GuideMagic vs Glitter AI
Both tools create step-by-step guides automatically. But one is a free Chrome extension with limited editing, while the other is a full-platform AI tool. Here's how they compare.
The Bottom Line
GuideMagic and Glitter AI both aim to speed up documentation by capturing workflows and converting them into step-by-step guides. But they take pretty different approaches and work best in different situations.
GuideMagic is a free Chrome extension. It watches your browser actions and uses AI to write descriptions for each step. Simple, lightweight, no cost. That last part is appealing if you just need basic documentation. The downside? It's still in beta, and that shows. Users report that "editing the steps is not working," it only runs in Chrome, and your export options are limited.
Glitter AI is a complete documentation platform. It runs on web, desktop, and mobile, capturing both what you do and what you say, including voice narration, hover actions, and the full video. The AI then turns all of that into guides that are ready to publish. You can edit everything, convert existing videos into guides, transcribe in 99 languages, and share in ways that look professional.
Here's the real difference: GuideMagic gets you a rough draft you mostly can't change. Glitter gives you polished documentation you can customize, brand, and distribute however works best for your team.
Platform Overview
Both tools automate guide creation, but they go about it in pretty different ways.
Glitter AI gives you documentation that's ready to publish on any platform.
It works on web, desktop, and mobile, capturing what you do and what you say to build complete guides. The AI looks at your narration, screen activity, and context, then writes professional documentation without much hand-holding.
You can also turn any existing video into a guide. Got screen recordings or training footage lying around? Upload them and Glitter will structure them for you.
Teams get collaboration features, branded exports, and enterprise security (SOC 2 Type II compliant).
GuideMagic is a free Chrome extension built for basic browser documentation.
It tracks your clicks and actions, then uses AI to fill in the descriptions. Straightforward approach that gets you most of the way there quickly.
That said, it's still in beta with some real gaps: editing often doesn't work (users report this frequently), it's limited to Chrome (no desktop or mobile), and sharing options stay pretty basic.
If you need simple browser workflows and can work around the editing issues, GuideMagic might do the job.
At a Glance
Quick comparison of the key differences between GuideMagic and Glitter AI.
Core Features
See how Glitter AI and GuideMagic compare on core features for creating and editing guides.Can I edit the guides after creation?
What platforms does it work on?
Does it capture voice narration?
Can I create guides from existing videos?
What happens to the original recording?
How good is the AI-generated content?
Platform Support: Browser-Only vs Multi-Platform
This might be the biggest gap between these two tools.
GuideMagic only works in Chrome. It's a browser extension, full stop. Want to document Photoshop, Excel, or some internal desktop tool? You're out of luck.
Glitter AI covers everything. Web apps through the Chrome extension, desktop software via apps for Windows and Mac, and mobile workflows by uploading phone recordings. One tool across all platforms.
People tend to underestimate how much this matters. Real business processes usually jump between tools. Some run in a browser, some on desktop, some on a phone. When your documentation tool only handles browser stuff, you either cobble together multiple solutions or just don't document certain workflows at all.
Sharing & Export
How do I share guides?
Can I export to different formats?
Can I brand the guides?
Security & Privacy
Can I redact sensitive information?
Is it SOC 2 compliant?
Does it ever use my data for AI training?
The Editing Problem: Why It Matters
GuideMagic has editing features on paper, but users keep saying they don't actually work. That's a bigger deal than it sounds.
Think about how documentation really works:
You'll miss steps. Happens all the time. You forget to show the login screen, or you breeze past a dropdown menu without explaining it. In Glitter, you just insert the missing step. In GuideMagic, you might be re-recording from the beginning.
AI descriptions need tweaking. Maybe the auto-generated text isn't quite right, or you want to add a heads-up about something tricky. Glitter lets you edit freely. With GuideMagic, users say their edits don't stick, so you're often left with whatever the AI wrote.
Processes evolve. A UI gets redesigned, a workflow changes. You need to update a few steps, not start over. Glitter handles that. GuideMagic's editor is buggy enough that people end up re-recording entire guides instead.
