Comparison
These two products barely overlap, which is the useful thing to know before comparing prices. One makes a book you can hold. The other makes a document you can cite.
zapptales prices and features read from zapptales.com on . Prices change; check the source before relying on this.
zapptales turns a chat export into a printed book, hardcover or softcover, priced by page count, with a PDF option and optional long-term storage add-ons.
Watermarked preview, first 200 messages, no account.
Per export. Whole conversation with its media.
Per export. Bates numbering, certificate, source ZIP attached, and every voice note transcribed at no extra charge.
Per month, or $349 a year. Unlimited exhibits.
First 100 pages, then €5 per additional 50.
First 100 pages, then €5 per additional 50.
Up to 500 pages, then €1 per additional 50.
Optional, ten years. €3 per five further years.
Optional, ten years. €3 per five further years.
| Feature | ChatExhibits | zapptales |
|---|---|---|
| What you receive | A PDF. | A printed and bound book, or a PDF. |
| Where the file is processed | In your browser. | Uploaded. Their page states data is stored on high-security servers in the EU and transmitted encrypted. |
| Price tied to page count | No. | Yes, in steps of 50 pages. |
| Free preview before paying | Yes, first 200 messages. | Not described on their pricing page. |
| Bates numbering | Yes. | Not offered. |
| SHA-256 integrity certificate | Yes. | Not offered. |
| Voice-note transcription | Included in the $79 tier at no extra charge, reviewed by you before the PDF is made. Needs a desktop browser. | Not offered. |
| Printing and binding | Not offered. | Yes, hardcover or softcover. |
| Long-term storage of the chat | Not offered. Nothing is stored. | Optional, ten years, from €9.90. |
It prints and binds. If what you want is a physical object to keep or to give to someone, ChatExhibits is the wrong tool and zapptales is a specialist at it. It also stores the chat for a decade if you ask it to, which is a service rather than an oversight.
ChatExhibits is built for a document that will be produced to someone: Bates numbers so pages can be cited, a digest so the file can be checked, the source archive attached so the check does not depend on us. It also never receives the conversation, which is the difference that matters when the chat belongs to a client rather than to you. And the voice notes are in the document, transcribed at the Legal tier at no extra charge and corrected by you, where a printed book leaves them out of the object entirely.
Bates numbering and an integrity certificate make a document citable and checkable. They are professional conventions, not legal requirements, and they do not decide what a court will accept. What Bates numbering is describes the first, and the sample exhibit shows both of them on a page rather than in a table.
The preview is free on both. Ours reads the file in your browser and asks for no account.