Software · head to head
Pear Deck vs Screencastify

Pear Deck
Software
Interactive presentations that engage every student
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Pear Deck the Teacher Dashboard, draggable and drawing responses and Reflect and Review require Teacher Premium at $149 per year; Screencastify limited to Chrome browser only, cannot record on Firefox, Safari, or Edge
- They diverge on capability: Pear Deck covers Interactive slides, Screencastify covers Screen recording.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Pear Deck and Screencastify actually diverge.
| Attribute | Pear Deck | Screencastify |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | Unknown |
| Platforms | Web, Chrome Extension | Chrome Browser |
| Founded | 2014 | 2013 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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 Pear Deck
- Interactive slides
- Real-time responses
- Formative assessment
- Student-paced mode
- Dashboard
- Audio responses
- Drawing
- Vocabulary
Only in Screencastify
- Screen recording
- Video editing
- Drawing tools
- Google Drive export
- Chrome support
- Edge support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Pear Deck
- Turning slide decks into interactive lessons with student responsesnot Screencastify
- Running formative checks for understanding during classnot Screencastify
- Student paced review activities and assessmentsnot Screencastify
Screencastify
No use cases recorded yet. See the Screencastify review.
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Pear Deck
- The Teacher Dashboard, draggable and drawing responses and Reflect and Review require Teacher Premium at $149 per year
- Pear Assessment Premium is a separate $125 per year purchase from Pear Deck Premium
- Standards aligned content, district library and efficacy reports are only in the Schools and Districts plan
- SIS and LMS integration is only in the Schools and Districts plan
- School and district pricing is by quote with no published rate
Screencastify
- Limited to Chrome browser only, cannot record on Firefox, Safari, or Edge
- Free version watermark appears on all videos and requires upgrade to remove
- Free tier limited to 10 videos total before requiring paid plan
- Maximum 1080p resolution at 30fps, no support for higher framerates or 4K
- No free educator license for educational institutions
Pricing, plan by plan
Pear Deck
Free- FreeFree
- 5 question types
- Real-time responses
- Student-paced mode
- Premium$149.99/month
- All question types
- Audio responses
- Flashcard factory
- School/District$undefined/month
- All Premium
- Admin dashboard
- Rostering
Screencastify
Free- FreeFree
- 10 videos
- 30 min max
- Watermark
- Starter$15/month
- 60 min max recordings
- Pro$20/month
- 120 min max recordings
Which should you pick?
Choose Pear Deck if
- You need interactive slides.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Chrome Extension.
- You also want real-time responses.
Choose Screencastify if
- You need screen recording.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Chrome Browser.
- You also want video editing.
Questions people ask
- Is Pear Deck or Screencastify better?
- Neither clearly leads. Pear Deck starts at Free and Screencastify at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Pear Deck or Screencastify?
- Pear Deck starts at Free and Screencastify at Free.
- Does Pear Deck or Screencastify run on more platforms?
- Pear Deck runs on Web, Chrome Extension. Screencastify runs on Chrome Browser.
- Can I use Pear Deck for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Pear Deck best used for?
- Pear Deck is most often used for turning slide decks into interactive lessons with student responses, running formative checks for understanding during class, student paced review activities and assessments. Of those, turning slide decks into interactive lessons with student responses and running formative checks for understanding during class are not what Screencastify is typically brought in for.
- What can Pear Deck do that Screencastify cannot?
- Pear Deck covers Interactive slides, Real-time responses, Formative assessment, Student-paced mode. Screencastify covers Screen recording, Video editing, Drawing tools, Google Drive export.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Screencastify: What's the free tier limit?
Free plan allows 10 total videos up to 30 minutes each, with watermark. After 10 videos, you must upgrade.
SourceScreencastify: Is Screencastify limited to Chrome?
Yes. Screencastify is exclusively a Chrome extension and does not work on other browsers like Firefox, Safari, or Edge.
SourceScreencastify: What's the maximum video quality?
Maximum resolution is 1080p at 30 frames per second. Videos can only be exported to MP4, audio to MP3, or as GIF.
SourceScreencastify: Does Screencastify work for educational use?
Screencastify lacks a free educator license for schools or non-profits, unlike some competitors who offer discounted or free plans for educational institutions.
SourceRelated pages
More on Screencastify
Keep looking
Other head to heads
- Pear Deck vs Canvas
- Pear Deck vs Moodle
- Pear Deck vs Schoology
- Pear Deck vs LinkedIn Learning
- Pear Deck vs edX
- Pear Deck vs Kajabi
- Pear Deck vs Podia
- Pear Deck vs Thinkific
- Pear Deck vs Udacity
- Pear Deck vs ClassDojo
- Pear Deck vs Cornerstone Learning
- Pear Deck vs Coursera
- Pear Deck vs Google Classroom
- Pear Deck vs LearnWorlds
- Pear Deck vs Teachable
- Pear Deck vs Absorb LMS
- Pear Deck vs Cornerstone OnDemand
- Pear Deck vs D2L Brightspace
- Screencastify vs Canvas
- Screencastify vs Moodle
- Screencastify vs Schoology
- Screencastify vs LinkedIn Learning
- Screencastify vs edX
- Screencastify vs Kajabi
- Screencastify vs Podia
- Screencastify vs Thinkific
- Screencastify vs Udacity
- Screencastify vs ClassDojo
- Screencastify vs Cornerstone Learning
- Screencastify vs Coursera
- Screencastify vs Google Classroom
- Screencastify vs LearnWorlds
- Screencastify vs Teachable
- Screencastify vs Absorb LMS
- Screencastify vs Cornerstone OnDemand
- Screencastify vs D2L Brightspace