Users have been vocal about this in reviews: "You cannot add steps to the guide and editing the steps is not working" and "Can't add or edit steps so not very useful."
The GuideMagic team has acknowledged it's a known bug in their beta. For now, that turns the tool into more of a quick draft generator than a real documentation system.
Support & Reliability
What kind of support is available?
Is the product actively maintained?
Can I rely on this for business documentation?
Pricing & Plans
How GuideMagic and Glitter AI stack up on pricing, from free tiers to enterprise plans.
/mo
/mo
/mo
/year
Glitter AI – Pricing Takeaways:
- Free plan covers all platforms (web, desktop, mobile) with up to 10 guides.
- Pro runs $16-20/month depending on billing and gives you unlimited guides plus extra features.
- Paid plans include full editing control so you can refine content however you want.
- Enterprise tier adds SOC 2 Type II, SSO, custom branding, and dedicated support.
- Pricing is transparent with no hidden fees or gotchas.
GuideMagic – Pricing Takeaways:
- Completely free while in beta. No limits, no charges.
- Chrome browser only. No desktop or mobile capture.
- Editing is unreliable. Users say steps can't be added or changed properly.
- No enterprise features. No SOC 2, no redaction, no branding.
- Future pricing hasn't been announced. Unclear if free access continues.
Who Actually Uses Each Tool?
Looking at reviews and feedback, certain patterns emerge:
GuideMagic users tend to be educators, students, or individuals who just need a quick browser guide and can live with the editing quirks. One teacher wrote: "I needed to generate a couple of guides for my students. It was really easy to use and intuitive." For simple, one-and-done documentation where you capture a workflow and share a link, it works fine.
Glitter AI users are usually teams and professionals who need documentation they can trust and edit across multiple platforms. Customer success building help articles. Training teams putting together onboarding materials. Operations documenting processes. Product creating feature guides. The editing control, platform flexibility, and polished sharing options all matter when documentation is part of your job.
It really comes down to what you're trying to accomplish. A teacher making a quick how-to for students, who doesn't mind re-recording if something changes? GuideMagic can handle that. A team building documentation that needs to be accurate, editable, branded, and professionally distributed? Glitter AI is likely the better fit.
So... which one should you choose?
Both tools automate guide creation, but they work best for different situations. Here's the honest take:Choose Glitter AI if you...
Pick Glitter AI if you need professional documentation you can actually edit. Multi-platform support (web, desktop, mobile), voice narration capture, video-to-guide conversion, and full control over your guides. Works well for teams, businesses, and anyone building documentation that needs to be accurate and shareable. Also: SOC 2 Type II security, transcription in 99 languages, redaction for sensitive data on paid plans, and you can reach the founder directly for support.
Don't choose Glitter AI if you...
Skip Glitter AI if all you want is ultra-basic browser guides and you genuinely don't care about editing them. If the AI-generated draft is good enough and you'll never need to tweak anything, GuideMagic's free beta might work fine.
Choose GuideMagic if you...
Pick GuideMagic if you need simple, free browser guides and won't need to edit them. Good for quick, throwaway documentation where the AI output is good enough as-is. Works for educators, students, or personal projects where you just need to capture a workflow and share a link. Free during beta and gets you most of the way there fast.
Don't choose GuideMagic if you...
Skip GuideMagic if you need reliable editing, desktop or mobile workflows, enterprise security, or branded documentation. The editing bugs are a dealbreaker for most business use, and being browser-only means a lot of real-world processes can't be documented at all.
Real customer reviews
Genuine feedback from real customers ❤️
This software is mind-blowing! After 2+ months, it's an invaluable asset to my company. The transcription quality is out of this world, and the new image editing tools are so fluid and better than [competitor name redacted]. ...you've saved me so much time; I'm elated and highly anticipate subscribing for another year!
Tim M.
