Last updated: May 7, 2026
TL;DR
Whale is a knowledge-sharing platform. It bundles an AI assistant (“Alice”) that fields questions against your docs, plus a browser extension that surfaces SOPs inside whatever app you’re already in. Trainual is more rigid. It’s a training platform organized around assigned subjects, role-based onboarding, e-signatures, and an org chart. Whale is cheaper and lighter. Trainual leans hard into accountability and compliance.
Here’s the thing they have in common: you still have to write the documentation yourself. AI can help you fill a blank page, sure, but neither tool will take a 5-minute screen recording and spit out a finished, screenshot-rich, step-by-step guide. That gap is where Glitter AI lives - record once, and you get a publish-ready guide back. Keep Whale or Trainual as the home for your knowledge if you want, and let Glitter be the thing that actually fills it.
How They’re Different
On the surface, Whale and Trainual look pretty similar. Both centralize SOPs. Both have AI features. Both promise faster onboarding. Once you sit down and try to use them, though, the differences get obvious fast.
Whale is all-in on the “knowledge in context” idea. Their browser extension pops up the relevant SOP while you’re working inside Salesforce or HubSpot, and Alice uses RAG to answer employee questions from your existing content. The pitch, basically: information should find the person, not the other way around.
Trainual goes the other direction - it’s about structured training. You build “Subjects,” assign them to roles, and employees click through, take quizzes, and sign off. Managers get an audit trail of who finished what. It’s closer to a lightweight LMS than a wiki.
Pricing follows the same pattern. Whale is free up to 5 users and bumps to $99/month for a team of 10. Trainual has no free tier, just a 7-day trial, and starts at $249/month - so realistically you’re looking at $3,000/year minimum, even with 3 employees. There’s also a $1,000 implementation fee that tends to surface during the sales call.
Platform Overview
Three platforms, three different approaches to documentation and training.
Whale is a knowledge platform with an AI assistant and contextual browser extension.
Good for centralizing SOPs and answering employee questions from your docs. But you still write the documentation yourself in their editor, which has formatting limits.
Trainual is a training-first platform built around assigned subjects and role-based onboarding.
Strong on accountability - quizzes, e-signatures, completion tracking. But pricing starts at $249/mo and small teams pay for seats they don't use.
Glitter AI turns screen recordings into step-by-step guides automatically.
Hit record, walk through your process while talking, and AI generates a written guide with screenshots plus the video - in seconds. No manual typing. No blank-page syndrome.
At a Glance
Quick comparison of the key differences.
Free tier
Starting paid price
Implementation fee
Auto-generate guide from recording
AI generates context from voice
SSO (SAML/SCIM)
Uses customer data to train AI
HIPAA compliant
When Whale Makes Sense
Whale is a fit for teams that already have processes written down (or are willing to write them) and want a place where employees can find answers in context. The browser extension is honestly pretty clever - a sales rep inside Salesforce sees the relevant CRM SOP without bouncing tabs, and Alice will answer “what’s our refund policy?” by reading from your docs.
It’s also the cheaper bet if you’re under 10 people. The free tier handles up to 5 users with unlimited documentation, and Team at $99/month gets you 10 users plus PDF export and the video-to-SOP converter.
The catch: Alice and the step recorder don’t actually write your SOPs. Generative features eat into “AI tokens” (25/month on Team, 75/month on Scale), and the Team plan locks training flows and quizzes behind Scale at $299/month. So if you want both knowledge management AND structured training, the floor is $299/month.
When Trainual Makes Sense
Trainual is built for teams that need structured onboarding with accountability. You build Subjects, group them into “Roles,” and new hires get an assigned learning path. They click “Mark as Complete” on each chapter, answer quizzes, and sign off on policies. Managers see exactly who finished what.
That structure is real value. A Notion wiki can’t tell you whether the new hire actually read the safety policy. Trainual can. The org chart, role descriptions, and Loom integration round it out into a coherent training setup.
