer.

Can I import my Scribe guides into stepkeep?

No. stepkeep cannot read a Scribe guide or any other tool's project file. Export the guides you want to keep from Scribe as PDF or Markdown while your Pro seat is active, then record the ones you still use in stepkeep. A recording takes about as long as doing the task once.

Can stepkeep record desktop apps like Scribe Pro does?

No. stepkeep records what happens in a Chrome tab: clicks, typed fields and choices. It cannot see a desktop application at all. If you need to document Windows or Mac software, Scribe Pro does it, and Folge does it for a one-time price.

Is Scribehow the same as Scribe?

Yes. Scribe used to be at scribehow.com, and that address now forwards to scribe.com. Its help centre still runs on support.scribehow.com. So a Scribehow alternative and a Scribe alternative are the same search, and this page answers both. The prices and features in the table are the current ones from scribe.com.

Does Scribe use AI to write the steps?

Not for the steps themselves. Scribe's security page says the core function of automatically creating step-by-step guides does not use AI. Its AI writes the text around the steps: titles, descriptions, a whole SOP from a prompt, narration and transcription, through third-party AI providers its pages do not name (checked 24 September 2026). stepkeep has no AI model at all. Each step is written in your browser from the label of the button you pressed, and you can edit every sentence.

Is Scribe AI the same as an AI medical scribe?

No. "Scribe AI" also names AI medical scribes, which write clinical notes from patient conversations, and audio transcription apps. This page is about Scribe, the step-by-step guide tool at scribe.com.

Is the Scribe Chrome extension free, and does it need an account?

The extension is free for Chrome and Edge on Scribe's Basic plan, but Scribe asks you to sign up for a free account first, and the guide is made and kept in Scribe's web app under that account. PDF export, redacting screenshots and unlimited guides are on Pro, from 25 USD a month billed yearly (checked 7 October 2026). stepkeep has no account: the recorder, the editor, the blur and the export all run inside the extension.

How do I get a Scribe demo?

Scribe's pricing page has a Schedule demo button on the Enterprise plan. For the other plans you sign up and try Basic yourself. stepkeep has no sales call and no form: the sample guide above is a real export from the extension on the Chrome Web Store, and Free lets you record five guides of your own.

Can I write SOPs in Scribe, and does it keep old versions?

Scribe records the procedure part of an SOP; the purpose, scope, owner and review date are still yours to write. Its pricing page lists no version history on Basic, one week on Pro Personal and Pro Team, and unlimited history on Enterprise (checked 1 October 2026). stepkeep keeps no history either, because there is no server to keep it on. It gives you a file instead, and SharePoint, Confluence or Git already keep the versions of what you put in them.

Record one task today and keep the guide

Free keeps five guides at a time, which is enough to know. $59 once removes the limit and the watermark.

Install free for Chrome Buy Personal, $59

14 days to change your mind, no reason needed.