CloakShare
CloakShare vs HelpRange
Looking for a HelpRange alternative? CloakShare is an open-source, API-first platform for secure document and video sharing with watermarks, tracking, and expiry. Here is how they compare.
Pricing
CloakShare
$0 free tier (50 links, 500 views). Growth at $99/month. No per-seat fees.
HelpRange
$15/month (Basic), $35/month (Pro), $75/month (Business)
Feature comparison
| Feature | Cloak | HelpRange |
|---|---|---|
| API-first | Yes | No |
| Open source | MIT | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Video sharing | HLS streaming | No |
| Dynamic watermarks | Yes | Yes |
| Canvas-based viewer | Yes | No |
| Email gate | Yes | Yes |
| Page-level analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Password protection | Yes | Yes |
| Link expiry | Yes | Yes |
| Webhooks | Yes | No |
| Custom domains | Yes | Business only |
| Lead capture forms | Email gate | Yes |
| Office documents | DOCX, PPTX, XLSX | PDF only |
Why switch to CloakShare
Video sharing with HLS streaming and per-viewer analytics
API and webhooks enable automation and CRM integration
Open source and self-hostable for data sovereignty
Office document support beyond PDF
Embeddable viewer for building document sharing into your product
Canvas-based rendering for stronger document protection
Where HelpRange is strong
- Affordable pricing tiers
- Lead capture forms on documents
- Good analytics dashboard
- Document engagement scoring
Where HelpRange falls short
- No video sharing
- No API or developer tools
- No self-hosting
- PDF-only document support
- No embeddable viewer
- No webhooks for automation
Video sharing: CloakShare's unique advantage
HelpRange does not offer secure video sharing. CloakShare lets you upload MP4, MOV, or WebM files and automatically transcodes them to adaptive HLS streaming with 720p and 1080p quality tiers. Every video frame is watermarked with the viewer's email. Watch-time analytics show exactly how much each viewer watched.
For teams that need to share both documents and video content, CloakShare eliminates the need for separate tools and gives you unified analytics across all content types.
Self-hosted option
CloakShare is open source (MIT license) and self-hostable via Docker. Run it on your own infrastructure for complete data sovereignty. HelpRange is a closed-source SaaS with no self-hosting option.
Learn about self-hosting CloakShareFrequently asked questions
How does CloakShare compare to HelpRange?
HelpRange offers good analytics with lead capture forms. CloakShare adds video sharing, API/webhooks, self-hosting, office document support, and an embeddable viewer. CloakShare is more developer-friendly while HelpRange is more marketing-focused.
Does HelpRange support video?
No. HelpRange is PDF-only. CloakShare handles PDFs, Office documents, and video with unified analytics across all content types.
Which has better analytics?
Both offer page-level analytics and engagement tracking. CloakShare adds video watch-time analytics, webhooks for real-time notifications, and API access to all analytics data for custom dashboards and CRM integration.
Can I build HelpRange features into my product?
HelpRange has no embeddable viewer or API. CloakShare provides an npm viewer package and full API, so you can build secure document sharing directly into your own product.
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Switch to CloakShare
Free tier includes 50 links and 500 views per month with email gating, watermarks, and analytics. No credit card required.