The catch is the price tag. Base is $249/month for 10 seats, and there’s nothing smaller. Small teams pay for seats they aren’t using. Add the $1,000 implementation push, the SSO requirement that lifts you to Premium at $399/month, and the AI training clause buried in their Terms (they reserve the right to use aggregated customer data to train models), and the deal feels less friendly than the marketing copy makes out.
The Bigger Problem Both Tools Share
Whale and Trainual are both homes for documentation. Neither is a great creator of it.
When you sit down to document a process in either tool, the workflow looks something like:
- Open the editor
- Type out the steps from memory
- Switch to your screen, grab screenshots manually
- Paste them in
- Edit the text to line up
- Hope you didn’t skip a step
The AI features (Whale’s content generation, Trainual’s “Compose”) help with the typing part. But they work from your written description, not from what you’re actually doing on screen. So output quality depends entirely on how well you described the process - which was the hard part you wanted help with to begin with.
Whale’s step recorder gets closer. It grabs clicks and screenshots, like Scribe. But the auto-generated text is generic (“Click the button labeled Save”), and you still burn AI tokens to clean it up.
This is where Glitter fits. You record yourself doing the process while talking through it. Glitter generates a publish-ready guide automatically - screenshots, step descriptions pulled from your voice, plus the video. Then you paste it into Whale, Trainual, Notion, your help center, or wherever your team actually reads docs.
Creating Documentation
How do you actually get a finished SOP into the system?
How do you create a step-by-step guide?
Step recorder + manual editing.
Whale's step recorder captures clicks and screenshots, like Scribe. The auto-generated text is generic - you'll spend time editing every step. Generative AI to enhance text consumes monthly tokens.
Type it out + Loom integration.
Trainual's editor is essentially a structured doc. You write the steps yourself, optionally embed a Loom video. AI "Compose" can draft text from a prompt, but it doesn't watch you work.
Record once, get the guide automatically.
Hit record, narrate your process, stop. Glitter's AI captures every click, generates contextual step descriptions from your voice, and produces a publish-ready guide with screenshots - in seconds. No typing, no editing.
How long does it take to ship one SOP?
30-60 minutes per SOP.
Even with the step recorder, you need to clean up generic text, add context, organize the layout, and polish formatting before publishing. Faster than a blank page, slower than recording.
1-2 hours per SOP.
Trainual is built for thorough training content with sections, embedded media, and quizzes. The result is more polished, but the time to create it is significantly higher.
2-5 minutes per SOP.
Record the process while you do it once. By the time you stop recording, the guide is essentially done. You get the time back to actually run your business.
How does AI help with content?
Alice answers questions; tokens generate text.
Alice (RAG chatbot) answers employee questions from your docs - that's free. Content generation (text drafts, video-to-SOP) consumes tokens: 25/mo on Team, 75/mo on Scale.
Compose drafts text from prompts.
"Compose" and "Smart Outline" generate draft content based on your description. Helpful for blank-page syndrome but the AI doesn't see what you're actually doing on screen.
AI watches your screen and listens.
Glitter's AI generates step descriptions from your actual voice and captures screenshots from your actual screen. The context is real, not invented. Output quality matches what you did.
How easy is it to update documentation?
Manual editing in a rigid editor.
Update the text in Whale's editor. Users complain about formatting limits - no font control, layout constraints, and import friction. "Easier to start from scratch" is a common review quote.
Manual editing across sections.
Trainual's editor is more structured but equally constrained. Users report that adding PDFs requires manual updates in multiple areas, and formatting is preset and inflexible.
Edit individual steps without re-recording.
Update a single step's text or screenshot. Re-record one step instead of the whole process. The video stays in sync because you can edit it by editing the transcript.
Try Glitter AI for Free
Create up to 10 guides for free - no credit card required. Turn any workflow into searchable, step-by-step documentation. Fast, accurate, and yours to try today.
Training, Knowledge, and Distribution
Once content exists, how does it reach employees?
