Is Screencastify or Totara better?

Neither clearly leads. Screencastify starts at Free and Totara at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Screencastify or Totara?

Screencastify has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Screencastify and On request for Totara.

Does Screencastify or Totara run on more platforms?

Screencastify runs on Chrome Browser. Totara runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.

Can I use Screencastify for free?

Yes. Screencastify has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Totara starts at On request.

What is Screencastify best used for?

Screencastify is most often used for recording lessons for flipped classroom instruction without external tools, creating product demos and explainer videos for sales teams, documenting technical processes for customer support tutorials, collecting and grading video assignments from students with rubrics. Of those, recording lessons for flipped classroom instruction without external tools and creating product demos and explainer videos for sales teams are not what Totara is typically brought in for.

What can Screencastify do that Totara cannot?

Screencastify covers Screen recording, Video editing, Drawing tools, Google Drive export. Totara covers Organisational hierarchies, Compliance and certification, Totara Perform, Totara Engage.

LMS · head to head

Screencastify vs Totara

Screencastify

LMS

Simple video creation for everyone

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Totara

LMS

Open source learning, performance and collaboration platform derived from Moodle and sold through partners

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Screencastify has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Screencastify limited to Chrome browser only, cannot record on Firefox, Safari, or Edge; Totara you cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
They diverge on capability: Screencastify covers Screen recording, Totara covers Organisational hierarchies.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Screencastify and Totara actually diverge.

Attributes where Screencastify and Totara differ
Attribute	Screencastify	Totara
Starting price	Free	On request
Pricing model	freemium	quote
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Chrome Browser	Web, iOS, Android, Linux
Founded	2013	Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (LMS).

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 Screencastify

Screen recording
Video editing
Drawing tools
Google Drive export
Chrome support
Edge support

Only in Totara

Organisational hierarchies
Compliance and certification
Totara Perform
Totara Engage
Self-hosting
Programs and learning plans

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Screencastify

Recording lessons for flipped classroom instruction without external toolsnot Totara
Creating product demos and explainer videos for sales teamsnot Totara
Documenting technical processes for customer support tutorialsnot Totara
Collecting and grading video assignments from students with rubricsnot Totara
Adding interactive assessments to video content to measure understandingnot Totara

Totara

Health services and government bodies that must evidence mandatory training by job role across a large hierarchynot Screencastify
Organisations with data residency rules that require the platform to run on their own infrastructurenot Screencastify
Moodle users who need appraisal, competency and compliance features the academic product does not carrynot Screencastify
Buyers who want exit rights over the platform code rather than dependence on a single hosted vendornot Screencastify

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

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

Totara

You cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
Open source does not mean cheap. Subscription plus partner hosting plus implementation and version upgrade services commonly lands near commercial system cost, and the saving is in control and exit rights rather than in the invoice.
The administrative interface carries its Moodle lineage and is dense, so administrator training is a real project cost rather than an afterthought.
Major version upgrades are projects, especially where a partner has customised the deployment, and organisations that customise heavily find upgrades slower and dearer over time.
The learner facing experience is functional rather than engaging, and organisations wanting a consumer grade learning experience usually front it with something else.

Pricing, plan by plan

Screencastify

Free

FreeFree
- Up to 10 videos
- 30-minute recording limit
- Browser tab, full screen, and webcam recording
Starter$7/month
- Unlimited videos
- 60-minute recording limit
- Basic editing
Pro$10/month
- Unlimited videos
- 180-minute recording limit
- AI video enhancements
Enterprise & EDU$null/month
- Custom pricing
- Central admin controls
- LMS integrations

Totara

On request

Totara subscription via partner$undefined/year
- Sold only through distribution partners
- Partner sets hosting, implementation and support pricing
- Source available under the GPL, but subscription required for supported releases

Which should you pick?

Choose Screencastify if

You need screen recording.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Chrome Browser.
You also want video editing.

Screencastify review

Choose Totara if

You need organisational hierarchies.
You work on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
You also want compliance and certification.

Totara review

Questions people ask

Is Screencastify or Totara better?: Neither clearly leads. Screencastify starts at Free and Totara at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Screencastify or Totara?: Screencastify has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Screencastify and On request for Totara.
Does Screencastify or Totara run on more platforms?: Screencastify runs on Chrome Browser. Totara runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
Can I use Screencastify for free?: Yes. Screencastify has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Totara starts at On request.
What is Screencastify best used for?: Screencastify is most often used for recording lessons for flipped classroom instruction without external tools, creating product demos and explainer videos for sales teams, documenting technical processes for customer support tutorials, collecting and grading video assignments from students with rubrics. Of those, recording lessons for flipped classroom instruction without external tools and creating product demos and explainer videos for sales teams are not what Totara is typically brought in for.
What can Screencastify do that Totara cannot?: Screencastify covers Screen recording, Video editing, Drawing tools, Google Drive export. Totara covers Organisational hierarchies, Compliance and certification, Totara Perform, Totara Engage.

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.

Source

Totara: Is Totara free because it is open source?

No. The source is available under the GPL, but supported releases require a subscription, and it is sold through partners who add hosting, implementation and support costs.

Screencastify: Is Screencastify limited to Chrome?

Yes. Screencastify is exclusively a Chrome extension and does not work on other browsers like Firefox, Safari, or Edge.

Source

Totara: How is it different from Moodle?

Moodle is built around courses and academic delivery. Totara adds organisational hierarchies, role based automatic assignment, recurring certification and appraisal, which is what workplace compliance reporting needs.

Screencastify: 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.

Source

Totara: Can we host it ourselves?

Yes. Self hosting is a genuine option and is one of the main reasons regulated and public sector buyers choose it over a hosted only competitor.

Screencastify: 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.

Source

Screencastify vs Totara

Screencastify

Totara

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Screencastify

Only in Totara

What people use each for

Screencastify

Totara

Where each one falls short

Screencastify

Totara

Pricing, plan by plan

Screencastify

Totara

Which should you pick?

Choose Screencastify if

Choose Totara if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Screencastify

More on Totara

Keep looking

Other head to heads