October 30, 2026•8 min read

Scholarly vs Scrimba Explain: PDF to Video

Scholarly vs Scrimba Explain for turning a PDF into a narrated video lecture: inputs, languages, length, free plans, quizzes, and where each one wins.

By ScholarlyComparisons

Short answer: pick Scrimba Explain when you want a narrated explainer in seconds, especially on code or a technical question, and you are happy to steer it from a prompt. Pick Scholarly when you have a PDF, notes, slides, or a recording and need a chaptered lecture at a length you set, up to 45 minutes on paid plans, with flashcards and a practice exam from the same source. Scrimba's free account gives you more tries (5 explainers against Scholarly's 1 creation). Scholarly offers more narration languages (71 output languages and regional variants against 33). Neither free plan downloads the video.

Disclosure: Scholarly is our product, so read this with that in mind. Every Scrimba fact below comes from Scrimba's own docs, read on October 30, 2026. Plans change, so confirm on the linked pages before you rely on a limit.

Scholarly vs Scrimba Explain at a glance

	Scholarly	Scrimba Explain
Best at	A lecture from your own documents, followed by practice	A fast explainer from a question, especially on code
Inputs	PDF, Word, PowerPoint, images, pasted text, notes, web link, YouTube link, recording, Google Drive, or a topic	Prompt, PDF, code, text and Markdown, images, Jupyter notebooks, or a link in the prompt; a whole repository through a coding agent
Sources in one video	1 on Free, 10 on Premium, 20 on Laureate	Files attached to one prompt; the docs state no count
Narration languages	71 output languages and regional variants	33, with 7 regions for English, 3 for Spanish, and 2 for Portuguese
Length	About 2 minutes on Free; 1 to 45 minutes on paid plans (default 15)	No length setting or maximum in the docs; steer with the prompt and teaching style
Free plan	1 lifetime AI creation, 1 upload (8 MB, first 32 PDF pages)	5 explainers for the life of the account, or 1 without an account
Free download	No	No
Paid download	MP4 at 720p or 1080p	MP4 at 720p, 1080p, or 1440p
Check-ins	Interactive questions in every lecture	A multiple-choice quiz that some explainers end with
How you get it	Renders in the background, then plays as a finished video	Streams: the first slide appears within seconds

Which one takes your material?

Both tools can start from a PDF. They differ in what else they accept and how many files they combine.

Scrimba's attachment page lists code files, text and Markdown, PDFs, images, and Jupyter notebooks. A link in the prompt makes it read that page. The list does not include Word, PowerPoint, audio, or video files. Scrimba also says Explain teaches from its own knowledge by default, and the lesson is built from your material when you attach it.

Scholarly accepts PDFs, Word and PowerPoint files, images, pasted text, typed or handwritten notes, web links, YouTube links, recordings, and Google Drive files, or a typed topic. Premium combines up to 10 sources in one lecture and Laureate up to 20, which helps when one topic is spread across a chapter, a deck, and a class recording. Start from PDF to video, notes to video, or PowerPoint to video.

Where Scrimba wins: code. Attached code becomes real code slides with the narration pointing into the lines, and a connected coding agent can explain a branch, a pull request, or a whole repository. Scholarly has no developer tooling like this.

Languages and narration

Scrimba lists 33 narration languages and says it picks a voice native to each one where it can. Ask for a language outside that list and the slides follow your language while the voice falls back to English. Your teaching style decides the voice, and the styles include Scrimba's founder and one of its teachers, each in his own voice. The docs describe no voice picker, and regenerating narration may land on a different voice.

Scholarly offers 71 output languages and regional variants, and the source does not have to be in the same language. You can leave the voice on Auto or pick one with a preview: 10 standard English voices, 30 Google multilingual voices, and 26 Grok voices. A voice outside your language's standard set adds 1 credit per lecture. Languages other than English are usually spoken by multilingual voices rather than a voice recorded for that language alone, so Scrimba's native-voice approach may suit you better if your language is on its list. Listen to a short sample of each before you commit.

