On this page
Limits and prices below are as of October 2026. Each vendor’s page is linked in the sources at the end.
Disclosure: PlumCam is our app. Every other tool on this page is made by another company, and some of them suit jobs PlumCam can’t do. We say where.
The question most free lists skip
There’s no shortage of free screen recorders. OBS is free. The macOS recorder is already on your Mac. Most lists stop there.
But recording is the easy part. The link is what you were really using Loom for. You hit stop, a URL is on your clipboard, you paste it in Slack, and the other person watches without an account or a download.
A free recorder that leaves an .mov file in a folder has solved half the job. So this list asks one question first: can you share a link for free, without uploading the file somewhere yourself?
For comparison, here’s what you’re replacing. Loom’s free Starter plan allows recordings of up to five minutes, up to 25 videos per person, at up to 720p.
The 9 at a glance
| Tool | Free share link | Free limits | Editor (free) | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PlumCam Basic | Yes, via Google Drive | 5 min, 1080p, logo | — | Mac |
| Zight Free | Yes | 5 min, 720p, 1 GB | Basic | Mac, Windows, iOS, web |
| Descript Free | Not stated | 60 min/mo, 720p, watermark | Advanced | Mac, Windows |
| Vidyard Free | — | 5 videos/mo, 30 min each | Not stated | Mac, Windows, web |
| Riverside recorder | Not stated | 30 min, 720p, watermark | Not stated | Browser |
| Screenity | — | Files stay on your device | — | Chrome |
| OBS Studio | — | None | — | Mac, Windows, Linux |
| macOS Screenshot toolbar | — | None | — | Mac |
| QuickTime Player | — | None | Not stated | Mac |
The tools, one by one
PlumCam Basic: free on a Mac, with a link through your own Drive
Our app · Best for Mac users who explain things on video, from quick replies to full walkthroughs, and want the file somewhere they own
PlumCam records the whole screen or one window, with your face in a round camera bubble and your microphone. There’s no account. The video saves on your Mac as an .mp4, and PlumCam can upload it to your own Google Drive and give you a share link. Basic is free with no end date.
Compared with Loom’s free plan, Basic records at 1080p rather than 720p, and the files stay on your Mac and in your Drive rather than in someone else’s cloud.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- Screen or windowMac sound and microphone
- Face
- Round bubbleBackground blur, iPhone as camera
- Quality
- Basic1080p, 30 fpsPro4K, 60 fps
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- BasicNoneProAdvanced
- Sharing
- Google Drive linkYour own Drive, uploaded from the app
- Export
- .mp4
Price
- Free
- YesBasic plan
- Monthly
- $9.99Pro, first month free
- Annual
- $99.99Pro, paid upfront
Watch out for
- macOS only
- Basic: videos up to 5 minutes, with a small logo
- No team workspace or viewer analytics
Zight Free: the closest free match to Loom’s loop
Best for anyone who wants Loom’s record-and-send motion for free, on Mac or Windows
Zight, formerly CloudApp, records screen and camera and gives you an instant share link, much like Loom. It also keeps your screenshots and GIFs in the same library.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- Yes
- Face
- YesCamera with the screen
- Quality
- Up to 720pFree plan; paid plans not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Basic
- Sharing
- Zight linkInstant, in Zight’s cloud
- Export
- Not stated
Price
- Free
- Yes5-min recordings, 720p, 1 GB
- Monthly
- Not stated
- Annual
- $9.95/moCreate, billed yearly; Collaborate $12
Watch out for
- Recording limit: 5 minutes on the free plan
- Free plan: 720p and 1 GB storage
- AI captions need a paid plan
Descript Free: record, then edit by transcript
Best for people who want to tidy a recording before sending it
Descript records screen and webcam and turns the recording into a transcript you can edit like a document. Captions are included on every plan, the free one too. It works in the cloud and exports files locally.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- Yes
- Face
- YesWebcam with the screen
- Quality
- Up to 720pFree plan; paid plans not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Advanced
- Sharing
- Not stated
- Export
- Local fileType not stated
Price
- Free
- Yes60 media minutes a month, 720p, watermark
- Monthly
- From $16Per person; billing period not stated
- Annual
- Not stated
Watch out for
- Free plan: 60 media minutes a month
- Watermark on free exports
- Per-person pricing
- Needs macOS 14 or Windows 11 or later
Vidyard Free: long recordings, few of them
Best for salespeople evaluating Vidyard before their team buys it
Vidyard is a sales-video platform, and its free plan lets you try the recorder with screen and camera. Its pricing page lists hosting and automatic captions as not part of Free.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- Yes
- Face
- YesCamera with the screen
- Quality
- Up to 4KDesktop app; extension 1080p
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Not stated
- Sharing
- Hosted linksViewer analytics; hosting not on Free
- Export
- Not stated
Price
- Free
- Yes5 videos a month, up to 30 min each
- Monthly
- $89Starter, per seat
- Annual
- $59/moStarter, per seat, billed yearly
Watch out for
- Free plan: 5 videos a month, up to 30 minutes each
- Hosting and automatic captions not on Free
- Per-seat pricing; Teams and Enterprise priced on request
Riverside’s free screen recorder: no sign-up
Best for a one-off recording from any computer, with nothing to install
Riverside is mainly a remote podcast and video studio, but it offers a free screen recorder in the browser. You can record the screen alone or the screen with your webcam, without signing up.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesScreen alone or with webcam, in the browser
- Face
- YesWebcam with the screen
- Quality