Training flows and assignments
Available, but locked behind Scale ($299/mo).
Training flows, AI quizzes, user roles, badges, and the org chart are all on the Scale plan. The Team plan ($99/mo) is documentation-only - you can't assign content to roles.
Core strength of the product.
Subjects, role-based assignment, completion tracking, quizzes, and e-signatures are central to Trainual. This is what you're paying $249-399/mo for, and it's well-executed.
Not Glitter's focus.
Glitter creates the guides; tools like Trainual, Notion, or your LMS distribute and track them. Pair Glitter (creation) with your existing platform (distribution) for the best of both.
Contextual delivery to employees
Browser extension surfaces SOPs in context.
Whale's standout feature: while you're inside Salesforce or HubSpot, the extension shows the SOP relevant to that page. Alice answers questions from your docs without leaving the tool.
Centralized, but no contextual delivery.
Employees go to Trainual to find content. There's no in-app overlay or browser extension that surfaces relevant SOPs while they're working in other tools.
Embed guides anywhere, no viewer fees.
Embed a Glitter guide directly inside your help center, Notion page, or product. Viewers don't need accounts. Pay per creator, not per viewer.
Compliance and accountability
Basic completion tracking.
You can see who's read what on Scale tier. No e-signatures. SCIM provisioning is Enterprise only. Reporting is described as basic compared to dedicated LMS tools.
Strong audit trail and e-signatures.
E-signatures (300/yr on Pro, unlimited on Premium), completion tracking, role-based assignments, and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance make Trainual stronger for regulated environments - except healthcare.
Not Glitter's focus.
For accountability tracking, pair Glitter with your existing LMS or HRIS. Glitter focuses on making the content great; your training system tracks consumption.
AI privacy and data training
No explicit opt-out statement.
Whale doesn't publicly state that customer data is never used to train foundational AI models. Standard processing language in the privacy policy.
Terms explicitly allow AI training on aggregated data.
Trainual's ToS: "Trainual may freely use Aggregated Data... including... training associated artificial intelligence algorithms and machine learning models." A real concern for IP-sensitive teams.
Customer data never trains AI models.
Glitter does not use customer recordings, voice, or content to train AI models. Privacy-first by default - no opt-out paperwork required.
Pricing & Plans
See how pricing plans stack up across all three tools.
Whale – Pricing Takeaways:
- Training flows + quizzes locked behind Scale ($299/mo) - not on the entry tier
- AI tokens cap content generation - Alice Q&A is free, but generating text consumes monthly tokens
- SCIM provisioning is Enterprise only - big jump for regulated teams
Cheaper than Trainual at the low end, but key training features require the $299/mo Scale plan.
Trainual – Pricing Takeaways:
- No free tier - 7-day trial only. Minimum spend ~$3,000/year
- $1,000 implementation fee often pushed during sales
- SSO requires Premium ($399/mo) - and Terms allow AI training on aggregated data
Premium-priced training platform. Strong on accountability, weak on small-team economics.
Glitter AI – Pricing Takeaways:
- Pay per creator - no viewer fees for embedded guides
- No seat minimums, no implementation fees
- Customer data never trains AI models - privacy-first by default
Lowest entry point. Pay only for creators. No hidden implementation fees or AI token caps.
Whale – Pricing Takeaways:
- Training flows + quizzes locked behind Scale ($299/mo) - not on the entry tier
- AI tokens cap content generation - Alice Q&A is free, but generating text consumes monthly tokens
- SCIM provisioning is Enterprise only - big jump for regulated teams
Cheaper than Trainual at the low end, but key training features require the $299/mo Scale plan.
Trainual – Pricing Takeaways:
- No free tier - 7-day trial only. Minimum spend ~$3,000/year
- $1,000 implementation fee often pushed during sales
- SSO requires Premium ($399/mo) - and Terms allow AI training on aggregated data
Premium-priced training platform. Strong on accountability, weak on small-team economics.
