Digitizing your old tapes, film reels, and photo collections is one of the best ways to protect fragile memories for the future. But the moment you start researching services, one question comes up quickly: which company should you trust with irreplaceable family history? ScanCafe and Capture are two well-known options that convert a wide range of analog media into modern digital formats. This ScanCafe vs. Capture guide walks through how they compare on formats, pricing, turnaround time, reviews, and overall experience so you can decide which one fits your project best.
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Overview of ScanCafe.com
With over 16 years of experience, ScanCafe has scanned over 150 million memories. They offer a wide range of digitization services as well as photo restoration, color correction, and image enhancement services.
They are proud to offer digitization for many analog formats, including:
- Videotapes: VHS, S-VHS, Hi-8, MiniDV, and Betamax tapes.
- Movie film: 8 mm and Super 8 film reels.
- Photos: Print photos, 35mm & APS negatives, and 35 mm color slides.
- Audio Transfer: Audio cassette and reel-to-reel audio.
- Data Extraction: Floppy discs, memory cards, CDs, and DVDs.
ScanCafe also offers a subscription-based cloud storage service for an additional monthly or yearly fee. This optional plan allows customers to store and access their digitized files through ScanCafe’s private cloud for as long as their subscription remains active, with the ability to download files at any time.
ScanCafe Pricing
When comparing ScanCafe vs. Capture, pricing is an important part of the decision. ScanCafe uses a per-item pricing model, and the exact cost depends on the type of media you're digitizing.
Here are the different prices for turning your memories into digital files.
- Videotape pricing: ScanCafe charges $28 per videotape, whether it contains an hour or 1 minute of home video footage.
- Film pricing: $0.34 per foot.
- Photos: $0.48 per scanned image (photo, slide, or negative).
- Audio Transfer: $28 per audio cassette or $0.34 per foot of reel-to-reel audio.
- ScanCafe Cloud Storage Access: $12.99 per month or $129.99 per year.
ScanCafe also offers a USB drive or external hard drive delivery option for an extra charge when you place an order.
For customers seeking to repair damaged or heavily aged images, ScanCafe provides optional paid photo restoration. Pricing starts at $3.00 per image, with higher tiers for medium, advanced, or extreme restoration levels depending on the complexity of the damage.
For those who plan to do more extensive editing or want archival-quality masters, ScanCafe can also output scans in TIFF format instead of JPEG, which preserves more image detail in the final digital files.
Quality and User Experience
As of 2025, ScanCafe’s customer reviews present a mixed overall experience across major review platforms. On Trustpilot, ScanCafe holds a rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 3,337 reviews. Many customers highlight good scan quality for slides, negatives, and older photos, noting that the service offers reasonable value for the price. Positive feedback often focuses on clear results, simple ordering, and satisfactory outcomes for small to medium-sized projects.
On Yelp, however, ScanCafe’s rating is lower, averaging around 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on roughly 350 reviews. Critical reviews frequently mention slow processing times, delays with larger orders, and dissatisfaction with the quality of certain scans, particularly slides and negatives. Some customers also report experiences with unclear add-on fees, challenges with customer support, or issues with missing or incomplete orders.
Overall, customer feedback in 2025 reflects that ScanCafe can deliver solid results for many users, especially when the project is straightforward. However, the variability in reviews suggests that results and turnaround times may not be consistent across all order types, making it important for customers to set expectations accordingly or consider starting with a small test batch.
Overview of Capture.com
With over 25 years of experience and 12 million satisfied customers, Capture offers tons of expertise. We also offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee and a multi-million-dollar tracking and security system to protect your memories.
- Videotape digitization: Betamax, VHS, VHS-C, S-VHS, S-VHS-C, Video 8, Hi-8, Digital 8, DV, DVCAM, DVC, and MiniDV.
- Movie film: 8 mm, 16 mm, and Super 8 film reels.
- Photos: Photo albums, print photos, negatives (35mm, APS film, 110 film, 110/220 film, 126 Instamatic film, large negatives), and slides (25 mm, Super 35 mm, 110/220, 126, 127, 127 Superslide).
- Digital formats: SD, SM, MMC, CD, xD-Picture Card, and Sony MemoryStick memory cards, Data CDs, MiniDVD, DVD, and USB Drives.
Capture has also developed the first-ever touchless photo album scanning service that allows for photo digitization, without anyone ever having to touch the photos. This service includes:
- glare removal
- cropping
- color correction
- high-quality JPEG digital images
Plus, with Capture, you can automatically upload your photos, home movies, and other memories to your Google Photos Library for effortless organization and easy sharing. We also offer 60 days of MemoryCloud storage with every order, so you have time to transfer to a hard drive, Mac or Windows computer, or Apple or Android smartphone.
Capture Pricing
You want the most bang for your buck when selecting between ScanCafe vs. Capture, so how does Capture charge?
- Videotape pricing: For videotapes, you will pay $34.98 for the first two hours of each tape and $34.98 for each additional 2 hours or videotape.
- Film digitization pricing: $34.98 for the first 100 feet of film and only $0.30 for each additional foot.
- Photos: $34.98 for the first 50 prints, slides, or negatives, and only $0.58 for each additional image.
- Touchless Photo Album Scanning: $34.98 for the first 35 photos of each album and $0.82 for each additional photo scanned.
