--- title: "Air vs Shade: Creative Platform vs Media Library" description: "Compare Air and Shade on libraries, approvals, integrations and security, plus how Recharm handles videos and images." url: https://www.recharm.com/compare/air-vs-shade --- # AIR VS SHADE: Great Footage Is Worthless if Nobody Can Find It. _Make It Findable._ How Air and Shade compare for videos and images, and where Recharm fits. [Start 14 days free trial](https://www.recharm.com/get-started) ## Air vs Shade at a Glance Air and Shade both offer approvals and portals. Air is built around keeping video, images and design files in one library, while Shade is built around a cloud drive that mounts like a local one. - **Air** shares work through Showcases with a custom logo, colors and font, and share links can carry a passcode or an expiry date. - **Shade** is a media library and review tool for creative and video teams, with AI search across transcripts and faces. - **Recharm** is $299 a month with unlimited users, and uses AI tagging, visual search and clip cutting to surface the right moment. Search and clips are in preview. ## Air vs Shade Comparison Table | Criterion | Air | Shade | Recharm | | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Core File and Video Management** | | | | | Purpose-built for ad creative organization | Not published | Not offered | Offered | | Store and manage video files | Offered | Offered | Offered | | Create modular video clips | Not published | Not published | Offered, preview feature | | Categorize videos by scene | Not published | Not published | Offered, preview feature | | Categorize images by theme | Offered | Offered | Offered, preview feature on a higher-tier plan or paid add-on | | Auto-sync with Google Drive, Dropbox and Frame.io | Not published | Not published | Offered | | **Search and Discovery** | | | | | Keyword and metadata search | Offered | Offered | Offered | | Transcript search (find by spoken words) | Offered | Offered | Offered | | AI visual search in images | Offered | Offered | Offered, preview feature on a higher-tier plan or paid add-on | | AI visual search in video (find by appearance, objects, scenes) | Offered | Offered | Offered, preview feature | | Search at the clip level inside a video | Not published | Not published | Offered, preview feature | | **Organization and Collaboration** | | | | | Tags, metadata and duplicate detection | Offered | Offered | Offered | | Collections and boards for grouping assets | Offered | Offered | Offered | | Deep links to specific clips or moments | Not published | Not published | Offered | | Usage rights tracking | Not published | Not published | Offered on the Managed plan | | Commenting and feedback on assets | Offered | Offered | Coming soon | | Review and approval workflows | Offered | Offered | Not offered | | Shareable links for assets | Offered | Offered | Offered | | Branded portals for teams and partners | Offered | Offered | Not offered | | Brand guidelines hub | Not published | Not published | Not offered | | Integrations with creative tools and CMS | Offered | Offered | Offered | | **Creative Analytics** | | | | | Ad performance metrics next to the creative | Offered on a higher-tier plan only | Not published | Offered | | Asset usage and engagement reporting | Offered on a higher-tier plan only | Not published | Not published | | **Built for Ads and Claude** | | | | | Ad-specific tags (angle, persona, problem, emotion) | Not published | Not published | Offered | | Creative briefs | Not published | Not published | Offered | | Connects to Claude (plugin or MCP server) | Offered on a higher-tier plan only | Offered | Offered | | Claude builds creative briefs from your library | Not published | Not published | Offered | | Claude makes ads and videos from your library | Not published | Not published | Offered | | **Managed Services** | | | | | Done-for-you tagging by creator and product | Not published | Not published | Offered | | Custom A-roll and B-roll splicing | Not published | Not published | Offered | | Re-organization as needs evolve | Not published | Not published | Offered | | **Governance and Security** | | | | | Role-based access and permissions | Offered | Offered | Offered | | Single sign-on | Offered on a higher-tier plan only | Offered on a higher-tier plan only | Not published | | Published security certifications | Offered | Offered | Not published | | **Pricing and Setup** | | | | | Published pricing | Offered | Offered | Offered | | No per-seat pricing | Offered | Not offered | Offered | | Free trial | Offered | Offered | Offered | - Offered - Not offered - Not published on the vendor's site - Preview feature - Managed plan - Higher-tier plan or paid add-on only - Coming soon ## Videos and Images Deserve a DAM of Their Own. _Meet Recharm._ Recharm is a video-first asset library built to find the right clip fast. - **AI tagging** Tag videos automatically, and sort images with the AI image add-on (preview) - **AI visual search** Find footage by what's in the frame (preview) - **Clip cutting** Cut videos into clips to find the exact moment (preview) - **Claude plugin** Turn your library into creative briefs and videos with Claude ## Frequently Asked Questions ### #### What are Air and Shade each built for? Air focuses on keeping video, images and design files in one library, and Shade on a cloud drive that mounts like a local one. Recharm centers on video, cutting it into clips you can tag and search (search and clips in preview). ### #### How do Air and Shade handle video? Air adds timestamp comments. Shade has timestamped comments and AI search across transcripts and faces. Recharm splits videos into clips you can search by moment (in preview). ### #### Do Air and Shade offer approval workflows? Yes, both do. Air has structured approvals. Shade pairs timestamped review with approval status in metadata. Recharm does not offer approvals, so teams record them outside the library. ### #### Do Air and Shade connect to Claude and AI tools? Both do. Air has an MCP server on Business and Enterprise. Shade lists an MCP server. With Recharm's Claude plugin, you can build creative briefs and videos from your library. ### #### Do Air, Shade and Recharm offer a free trial? Air has a free plan with no time limit. Shade has a free trial on Growth. Recharm offers a 14-day free trial. ## Start with _Your Own Footage_ Import a folder of raw footage and see the difference clip-level search makes. or explore Recharm’s [features](https://www.recharm.com/features) and [pricing](https://www.recharm.com/pricing)