Glitter AI – Pricing Takeaways:
- Pay per creator - no viewer fees for embedded guides
- No seat minimums, no implementation fees
- Customer data never trains AI models - privacy-first by default
Lowest entry point. Pay only for creators. No hidden implementation fees or AI token caps.
Real-World Decision Framework
Here are the most common scenarios we run into, and what we’d actually recommend.
Scenario 1: Small business (under 10 people) documenting SOPs
Recommendation: Glitter for creation, Notion or a free Whale account as the home.
Trainual’s $249/month floor is brutal at this size. Whale’s free tier is generous (5 users, unlimited documentation), but if you really use the AI you’ll bump into token limits quickly. Glitter handles the painful bit - turning processes into written guides - and you can store the output wherever you want.
Scenario 2: Mid-sized team (10-50 people) needing structured onboarding with quizzes
Recommendation: Trainual for the LMS layer, Glitter for content creation.
If you genuinely need role-based assignments, completion tracking, and e-signatures, Trainual earns its price. Just don’t burn billable hours typing SOPs into the Trainual editor. Record them with Glitter, drop the output into Trainual subjects, and let your team get back to running the business.
Scenario 3: Sales or support team needing in-context SOPs inside Salesforce/HubSpot
Recommendation: Whale Scale tier, with Glitter for content creation.
Whale’s browser extension and Alice are genuinely differentiated for this use case. The Scale plan ($299/month) layers training flows on top. Pair it with Glitter to create the SOPs faster - Whale’s editor is where reviews repeatedly mention formatting frustration.
Scenario 4: Healthcare or regulated environment
Recommendation: Avoid Trainual. Take a careful look at Whale.
Trainual is explicitly not HIPAA compliant and has no plans to become so. Whale offers GDPR compliance and Microsoft/Google SSO, but SOC 2 isn’t prominently advertised and SCIM sits behind Enterprise. For regulated work, get explicit BAAs and security documentation in writing before signing anything.
Scenario 5: AI-cautious team with IP concerns
Recommendation: Avoid Trainual. Glitter is the privacy-friendly choice.
Trainual’s ToS explicitly allows them to use aggregated customer data to train AI models. Whale’s policy is ambiguous on this point. Glitter is the only one of the three that explicitly doesn’t use customer data to train AI models.
Skip the Editor. Record Instead.
Glitter AI generates publish-ready guides from a screen recording. Free for your first 10 guides.
So... which one should you choose?
All three tools have their place. Here's how to decide.
Choose Whale if you...
Choose Whale if you need a cheap knowledge platform with contextual AI delivery - Alice AI assistant and the browser extension that surfaces SOPs inside Salesforce or HubSpot are genuinely useful. Best for under 10 users on the free tier or 10-25 users on Team/Scale.
Don't choose Whale if you...
Don't choose Whale if you need training flows or quizzes at the entry tier (those require $299/mo Scale), or if you need SCIM provisioning (Enterprise only). The editor's formatting limits also frustrate teams that care about document polish.
Choose Trainual if you...
Choose Trainual if you need structured onboarding with accountability - assigned subjects, completion tracking, quizzes, e-signatures, and an org chart. Best for 10+ person teams where the $249/mo floor is reasonable and training rigor matters more than content creation speed.
Don't choose Trainual if you...
Don't choose Trainual if you're under 10 people (the floor is wildly expensive), need HIPAA compliance (explicitly not supported), or have IP concerns (their Terms allow AI training on aggregated data). The $1,000 implementation fee is also worth pushing back on.
Choose Glitter AI if you...
Choose Glitter AI if you want publish-ready SOPs from a screen recording in minutes. Best for small to mid-sized teams that need to ship documentation fast without typing it all out. Pay per creator, no viewer fees, no implementation fees, customer data never trains AI. Pairs well with Whale or Trainual as the home for content.
Don't choose Glitter AI if you...
