Back up the card. Wipe it when Stow says it is safe.
Stow copies a card to two drives at once, reads every file back off the disk to prove the copy, then gives you a clear verdict: safe to wipe, or not yet.
No account, a few MB. Stow only reads the card, it never writes to it.
macOS build is for Apple Silicon; first launch is right-click, then Open. On Windows, SmartScreen may ask once; choose More info, then Run anyway. Signed builds are on the way.
A Finder copy does not check itself.
Drag a card to a drive and nothing checks the copy. A corrupt frame can sit hidden until the edit, when the card is long gone. Stow reads every file back off the disk and proves it matches the source.
How it works
Card in. Verdict out.
Drop in the card
Stow reads the camera and files everything into a clean, consistent folder tree.
Pick two drives
A working drive and a backup. Stow reads the card once and writes to both at the same time.
Read the verdict
Stow checks every copy off the disk and tells you when it is safe to wipe.
The verdict
Only one state means safe to wipe.
Stow clears a card with two verified copies, on two separate drives. One copy holds at amber. An unverified copy stays red. Stow makes the call, so nobody on set has to guess.
Free because we are a video production studio, and Stow is how other shooters meet us. There is no paid tier behind it.
How it compares
Every tool here verifies. Only one gives a verdict.
The paid tools are good at what they do. Here is where Stow sits.
| Feature | Stow | OffShoot (Hedge) | ShotPut Pro | Pomfort | Resolve Clone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $169 to $249 one-time | $169 one-time + updates | $199 to $899 / year | Free, in Resolve |
| Genuinely free version | Yes | No (10-day trial) | No (trial) | No (trial) | Yes |
| macOS and Windows | Both | Both | Both | Mac only | Both |
| Verified, checksummed copy | Yes (xxHash) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reads card once, two drives at once | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| MHL manifest | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Safe-to-wipe verdict | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| No subscription lock-out | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Camera auto-detect and filing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Basic |
All five tools checksum a copy. Stow is the only one that turns those checks into a clear answer: this card is safe to wipe.
Competitor pricing is in USD and indicative, captured June 2026; the paid tools run from $169 one-time to $899 a year, and the subscription option is Mac only. Subscription tools revert to read-only when payment lapses. Stow is free on both platforms, with no account.
What's inside
Everything needed to clear a card. Nothing else.
Every feature is here to get the card off, and to prove it is off.
Check an archive
Point Stow at any folder it offloaded, months later, and it re-reads every file against the manifest. Anything corrupted or missing is named, file by file.
Verified offload report
A one-page report written to every destination after each run: what was copied, what was verified, and the verdict. Print it, or send it to a client. A checksums.csv sits beside every manifest.
Verified copy
Every file is hashed, then read back from the disk itself.
Two drives at once
One pass over the card, written to both destinations together.
MHL manifest
A checksum manifest travels with the footage for later proof.
Camera auto-detect
Reads the camera and files into a clean, consistent folder tree.
Stop, safely
A Stop button that halts cleanly, so a half-finished offload never reads as a done one.
Safe eject
Unmounts the card cleanly once every copy is verified.
macOS and Windows
The same tool and the same verdict on both.
Local and private
No account, no uploads. Your footage stays on your machine.
What's next
Free now. Free for good.
Stow exists because we needed it on our own shoots. It is a free tool we look after, and there is no paid tier waiting behind it. Here is what has just landed, and what is coming.
Check an archive
Re-verify any offloaded folder against its manifest, months later.
Verified offload report + checksums.csv
One-page proof of every transfer, written to every destination, ready for a client.
Signed and notarised builds
No more right-click to open. A clean install on both platforms.
Custom rename and folder templates
Name and structure by project, date and shoot day.
Resume, first class
Pick a stopped offload back up exactly where it left off.
Extra checksums and ASC MHL
MD5, SHA-256 and C4 where a client or a delivery spec requires them.
Cloud destinations
Verified transfer to S3, Dropbox and shared review tools.
Field notes
The bits worth knowing.
Offloading is full of quiet traps: the reader that throttles your card, the copy that was never checked, the drive that lies. Plain explainers, for people who like to know why.
Why your CFexpress card is not hitting full speed
Most shooters are capped by the reader. How to tell, and the one upgrade that helps most.
Read VerificationWhat "verified" actually means
Reading every byte back off the disk, versus checking a file size. Only one survives a card wipe.
Read StorageYour Mac does not checksum your footage
APFS checksums its own metadata. Your clips get no such protection, and an app-level read-back is the only real proof.
Read WorkflowTwo copies, two drives, then wipe
The 3-2-1 rule on set, and why a single backup is a single point of failure.
Read Under the hoodChecksums, plainly
xxHash, MD5, SHA. What each one proves, what none of them do, and which one a card offload needs.
Read SpeedCopy once, verify in the background
How a card reaches two drives at the same time, and where the waiting really goes.
ReadSix to start. More as we ship.
Who made it
Built by Lumira Studio, on real shoots.
We are a video production studio. We built Stow for our own sets, and other shooters asked for it. It is free, and it stays free.
See what Lumira makes
"On a busy multi-camera day, there is always a card you are not sure is safe to wipe. We built Stow so we never have to guess."
Questions
Straight answers.
Is it really free?+
Yes. No trial, no account, no upgrade fee. Stow is free on macOS and Windows, and it stays that way.
Will there be a paid version?+
No. There is no paid tier planned and nothing is held back for one. We are a video production studio; Stow exists because we needed it on our own shoots, and giving it away is how we would like other shooters to meet us. The client-facing offload report ships free, in the app, today.
Does it change my card?+
No. Stow only reads the card. It copies the footage off and verifies it, but it never writes to or deletes from the original. Formatting stays your decision, in the camera, once the card is cleared.
Why two drives?+
One drive can fail. Two verified copies on two separate drives is the only state where losing a drive does not lose the footage. A single copy holds at amber until a second one verifies.
Is my footage uploaded anywhere?+
No. Stow runs on your machine. Nothing is sent to us or to anyone else. There is no account and no cloud.
The app will not open on my Mac.+
The first time, right-click the Stow app and choose Open, then Open again. That is a one-time step for tools that are not yet signed. Signed builds are on the way.
Windows says it protected my PC.+
That is SmartScreen being cautious about new, unsigned apps. Choose More info, then Run anyway. It is a one-time step, and signed builds are on the way.
I have an Intel Mac.+
The current macOS build is for Apple Silicon, M1 and later. There is no Intel build at the moment; if that changes we will say so here.
Free for macOS and Windows
Stop hoping the copy worked.
An early release. v0.4.0, a few MB, no account. macOS build is for Apple Silicon.