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HighlightPilot vs Medal
Medal is a desktop app that records clips of your own gameplay on your PC. HighlightPilot runs in the cloud and creates official Twitch clips from live channels. Both “auto clip,” but they solve different problems.
Last updated: September 28, 2026 · Medal details summarize that product’s own public pages (linked below). Products change — confirm on their site before buying.
The short answer
Medal records what’s on your screen: you press F8 (or let auto-clipping catch events in supported games) and the clip is saved locally, ready to edit and share to Discord or social. HighlightPilot doesn’t touch your PC — it watches Twitch chat for any channel you add and creates the clip on Twitch. If you’re a player who wants your own plays saved, Medal is the tool. If you want clips from live Twitch streams — yours or anyone else’s — without running anything locally, HighlightPilot is.
How Medal works
Medal’s desktop app runs alongside your games. Press the clip hotkey (F8 by default) to save the last moments of gameplay, or enable auto-clipping to capture highlights in supported games. You can trim clips, add sound and video effects, organize them in folders and tags, and share instantly to Discord or social platforms. A game overlay lets you manage clips without alt-tabbing.
Medal also has a web editor, a mobile app (with an Android recorder), a clip-discovery feed, and a Premium tier that adds cloud storage for your full library.
Sources
How HighlightPilot handles the same job
HighlightPilot is a web service, so there’s nothing to install and no load on your gaming PC. It reads the live chat of each Twitch channel you add, spots moments when the audience reacts far above that channel’s usual pace, and creates an official Twitch clip through Twitch’s API. You review everything in a Clip Inbox.
That means it works for streams you’re not playing in — a teammate’s channel, a client, or the biggest streams in your game — and it captures the moment as viewers saw it on Twitch, not your local screen.
Medal vs HighlightPilot, side by side
| Criterion | HighlightPilot | Medal (as marketed) |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Cloud — nothing installed | Desktop app on your PC (plus web and mobile) |
| What gets clipped | Live Twitch streams you monitor, including other creators’ | Your own gameplay on your device |
| Trigger | Audience reaction in Twitch chat | Hotkey (F8) or auto-clipping in supported games |
| Output | Official Twitch clips in a review inbox | Local video clips; edit, then share to Discord or social |
| Needs you to be streaming? | No — the channel just has to be live on Twitch | No stream needed — records your screen |
| Editing | Not included | Built-in trimming, effects, sounds, text |
Which one fits you
Pick HighlightPilot if…
- You want clips from Twitch streams you aren’t playing on
- You manage several channels and want clips without anyone pressing a key
- You’d rather not run a recorder on the gaming PC
Pick Medal if…
- You want your own plays saved even when you’re not streaming
- In-game events (kills, wins) matter more than chat reactions
- Quick edits and sharing to Discord are the main goal
Using Medal and HighlightPilot together
- Keep Medal running while you play to save your own plays in full quality, including off-stream sessions.
- When you stream, add your channel to HighlightPilot so the moments your chat loses it over become Twitch clips automatically.
- After the stream, compare the two: Medal has what happened in-game, HighlightPilot’s inbox shows what the audience cared about.
- Share the Twitch clips on your channel and Discord, and edit the Medal recordings for higher-quality uploads.
Pricing at a glance
HighlightPilot: Founder pricing is $2 per monitored channel per month, with a 3-day free trial on your first channel (see pricing). Medal: Medal Premium adds cloud storage for your full clip library; see Medal’s site for current plans.
FAQ
Is HighlightPilot a Medal alternative?
Not for recording your own gameplay — Medal captures your screen, HighlightPilot doesn’t. It’s the alternative when what you want is clips from live Twitch streams, especially ones you don’t play in.
Does HighlightPilot need to run on my PC?
No. It’s fully cloud-based; you manage channels and clips in the browser.
Can HighlightPilot detect kills or wins?
No. It reacts to the audience in chat, which works on any game or category, including Just Chatting.