Documentation · head to head
Guidde vs Starlight
Guidde
Documentation
Turns a screen recording into a narrated step by step how to video and document
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Starlight
Documentation
Documentation site framework built on Astro that ships no JavaScript to the reader by default
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Guidde the Business tier is capped at five creators, so a support or enablement team of eight is forced to Enterprise and a quoted price, which is a steep and unadvertised cliff between 39 US dollars a creator and an unknown number.; Starlight there is no editing interface, so every correction requires a git client, a Node install and a CI run, which puts documentation changes out of reach for anyone who does not already work in a repository.
- They diverge on capability: Guidde covers Automatic step detection, Starlight covers File based routing.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Guidde and Starlight actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Documentation).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Guidde
- Automatic step detection
- Dual output
- Synthetic voiceover
- Blur sensitive information
- Brand kit
- Export formats
- Analytics
- Multi language translation
Only in Starlight
- File based routing
- Pagefind search
- Internationalisation
- Component overrides
- Zero client JavaScript
- Expressive Code blocks
- Auto generated sidebar
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Guidde
- A customer support team producing how to articles for a help centre that need both a video and a written version without doing the work twicenot Starlight
- A software company documenting a release where the workflow changed and the old screenshots are now wrongnot Starlight
- An internal operations team writing standard operating procedures for tools that change often enough that hand written documentation is never currentnot Starlight
- A team where nobody will record voiceover, so synthetic narration is the only way the content gets published at allnot Starlight
Starlight
- A developer tool whose docs live in the same repository as the code and are reviewed in the same pull requestnot Guidde
- A team that already runs Astro for its marketing site and wants one build pipeline for bothnot Guidde
- Documentation that must be served from a CDN or an air gapped static host with no search backendnot Guidde
- A multilingual open source project that needs per locale content trees and untranslated page fallbacknot Guidde
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Guidde
- The Business tier is capped at five creators, so a support or enablement team of eight is forced to Enterprise and a quoted price, which is a steep and unadvertised cliff between 39 US dollars a creator and an unknown number.
- Text to voice generation, the feature that removes the audio recording barrier that is the main reason to buy Guidde, is not available on Pro at all and requires the Business tier.
- The free plan retains the Guidde watermark, so any customer facing use requires at least Pro, and the 25 video free allowance is really an evaluation window rather than a usable tier.
- Automatic step detection is reliable on conventional web interfaces and degrades on canvas based, drag and drop or heavily dynamic applications, where the generated steps need substantial manual correction.
- Translation, single sign on, content review workflows and PII redaction are all Enterprise only, which puts any regulated or multilingual organisation into a quoted contract regardless of team size.
Starlight
- There is no editing interface, so every correction requires a git client, a Node install and a CI run, which puts documentation changes out of reach for anyone who does not already work in a repository.
- Starlight versions track Astro versions, so an Astro major release becomes a documentation site migration on someone else timeline rather than yours.
- Pagefind builds the whole search index at compile time, so build duration and index size grow with page count and large documentation sets pay for it on every deploy.
- There is no analytics, no feedback widget and no page level rating built in, so measuring which pages fail readers means wiring a third party script yourself.
- Component overrides are limited to the slots the theme exposes, and anything outside those slots means forking the theme and inheriting the merge burden on every upgrade.
Pricing, plan by plan
Guidde
Free- FreeFree
- Up to 25 how to videos
- Basic recording and voiceover
- Sharing via link
- Pro$19/month
- Per creator per month billed annually, 29 billed monthly
- Unlimited videos
- Watermark removed and brand kit applied
- Business$39/month
- Per creator per month billed annually, 59 billed monthly
- Up to 5 creators only
- Text to voice generation
Starlight
Free- Open sourceFree
- MIT licence
- All features included
- Self hosted on any static host
Which should you pick?
Choose Guidde if
- You need automatic step detection.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Chrome, Windows, macOS.
- You also want dual output.
Choose Starlight if
- You need file based routing.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux.
- You also want pagefind search.
Questions people ask
- Is Guidde or Starlight better?
- Neither clearly leads. Guidde starts at Free and Starlight at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Guidde or Starlight?
- Guidde starts at Free and Starlight at Free.
- Does Guidde or Starlight run on more platforms?
- Guidde runs on Web, Chrome, Windows, macOS. Starlight runs on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux.
- Can I use Guidde for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Guidde best used for?
- Guidde is most often used for a customer support team producing how to articles for a help centre that need both a video and a written version without doing the work twice, a software company documenting a release where the workflow changed and the old screenshots are now wrong, an internal operations team writing standard operating procedures for tools that change often enough that hand written documentation is never current, a team where nobody will record voiceover, so synthetic narration is the only way the content gets published at all. Of those, a customer support team producing how to articles for a help centre that need both a video and a written version without doing the work twice and a software company documenting a release where the workflow changed and the old screenshots are now wrong are not what Starlight is typically brought in for.
- What can Guidde do that Starlight cannot?
- Guidde covers Automatic step detection, Dual output, Synthetic voiceover, Blur sensitive information. Starlight covers File based routing, Pagefind search, Internationalisation, Component overrides.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Guidde: How much does Guidde cost?
Free for up to 25 videos, Pro at 19 US dollars per creator per month billed annually or 29 monthly, Business at 39 annually or 59 monthly for up to five creators, and Enterprise quoted.
Starlight: Can a non technical writer publish a page without help?
No. There is no content management interface. Every change is a commit, a pull request and a build.
Guidde: Is there a creator limit?
Yes. Business is capped at five creators. Above that you are into Enterprise and a quoted price, which is the main pricing surprise for growing teams.
Starlight: Do I need to know Astro to use it?
Not for basic use. Markdown files and a config file are enough until you want custom components, at which point Astro knowledge becomes mandatory.
Guidde: Do I need to record my voice?
No, and that is the point. Text to voice generation produces the narration, so it can be edited as text later. It requires the Business tier.
Starlight: Is search included or do I pay for it?
Included and free. Pagefind builds a static index at compile time. Algolia DocSearch is optional if you want hosted search instead.
Guidde: Does it work on any application?
It works well on conventional web interfaces. Canvas based, drag and drop and heavily dynamic applications produce step detection that needs manual correction.
Starlight: What happens when Astro releases a major version?
Starlight follows it, and your site needs a migration. Read the upgrade guide before pinning a version for a long lived project.
Starlight: Can I self host with no external services?
Yes. The output is static HTML, CSS and a search index. Nothing calls out at runtime unless you add it.
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