Tella Has No Free Plan — Here's a Free Screen Recorder That Does More

Tella is a slick screen recording tool. Clip-based recording, AI-powered editing, auto layouts that switch between webcam and screen — it looks great in the demo.

Then the 7-day trial ends.

Tella has no free plan. After 7 days, you either pay or you stop recording:

• Pro plan: $12/month (billed annually) or $19/month
• Premium plan: $39/month (billed annually) or $49/month
• 60fps export capped at 5 minutes on Pro — anything longer requires Premium

There is no middle ground. No limited free tier. No "record 5 videos a month for free." When the trial expires, the tool is locked.

What Tella gets right

Tella has genuine strengths, and it is fair to name them:

• Clip-based recording. Record in segments, re-record a bad take without starting over. For scripted content, this workflow is faster than one long take.
• AI editing tools. Auto Cut removes filler words and silences. Studio Voice enhances audio. These save real editing time.
• Auto Layouts. AI switches between camera-focused and screen-focused views based on what you are doing. Gesture-heavy explanations show more webcam. Software demos show more screen.
• Cloud hosting. Every recording gets an instant shareable link with viewer analytics.
• Transcript editing. Edit video by editing text — delete a sentence from the transcript and the corresponding video segment is removed.

For creators who publish short-form video daily and want AI to handle the tedious parts, Tella is a genuinely capable tool. The question is whether those capabilities are worth $144–$468 per year.

The pricing problem

Let's put Tella's cost in perspective:

Over three years, Tella Premium costs $1,404. ScreenKite costs nothing.

The Pro plan looks reasonable at $12/month annual, until you hit the limits. Want 60fps export longer than 5 minutes? Premium. Want custom branding? Premium. Want video analytics beyond basics? Premium.

Tella's pricing is a funnel. The Pro plan gets you recording. The limits ensure you eventually move to Premium.

What you lose with browser-based recording

Tella runs in Chrome. This is convenient — no app to install, works on any platform — but it comes with tradeoffs that matter for serious recording:

Audio. When recording via browser, Tella captures tab audio, not system-wide audio. If you are demonstrating an app that plays sound outside the browser, that audio is missing. Tella's Mac app handles system audio better, but the browser version has this limitation.

Performance. Browser-based capture uses more CPU than native capture. On a MacBook with limited thermal headroom, this means more fan noise, more heat, and potential frame drops during recording. A native macOS app using ScreenCaptureKit and Metal has direct access to hardware — no browser overhead.

Quality. Browser capture is constrained by what Chrome's MediaRecorder API allows. A native app can capture at full resolution with full color depth using the GPU directly.

Reliability. Close the wrong tab, and the recording is gone. Browser updates can change capture behavior. A native app is a standalone process — it does not share resources with 47 other tabs.

Feature comparison

The local-first advantage

Tella stores your recordings in the cloud. This means instant shareable links — a genuine convenience for quick sharing.

But it also means:

• Your recordings live on Tella's servers. Cancel your subscription and you lose access.
• You need internet to record. Bad wifi at a coffee shop? No recording.
• Export depends on upload/download. Your 10-minute demo has to round-trip through the cloud before you get a file.
• Privacy is Tella's responsibility. If you are recording customer data, financial screens, or product prototypes, that footage is on a third-party cloud.

ScreenKite records to your Mac's disk. The file is yours immediately. Upload it wherever you want — YouTube, Google Drive, your course platform — or keep it local. No intermediary, no cloud dependency, no subscription between you and your files.

Who should use Tella (honestly)

Tella makes sense in a specific scenario: you produce short-form video content (under 5 minutes), you publish daily, you value AI editing over manual control, you need instant shareable links, and the $144–468/year cost is justified by the time you save.

If two or more of these are not true for you, the subscription is paying for features you are not using.

Who should use ScreenKite instead

If you are a Mac user who needs:

• Unlimited recording with no time cap — tutorials, product demos, long walkthroughs
• System audio that actually works — no driver hacks, no tab-only capture
• Auto-zoom — cursor-following zoom for professional-looking demos
• A real editor — trim, cut, add zoom, adjust audio, add captions
• Fast exports — Metal-accelerated, not cloud-dependent
• Privacy — recordings that never leave your machine
• Zero cost — no trial, no subscription, no upgrade pressure

Then ScreenKite is the straightforward choice. Download it, record, and keep your money.

Also read

• ScreenKite vs Tella: Free Native Mac App vs Browser-Based SaaS
• ScreenKite vs Loom: Local-First vs Cloud-First Screen Recording
• Native vs Electron Screen Recorders: Performance, Battery, and Why It Matters
• 7 Best Free Screen Recorders for Mac in 2026