ScanTrace vs alternatives
We compare ScanTrace with AI or Not, Hive Moderation, Sensity, Truepic and Illuminarty. Price, accuracy, languages, PDF certificate, video support and real journalist use cases.
Quick answer
For newsrooms that verify images and videos daily, ScanTrace offers the best combination of accuracy, native language support, certified PDF and price (from €19/month). Alternatives are either enterprise (Truepic, Sensity, Hive) or lack an editorial flow (AI or Not, Illuminarty).
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Get started free — 15 scans/monthExecutive summary
If you work in a newsroom and need to verify images and videos daily with a human-readable report and a certified PDF, ScanTrace offers the best price-to-feature ratio. AI or Not is fine for free one-off checks. Truepic, Hive and Sensity are enterprise products built for banking, insurance and platforms — not for journalists.
Comparison criteria
We evaluated six services across six editorial-critical dimensions: (1) declared image accuracy, (2) video analysis capability, (3) certified PDF output, (4) native language support in UI and reports, (5) real free tier, (6) price of the first paid plan.
By use case
Freelance journalist: ScanTrace Free (10/month). Mid-size newsroom: ScanTrace Pro or Newsroom. Industrial-scale verification (hundreds of thousands of images/month): Hive or Sensity. Banking/insurance with KYC: Truepic. One-off check without signup: AI or Not.
Why three layers make the difference
Most competitors run a single layer — pixels (Hive, Illuminarty), EXIF (generic readers) or contextual reasoning (some ChatGPT plugins). ScanTrace chains the three: SightEngine (pixels) → EXIF reader → Claude Haiku (narrative reasoning). The result: fewer false positives and a human-readable report.
Conclusion and recommendation
For 90% of English-speaking newsrooms the right choice is ScanTrace Newsroom (€49/month, 1,500 scans, video up to 10 min, PDF certificate, team seats). Start free and upgrade when your volume demands it.
| Service | Free plan | Certified PDF | Video | Languages | Entry price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ScanTrace | 10/month | Yes (Pro) | Yes (Pro) | EN + ES native | €19/mo |
| AI or Not | Limited | No | No | EN only | $5/mo |
| Hive Moderation | API demo | No | Yes | EN only | Sales contact |
| Illuminarty | Yes | No | No | EN only | $10/mo |
| Sensity AI | No | Yes | Yes | EN only | Enterprise |
| Truepic | No | Yes | Yes | Partial | ~€500/mo |
Frequently asked questions
Is ScanTrace better than AI or Not?
For editorial newsroom use, yes: AI or Not does not return a certified PDF, does not analyse video, and lacks a Spanish UI. AI or Not is fine for one-off spot checks but not for editorial workflows.
How does ScanTrace pricing compare to competitors?
ScanTrace Free offers 10 scans/month; Pro is €19/month (400 scans); Newsroom €49/month (1,500 scans + video). Truepic starts around €500/month; Hive Moderation requires sales contact; Sensity is enterprise.
Why choose ScanTrace when Hive is better known?
Hive is excellent at scale moderation (trillions of images) but not for newsrooms that need a human-readable report, a certified PDF and an editorial workflow. ScanTrace is purpose-built for journalists and verifiers.
Which tool best detects Flux 1.1?
ScanTrace and Sensity AI are the two public services with a dedicated Flux 1.1 classifier as of 2026.
Does ScanTrace support video?
Yes, on the Pro plan (up to 2 minutes) and Newsroom plan (up to 10 minutes). It is one of the few services under €50/month with video analysis.
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