Is Basalt a full replacement for Frame.io?

For approving an edit, yes: timecode comments, versions, side-by-side compare, a Premiere Pro panel and a client link with no signup. If your process depends on Camera to Cloud from set, it is not a full replacement: we do not have that feature and it is not on the near roadmap.

Frame.io charges per seat. Does that matter?

It does the moment you bring in a freelancer. A per-seat price turns every extra editor, producer and assistant into a recurring line on the bill, so teams start sharing logins to stay under it. Basalt is priced per studio, and the people you add for one project do not change what you pay.

Frame.io has a free plan. Why pay?

For what the free plan does not cover: estimates and invoices instead of a spreadsheet, tasks instead of a chat, a client portal instead of a shared folder, a portfolio instead of a separate website. Basalt has a free plan too, good for two projects, which is enough to see whether the numbers work.

What does Frame.io do better?

Camera to Cloud: footage goes up straight from the camera on set, so the editor starts before the crew is home. Adobe also has deeper ties into its own ecosystem and far more mileage on very large productions. If you shoot episodic or commercial work with a crew out every week, Frame.io earns its money.

The Frame.io alternative that covers the whole project

Timecode notes, versions and approvals, plus tasks, estimates, invoices and a client portal. One subscription instead of four.

Start free Pricing

The short answer

Frame.io is a strong review tool: timecode comments, version stacks, a Premiere Pro panel and Camera to Cloud straight from set.

But review is one step of a project. The estimate, the tasks, the invoice, the sign-off and the finished case study all live in other tabs, and someone keeps them in sync by hand.

Basalt PMS gives you the same timecode review and version history, and puts the project, the money and the client around it. One subscription instead of four.

Basalt

Frame.io

Comments pinned to a timecode

Versions and side-by-side compare

Client reviews without an account

Client portal under your brand

Projects, tasks and deadlines

Estimates, invoices and per-project profit

Editor time tracking

Portfolio and public case pages

Panel inside Premiere Pro

Camera to Cloud from set

Priced per studio, not per seat

Free plan you can deliver on

Starting price

$19 · per studio

$15 · per seat

IncludedLimited, or on a higher planNot available

Client portal under your brand.: Frame.io brands the share page on paid plans. There is no standing account a client logs into to find all of their projects.
Projects, tasks and deadlines.: Frame.io has statuses and metadata on assets. That labels files, it does not plan work: no assignees with workload, no dates per stage.
Camera to Cloud from set.: Frame.io owns this outright: footage uploads straight off the camera. If your process is built on it, there is no substitute here.
Priced per studio, not per seat.: Frame.io charges for every seat, so adding a freelance editor for one project adds a monthly line to the bill, and teams start sharing logins to avoid it.
Free plan you can deliver on.: The Frame.io free plan stops at two members and two projects, which runs out on the first job with a producer attached.

Frame.io details checked against Adobe's public pages in September 2026. Found something out of date? Tell us and we will correct the page.

Moving from Frame.io

There is no import: Adobe does not export comments or version stacks. In practice you start new projects in Basalt and finish current ones where they began. Carry the approved links and final masters over by hand, there are never many. Most studios run both for a couple of weeks.

Why studios choose Basalt. Not just another player.

Notes on the frame

The client comments on the timeline. The editor sees a marker in the edit, not a chat thread to decode.

Version history

Every cut kept, with a date and an author. The approved one is marked and stays findable.

A client portal

Your logo, their projects, statuses and invoices. They go there instead of digging for an email.

Work becomes a portfolio

A delivered project turns into a public case page in a couple of clicks. No separate website.

A panel in Premiere Pro

Notes, versions and footage search inside the edit. No switching to a browser to see what changed.

A mobile app

Approve a cut and answer a note from your phone, on the days you are not at the workstation.

What people ask.
Straight answers.

The five questions that come up most when a studio considers moving.

Not automatically. Adobe does not let you export comments or the version stack in any usable format. Download your final masters and the links to approved cuts, and let the rest run out its term in Frame.io. Most studios simply open new projects in Basalt and stop opening the second tab within a month.

Try it on a real project

Free plan, no card: two projects, timecode review and a client portal.

Start free

The short answer

Frame.io is a strong review tool: timecode comments, version stacks, a Premiere Pro panel and Camera to Cloud straight from set.

But review is one step of a project. The estimate, the tasks, the invoice, the sign-off and the finished case study all live in other tabs, and someone keeps them in sync by hand.

Basalt PMS gives you the same timecode review and version history, and puts the project, the money and the client around it. One subscription instead of four.

Why studios choose Basalt. Not just another player.