- Up to 720pFree recorder
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Not stated
- Sharing
- Not stated
- Export
- DownloadA copy of each recording; type not stated
Price
- Free
- YesFree recorder
- Monthly
- Not stated
- Annual
- Not stated
Watch out for
- Recording limit: 30 minutes on the free recorder
- Watermark on free recordings
- Free recorder: 720p
Screenity: free and open source in Chrome
Best for people who live in Chrome and want a free recorder that keeps files local
Screenity is an open-source Chrome extension that records screen and camera. On the free plan your recordings stay on your device. Editing, sharing links and captions are part of a paid plan at $10 a month.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesA tab, an app or the whole screen
- Face
- YesCamera with the screen
- Quality
- Not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- NoneFree plan; paid plan not stated
- Sharing
- None on freeLinks on the paid plan
- Export
- Not stated
Price
- Free
- YesOpen source
- Monthly
- $10Paid editing and sharing
- Annual
- Not stated
Watch out for
- Runs as a Chrome extension
- No share link on the free plan
- Captions need the paid plan
OBS Studio: unlimited and free, but no link
Best for long, unwatermarked local recordings and streaming
OBS is free and open source. Scenes combine your screen, webcam and other sources in any layout, and you record to a file or stream live. For a long tutorial with several sources, nothing free gives you more control.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesScreens and windows as scene sources
- Face
- YesWebcam in any layout
- Quality
- Not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- None
- Sharing
- NoneLocal file or live stream
- Export
- Local fileType not stated
Price
- Free
- YesFree and open source
- Monthly
- —
- Annual
- —
Watch out for
- No editor
- No share link
- Scenes and sources set up by hand before recording
- Mac version needs macOS 13 or later
The macOS Screenshot toolbar: already on your Mac
Best for a quick private capture with nothing to install
Press Shift-Command-5. You can record the entire screen, a selected window (macOS 26 and later) or a selected portion, with your microphone. On macOS 27 “Golden Gate” you can also turn on Include System Audio to record your Mac’s sound. The file lands on your desktop. Our guide on how to screen record on a Mac covers every option.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesScreen, window (macOS 26+) or a portion, with microphone
- Face
- NoQuickTime camera workaround only
- Quality
- Not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- None
- Sharing
- NoneFile saved to your desktop
- Export
- .mov
Price
- Free
- YesBuilt in
- Monthly
- —
- Annual
- —
Watch out for
- No camera bubble
- No share link
- No editing
- The Mac’s own sound only on macOS 27 or later
QuickTime Player: the camera workaround
Best for getting your face into a free recording on a Mac without installing anything. For a step-by-step version, see how to record a presentation with your face
On current macOS, QuickTime’s File > New Screen Recording opens the same Screenshot toolbar. Its other trick is the camera. File > New Movie Recording shows your webcam in a window. Third-party guides describe turning on View > Float on Top and then recording the screen, so your face appears in the recording.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesFile > New Screen Recording
- Face
- WorkaroundA camera window floated on top
- Quality
- Not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Not stated
- Sharing
- None
- Export
- .mov
Price
- Free
- YesBuilt in
- Monthly
- —
- Annual
- —
Watch out for
- Camera is a separate window you position by hand
- No share link
- No captions
When free stops working
Free is the right answer more often than vendors admit. If you send a couple of walkthroughs a month, a free plan may cover you for good. It usually breaks down in one of three ways.
The caps start shaping what you record. You talk faster to stay under five minutes, or split one explanation into two videos. That’s the cap editing your work.
You need the videos to still exist in six months. Free plans with storage limits, like Zight’s 1 GB, eventually make you delete things. That hurts if you’re building a library of onboarding or support videos.
The workaround costs more than the tool. Exporting a file and uploading it to share is fine once. Done every day, it adds up to hours a year.
If one of those is your problem, our list of the best Loom alternatives covers the paid options, and the best screen recorders for Mac covers recording beyond Loom-style messages.
Questions
What is the best free alternative to Loom?
For a free share link, Zight Free on Mac or Windows, or PlumCam Basic on a Mac with your own Google Drive. For unlimited free recording without a link, OBS Studio or the macOS Screenshot toolbar.
Is there a free Loom alternative with no time limit?
OBS Studio, the macOS Screenshot toolbar and QuickTime Player have no recording limit of their own. None of them gives you a share link.
Can I record my screen and webcam together for free on a Mac?
Yes. PlumCam Basic, Zight Free, Descript Free, Screenity and OBS Studio all record screen and camera together. With the built-in tools you need the QuickTime Float on Top workaround.
Does Microsoft or Google have something like Loom?
Not quite, but both can record a presentation. PowerPoint for Mac can record a slideshow with your camera on the slides and export it as a video. Since August 2026, Google Slides has a Record option powered by Google Vids for personal Google accounts as well as Workspace.
Is PlumCam free?
PlumCam Basic is free, with videos up to five minutes at 1080p and a small PlumCam logo. Pro costs $9.99 a month (€9.99 in the eurozone), and the first month is free.
Try PlumCam free
Basic is free for good; Pro’s first month is free, then $9.99 a month.
