On this page
All prices below are as of October 2026, in US dollars unless noted. Each vendor’s pricing page is linked in the sources at the end. Prices can differ by country.
Disclosure: PlumCam is our app. Every other tool on this page is made by another company, and several of them beat PlumCam outright at jobs it wasn’t built for. We say where.
Why people look for a Loom alternative
Loom is good at what it does. Hit record, talk, hit stop, and a link is ready to paste. People rarely leave because the video looked bad. They leave for one of four reasons.
Price. Loom Business is $18 per user per month, and Business + AI is $24. For a small team sending a few walkthroughs a week, that adds up.
The free plan runs out. Loom’s free Starter plan allows recordings of up to five minutes, up to 25 videos per person, at up to 720p. That’s enough to try it, and tight for daily work.
Too much platform. Loom has grown into a team product with workspaces and AI plans. If you only want to record your screen and send it, you may be paying for more than you use.
Where the files live. Loom hosts your videos in its cloud. Loom’s help centre indicates that downloading videos needs a paid plan. Some people want the file on their own Mac or their own storage from the start.
These problems have different answers. A sales team that wants watch data needs something very different from a founder who wants a simple recorder. So this list is organised by job, not by a single score.
The 12 at a glance
| Tool | Platforms | Free plan | Entry price | Editor | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PlumCam | Mac | Yes | $9.99/mo | Advanced (Pro) | Walkthroughs on a Mac |
| Tella | Mac, Windows, web | Trial | $13/mo yearly | Advanced | Polished demos |
| Screen Studio | Mac | — | $9/mo yearly | Advanced | Launch videos |
| Zight | Mac, Windows, iOS, web | Yes | $9.95/mo yearly | Basic | Screenshots and video |
| Vidyard | Mac, Windows, web | Yes | $59/mo yearly | Not stated | Sales teams |
| Descript | Mac, Windows | Yes | From $16/mo | Advanced | Editing by transcript |
| CleanShot X | Mac | Trial | $35 once | Basic | Screenshot-heavy work |
| Camtasia | Mac, Windows | — | €39.56/yr | Advanced | Training videos |
| ScreenFlow | Mac | Trial | $199 once | Advanced | Editing, no subscription |
| Screenity | Chrome | Yes | $10/mo | — | Recording in Chrome |
| OBS Studio | Mac, Windows, Linux | Yes | Free | — | Long recordings, streaming |
| macOS built-in | Mac | Yes | Free | — | Quick captures |
The tools, one by one
PlumCam: the simplest swap for quick Mac walkthroughs
Our app · Best for Mac users who explain things on video, from quick replies to long walkthroughs, and want the file somewhere they own
PlumCam covers the part of Loom most people use. You pick the whole screen or one window, your face sits in a round camera bubble, and you talk. The video saves on your Mac as an .mp4. If you want a link, PlumCam uploads it to your own Google Drive and gives you a share link.
There’s no PlumCam account and no PlumCam cloud. Your videos stay on your Mac and in your own Drive. That answers the “where do the files live” question that pushes some people off Loom.
Pro removes the length limit, records at up to 4K and 60 fps, and drops the logo. It adds an editor: trim, split and cut, volume and mute per part, noise removal, music that ducks under your voice, and brightness, contrast and saturation. Captions are transcribed on your Mac in many languages. You can edit them, burn them into the video or export an .srt file. Pro also lets you use your iPhone as the camera and blur your background.
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
Tella: polished demos with layouts you can change later
Best for founders and course creators who want a polished demo and a link from one tool, on Mac or Windows
Tella records your screen and your camera as separate tracks, at up to 4K. Because they stay separate, you can change the layout after recording. It records your microphone and your computer’s sound.
The editor covers trimming, layouts, zooms and editing through the transcript. Subtitles are automatic in 106 languages. When you’re done, you get a hosted share link or a 4K export.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesMicrophone and computer sound
- Face
- Separate trackChange the layout after recording
- Quality
- Up to 4K
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Advanced
- Sharing
- Tella link
- Export
- Up to 4KType not stated
Price
- Free
- —7-day trial, no card
- Monthly
- Not stated
- Annual
- $13/moPro, per user, billed yearly; Premium $19
Watch out for
- No free plan (7-day trial, no card)
- Per-user pricing
- Listed prices are for annual billing
Screen Studio: recordings that look edited
Best for product marketers and indie founders shipping launch and demo videos
Screen Studio’s signature is automatic zoom and a smooth cursor, which make a raw screen recording look like an edited product video. It records screen and camera, with overlay and split layouts, plus your microphone and your Mac’s sound.
The editor handles trimming, cutting, speed-ups, transcript editing and filler-word removal. Captions can be made on your device and exported as .srt. Files are local, and optional share links play at 1080p60 for videos up to 30 minutes.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesMicrophone and Mac sound
- Face
- Overlay or split layouts
- Quality
- Not statedShare links 1080p60
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Advanced
- Sharing
- Optional linkVideos up to 30 min
- Export
- Local fileType not stated; captions as .srt
Price
- Free
- —
- Monthly
- $29
- Annual
- $9/moBilled yearly
Watch out for
- macOS only (13.1 or later)
- No free plan
- Share links: videos up to 30 minutes
Zight: screenshots, GIFs and video in one library
Best for support and product people who send as many annotated screenshots as videos
Zight, formerly CloudApp, keeps screenshots, GIFs and screen recordings in one library. It records screen and camera together and gives you an instant share link, which is the closest match here to Loom’s loop. You can trim recordings, and AI captions come with the Create plan and up.
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
Vidyard: for sales teams who need to know who watched
Best for B2B sales teams who measure video against pipeline
Vidyard is built for sales video. Its strength is what happens after you send: viewer analytics and CRM integrations that show which prospect watched. It records screen and camera, and captions come with Starter and up.