Don't choose Glitter AI if you primarily need structured employee training with quizzes, e-signatures, and role-based assignments. Glitter creates content; you'd still need an LMS layer to assign and track it.
Choose Whale if you...
Choose Whale if you need a cheap knowledge platform with contextual AI delivery - Alice AI assistant and the browser extension that surfaces SOPs inside Salesforce or HubSpot are genuinely useful. Best for under 10 users on the free tier or 10-25 users on Team/Scale.
Don't choose Whale if you...
Don't choose Whale if you need training flows or quizzes at the entry tier (those require $299/mo Scale), or if you need SCIM provisioning (Enterprise only). The editor's formatting limits also frustrate teams that care about document polish.
Choose Trainual if you...
Choose Trainual if you need structured onboarding with accountability - assigned subjects, completion tracking, quizzes, e-signatures, and an org chart. Best for 10+ person teams where the $249/mo floor is reasonable and training rigor matters more than content creation speed.
Don't choose Trainual if you...
Don't choose Trainual if you're under 10 people (the floor is wildly expensive), need HIPAA compliance (explicitly not supported), or have IP concerns (their Terms allow AI training on aggregated data). The $1,000 implementation fee is also worth pushing back on.
Choose Glitter AI if you...
Choose Glitter AI if you want publish-ready SOPs from a screen recording in minutes. Best for small to mid-sized teams that need to ship documentation fast without typing it all out. Pay per creator, no viewer fees, no implementation fees, customer data never trains AI. Pairs well with Whale or Trainual as the home for content.
Don't choose Glitter AI if you...
Don't choose Glitter AI if you primarily need structured employee training with quizzes, e-signatures, and role-based assignments. Glitter creates content; you'd still need an LMS layer to assign and track it.
Related Reading
If you’re still researching, these go deeper on each tool individually:
- Best Whale Alternatives - full alternatives list with pricing
- Best Trainual Alternatives - what to use instead of Trainual
- Whale vs Glitter AI - head-to-head with Glitter
- Trainual vs Glitter AI - head-to-head with Glitter
Real customer reviews
Genuine feedback from real customers ❤️
“This software is mind-blowing! After 2+ months, it's an invaluable asset to my company. The transcription quality is out of this world, and the new image editing tools are so fluid and better than [competitor name redacted]. ...you've saved me so much time; I'm elated and highly anticipate subscribing for another year!”
Tim M.
May 3, 2025
“Our company has asked each department to use AI tools to increase productivity, and this has made a huge difference. One of our leaders had originally sent a link to check out Glitter AI, and we love it! We're now using it for clients as well as internal staff.”
Kim W.
December 18, 2024
“This is exactly the documentation solution that we've been looking for. Every software system requires operating instructions, and you make them so easy to create! It's perfect for employee training purposes.”
Erez A.
January 9, 2025
“Glitter is really cool! The step-by-step guide it created was exactly what we needed for our corporate Salesforce setup, which was a literal mess. Just having a video isn't great because it's a nightmare to update all the fields for billing. This tool is saving us so much time!”
Dustin R.
March 8, 2025
“This is amazing! I just used the desktop app to make a quick guide for a Photoshop tool that I can use in my class. It would have taken me at least 30 minutes before and I just did it in about 5 minutes. Thanks for such a great tool!”
Sarah
January 28, 2025
“I tested 2 products today to solve the problem of rapidly creating 60+ articles to onboard our customers, and Glitter AI is excellent! It's really easy to use and edit. The output is so easy to import into our CMS for our Knowledge Hub; it's fantastic.”
Emily W.
February 15, 2025
“Really love this product! We use Guru for documentation at our company. With Glitter, I can do a quick walkthrough, and it creates a guide that can be pasted right into Guru, which saves us from undocumented tasks.”
Jens A.
April 12, 2025
“So far, I'm liking Glitter a great deal; it's very intuitive and useful. Our school district has an old method for online help for our student information system. Glitter is a great way to save many, MANY, person-hours of work, and our IT person is excited about it too!”