After a lecture is finished, Scholarly can make a version in another language with the same scenes (1 credit) or give it a new voice (1 credit, plus the voice credit if it applies). Each creates a separate lecture.

Length

This is the largest practical difference for a long PDF.

Scholarly has a length control. Free lectures are about 2 minutes and fixed. Paid plans set a target from 1 to 45 minutes, with 15 as the default. The target guides the script, so the final runtime can vary, and a target above 15 minutes adds 1 credit (2 above 30). Chapters let viewers jump to a section.

Scrimba's docs describe no length setting and no maximum. You steer depth with the prompt and style: TLDR gives a few slides, and Professor goes as deep as it can. For a longer course, it offers playlists of separate lessons. The docs we read do not mention chapters inside an explainer, though the player's timeline is split by slide and shows each slide's title as you hover.

Free plan: what you get and the catch

	Scholarly Free	Scrimba Free
Allowance	1 lifetime AI creation, shared across every AI tool	5 explainers for the life of the account
Does it reset?	No	No
Video	About 2 minutes, 720p, Scholarly logo	No published length; the Explain watermark can only be switched off on Pro
Edits	No timeline editor; steer before generating	3 per explainer
Download	No: watch and share by link	No: download offers the Pro upgrade
Visibility	Starts Private; you choose to share it by link	Starts on Public when signed in, so switch it first if the material is private

Follow-ups and Go deeper count against Scrimba's 5, because each makes a new explainer. An explainer made through ChatGPT or a coding agent counts only once you claim it into your account. Scrimba lists commercial use as a Pro benefit. It also gives one free explainer without an account, which is always unlisted. See Scrimba's plans page.

Scholarly's free upload is capped at 8 MB and the first 32 PDF pages, and it is one upload for life. If your chapter is longer, split out the section you need first. If you want several free attempts to judge a format, Scrimba is the more generous plan.

Visual style

An explainer is a sequence of typed slides rendered in the player: code, diffs, diagrams, animations, infographics, images, math, cards, and quizzes. Scrimba draws at most 12 generated pictures per explainer. Non-code topics can play like a short documentary, with an image setting each scene. You can build wide, or tall for phones.

Scholarly has five designs, all on every plan: Standard (a calm explainer with diagrams, charts, and figures), Illustrated (hand-drawn scenes), Short (vertical, one self-contained idea), Manim Math Animation (animated equations and graphs), and Freestyle (the AI picks the look). See video modes.

Scholarly has no on-screen avatar, and Scrimba's docs describe slides with a voice rather than a presenter. If you want a talking presenter, look at HeyGen or Synthesia.

Quizzes and practice afterward

Scrimba describes its quiz as one multiple-choice question on the core idea at the end, "a ten-second check." It appears on explainers made to teach you something, and asking for it makes it more likely. Summaries, TLDR lessons, and page explainers from the Chrome extension never get one.

Scholarly puts interactive questions inside every lecture on every plan, and saves your best and last scores. The larger difference comes after the video: the same upload can become flashcards, a practice test, a podcast, or slides. The catch on Free is that each of those needs a credit and you only have one, and you get 5 quiz answers and 1 exam attempt for life.

If you are studying for an exam, that is the main reason to choose Scholarly. If you just want to understand something once, a short explainer may be all you need.

Speed, editing, and where you use it

Scrimba is much faster. Explainers stream, with the first slide appearing within seconds and narration generated as each slide arrives. You can then edit slides by instruction: 3 edits per explainer on Free, unlimited on Pro. It also works outside its own site, through ChatGPT and Codex, Claude Code, an MCP server, an API, a Chrome extension, and a GitHub Action that adds a walkthrough to each pull request.