May 3, 2025
Our company has asked each department to use AI tools to increase productivity, and this has made a huge difference. One of our leaders had originally sent a link to check out Glitter AI, and we love it! We're now using it for clients as well as internal staff.
Kim W.
December 18, 2024
This is exactly the documentation solution that we've been looking for. Every software system requires operating instructions, and you make them so easy to create! It's perfect for employee training purposes.
Erez A.
January 9, 2025
Glitter is really cool! The step-by-step guide it created was exactly what we needed for our corporate Salesforce setup, which was a literal mess. Just having a video isn't great because it's a nightmare to update all the fields for billing. This tool is saving us so much time!
Dustin R.
March 8, 2025
This is amazing! I just used the desktop app to make a quick guide for a Photoshop tool that I can use in my class. It would have taken me at least 30 minutes before and I just did it in about 5 minutes. Thanks for such a great tool!
Sarah
January 28, 2025
I tested 2 products today to solve the problem of rapidly creating 60+ articles to onboard our customers, and Glitter AI is excellent! It's really easy to use and edit. The output is so easy to import into our CMS for our Knowledge Hub; it's fantastic.
Emily W.
February 15, 2025
Really love this product! We use Guru for documentation at our company. With Glitter, I can do a quick walkthrough, and it creates a guide that can be pasted right into Guru, which saves us from undocumented tasks.
Jens A.
April 12, 2025
So far, I'm liking Glitter a great deal; it's very intuitive and useful. Our school district has an old method for online help for our student information system. Glitter is a great way to save many, MANY, person-hours of work, and our IT person is excited about it too!
John
January 9, 2025
This software is mind-blowing! After 2+ months, it's an invaluable asset to my company. The transcription quality is out of this world, and the new image editing tools are so fluid and better than [competitor name redacted]. ...you've saved me so much time; I'm elated and highly anticipate subscribing for another year!
Tim M.
May 3, 2025
Our company has asked each department to use AI tools to increase productivity, and this has made a huge difference. One of our leaders had originally sent a link to check out Glitter AI, and we love it! We're now using it for clients as well as internal staff.
Kim W.
December 18, 2024
This is exactly the documentation solution that we've been looking for. Every software system requires operating instructions, and you make them so easy to create! It's perfect for employee training purposes.
Erez A.
January 9, 2025
Glitter is really cool! The step-by-step guide it created was exactly what we needed for our corporate Salesforce setup, which was a literal mess. Just having a video isn't great because it's a nightmare to update all the fields for billing. This tool is saving us so much time!
Dustin R.
March 8, 2025
This is amazing! I just used the desktop app to make a quick guide for a Photoshop tool that I can use in my class. It would have taken me at least 30 minutes before and I just did it in about 5 minutes. Thanks for such a great tool!
Sarah
January 28, 2025
I tested 2 products today to solve the problem of rapidly creating 60+ articles to onboard our customers, and Glitter AI is excellent! It's really easy to use and edit. The output is so easy to import into our CMS for our Knowledge Hub; it's fantastic.
Emily W.
February 15, 2025
Really love this product! We use Guru for documentation at our company. With Glitter, I can do a quick walkthrough, and it creates a guide that can be pasted right into Guru, which saves us from undocumented tasks.
Jens A.
April 12, 2025
So far, I'm liking Glitter a great deal; it's very intuitive and useful. Our school district has an old method for online help for our student information system. Glitter is a great way to save many, MANY, person-hours of work, and our IT person is excited about it too!
John
January 9, 2025
This software is mind-blowing! After 2+ months, it's an invaluable asset to my company. The transcription quality is out of this world, and the new image editing tools are so fluid and better than [competitor name redacted]. ...you've saved me so much time; I'm elated and highly anticipate subscribing for another year!
Tim M.
May 3, 2025
Our company has asked each department to use AI tools to increase productivity, and this has made a huge difference. One of our leaders had originally sent a link to check out Glitter AI, and we love it! We're now using it for clients as well as internal staff.
Kim W.
