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Shade
PaidAI media asset management for creative teams — neural search across video, photo, and audio libraries plus real-time editing infrastructure
What is Shade?
Shade is the system of record for creative teams' media libraries. The platform pairs a neural search engine — find anything by face, spoken transcript, or scene description in plain English — with ShadeFS, a real-time editing infrastructure that lets editors work directly against the cloud library without round-tripping through local copies. The product targets video production, photography, audio production, and post-production teams who have outgrown shared drives and Frame.io. As of 2026 Shade is SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and HIPAA compliant, the last of which is rare in this category and unlocks creative work in healthcare media. The company raised $14M in April 2026 to scale the platform.
⚡ Quick Verdict
Creative teams managing 10TB+ of video and photo, plus anyone in healthcare media who needs HIPAA-compliant asset management
Solo creators and small studios under ~5 seats — built for team workflows; pricing is per-seat with workspace caps
Plain-English neural search across faces/transcripts/scenes — the search dramatically reduces "find that take" time
Workspace caps at 15 seats per workspace; multi-team orgs need multiple workspaces or enterprise contracts
Bottom line: Shade scores 4.5/5 — strongest pick we've reviewed for AI-powered media asset management. The HIPAA certification opens markets most competitors cannot serve.
Shade Pricing
Per seat, per month — small teams: $20/seat/mo. Includes unlimited drives, unlimited AI indexing, 500GB of active storage per seat. Workspaces support up to 15 seats and up to 150 guests for review-and-approval collaboration. Larger teams contact sales for custom pricing — typically required when seat count exceeds 15 or storage needs exceed the per-seat allowance.
Key Features
- Neural search — find media by face, spoken transcript, or scene description in plain English
- ShadeFS — real-time editing infrastructure against the cloud library, no local round-trips
- AI Photo Culling — automatic flagging of blurry frames, closed eyes, bad exposure
- Auto-organized collections by AI metadata
- Review and approval workflow built in (no separate Frame.io needed)
- Unlimited AI indexing per seat — no per-asset processing fees
- Unlimited drives per workspace
- SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA — including the rare healthcare media use case
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Neural search materially shortens "find the right take" time
- HIPAA compliance is differentiating — most rivals don't have it
- Real-time cloud editing removes local-copy sync work
- Unlimited AI indexing means cost stays predictable as libraries grow
Cons
- 15-seat workspace cap forces enterprise contracts at scale
- $20/seat is non-trivial for small studios
- Active storage capped per seat — extra for very large libraries
- Newer entrant — fewer integrations than Frame.io
Alternatives to Shade
For traditional review-and-approval, Frame.io (Adobe) is the incumbent. Canva handles team-scale asset management for design assets specifically. Descript overlaps for podcast/video transcript workflows. See the full list on the Shade alternatives page.
FAQ
What is Shade?
Shade is a cloud-based AI media asset management platform built for creative teams. It combines a neural search engine that finds video and photo content by face, transcript, or scene description with real-time editing infrastructure (ShadeFS).
How much does Shade cost?
$20 per seat per month for small teams. Includes unlimited drives, unlimited AI indexing, 500GB of active storage per seat. Workspaces support up to 15 seats and up to 150 guests. Larger teams contact sales.
What can Shade actually search?
Spoken transcripts inside video and audio, faces, scene description in plain English, and visual attributes. The AI Photo Culling engine also flags blurry frames, closed eyes, and bad exposure.
Is Shade compliant with enterprise security?
Yes — SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and HIPAA. The HIPAA certification specifically unlocks healthcare media work that most asset-management tools cannot serve.
Shade vs Frame.io — what is the difference?
Frame.io is a review-and-approval tool with storage on top — designed for the feedback loop. Shade is a media asset management platform with search and editing infrastructure on top — designed for the working library. Different problems; teams sometimes use both.
📋 Good to know
Visit shade.inc — start a workspace, install ShadeFS for desktop, point it at your existing media drives. AI indexing happens in the background.
SOC 2 Type II + ISO 27001 + HIPAA — the third matters specifically if you produce clinical or patient education media.
Contact sales when you exceed 15 seats per workspace, need more than 500GB active storage per seat, or need bespoke security/SLA terms.
Low for search and review. Moderate for ShadeFS — editors used to local-NLE workflows need a brief period to adjust to cloud-first editing.