Parachute vs Zencastr
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Parachute
This app helps you prepare for emergencies by broadcasting your live video, audio, and location to trusted contacts with a single touch. It offers advanced features like discreet recording, evidence saving, and remote activation to ensure your safety and provide crucial information when it matters most.
- Live video, audio, and location broadcast
- One-touch emergency contact notification
- Discreet recording and evidence saving
- Advanced safety features like Superlock and Checkup
- Multi-camera recording
- Siri activation and lock screen widget
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Emergencies happen. It’s a fact of life. And even though you can’t control when they happen, you can control how prepared you are. When the time comes for help, you don’t want something that’s “good enough”. You want the best tool you can get. Meet Parachute Parachute lets you broadcast your video, audio and location to your friends and loved ones in the event of an emergency With just one touch, Parachute: ‣ Simultaneously calls, texts and emails your emergency contacts ‣ Sends them your live video, audio and location straight from the scene ‣ Records discreetly to protect your safety ‣ Prevents accidental touches from stopping the recording or blurring the focus ‣ Saves all your evidence away from your phone, so it is safe even if the phone is lost, taken, or destroyed Advanced ‣ Superlock: Prevents an unauthorized person who grabs your phone from stopping the recording ‣ Checkup: Checks up on you every 12 hours and alerts your emergency contacts if you don’t mark yourself safe ‣ Multi-Camera: Captures video from the front and back cameras simultaneously for 200 degrees of camera coverage ‣ Siri: Activate Parachute by saying a codeword to Siri ‣ Phone Alert: Pre-record an alert message that your emergency contacts will hear when Parachute calls them ‣ Emergency Notes: Set up emergency notes to be released in the event of an emergency ‣ Twitter: Tweets your live incident and pre-written tweet in the event of an emergency ‣ Lock Screen Widget: Quickly activate Parachute right from your lock screen ‣ Live Alert Status: See the live status of each alert sent out (texts sent, emails delivered, phone calls picked up) ‣ Evidence Wiping: Wipes your evidence as soon as it’s been pushed off your phone so someone getting a hold of your phone won’t be able to find anything ‣ Seamless Streaming: Recovers seamlessly from poor or spotty reception without losing evidence ‣ Global Coverage: Works all around the world ‣ More at parachute.live/app Recognition ‣ Over 4900 5-star reviews from around the world ‣ Featured on the App Store ‣ Winner of the TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2015 Hackathon ‣ Cameo in CSI:Cyber ‣ Featured in TechCrunch, Wired, CNBC, Fox News, Cult of Mac, Digital Trends, Sydney Morning Herald and more ‣ More at parachute.live/news Ethos & Integrity ‣ Free On Crash: We believe in our product so much that if it crashes during your emergency we give you back everything you’ve paid us in the past year ‣ Private & Tracker-Free: Forensic investigation reveals that Parachute is the only one of the top 20 safety apps that does not send your information to data collection companies. More at parachute.live/privacy ‣ Independent & VC-Free: We answer only to our members and we devote 100% of our time towards providing them with the best, fastest and most reliable technology in the event of an emergency ‣ Neutral: Parachute is a neutral conduit for emergencies, open to everyone, regardless of background and beliefs ‣ More at parachute.live/about Memberships ‣ Parachute (Monthly): Our flagship membership. Unlimited everything, personal concierge and priority access. US$9.99/month ‣ Parachute Lite (Monthly): Designed for light use. 3 incidents/month. US$2.99/month ‣ Parachute Micro (Yearly): Our most affordable membership. 3 incidents/year. US$2.99/year ‣ Free Week: All our memberships start with a 1-week all-inclusive free trial ‣ Cancel Anytime: After your free week, your membership will automatically renew monthly or yearly, paid with iTunes unless turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the cycle by managing it in iTunes Account Settings. Any unused trial time will be given up if you switch memberships See how Parachute compares to the alternatives at parachute.live/comparison Help: hi@parachute.live Privacy: https://parachute.live/privacy Terms of Use: https://parachute.live/terms Prices are in US dollars and may vary in other countries Parachute® is a registered trademark of Parachute Labs, Inc. Proudly made in New York
Zencastr
Record high-quality audio and video podcasts directly from your mobile device. This app offers individual WAV recordings and HD video for up to six guests, with automatic cloud backups. It also provides mobile-optimized videos for social sharing and integrates with Google Drive and Dropbox.