December 18, 2024
This is exactly the documentation solution that we've been looking for. Every software system requires operating instructions, and you make them so easy to create! It's perfect for employee training purposes.
Erez A.
January 9, 2025
Glitter is really cool! The step-by-step guide it created was exactly what we needed for our corporate Salesforce setup, which was a literal mess. Just having a video isn't great because it's a nightmare to update all the fields for billing. This tool is saving us so much time!
Dustin R.
March 8, 2025
This is amazing! I just used the desktop app to make a quick guide for a Photoshop tool that I can use in my class. It would have taken me at least 30 minutes before and I just did it in about 5 minutes. Thanks for such a great tool!
Sarah
January 28, 2025
I tested 2 products today to solve the problem of rapidly creating 60+ articles to onboard our customers, and Glitter AI is excellent! It's really easy to use and edit. The output is so easy to import into our CMS for our Knowledge Hub; it's fantastic.
Emily W.
February 15, 2025
Really love this product! We use Guru for documentation at our company. With Glitter, I can do a quick walkthrough, and it creates a guide that can be pasted right into Guru, which saves us from undocumented tasks.
Jens A.
April 12, 2025
So far, I'm liking Glitter a great deal; it's very intuitive and useful. Our school district has an old method for online help for our student information system. Glitter is a great way to save many, MANY, person-hours of work, and our IT person is excited about it too!
John
January 9, 2025
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Glitter AI and how does it work?
Glitter AI helps you create step-by-step guides, SOPs, and documentation effortlessly. Simply record yourself carrying out a process and Glitter AI will automatically transform it into a step-by-step guide complete with screenshots and text based on what you said while recording.
Glitter provides apps for both desktop and browser to capture your screen and microphone, or you can upload an existing video of anything – even of a real-life process like assembling a product or operating a machine.
Glitter AI automatically captures screenshots and uses AI to transform your spoken explanation into a professional written guide. What normally takes hours or days now takes just a few minutes!
Can I upload existing videos to create guides?
Yes! Our new video-to-guide feature lets you convert ANY video into a step-by-step guide - including:
- Zoom and Microsoft Teams recordings
- Screen recordings from any source
- Live footage (not just software!)
- Mobile screen recordings
Just upload your video and our AI intelligently identifies each step and creates professional documentation automatically.
Do you have a desktop app and browser extension?
Yes to both! And they're included in the free plan:
• Desktop App (Mac/Windows) - Capture ANY application on your computer (Excel, Photoshop, SAP, etc.)
• Chrome Extension - Perfect for web-based processes and SaaS tools or any website.
Works with Chrome, Edge, Arc, Brave, and other Chromium browsers.
Does Glitter AI support mobile?
Yes! Through our video-to-guide feature:
- Record your mobile screen (iOS or Android)
- Upload the recording to Glitter AI
- Our AI converts it into step-by-step documentation
Perfect for mobile app tutorials and processes!
What languages does Glitter AI support?
Glitter AI supports 99 languages:
- Create guides in any language - Speak in your native language while recording
- Output in any language - Guides can be written in virtually any language
- Auto-translation - Record in one language and automatically translate to another
The complete list of languages: English, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Marathi, Telugu, Punjabi, Turkish, Korean, Malay, French, German, Vietnamese, Tamil, Cantonese, Urdu, Javanese, Italian, Gujarati, Hausa, Persian, Polish, Kannada, Indonesian, Pashto, Malayalam, Odia, Burmese, Uzbek, Sindhi, Ukrainian, Kurdish, Nepali, Filipino, Fulah, Romanian, Amharic, Igbo, Azerbaijani, Dutch, Cebuano, Somali, Thai, Khmer, Swahili, Assamese, Lingala, Greek, Hungarian, Kazakh, Chichewa, Shona, Czech, Swedish, Hebrew, Catalan, Serbian, Xhosa, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Tajik, Afrikaans, Armenian, Ganda, Danish, Mongolian, Croatian, Northern Sotho, Finnish, Norwegian, Slovak, Luo, Wolof, Kyrgyz, Umbundu, Georgian, Lao, Lithuanian, Bosnian, Slovenian, Galician, Macedonian, Occitan, Latvian, Irish, Estonian, Welsh, Maltese, Kabuverdianu, Luxembourgish, Icelandic, Asturian, Māori and Zulu.
