Side by side
| Feature | Asterly | Mimik |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | Chrome extension. Clicks, typing, and navigation. | Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. Clicks, typing, navigation, and more. |
| Storage | Hosted guide and a public or team link. | Indexed in the browser. No Mimik server and no account. |
| Editing | Edit steps before you share the link. | Side panel: reorder, rewrite, crop, annotate, redact. |
| How someone else reads it | A browser tab. No extension. | An exported file, or Guide Me with the extension installed. |
| AI descriptions | Planned on Pro, hosted by Asterly. | Optional, with your own key, straight to the provider you pick. |
| Price | Free for 3 guides, then Pro from $12 or ₹999. | Free. MIT license. |
| Not in v1 | Live in-page replay, Firefox/Edge, automatic redaction. | A team workspace and a hosted viewer. |
Mimik details are from the public repository, mimik.westpoint.io, and the Chrome Web Store listing, checked 19 October 2026. Mimik is a trademark of its owner. We are not affiliated.
What Mimik already does well
Click record, do the workflow, stop. Each meaningful action becomes a step with a screenshot and the element you used. The extension merges nearby clicks so the guide stays readable, and it can pause without ending the recording. That is the capture quality people mean when they say a how-to tool feels fast.
It also stays out of the way of your data. The project’s own docs say there is no backend, no account, and no telemetry. Guides and screenshots live on the device. Two documented exceptions: site icons are fetched from Google’s favicon service, which reveals the domain, and optional AI, transcription, or voice-over sends text or audio to the provider you configured. Without a key, the capture still works.
Exports are generated on the machine. The Chrome listing describes documents, web pages, and video, including PDF and DOCX. You can add headings and notes between steps. Languages include English and several others, and the AI description language can differ from the interface language. Firefox and Edge builds exist, which Asterly does not promise.
Where that model stops
A local guide is private because it is local. The same fact makes it a poor handoff. A contractor cannot open your IndexedDB. A customer should not install a Chrome extension to read step three. An export moves the problem into files: which version, which folder, who still has last week’s PDF.
Teams feel this the first time a process changes. The author updates the guide on their laptop. Everyone else still has the file from Slack. Asterly’s workspace is that missing shelf: one link, the current steps, and an invite when the guide should stay inside the company rather than on the public internet.
What Asterly is not claiming
- We do not match Mimik’s browser coverage. Chrome comes first. Firefox and Edge are later.
- We do not match Mimik’s privacy default. Hosting the guide is the product.
- We do not ship Smart Blur or live Guide Me in the first hosted release. Those are explicitly later.
- We are not free forever, and the source is not public.
- The hosted link is in early access. This page is the waitlist, not a login.
Who should stay on Mimik
Stay if you document sensitive internal tools and want the files to remain on one computer. Stay if “free” matters more than “a teammate opened it.” Stay if you want to read the source, file an issue, or keep using a BYO key so descriptions never pass through another company’s account. Mimik is the honest recommendation for all of that.
Who the waitlist is for
Join if the capture speed is what you liked, and the missing piece is a URL. A PM sending onboarding to a new hire. A customer team sending “click here, then here” without a call. An ops lead who is tired of attaching exports. Pro, when it exists, is priced for that habit: from $12 or ₹999 a person each month, with a free tier of three public guides so you can see if anyone actually opens the link.
Questions
Is Asterly a hosted Mimik?
No. Mimik is its own MIT-licensed project from Westpoint. Asterly is a separate hosted product aimed at the moment a second person needs the guide. We are not a fork, and we are not open source.
Can Mimik already share a guide?
You can export a file, or replay the guide with the extension on a live page. There is no Mimik account and no Mimik server. The other person still has to receive a file or install the extension. That is the gap Asterly is for.
Which one is more private?
Mimik. Guides stay in the browser unless you turn on an optional AI or voice provider with your own key, or you export a file yourself. Asterly’s point is to host the guide. Do not put secrets in a shared Asterly link and expect local-only storage.
Does Asterly have Smart Blur and Guide Me?
Not in the first hosted version. Mimik documents both, with limits: Smart Blur does not cover iframes, shadow DOM, or text drawn into images. If redaction or live replay is the requirement today, use Mimik or evaluate Tango Enterprise for Guide Me.