Price terms as published

Each line is the vendor’s own wording, split from the price capture checked on 2026-09-21. Nothing here is rounded, converted or re-worded — the full sentences stay in the review below. Lines that carry only a price continue the plan named on the line above, in the vendor’s own order.

3 price terms for Lumiko vs ScreenCursor
#Plan / termChecked
1Lumiko Free2026-09-21
2$9 one-time2026-09-21
3ScreenCursor $49 one-time (vendor says rising to $79)2026-09-21

One-liner: Both products sell the same outcome — screen recordings that look like someone sat down and keyed out a zoom for every click, except nobody did — as small one-time-payment tools built around browser capture. Their launch moments are six weeks apart and their price shapes are almost comically parallel ($49-and-rising vs $9-today-$29-list). Here is what each one’s own page actually commits to, checked this week.

Verified facts side by side

Lumiko ScreenCursor
Price Free tier; Pro $9 one-time (list $29 struck through), 3 devices $49 one-time (“going to $79”), 3 computers
Free tier Yes — unlimited recording, auto-zoom, 1440p exports, no sign-up No — no trial, vendor says so in their own FAQ
Platform Chrome extension (Chromium browsers: Chrome, Edge, Brave), Win/macOS/Linux Chrome extension, Windows/Linux focus
Capture scope Browser screen/tab/window via Chrome share dialog Desktop capture (vendor describes recording outside browser too)
Export ceiling Free 1440p; Pro 4K 1080p MP4 cap
Webcam overlay Yes (Pro, per store listing; pricing page’s free column also lists it — unresolved) No
Privacy blur Smart Blur (tier attribution contradictory, see below) Not a headline feature
Editor Browser timeline: trim, split, reorder Built-in editor per vendor
Processing Local, “never uploaded” (vendor claim) Local, “nothing leaves this machine” (vendor claim)
Maturity at check time PH launch week of 2026-09-21; 1 Chrome Web Store rating 12 PH followers at 2026-09-16 check; also young
Payment rail Polar.sh Polar

Numbers from lumiko.dev + Chrome Web Store + Product Hunt (checked 2026-09-21) and screencursor.com (checked 2026-09-16; see that tool’s page for its full evidence trail).

The real fork in the road

Capture scope first, price second. ScreenCursor’s whole premium is “desktop, not just browser” — if your demo lives outside a Chrome window (a native app, an IDE, a local VM), a Chrome-extension recorder physically cannot see it, and $9 or $49 is beside the point. Lumiko records what Chrome’s share dialog can share: screen, window, tab. For docs sites, SaaS demos, and async updates that is plenty; for anything desktop-deep it is a non-starter.

Price shape is inverted risk. Lumiko asks you to risk $9 on a product that turned one year old this week on a launch price that is $29 with a strikethrough. ScreenCursor asks $49 up front with no trial at all, on a product that at least has six weeks of independent mention behind it. The $9 refundable-ish purchase is the cheaper mistake in dollars; the $49 is the cheaper mistake in disappointment, because the vendor at least tells you on their own comparison page to go try a competitor if you need try-before-you-buy.

Webcam is a format decision, not a feature. Talking-head-bubble demos are the format Screen Studio made standard. ScreenCursor has no overlay and says so; Lumiko lists one (with the free/Pro contradiction below). If your format needs a face in the corner, this comparison is over — it’s Lumiko or a desktop app.

Where to stay honest (both sides)

  • Lumiko’s Smart Blur tier is stated two different ways — the /pricing free column includes “Smart Blur & Webcam,” the store listing bills them as Pro. We could not resolve it; assume Pro.
  • Both “local processing” claims are vendor declarations. Neither product has an audit; a screen recorder holds your whole desktop by permission. New extensions carry more of that risk than old ones, and both are new.
  • Both lifetime prices are launch prices. “$49 going to $79” and “$29 now $9” are the same genre of promise. Check the page the day you buy; the dates above are ours, not yours.
  • Neither is tested by us. No export timings, no crash logs, no long-recording stress test — this is an official-sourcing comparison, not a shootout.

Which one to pick

  • Record browser apps for docs/demos, want it free today → Lumiko, no contest.
  • Need Windows desktop capture outside Chrome, one-time expense, no face cam → ScreenCursor, accepting 1080p and no trial.
  • Need 4K output or a webcam bubble on Windows → Lumiko Pro at $9, if its browser capture covers your source material.
  • Need any of it audited or team-managed → neither; wait for a track record or buy the Mac incumbent.

Sources