John
January 9, 2025
“This software is mind-blowing! After 2+ months, it's an invaluable asset to my company. The transcription quality is out of this world, and the new image editing tools are so fluid and better than [competitor name redacted]. ...you've saved me so much time; I'm elated and highly anticipate subscribing for another year!”
Tim M.
May 3, 2025
“Our company has asked each department to use AI tools to increase productivity, and this has made a huge difference. One of our leaders had originally sent a link to check out Glitter AI, and we love it! We're now using it for clients as well as internal staff.”
Kim W.
December 18, 2024
“This is exactly the documentation solution that we've been looking for. Every software system requires operating instructions, and you make them so easy to create! It's perfect for employee training purposes.”
Erez A.
January 9, 2025
“Glitter is really cool! The step-by-step guide it created was exactly what we needed for our corporate Salesforce setup, which was a literal mess. Just having a video isn't great because it's a nightmare to update all the fields for billing. This tool is saving us so much time!”
Dustin R.
March 8, 2025
“This is amazing! I just used the desktop app to make a quick guide for a Photoshop tool that I can use in my class. It would have taken me at least 30 minutes before and I just did it in about 5 minutes. Thanks for such a great tool!”
Sarah
January 28, 2025
“I tested 2 products today to solve the problem of rapidly creating 60+ articles to onboard our customers, and Glitter AI is excellent! It's really easy to use and edit. The output is so easy to import into our CMS for our Knowledge Hub; it's fantastic.”
Emily W.
February 15, 2025
“Really love this product! We use Guru for documentation at our company. With Glitter, I can do a quick walkthrough, and it creates a guide that can be pasted right into Guru, which saves us from undocumented tasks.”
Jens A.
April 12, 2025
“So far, I'm liking Glitter a great deal; it's very intuitive and useful. Our school district has an old method for online help for our student information system. Glitter is a great way to save many, MANY, person-hours of work, and our IT person is excited about it too!”
John
January 9, 2025
“This software is mind-blowing! After 2+ months, it's an invaluable asset to my company. The transcription quality is out of this world, and the new image editing tools are so fluid and better than [competitor name redacted]. ...you've saved me so much time; I'm elated and highly anticipate subscribing for another year!”
Tim M.
May 3, 2025
“Our company has asked each department to use AI tools to increase productivity, and this has made a huge difference. One of our leaders had originally sent a link to check out Glitter AI, and we love it! We're now using it for clients as well as internal staff.”
Kim W.
December 18, 2024
“This is exactly the documentation solution that we've been looking for. Every software system requires operating instructions, and you make them so easy to create! It's perfect for employee training purposes.”
Erez A.
January 9, 2025
“Glitter is really cool! The step-by-step guide it created was exactly what we needed for our corporate Salesforce setup, which was a literal mess. Just having a video isn't great because it's a nightmare to update all the fields for billing. This tool is saving us so much time!”
Dustin R.
March 8, 2025
“This is amazing! I just used the desktop app to make a quick guide for a Photoshop tool that I can use in my class. It would have taken me at least 30 minutes before and I just did it in about 5 minutes. Thanks for such a great tool!”
Sarah
January 28, 2025
“I tested 2 products today to solve the problem of rapidly creating 60+ articles to onboard our customers, and Glitter AI is excellent! It's really easy to use and edit. The output is so easy to import into our CMS for our Knowledge Hub; it's fantastic.”
Emily W.
February 15, 2025
“Really love this product! We use Guru for documentation at our company. With Glitter, I can do a quick walkthrough, and it creates a guide that can be pasted right into Guru, which saves us from undocumented tasks.”
Jens A.
April 12, 2025
“So far, I'm liking Glitter a great deal; it's very intuitive and useful. Our school district has an old method for online help for our student information system. Glitter is a great way to save many, MANY, person-hours of work, and our IT person is excited about it too!”
John
January 9, 2025