- Digital Media: $34.98 for the first 90 minutes of each digital device and $34.98 for each additional 90 minutes or device. If your digital devices contain images, the pricing can be calculated by using 7 seconds for each photo.
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USB Flash Drive: $18.98 for your entire order.
DVD: $8.98 per DVD that holds approximately 2 hours of video, 1,600 feet of film, or 500 images.
In addition, we offer minor repairs by fixing broken cassettes and ribbon damage, cleaning mold off videotapes and original audio, cleaning, splicing, enhancing colors, and scratch reduction for film.
Quality and User Experience
With over 12 million customers and more than two decades in business, Capture (YesVideo) is one of the most experienced media-digitization companies in the U.S. Many reviewers love the way their memories were handled from start to finish with premium care, thoughtful packaging, and friendly customer support. Customers often highlight the clarity and quality of the final digital files, the reliable handling of delicate or aging media, and the peace of mind that comes from using a long-established service trusted by major retail partners.
Positive feedback frequently mentions how easy the process is, from ordering and shipping to receiving digital files through MemoryCloud, USB, or Google Photos. Families appreciate consistent communication throughout the digitization process and the ability to track their order as it moves through each step. Reviewers also praise Capture’s attention to detail, especially with film reels, photo albums, and older tapes that require careful manual handling.
Capture’s long history, strong customer base, and partnerships with well-known brands like CVS, Walmart, and Sam’s Club further reinforce the confidence many users feel when choosing the service for their most treasured memories.
ScanCafe vs Capture Feature Comparison
Both ScanCafe and Capture can handle large, complex collections of legacy media. The right choice depends on which features matter most to you. Here is a side-by-side comparison of key factors.
Supported media
ScanCafe supports a wide range of media formats, including photo prints, 35mm slides, APS film, negatives, various videotape formats, movie film reels (8mm, Super 8, 16mm), audio cassettes, reel-to-reel audio, and digital media extraction. They also offer paid photo restoration for damaged images.
Capture handles all core consumer formats: videotapes, film reels, photo prints, slides, negatives, digital media, and patented Touchless Photo Album Scanning, which allows scanning photos directly from albums without removing them. Capture also offers unified processing across all media types in a single order.
If your project includes rare film or audio formats, ScanCafe may be the better fit.
If you're digitizing standard home movies, film reels, photos, or albums, Capture can handle everything in one streamlined, easy-to-use workflow.
Advantage: Tie
Turnaround time
ScanCafe typically delivers digitized orders within 4 to 6 weeks. They also offer an optional 10-business-day expedited service for an additional fee, which can be helpful if you need your digitized files sooner.
Capture is much faster with a turnaround time of less than 30 days, including shipping. In addition, we offer free 60-day access to your memories on our included MemoryCloud account, while the ScanCafe cloud storage system costs extra at $12.99 per month or $129.99 per year.
Advantage: Capture
Pricing
ScanCafe’s pricing is clear and starts at:
- $28 per videotape
- $0.34 per foot of film
- $0.48 per scanned image (photos, slides, or negatives)
ScanCafe also offers Value Kits, which lower the per-image cost for photos, slides, and negatives. However, photo restoration is not included in these prices. Restoration is an additional paid service, starting at about $3 per image and increasing depending on the level of damage and the amount of work required.
Capture’s pricing begins at:
- $34.98 per 2 hours of videotape
- $34.98 for the first 100 feet of film, plus $0.30 per additional foot
- $34.98 for the first 50 photos, plus $0.58 per additional image
Because Capture uses a tiered film-pricing structure, it becomes more cost-effective for larger film-reel projects.
For example:
- 200 feet of film with Capture: $34.98 + (100 × $0.30) = $64.98
- 200 feet of film with ScanCafe: 200 × $0.34 = $68.00
This means Capture becomes slightly cheaper for larger film orders, while ScanCafe can be more affordable for basic photo scanning, as long as no restoration is required.
Advantage: Tie
Security
ScanCafe provides solid media protection, including internal video monitoring and weight-based verification to ensure all originals are returned. They also offer a 30-day return policy.
Capture, however, invests heavily in logistics and security. The company developed a multi-million-dollar tracking system featuring 24/7 facility monitoring, barcode-based item tracking, chain-of-custody controls, and secure handling from arrival to return delivery. This system is designed specifically to protect irreplaceable memories at every touchpoint. Capture also offers an in-person Atlanta Drop-Off Service Center, giving customers the option to hand-deliver their materials rather than ship them.
Advantage: Capture
Reviews and Experience
ScanCafe, founded in 2006–2007, has nearly two decades of industry experience. Its customer feedback is mixed, with many users praising quality while others report long turnaround times or inconsistent results.
Capture, founded in 1999 under YesVideo, has over 12 million customers and long-standing partnerships with major retailers such as CVS, Walmart, and Sam’s Club. Capture also offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee, while ScanCafe provides a 30-day return policy.
Advantage: Capture
Final verdict on ScanCafe vs Capture
When comparing ScanCafe vs. Capture as digitization providers, we see that both offer premium quality results, special features, and a wide range of accepted media formats. ScanCafe also offers photo restoration and competitive pricing.
However, when looking at reviews and trustworthiness, as well as the length of experience, Capture comes out on top. While we may be biased in saying that, we believe that Capture offers the best value and security for your memories.