Scholarly renders in the background and you can close the tab. A 2-minute video typically takes about 8 to 20 minutes, and a 10-minute lecture about 18 to 40. There is no timeline editor; you steer before generating with custom instructions, or use your own script as written. Scholarly has no public API or Chrome extension.

Exports and sharing

Video download is paid on both.

Scrimba Pro: MP4 at 720p, 1080p, or 1440p, at 30 or 60 fps, with a .vtt subtitle file. The explainer has to be public or unlisted to export. Separately, any explainer you can link to can be embedded. Export details.
Scholarly paid plans: MP4 at 720p or 1080p, with the logo turned off before generating if you prefer. An export pack adds the slides, script, .vtt, and .srt. A shared lecture can be embedded in Moodle, Canvas, Notion, Confluence, or SharePoint without a paid plan, as long as its link is open.

Scholarly also plays any lecture as audio with Listen instead, and its transcript is searchable and synced. Scrimba's transcript is plain text below the player and does not sync, though its captions highlight each word and are on by default.

Scholarly has no SCORM export, and Scrimba's export page does not mention it.

Paid plans

Scrimba Pro: 100 explainers a month, unlimited edits, video downloads, no watermark, commercial use, and every Scrimba course. Scrimba's docs say the upgrade dialog on scrimba.com/explain shows the current price.
Scholarly Premium: $30 a month or $180 a year, with 15 AI creation credits a week. Laureate: $99 a month, with 80 a week. A lecture costs 1 credit on the default model and up to 4 on others, plus any length or voice credits. Credits are shared across every AI tool. See pricing.

If you need a high volume of short explainers, Scrimba's allowance goes further. If you need long lectures plus study material, compare what one month of your actual work would cost on each.

Which should you pick?

Pick Scrimba Explain if:

You are learning code, or explaining a repository or a pull request.
You want an answer in seconds rather than a finished file later.
You want to generate from inside ChatGPT or a coding agent.
You want several free attempts.
You want Pro's 1440p export or its course library.

Pick Scholarly if:

Your source is a long PDF, a Word file, a deck, a recording, or a YouTube lecture.
You need a set length, or a lecture that combines several sources.
You need a language outside Scrimba's 33.
You want to choose the narrator from a voice library.
The video is one step before flashcards, a practice exam, or a podcast from the same material.
You need .srt captions with the MP4, for a course platform.

Frequently asked questions

Is Scrimba Explain free?

Partly. A free account gets 5 explainers for the life of the account, with 3 edits each. It does not renew, follow-ups count against it, and video download needs Pro. Without an account you get 1 free explainer, always unlisted.

Can Scrimba Explain turn a PDF into a video lecture?

Yes. Attach a PDF to your prompt and ask it to teach the document. Scrimba's docs say a paper or notes get diagrams and images rather than code slides. Its citation feature, available through the API, does not cite PDFs.

Is Scholarly free?

Scholarly's free plan makes one narrated video lecture of about 2 minutes from one upload (up to 8 MB; PDFs read up to the first 32 pages). The catch: it is one lifetime creation shared across every AI tool, it does not reset, it keeps the Scholarly logo, and it is watched and shared in the browser rather than downloaded.

How many languages does each one narrate in?

Scrimba Explain lists 33 narration languages. Scholarly offers 71 output languages and regional variants.

Which is better for a long lecture?

Scholarly, because you set a target of up to 45 minutes on a paid plan and the lecture gets chapters. Scrimba's docs describe no length setting and suggest playlists of separate lessons for a longer course.

Which is better for learning to code?

Scrimba Explain. Its slides show real code with the narration pointing into it, and it connects directly to coding agents and pull requests. Scholarly can explain code in a source, but it is not built around code.

Can I download the video for free on either one?

No. On both, MP4 download needs a paid plan.

Try both on the same PDF

Pick a chapter you already understand, so you can judge the teaching. Attach it on scrimba.com/explain, and upload it to Scholarly's PDF to video tool. Keep whichever one you would actually sit through, and check any claim that matters against the source.