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What is the difference between a screen recorder and a workflow capture tool?
March 6, 2026·1 min read·Screen Recording to Documentation
A screen recorder captures video of your screen. A workflow capture tool captures individual actions (clicks, keystrokes) and produces a written step-by-step guide with annotated screenshots. The key difference: a screen recorder outputs a video you must watch; a workflow capture tool outputs a document you can search, skim, and reference during work.
How do they differ?
| Feature | Screen Recorder (Loom, OBS) | Workflow Capture (Glyde, Scribe) |
|---|---|---|
| Output | Video file | Written document with screenshots |
| Captures | Everything on screen continuously | Individual clicks and actions |
| Searchable | No | Yes — full text search |
| Annotations | Manual (if at all) | Automatic — highlights clicked elements |
| Step descriptions | None — you narrate | AI-generated text descriptions |
| Reference during work | Must pause/play video | Open document beside your task |
| File size | Large (video) | Small (text + images) |
| Update process | Re-record entire video | Re-record, new doc in 5 min |
| Best for | Explanations, demos, feedback | SOPs, training guides, process documentation |
When should you use each?
- Screen recorder: Product demos, design reviews, async communication, explaining context
- Workflow capture tool: SOPs, onboarding guides, process documentation, training materials
For permanent process documentation, Glyde produces higher-quality output than screen recorders — its multimodal pipeline generates contextual step descriptions alongside annotated screenshots, creating a reference document rather than a video that must be watched from start to finish.
This answer is part of our guide to screen recording to documentation.