- HD audio and video recording
- Record up to six guests
- Separate audio and video tracks
- Automatic cloud backups
- Google Drive/Dropbox integration
- Mobile-optimized video output
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Zencastr hands you a podcast studio's worth of tools for Free. Zencastr is where people go to create, publish, and monetize their podcasts, whether you're recording a video podcast, an audio-only show, or a remote interview. Turn a conversation into a fully produced episode, ready to publish in minutes, not weeks. Your personalized Producer does everything from cleaning up audio, to making the edits you want, to cutting clips for socials, to publishing your episode and clips to every major platform. Plus, on Zencastr, you don't need an audience to start earning, either. Get paid for your progress from day one. Key Features: AUDIO & VIDEO RECORDING — Record with up to 6 participants, each on their own separate audio and video track. - Up to 4K video, 48kHz WAV and MP3 audio - Unlimited recording time, for Free - Locally recorded on your device for studio-quality sound and zero dropouts - Real-time cloud backup + Google Drive & Dropbox sync AI-ASSISTED EDITING AND PRODUCTION - From audio cleanup and editing, to chaptering and shownotes, to creating social clips, and more — do it all by chatting with your personalized Producer. - Clean up audio and remove long pauses and filler words - Talk with your Producer in natural language to make the edits you want - Generate chapters, cover art, and show notes - Apply visual templates and titles AI CLIP MAKING — Let your Producer find the moments worth clipping, or tell it exactly what you want. - Get auto-generated clips, or clip moments you select - Caption every clip, accurate and on-brand - Cut from your original, locally recorded footage - Formatted correctly for every platform - Schedule and publish clips straight to socials HOSTING & PUBLISHING — Upload, host, and publish without limits. - Unlimited audio and video uploads and hosting - Embeddable audio and video player for your site - Video streaming in 1080p - Secure, private RSS feed - Advanced analytics from day one - Host up to 5 shows - Publish to all major social and podcast platforms - Custom links in your post-roll - Schedule clips and social posts ahead of time LIVE STREAMING — Go live in high quality, right from Zencastr. - HD livestreaming to the major live streaming platforms. GET PAID — Start earning from day one, no audience required. - Get paid as you hit milestones in your podcast journey - Unlock brand deals and dynamically inserted ads as your audience grows - Track it all with ad campaign analytics STORAGE — Unlimited storage for every track you record COLLABORATION — Bring your team in on the full podcast production process. - Role-based permissions - Up to 4 seats Terms of service: https://zencastr.com/terms-of-service
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Zencastr at 4.9 against Parachute's 4.6. Parachute's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Parachute sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Zencastr sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $19.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Zencastr holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 521 and 721 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 63% of Parachute's written reviews are positive against 62% of Zencastr's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Parachute ships an update every 11 days, Zencastr fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Parachute | Zencastr |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (521 ratings) | 4.9 (721 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 63.4% of reviews — better | 61.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 521 | 721 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 11 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 102 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Parachute Labs, Inc. | Zencastr, Inc. |
Customer experience
Parachute
Zencastr
User reviews
Parachute
From 521 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful safety features
- 🔒 Secure live streaming and recording
- 👍 Useful for emergencies
- 👍 Provides peace of mind
Room to improve
- 🐛 Unreliable activation and functionality
- 🔒 Privacy concerns around data collection
- 💰 Subscription-based model
- 👎 Lack of customer support
Zencastr
From 721 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and efficient recording process
- 👍 User-friendly and intuitive interface
- 🎧 Excellent sound quality
- 📱 Easy mobile podcast creation
- 🌐 Seamless remote recording with guests
Room to improve
- 💰 Misleading pricing and billing practices
- 🚫 No free trial without payment requirement
- 😤 Deceptive interface design to encourage spending
- ⚠️ Difficult cancellation and refund process
Bugs and requests
Parachute
Reported bugs
3 issues- Unexpected activations and false alerts
- Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- Audio/video quality problems
Requested features
4 requests- Emergency services integration
- Test mode for safe experimentation
- Offline recording and backup
- Customizable activation methods
Zencastr
Reported bugs
2 issues- Continued charging after cancellation
- Misleading free trial implementation
Requested features
2 requests- Free trial option without upfront payment
- Clearer pricing transparency
In-app purchases
Parachute
- Parachute Lite (Monthly)7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Parachute Micro (Yearly)7 Days trial$2.991 Year
- Parachute (Monthly)7 Days trial$9.991 Month
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- Parachute Family (Monthly)7 Days trial$14.991 Month
Zencastr
- Upgrade to Pro$19.991 Month