How can I share or export my guides?
You have complete control over your content:
- Share via link - Send to anyone, no account needed
- Export formats - PDF, HTML, Markdown, Smart Copy-to-Clipboard (Pro plan and above)
- Privacy controls - Keep private, share with specific people, or make public
- Embed anywhere - Add to your website, knowledge base, or LMS
- Copy to clipboard - Paste into any platform
Does Glitter AI integrate with other tools?
Yes! Glitter AI works with your existing tools:
Available Now:
- Export to any platform - Use PDF, HTML, or Markdown formats
- Embed anywhere - Add guides to any website or tool that supports embeds
- Copy & paste - Transfer content to any documentation platform
You can export or embed to a variety of platforms:
- Confluence
- Intercom
- Notion
- Zendesk
- And hundreds more!
What export formats do you support?
You can easily export your Glitter guides to a variety of platforms:
- HTML
- Markdown
- Smart Copy-to-Clipboard
Smart Copy-to-Clipboard is a feature that automatically converts dynamic content into static images which makes it easy to copy and paste into any platform.
What's included in the free plan?
Our generous free plan includes:
- 10 guides
- Desktop app and Chrome extension
- Basic editing features
- Share via link
- Perfect for trying Glitter AI
Pro Plan and above add:
- Unlimited guides
- 60 minutes time limit per guide
- Convert videos to guides
- On-device blur / redact for sensitive information
- Advanced exports (PDF, Markdown, HTML, etc.)
- Secure embed guides without making them public
- Advanced screenshot editing
- Priority support
Is my data secure?
Yes. Here's how we keep your data secure:
- SOC 2 Type II compliant - We meet rigorous security standards for data protection and privacy. Request SOC 2 reports and learn more about how we handle privacy and security at our trust center
- Enterprise-grade security - AES-256 encryption at transit and at rest
- Your data stays yours - Not used for AI training or sold to third parties
- Guides are private by default - Only you can access your guides unless you share them
- On-device blurring / redaction - on desktop, so no sensitive data is sent to the cloud
Does Glitter AI use my data to train AI models?
No. Never.
Your data is yours. We never have, and never will, use your content to train AI models. This is a core commitment we make to every customer and is legally binding in our terms.
We also opt out of allowing any third-party AI providers to use customer data for training, and require that all customer data is deleted within 30 days of processing.
Learn more on our AI Security & Privacy page and trust center.
How is Glitter AI different from other documentation tools?
Glitter AI offers several unique capabilities that set it apart:
Magic Article: Automatic Speech-to-Text + AI:
- Transcribes what you say AS you record and includes it in the guide
- AI cleans up your speech, removing filler words and creating professional text
- No need to add text after recording - it's all done automatically (you can edit everything)
Advanced Video-to-Guide Conversion:
- Uses cutting-edge large language models to understand video contents
- Automatically identifies steps, actions, and important information
- Works with any video - screen recordings, meetings, or live footage
Desktop Support on Free Tier:
- Full desktop app included in our free plan (many competitors charge for this)
- Capture ANY application, not just web browsers
- On-device blurring / redaction of sensitive information
Other screen recorders just output videos. Other guide creation tools capture clicks. Glitter AI combines: video (+ clicks and keyboard events), voice narration, and smart AI to create professional documentation - fast.
Who uses Glitter AI?
Thousands of teams across industries:
- IT Departments - Document software procedures and technical processes
- Operations Teams - Create SOPs and standardize workflows
- Customer Success - Build help articles and onboarding guides
- HR Teams - Document employee training and processes
- Educators - Develop course materials and tutorials
- Consultants - Deliver professional documentation to clients
- Anyone who's tired of spending hours on documentation!