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
Descript: edit the video by editing the words
Best for podcasters and course creators with long talking-head footage
Descript turns your recording into a transcript, and the transcript becomes the timeline. Delete a sentence and the video goes with it. It records screen and webcam, includes captions on every plan, and works in the cloud with local export.
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
CleanShot X: a screenshot tool that also records
Best for designers, developers and support people who take far more screenshots than videos
CleanShot X is an all-in-one screenshot and recording app. The recorder adds a camera overlay, records your microphone and your computer’s sound, and has a built-in video editor with smart zooms. Sharing goes through CleanShot Cloud: 1 GB on Basic, unlimited on Pro.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesMicrophone and computer sound
- Face
- Camera overlay
- Quality
- Not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Built-in editor
- Sharing
- CleanShot Cloud linkBasic 1 GB, Pro unlimited
- Export
- Not stated
Price
- Free
- —7-day trial through Setapp
- Monthly
- Not stated
- Annual
- $10/moPro, per user, billed yearly
- Lifetime
- $35 paid onceBasic, 1 year of updates; renewal $19 a year
Watch out for
- macOS only (13 or later)
- No free plan (7-day trial through Setapp)
- Basic: 1 GB of cloud storage
- Pro: per-user pricing
Camtasia: the training-video editor
Best for instructional designers and corporate training teams on mixed Mac and Windows fleets
Camtasia is a full timeline editor that also records screen and camera on every plan. Text-based editing and speech-to-text captions arrive with Essentials. It adds e-learning features such as quizzes and SCORM export, and shares through TechSmith’s Screencast cloud or a local file.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- Yes
- Face
- YesOn every plan
- Quality
- Not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Advanced
- Sharing
- Screencast linkTechSmith’s cloud
- Export
- Local fileType not stated
Price
- Free
- —
- Monthly
- —Yearly plans only
- Annual
- €39.56Starter a year; Essentials €182.49, Create €252.62, Pro €607.71
Watch out for
- No free plan
- Yearly billing only
- Watermark on Starter exports
- Needs macOS 14 or later
ScreenFlow: a full Mac editor without a subscription
Best for Mac course creators who want a serious editor and prefer to pay up front
ScreenFlow records screen, camera and microphone at the same time and drops them into a multi-track editor. It has a caption editor, exports locally and can share to social and cloud services. Telestream’s store sells it for $199 rather than as a monthly plan.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesCamera and microphone at the same time
- Face
- YesRecorded alongside the screen
- Quality
- Not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Advanced
- Sharing
- No hosted linkShares to social and cloud services
- Export
- Local fileType not stated
Price
- Free
- TrialExports carry a watermark, no time limit
- Monthly
- —
- Annual
- —Optional stock media $99 a year
- Lifetime
- $199 paid onceUpdate terms not stated
Watch out for
- macOS only
- Watermark on trial exports
- No instant share link
- Listed for macOS Sonoma and Sequoia; macOS 27 support not stated
Screenity: a free, open-source recorder in Chrome
Best for anyone who works in Chrome and wants a free recorder with nothing to install outside the browser
Screenity records your screen and camera from the browser. On the free plan, recordings stay on your device. Sharing links and captions are part of the paid plan.
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: free, unlimited and built for streaming
Best for long recordings, streaming and anyone who wants full control over the layout
OBS combines screen, webcam and other sources into scenes, records them to a file or streams them live. It costs nothing and has no recording limits of its own.
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 built-in recorder: already on your Mac
Best for a quick capture with nothing to install
Press Shift-Command-5 to open the Screenshot toolbar. You can record the entire screen, a selected window (macOS 26 and later) or a selected portion. On macOS 27 “Golden Gate” it can also record your Mac’s sound, with Include System Audio. Recordings are saved to your desktop as .mov files. Our guide on how to screen record on a Mac walks through 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
Which one should you pick?
Start from the job, not the feature list.
You want what Loom did, for less, on a Mac.PlumCam, if a Google Drive link works for you. Zight if you want an instant cloud link and also send lots of screenshots.
You need Mac and Windows.Tella, Zight, Vidyard and Descript all run on both, and Loom itself does too.
You want videos that look produced.Screen Studio on a Mac, Tella if you need Windows as well. Screen Studio automates the polish. Tella lets you change the layout after recording.
You need to know who watched.Vidyard, especially if the data has to reach your CRM.
You’re making training content, not messages.Camtasia on a mixed fleet, ScreenFlow if you’re Mac only and prefer to pay up front.
You’re editing long talking-head footage.Descript.
You want free.See our guide to the best free Loom alternatives. For Mac recorders in general, not just Loom replacements, see the best screen recorders for Mac.
Questions
What is the cheapest Loom alternative?
Free tools aside, Screen Studio ($9 a month billed yearly), Zight ($9.95 billed annually), PlumCam Pro ($9.99 a month) and CleanShot X Pro ($10 billed annually) all cost less than Loom Business at $18 per user. OBS Studio, Screenity and the macOS recorder are free.
Is there a Loom alternative that doesn’t store my videos in its cloud?
Yes. PlumCam saves to your Mac and, if you choose, your own Google Drive. Screen Studio and ScreenFlow create local files. OBS Studio and the free Screenity plan keep recordings on your computer.
Which Loom alternatives work on Windows?
Tella, Zight, Vidyard, Descript, Camtasia and OBS Studio. Screenity runs in Chrome. PlumCam, Screen Studio, CleanShot X and ScreenFlow are Mac only.
Which Loom alternatives record system audio on a Mac?
PlumCam, Tella, Screen Studio and CleanShot X record your computer’s sound as well as your microphone. On macOS 27, the built-in recorder can too.
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.
