Shade vs Frame.io: one platform for storage, search and review, or a review layer on top (2026)
Frame.io is the best review tool for Adobe teams. Shade adds editable cloud storage and AI search from $29.75/seat. Compare price, features, fit.
Shade vs Frame.io at a glance
Shade vs Frame.io: one platform for storage, search and review, or a review layer on top (2026)
TL;DR: Pick Shade if your team edits from shared storage and wants search, review and delivery in the same place: from $29.75 per seat per month with 500 GB of editable storage and AI search per seat. Pick Frame.io if your team is all-in on Adobe and mainly needs best-in-class client review. The biggest difference: Frame.io reviews files, Shade is where the files live and get edited.
Shade | Frame.io | |
|---|---|---|
Starting price | $29.75/seat/mo (annual), $35 monthly | Free (2 members, 2 GB); Pro $15/member/mo; Team $25/member/mo |
Team size limits | Up to 15 seats on Growth; unlimited on Enterprise | Pro up to 5 members; Team up to 15 |
Storage included | 500 GB active storage per seat (1 TB on Enterprise) | Pro 2 TB + 2 TB per extra member; Team 3 TB + 2 TB per extra member |
Edit directly from cloud | Yes: ShadeFS mounts as a drive on macOS, Windows and Linux and streams files over 50 GB without a full download | Partly: Frame.io Drive mounts 250 GB (Pro) or 500 GB (Team) of storage |
AI search | Included on every plan: transcripts, faces, scene descriptions, natural-language search | AI-powered search in Frame.io V4 |
Review and approval | Frame-accurate, timestamped comments in browser and Premiere Pro | Category leader: frame-accurate comments, annotations, version compare |
Camera to Cloud | No | Yes |
NLE integrations | Premiere Pro panel; Resolve, Avid and Final Cut via the mounted drive | Deepest Premiere Pro and After Effects integration; Final Cut; Resolve support is lighter |
Client delivery | Branded delivery collections with role-based permissions | Branded shares, passphrases, link expiry |
Security | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, TPN; SSO, SCIM, watermarking, DRM on Enterprise | SSO, forensic watermarking, DRM on Enterprise |
Best for | Teams who store, edit, search and review footage in one place | Adobe-standardized teams whose main need is client review |
What is Frame.io?
Frame.io is Adobe's video review and collaboration platform, acquired in 2021 and now bundled into Creative Cloud. It is the standard for frame-accurate client feedback, with Camera to Cloud ingest from supported cameras and the deepest Premiere Pro panel in the category. In 2026 it also offers Frame.io Drive, which mounts a limited amount of storage on the desktop.
Where Shade is different
Your files live in Shade, not a copy for review
Frame.io is a review layer: footage is uploaded for feedback, then edited somewhere else. Shade is the shared drive itself. Editors mount it like a local disk, cut from it in Premiere, Resolve, Avid or Final Cut, and send the same files for review without exporting and re-uploading.
Search by what is in the footage
Shade transcribes, tags and indexes every file as it uploads. Editors can type "wide shot of the founder on stage" or a line of dialogue and get the clip, not a filename. In Premiere Pro, the Shade panel drops a searched sub-clip onto the timeline with the right in and out points.
Mounted storage is the product, not an add-on
Frame.io Drive caps mounted storage at 250 GB on Pro and 500 GB on Team. On Shade, all of a team's active storage (500 GB per seat, pooled) is mounted and editable, so a 10-seat team works from 5 TB.
One bill instead of three
Most Frame.io teams also pay for a drive (Dropbox, LucidLink or a NAS) and sometimes a MAM. Shade replaces the drive, the search tool and the review tool. [Customer quote: one sentence from a team that moved off Frame.io + another tool.]
Where Frame.io is a better fit
Frame.io is the better choice if review is the whole job. Its client review experience is more polished, Camera to Cloud gets footage from set to editors in minutes, and its Premiere Pro and After Effects integration is deeper than anyone's. It is also cheaper for review alone: Pro starts at $15 per member and includes 2 TB or more. If your editors already work from a fast shared drive you are happy with, and you only need feedback on cuts, keep Frame.io.
Frame.io is the best review tool for Adobe teams. Shade adds editable cloud storage and AI search from $29.75/seat. Compare price, features, fit.
Choose Shade if…
Your team edits from shared storage and wants search, review and delivery in the same place: from $29.75 per seat per month with 500 GB of editable storage and AI search per seat.
Choose Frame.io if…
Your team is all-in on Adobe and mainly needs best-in-class client review.
The biggest difference
Frame.io is the better choice if review is the whole job. Its client review experience is more polished, Camera to Cloud gets footage from set to editors in minutes, and its Premiere Pro and After Effects integration is deeper than anyone's. It is also cheaper for review alone: Pro starts at $15 per member and includes 2 TB or more. If your editors already work from a fast shared drive you are happy with, and you only need feedback on cuts, keep Frame.io.
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